The Good, the Bad, the Ugly vs. Tennessee

[big_palooka]

15 hours ago, Silver&Black88 said:

@RaidersAreOne summed it up pretty well.  I'm more forgiving of Coop but it seems I'm alone there so I'll shut up

 

Hell yeah the coaching was better.  Downing called a good game.  Nothing really to nitpick about.  Other than maybe calling a screen again with they pinned their ears back.  And Alexander getting reps.  But that's nitpicking

 

On defense it was definitely bend but don't break . Keep the ball in front of you.  They basically dared Mariota to beat them deep and he didn't.  Pretty good defense today and I wonder what Pagano's influence is.

 

Really enjoyed Romo too.  He'd diagnose things immediately

3 straight throws from first in goal at the 2 was horrible. All to Cooper. That is why Lynch was added to this team. Other than that, great called came. Knew when to lean in and chew clock letting his boys upfront don their jobs.

[Rolni]

3 hours ago, Darbsk said:

Probably the most pleasing aspect of this game was the attitude on all fronts of this Raiders team. We're no longer push-overs or a soft touch like we have been in the recent past, we have skill and speed but we also have a nasty edge to us which will serve us well throughout the season and make us a team no-one will want to play.

Loved the Cooper TD where the big, bad boys on the OL couldn't wait to get stuck in and drive Coop over the goaline, sends a message to the D loud and clear. Then we had Lynch just steamrollering a top tier DT and one of the titans top players in Casey, when your best player gets trucked it's confidence sapping and possibly my favourite (especially as it was a rookie) Vanderdoes flattening a top tier OT in Conklin all the while Mack ploughs 3 defenders up the pitch.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZyTXsZxqpE

We still have a few flaws to iron out but the D gave a much better account of themselves and we have something positive to build on. It's also very pleasing to see that Lynch appears to have not lost an ounce of explosion or commitment which will serve us well come the sharp end of the season.

The Good

Starting the season with a Win - massively important

Overall line play - I thought we edged both the line battles against a very good team, bodes well

No catastrophic errors on D - something to build on with regard to the young guys though we do have some things to work out (TE, 3rd downs)

Excellent Run D for the most part and our much maligned LB core looked decent

Playcalling on both sides of the ball I thought was good

Tavecchio couldn't have done better in a huge pressure situation

Lynch looks like the back we need come winter football and playoff football time

The Bad

Bruce Irvin has to be smarter - or at least make a couple big plays to offset the stupidity

Drops - we must improve this if we want to win the really big games

A number of obvious missed holds, especially on Mack - I though with his higher profile we'd be getting more of these calls now

The Ugly

I really can't think of anything from a Raiders perspective, maybe the Irvin brain farts could be moved here.........

 

Agreed totally!!

I loved watching Edwards and Vanderdoes setting the tone up front. We really lacked this on the defensive side!

We have a really strong, nasty OL and after this game our DL all of a sudden looks tough, disciplined and nasty as well. Hopefully this is not just a one time miracle

This Titans OL is a really good one and their RB duo is also top notch, so it is really encouraging how well we played the run all game long. They only had 1 good run from RB (for 21y) and the Mariota run...

The CB's and S's also looked better then I expected like the LB's and the DL.

[BackinBlack]

52 minutes ago, big_palooka said:

3 straight throws from first in goal at the 2 was horrible. All to Cooper. That is why Lynch was added to this team. Other than that, great called came. Knew when to lean in and chew clock letting his boys upfront don their jobs.

Do you think there is any chance they were trying to save Lynchs first TD to be in Oakland.

Incredibly dumb if so,  but it is the only reason i can think to not give him at least 1 carry there. Or where they just in a heavy run D that i missed?

[Rich7sena]

Watched the game last night on GamePass and I'm very pleased with not only the outcome, but what's hopefully to come this season. Apart from the offense, the defensive line were the stars of the day for me. Vanderdoes, Edwards, and even Ellis were getting consistent push against the run and pass. Still, I'd like to see more sacks from a league worst unit from a year ago.

Despite not putting up huge points, the offense looked better than it ever did last year. Carr was accurate early and the rhythm and pacing kept the defense guessing. Cook looks like he'll be a major weapon going forward, but I think we can all be rightfully excited about Lynch's contributions. Lynch was consistently picking up significant yards after contact and looking as fleet-a-foot as he has throughout his career. I'm really excited about seeing this offense flourish come mid season.

