Comprehensive Season Summary of Our Football Team's Performance

Week 3

So far, this season through the first few games has been largely disappointing. The team undoubtedly has a new direction with new head coach Pete Carroll, however, the early season magic hasn't been there YET. There is plenty of time to replace some of that ineffectiveness with much more execution of play-calling and pestering defense. The lone bright spot was the first game against the Patriots. Subsequent games in losses to the Chargers and Commanders, leave a lot to be desired.  

Week 4

After an uninspiring loss to the Commanders, this week the Raiders faced off against the Chicago Bears. The Raiders finally launched forward with newfound contributions from their key running back Ashton Jeanty. With three touchdowns, the Raiders caught a vision of how their future might look. However, Chicago was relentless and played tough in the passing game against Geno Smith. According to conventional wisdom, it can be deduced that he had an awful game. He threw three picks and did not give the offense critical spacing to run even better. Without the performance of Jeanty, with a fantastic 64-yard TD, the Raiders would have some tough-sledding. A blocked field goal doomed the Raiders as they could not get any closer for a try with over thirty seconds left. Some poor runs in a mediocre front, crushed the Raiders in the end.

Week 5

Not able to generate any momentum from a loss to the Bears last week, the Raiders this week couldn't muster any more juice to keep this game anywhere close to competitive. The IND Colts didn't yield anything on their first touches and the Raiders came back on their first drive and gave their best drive of the game, which is ludicrous. They had multiple opportunities on a 15-play drive to get this game on better footing. However, they get sacked on 2nd-and-goal and puts them into a backed-up position that only gives them three points. It totally knocked the air out of the offense and there was no relenting from the Colts after that initial score. Daniel Jones was the best player on the field for both teams as he dissected the Raiders defense and there were too many penalties in the secondary. For the Raiders, Ashton Jeanty was featured right away and had some good production with a 29-yard catch as he had five receptions and ran for 67 yards for the contest. Rather than highlighting every one of his plays it really was a game that requires a broad stroke of patience because he didn't make full use of his blocks. He did not get out of tacklers' reach and had to rely on runs that were already well-blocked. I thought he could have bounced the ball outside a little more. Like I mentioned, Daniel Jones was efficient and accurate which was demoralizing at times for the Raiders defense. I thought the Raiders secondary played an awful game. They were not covering tightly their man and it was bleeding early. After being down 20-3 at half, everything was not lost yet the Raiders couldn't get out of their own way. They were carved up by Daniel Jones and just couldn't get stops on third down. The entire Raiders team has a ways to go.

Week 6

In this game against the TEN Titans, the Raiders did a great job of building and sustaining the lead. They managed to keep the game out of reach due to a great performance by their defense. There were key contributors on defense but still the offense seemed to sputter without huge gains. Ashton Jeanty had holes open up for him and got going down the field for some important yardage. Jeanty has the tenacity to get yards after contact as he led the NFL in broken tackles to start the game. The Raiders defense capitalized on some poor play by Titans' QB Cam Ward who didn't get the ball out quick enough. Raiders LB Devin White had a tremendous game who forced a fumble near the goal line and also had an interception. He has been the most wildly effective of all the Raiders linebackers because he tackles consistently and is a twitchy athlete. The Raiders prevented the Titans from closing the gap.

Week 7

This game versus the KC Chiefs was an abomination and a real dud for those that were expecting anything remotely close of a game. With only three first downs, it showed the state of the team and how they are not performing at an adequate level. It was reminiscent of some of the games already this season, as some games really haven't been close. The LAC and CHI games were much closer and competitive, if some would say. There is nothing to really hang your hat on as most of these games are deflating and disturbing with such little production. With the bye this week, perhaps the Raiders find the switch to ramp up the entire offense and get the defense stingy again.