Oakland Raiders: Jon Gruden knows what he’s doing

When Jon Gruden was hired by the Oakland Raiders out of retirement his moves were heavily scrutinized and criticized, but the man knows what he’s doing.

After Jon Gruden (fresh off his Monday Night Football announcer gig) was hired as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, he and the front office received a lot of criticism for shipping off Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears and Amari Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys for a boatload of draft picks.

It also didn’t help Gruden runs his team’s training camps in an old school manner, such as showing clips of past Raider triumphs that none of the current players have heard of or as evident on Hard Knocks with the whole “knock on wood” routine.

Personnel wise, aside from the aforementioned trades, Gruden and new general manager Mike Mayock have done things that some would see as passé, like signing fullbacks Keith Smith last year and undrafted free agent Alec Ingold this year for a power run approach on offense.

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In the NFL, however, what’s old is new again. Older schemes and styles always tend to make a comeback. It’s the circle of life.

Look at 2008 when the Wildcat was the hot new trend. It wasn’t new — it was just the old Single Wing. Same as fullbacks. They were once seen as dead but now aside from the Raiders, more and more fullbacks seem to be sprouting up like weeds on NFL rosters as suddenly the Raiders power run approach doesn’t seem so ridiculous.

The San Francisco 49ers are now 4-0 with their balanced powerful rushing attack and at the top of a very strong NFC West. Perhaps it’s a Bay Area thing as the Raiders are now entering their bye week with a 3-2 record in second place in the AFC West, one game behind the Kansas City Chiefs. When you can run the ball effectively and control the clock, you can beat anybody. It may be old school, but it’s also tried and true.

No one is going to beat their chest over a win in London over a Chase Daniel-lead Bears team. The Raiders’ young defense did what they were supposed to against an inept offense on a normal day, let alone with a backup quarterback.

The story here, though, is the offense.

Gruden’s offense was able to put 24 points on arguably the best and most ferocious defense in football, which is by far the most points the Bears have allowed all season. They also did it without No. 1 receiver Tyrell Williams. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

The Raiders did so by using that same power running attack. DeAndre Washington found the end zone and rookie Josh Jacobs, who’s getting better every week, found paydirt twice with 126 yards rushing on the day.

Sure, Bears’ Pro Bowl defensive tackle Akiem Hicks exited the game early, which helped. But the amazing thing is, the Raiders seemingly did everything in their power to give the game away and still came away with the win. The Raiders made costly mistakes, most notably the folly of a fumbled pitch between Derek Carr and Jacobs that was recovered by Mack, but the Raiders still won.

In fact, that fumble recovery was really the only thing Mack did in his “revenge” game against his former team. Trent Brown and the offensive line kept the Windy City rush at bay to secure a huge win.

Which brings us to the coach.

Despite the early criticism, the Raiders have direction. Carr looks comfortable — and we’ve seen what he’s capable of when he’s comfortable. They also have previously unknown emerging stars like tight end Darren Waller and the draft picks that Gruden and Mayock made were scrutinized for making at the time are performing, as are their free agent acquisitions.

They also have more early draft picks to spare next year. Chucky has a plan. Gruden’s also getting through to his young team in a way that many may not have expected.

https://twitter.com/Raiders/status/1180963075844902913

At the end of the day, the Raiders are one of the few franchises in sports that make the sport they participate in more fun when they are good. The silver and black are back. While it may or may not result in a playoff berth this season, the Raiders will be leaving Oakland and entering Las Vegas with a sense of direction for the first time in over a decade with their fiercely loyal Raider Nation behind them, even in their third city they’ll call home.

It may not be pretty, but that’s never been the Raiders way. All that matters is that you “Just Win Baby.”