[SilverNBlackFan]

1 hour ago, big_palooka said:

3 straight throws from first in goal at the 2 was horrible. All to Cooper. That is why Lynch was added to this team. Other than that, great called came. Knew when to lean in and chew clock letting his boys upfront don their jobs.

I would almost guarantee Carr made those checks and made the decision to throw to Coop. He has full ownership of this offense now and can change plays I wouldn't put that on downing

[Chali21]

Some one said it earlier but man this was a strong debut for some players.

Vanderoos pancaking dudes, Lynch trucking Dlinemen, Cook with sticky hands and Shalom getting the onside kick. That onside kick was totally unexpected, I can't imagine that happening to me in my first game as a pro.

This offense looks electric: when Coop catches the ball he breaks ankles, Crabtree plays like his catching is set to 99, Lynch looks like '15 Lynch, and the line gave Carr plenty of time to throw.

I want to give some love to the line because man without this the Carr don't run. You look at the seahawks and giants who both have big time weapons and QBs but they got totally shut down because of their sub  par offensive line. I move that we call the Oline "THE ENGINE".

The defense also held the Titans to 16 points and less than 100 yards rushing for Murray. They forced them to play from behind and applied pressure to Mariota I can't wait to see how good they look when Conely comes back.

 

Not to project too far ahead but these next two games look winnable with the Jets in full tank mode and the Redskins offense lost, these Raiders could be 3-0 at the end of September.

[RaiderX]

So happy for Tavecchio after breing brought back and cut so many times during the offseason. Guy has a great leg.

Loved how they spread the ball around with Cook. Downing is a revelation at OC. 

Still some problems with the safeties, but they held solid down the stretch.

Run defense was stout.

Irvin has a chance to lead the league in fals start penalties. Did much of the same in Seattle.

Love what I'm seeing from Vanderdoes.

[Nightmare]

Giorgio Tavecchio, what a boss. No doubt he'll have some misses this season, and due to the nature of his job, some potentially costly ones, but what an excellent debut. I'm really rooting for him to make the job his own.

I thought we played a really solid game yesterday. A few defensive issues, but not as bad as expected (including a far better performance against the run than I think anyone could have hoped for). The offense was good, but with room for improvement; once Lynch is fully back up to speed, Cooper irons out the drops (hopefully!) and Cook gets more experience with Carr, this unit will look in really good shape.

Overall, we should all be very happy with that. Titans were favored in the odds, all the experts seemed to be picking them, but we never really looked like losing yesterday. Strong team performance, and more of the same next week, please.

[CaliforniaKid7]

Really loved what I saw from Vanderdoes and KoJo, for young guys they both stepped up in game 1. Cory James as well. 

 

Also, regarding Lynch, his pass blocking will be a huge positive for this offense too. No offense to Richard and Wash because it's not for lack of effort but there's things that small backs just can't do as well and hang in there and take on a blitzing LB is one of them. Lynch stalwarts LB on the regular and giving Carr thag extra time/space is gonna be huge for this offense. 

[MrOaktown_56]

@Darbsk just you and me homie. Gotta keep the faith in SS.

 

[MrOaktown_56]

Going from a below average starter to a top 10 back has changed the dynamic of this team as well.

[Darbsk]

10 hours ago, MrOaktown_56 said:

@Darbsk just you and me homie. Gotta keep the faith in SS.

 

 

Yeh, Smith played a nice game, we seemed to scheme well for his strengths too, didn't see him exposed at all which was good by the coaches. Thought Amerson was pretty decent too. 

Lynch brought a lot more thunder to the backfield than Murray and he's a real load to bring down, sapping the defences energy. Looks like his explosion and desire isn't diminished at all.

[Jerry]

18 hours ago, MrOaktown_56 said:

@Darbsk just you and me homie. Gotta keep the faith in SS.

 

I'll keep the faith.  If that's what it takes for him to keep playing as well as he did against the Titans.  I'll keep believing in him all season long with that level of play lol.

[Geezy]

20 hours ago, MrOaktown_56 said:

@Darbsk just you and me homie. Gotta keep the faith in SS.

 

Sean Smith is going to do well vs WRs like Decker/Davis, bigger guys that he can get his hands on. He will continue to struggle vs the smaller shifty guys tho. We need to move our DBs around, and not let the offense dictate the matchups.

[Geezy]

I think Todd Downing did a good job, it was nice to not get too relaxed with a lead. Also was nice to see a bunch of different sets and all of our weapons being utilized.