Oakland Raiders: Hits and Misses from Preseason Week 2

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Coming into Week 2 of the preseason, the Oakland Raiders had several areas they needed to either clean up or show they were capable of taking care of. While there is plenty of time to improve when you are a month away from the live bullets, you don’t want to continue to do things incorrectly from week to week. As many experts will tell you: One time is an anomaly, two or more is a trend.

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Week 1 against the Rams gave Raider fans a lot of hope and showed many that Oakland isn’t the inept offensive group they were a year ago. And the defense gave a decent showing as well, holding St. Louis to 3 points for the game. As I mentioned a few days ago, however, the Raiders were far from great and needed to show they could throw the ball deep, get better play from their secondary, and create some turnovers.

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With Week 2 in the books, let’s take a look at how Oakland faired in these categories.

The deep ball

Result: Big Hit

While the Raiders did well in week 1 to move the ball throw the air, almost everything they did in the passing game involved short to intermediate passes. They never connected on a deep ball, and Derek Carr never tried to take the top off of the defense with Amari Cooper. Oakland will need to show they can keep defenses honest with the occasional deep pass, and one or two in week two would be a good sign.

Aug 22, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) passes against the Minnesota Vikings in the first quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

It didn’t take long for Carr and Cooper to hook up on a bomb and show they do indeed have a good feel for each other, whether it be short or long passes. On the Raiders second possession in the 1st quarter, Carr completed a 40-yarder to Cooper with a beautiful over the shoulder throw and catch just before Cooper stepped out of bounds.

Deep passes lead to deep runs, as the defense can’t afford to stack the box and get burned by a quick wide receiver or two. And, after that completion, two quick runs resulted in a Latavius Murray rush for a touchdown. The Raiders will log a lot of these types of runs if they can continue to pass with accuracy downfield. This was a great sign and a definite improvement from week one.

The secondary

Result: Miss

It was noticed in Week 1 that the Raider secondary struggled early with giving up the big play. Two quick, long passes by the Rams were a bad sign for a group that has been much maligned in recent seasons.

The group had some decent signs in week 2, but the jury is definitely still out in terms of this group’s readiness for the regular season. While they did log an interception against second team quarterback Shaun Hill, starter Teddy Bridgewater seemed to look too comfortable against Oakland. He completed 10 out of 14 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown for a 111.9 quarterback rating. Bridgewater had a 20+ yard completion as well.

Make no mistake, Oakland will be facing a lot more Bridgewater’s than Hill’s, so the Raiders have some work to do in Weeks 3 and 4.

Win the turnover battle

Result: Push 

Oakland was the worst team in the NFL last season when it came to turnover differential. There is no doubt that this must be a point of emphasis for head coach Jack Del Rio and Ken Norton Jr. in 2015. In week 1 they did not force a turnover, while giving up 2 of their own.

Against the Vikings, there was improvement, but not in terms of the turnover margin. While Oakland took 2 away from the Vikes with a fumble recovery and a pick, they gave Minnesota 2 of their own with 2 interceptions thrown.  The good news is that those picks were thrown by the current 3rd and 4th string quarterbacks, Matt McGloin and Cody Fajardo.

Aug 22, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio in the third quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. The Minnesota Vikings beat the Oakland Raiders 20-12. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Until the Raiders can consistently show they can take care of the ball on offense, they will struggle to win games, period. But grabbing 2 turnovers on defense is a positive sign no matter what the offense did.

With a primetime game coming up against the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football, Oakland has a chance to continue their turnaround on both sides of the ball. It will be fun to see if they can maximize their favorable match-ups against the Cardinals to improve from top to bottom. Once the regular season starts, it will be too late to get another chance at the “do over” that a preseason game essentially is.

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