Hello, Raider Nation, and welcome to this week’s edition of Talking Touchdowns.
Welp, another tough loss in the book of the Raiders but did anyone really expect anything different from the G.O.A.T., Tom Brady and the Pats? I don’t think so…Tom Brady had a nearly flawless performance in the 33-8 win over the Raiders. He completed 30 of 37 passes for 339 yards and three touchdowns.
The Oakland Raiders have fired defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr, while a lot of players are NOT happy about this, the truth is the defense was not living up to expectations. A big reason for that is because opposing teams have been steamrolling Oakland’s defense and they have also managed to set an NFL record for futility. The Raiders still don’t have an interception this season, making them the only team in NFL history that’s gone 10 games without recording a pick. We saw it clearly in Sunday’s game against the Patriots. The defense got picked apart, and they have been all year. They need more creative schemes and pressure. Either the defense will play inspired and step up or they’ll roll over. We won’t know until we know, but at this point in the season it’s kind of irrelevant!
Oakland Raiders vs. New England Patriots
Stephen Gostkowski of the Patriots kicked a 62-yard field goal — one of four for him on the night — as the first half ended, a record for the Patriots. The Raiders receivers are lacking consistency and production, with Seth Roberts being the biggest offender. He had a drop, a false start and lost a fumble near the goal line with the Patriots up 14-0 late in the first half. Roberts had 12 yards in his pocket but he held the ball one handed and while fighting for it, lost it! That was the turning point; a true 10-point swing.
It was definitely hard for us to watch, especially watching the Raiders defense just fall apart.The defense got victimized by short passes by Brady and then beaten on a 64-yard TD to Brandin Cooks on the third play of the second half that gave New England a 24-0 lead.
I have one highlight for ya’ll- Mack with the Sack, it was only his first full sack in his past six games. After the sack, Mack and Brady staring at each other, as if Brady wanted Mack to help him up. Mack did not. And with the first-half sack, Mack moved into seventh on the Raiders’ career sack list with 35.5.
Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos
Anyways the past is the past and up next we face the Denver Broncos who are fourth in the AFC West at 3-7.
The Raiders O-line has to keep Von Miller and the pass rushers on the side and allow Derek Carr to step up and make good throws. Defensively, they are going to have to rush hard too. Denver’s QBs continue to get frazzled when they are seeing more than four bodies rushing. So this leads to turnovers and more mental mistakes. Whoever wins the front seven battle on both sides, easily wins this one. And I’m not going to lie, I think the Raiders loss against the Patriots might have struck a chord with them. I mean, I was even inspired to go out and throw like Brady. Hopefully that experience inspires them to step it up a few 100 notches, though I know Broncos Fangirl Ashley hopes it doesn’t.
[NFL-Raiders-footer]Photo Credits:
- Oakland Raiders on Wikimedia Commons by Oakland Raiders
- Tom Brady on flickr by Keith Allison
- Stephen Gostkowski on flickr by Keith Allison
- Seth Roberts on Wikimedia Commons by Keith Allison
- Khalil Mack on wikimedia commons by Jeffrey Beall
- Denver Bronco Logo on Wikimedia by NFLCommunications.com
- Von Miller on flickr by Jeffrey Beall
- Derek Carr on wikimedia commons by Erik Drost
