Oakland Raiders: The Week 1 Aftermath

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September 13, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray (28) is tackled by Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam Jones (24) during the second quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Raiders Running Backs Must Average 4 Yards A Carry:

The Raiders did not accomplish this, but they were fairly close. The bigger concern was that they only ran the ball 16 times, a by-product of being behind by a lot of points fairly quickly. By comparison, the Bengals, having the luxury of the lead almost the entire game, ran the ball nearly twice as much at 31 carries. The Raiders have the scheme and backs, however, to punish the opposing teams front seven. It would have been nice to see them stick with it a little longer.

When you consider that Oakland was almost just as successful carrying the ball (3.9 YPC) as they were throwing it (4.1 YPP), they had even less of an excuse to neglect their running game (Statistics courtesy of ESPN). While this statistic might be more of an indictment on their passing attack, it will hopefully cue O.C. Bill Musgrave to use Latavius Murray and the rest of the running back corps more often against Baltimore and the rest of the Raiders opponents this season.

So, where does this leave the silver and black for week 2? The good news is that Oakland has the tools and ability to bounce back and win against Baltimore. They have deficiencies to be sure, but coach Del Rio knows what needs to be done to correct them fairly quickly. This includes cleaning up all of the costly penalties they committed against Cincinnati. Time will tell if Oakland can do it quick enough to go 1-1, a crucial step if they plan to compete in the AFC West in 2015.

Next: Aldon Smith Signing Sent The Wrong Message

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