Sizing Up the Raiders (Vol. 1)

So far this season, the Raiders have not lived up to any of the hype. They are trudging through water and not giving the fans something to root for. With a new head coach and ancillary pieces, the feeling was things would register and they would use the guidance of Pete Carroll to give a fresh beginning. The exciting thing is that there is not a lot more room for things to go further south. Carroll has a padded three year contract and they already owe money to former coaches Josh McDaniels and Antonio Pierce. If something doesn't materialize in which performance improves, people will start blaming Carroll for bringing on all of his former players and not granting priority to grooming his younger draft picks. Rookies Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr. I feel are not being used to their capabilities and it's going to drag the team with a group of 11 rookies, which not all are still on the team. Aside of potential bad drafting (already), we are going to focus on these two receivers because not only are they high draft picks, but they are crucial to the season and its encore, if there is one. By signing Lockett this week, it's showing a negligence from the coaching staff to get more catches for these younger guys. If Jakobi and Bowers are healthy, then the narrative changes in which these guys have to get open and complete tough catches. The Raiders are showing to have a lot of raw talent, and it's scraping clean their depth chart. Too many guys are fringe-worthy right now such as their rookie offensive and defensive lineman are not getting results. Not to degrade the team yet they are currently in the bottom heap of teams in the NFL. They still have the worst rushing attack in the NFL.

Break-down Week 7 (KC Chiefs)

Before I begin to shred or put a damper on the performance of the team, I need to discern what can be assumed from a debacle of a game against the Chiefs. There is no doubt there are some intriguing pieces on offense, primarily the addition of Ashton Jeanty, who is chronicled on here every week as one of the new faces on a growing team. I think Pete Carroll needs some time to calibrate with the psyche of the team and become that much more familiar with who he is working with. In Seattle, they may have had more talent to choose from during his tenure, however, that is being subjective. He must tolerate the mistakes he sees from new faces, and even older ones like Geno Smith. However, whether the players are struggling or not, and may have a history with their coach, they are intertwined on the field and that may be costing them.

Most-Telling Performances Week 7

In the latest game against the KC Chiefs, there was not sufficient contributions from the Raiders across the lineup.

As an emblem of productivity and coherence, this week didn't register high on the barometer for Las Vegas. Rather than give KC all of the praise, I am going to pause to give acclaim to the Raiders when they muster a more complete performance. There is no denying that the season is in jeopardy until they start moving gracefully with the forces of a daunting NFL season.