Las Vegas Raiders Thread

Prefab Sprouter wrote: »

Very enjoyable result last night. The media were all ready to talk about how Mack dominated the Raiders and it didnt happen!! Lots of room to improve but the great thing about last night was watching how fired up the players were. And whilst we are nowhere near challenging for playoffs, its nice to see us go to 3-2 into the bye week, especially with all the controversies that have surrounded us.

I have said a few times already that it is clear the team has improved quite a bit from last season. Probably not enough to challenge for a play off spot but clear improvement nonetheless and considering the Raiders have Chicago's first round draft pick for next season the win helped in that regard a little bit as well.

That first half of football was one of the best halves I've seen the Raiders play in a long time.

97 yard drive to win it after blowing a 17 point lead was very encouraging also.

Prefab Sprouter wrote: »

That bye week was very good to us. we get Gabe Jackson back and the Chiefs and Chargers both lose. There's part of me cant wait for the next match and there's part of me that is dreading it. Will Rodgers carve us up or will Jones go off on one? Will our Offense continue to score?

Given the Packers played Monday so have a day less to rest and prepare that helps. But to my mind all that it will do is make the game more competitive. But still cannot see anything other then a Packers win next weekend.

Prefab Sprouter wrote: »

And so it proved Eire4!

Yes sometimes it sucks being right but there was just no way I could see for the Raiders to win away against the Packers. I think it will be a split in the next 2 games as well losing next weekend and winning the weekend after to finish 4-4 for the half way mark which to my mind is about right. I feel the team has made solid progress from last year but is still a long way from being a team that can contend and hence is probably a 500 or thereabouts team right now.

Even though we lost against the Texans there were positives , Josh Jacobs continues to impress and Renfrew got a nice TD. with that away stretch done it is good to have 3 back to back home games even though one is a Thursday night game against the chargers.

Prefab Sprouter wrote: »

I agree Kev, we might have lost Sunday's game, but we were in it right up to the death, the Defense cost us the game but the Offense looked really good for most of the game. Its great that we will be back in Oakland for the next few games. I said at the start of the year that I would settle for being competitive in games this year and its already surpassed my expectations. The one thing that is annoying me is that we are never more than one week away from Raiders fans calling for Carr's head......hes the best QB we have had since Rich Gannon, why the hell would you want to replace him?

Agree completely RE Carr.

It would be different if we had a top D and the QB was holding us back but the fact is that there are far weaker spots on both sides of the ball than QB

Prefab Sprouter wrote: »

I agree Kev, we might have lost Sunday's game, but we were in it right up to the death, the Defense cost us the game but the Offense looked really good for most of the game. Its great that we will be back in Oakland for the next few games. I said at the start of the year that I would settle for being competitive in games this year and its already surpassed my expectations. The one thing that is annoying me is that we are never more than one week away from Raiders fans calling for Carr's head......hes the best QB we have had since Rich Gannon, why the hell would you want to replace him?

I am in total agreement with you on Carr. Sure he is not in the elite QB category in the league but he is tucked in just behind that. He is getting help this year from Jacobs and a good running game. But the receiving core while better then last year is still far from a quality one so for me he is actually overall one of the teams strengths. The receiving core is still crying out for a true top quality WR and the defense while a bit better then last year still has a long ways to go. In short the Raiders have way more issues to address in the next draft then at QB.

Kev8360 wrote: »

That was a good win against a dangerous team. Stafford played really well and he could have forced overtime at the end only for a few big plays from the defense.

I thought Carr again played very well - made an impressive play to scoop the ball and throw it away back to line of scrimmage late on from a bad snap that could have gone all kinds of wrong.

Also good to see Renfrew get another td this week - did a great job of getting open in the end zone.

Chargers this week will be tough - looks like they are turning things around after a bad start to the season. The packers couldn’t get anything going against them.

Hi Kev, I agree with your analysis! It was definitely a good win against a team that could have gone to town on us. Carr played well and has played well most of the season - despite constant changes to the WR and OL slots on the team. Renfrow is starting to make a name for himself, despite a quiet start. A search on Twitter this morning had one user compare him to Wes Welker! Now, he's got some way to go before he's spoken of in those terms but he appears to be settling in and its good to see the receiving corps pulling its weight.
Jacobs is a beast and he is behind a beast of a line. Its great to see that the rushing game has established itself and is now respected. Takes the pressure off Carr.

Was it Gruden himself that called the time out right at the end? What was he thinking???

WHHOOOO!! jumped out of bed when I saw the result this morning, Rivers had an awful long night out there with the defence flying all over, bar the costly flags. Great to see the ball getting spread around so much too and ingold getting in for one after all his support work with Jacobs.

Is it presumptious to dream about the next 2 weeks?????

This week is just getting better. Way to go Tennessee!!!

Oh man I watched that game through my fingers! Joe Mixon was giving us a tonne of problems in the first half - I was surprised they didn’t stay with him more late on. Good to get the win but will be a tough task going to New York next week to the jets.

Even still if you had told me at this stage of the season we would be level with the chiefs at the top of the division I would have taken it no questions

Excellent game from Max Crosby - 4 sacks and a forced fumble.

golfball37 wrote: »

Carr was hot last night. Would love to see his passer rating? First incompletion was Wallers drop in the end zone which was his 15th pass attempt !

He had a passer rating of 105.7 which is a very good performance (perfect rating is 158.3) - the calculation is convoluted but the INT and only 1 TD drag it down a bit I think.

Kev8360 wrote: »

Well that was a really bad display by the offense! Worst possible preparation for Kansas City next week.

That is putting it mildly. Think it will be back to 500 at 6-6 after another heavy defeat next week. Really disappointing given a win would really have put the Raiders in the hunt for a wild card spot but the reality is probably what I felt at the start of the season that yes there was clear improvement but still no where enough to actually challenge as a legit playoff team yet.