Rupert
09-30-2007, 05:51 PM
In the Trenches - Week 4
Let’s start this whole thing off by admitting that this was not a very good test for the Raiders in the trenches. Coming in, Miami was near the bottom of the league in sacks and run defense. They couldn’t run the ball that well, passed pretty well and gave up an average number of sacks.
If you watched the game, you know what happened. We started off running the ball well, and ended up running it VERY well. Miami did a good job running the ball against us, but struggled in the passing game.
So what can we learn from the trenches this week?
Running the ball, the Raiders had 49 carries for a total of 299 yards, a whopping 6.1 yards per carry. Of those 49 plays, 13 were for less than 3 yards or 26.5%. In other words 73.5% went for 3 or more yards. That’s running the ball well.
Miami carried the ball 20 times for 141 yards, or a huge 7.1 yards per carry. Of those 20 plays, 8 went for less than 3 yards or an astonishing 40%. Miami was also caught behind the line on 3 plays, or 15% of their runs went for a loss. Those 3 runs for loss were included in the plays of less than 3 yards.
The Raiders front seven did a pretty good job stopping the run, but when you see that Miami did serious damage on only 12 running plays, you can see the disadvantage of having your DB’s in man coverage. With your corners’ backs to the play and your safeties closer to the line and getting caught in traffic, running away from the play, or mirroring their eventual blocker, you’ve got to get a higher percentage of plays made by your front seven. In a zone scheme you’re less likely to see big runs getting sprung, but you’re more likely to see passes completed unless you get pressure on the QB. Speaking of which…
In the passing game, the Raiders attempted 13 passes, which is indicative of how well they were running the ball as well as how infrequently they were forced into long downs. Being sacked once they only attempted 12 passes and completed 5, for a paltry 41.7% completion rate and a mere 75 yards passing (5 deducted for the sack giving a net of 70 yards passing). Other than the sack, the Raiders tried 2 quick passes, used play action twice, and rolled to throw once. Culpepper was never hurried, was flushed 4 times, was hit once, and couldn’t find an open receiver 3 times.
Miami attempted 27 passes, 7 of which were quick passes, and another 7 of which were play action. Despite their obvious attempts to help their offensive line protect the quarterback, the Raiders hit Green 4 times, flushed him twice, hurried him 3 times, sacked him twice, tipped three passes, and intercepted him twice. By percentages, 56% (14) of their passes were completed, 28% of their pass attempts were quick passes and another 28% were play action. On 36% of their passes Green was hit, hurried, or flushed, and on 20% the ball was tipped or picked.
All in all the Raiders did a good job in the trenches. Unfortunately, Miami didn’t come into this game as one of the league’s tougher teams in the trenches. They also came into this game without their tackling machine middle linebacker Zack Thomas.
You can only play the teams on your schedule, and the Raiders did what was necessary to dominate the game. Losing LaMont Jordan does come at a convenient time, if losing a player can ever be called convenient. The bye week will give him two weeks to recover from his back injury. With Dominic Rhodes coming off suspension, there is no need to hurry Jordan back into action. Jordan might want to hurry back to preserve his starting spot, but the team can hold him back if necessary for his health.
Regardless of all that, the Raiders are at 2-2 going into the bye week. They’ve won their first road game in over a year. They also found that Culpepper works well under center, he didn’t make any bad throws, had a couple drops, one lousy offensive PI called, and one defensive PI not called. I guess to make up for that, the refs blew a replay where a non-fumble recovered by Miami could easily have been overturned. Additionally, the Raiders can go into the bye week knowing they didn’t sneak one out by the skin of their teeth. It’s no great feat to dominate one of the league’s weaker teams, but it’s good to know you can dominate a team when you should, which is not something the Raiders have done that often in the past 4 years.
Let’s start this whole thing off by admitting that this was not a very good test for the Raiders in the trenches. Coming in, Miami was near the bottom of the league in sacks and run defense. They couldn’t run the ball that well, passed pretty well and gave up an average number of sacks.
If you watched the game, you know what happened. We started off running the ball well, and ended up running it VERY well. Miami did a good job running the ball against us, but struggled in the passing game.
So what can we learn from the trenches this week?
Running the ball, the Raiders had 49 carries for a total of 299 yards, a whopping 6.1 yards per carry. Of those 49 plays, 13 were for less than 3 yards or 26.5%. In other words 73.5% went for 3 or more yards. That’s running the ball well.
Miami carried the ball 20 times for 141 yards, or a huge 7.1 yards per carry. Of those 20 plays, 8 went for less than 3 yards or an astonishing 40%. Miami was also caught behind the line on 3 plays, or 15% of their runs went for a loss. Those 3 runs for loss were included in the plays of less than 3 yards.
The Raiders front seven did a pretty good job stopping the run, but when you see that Miami did serious damage on only 12 running plays, you can see the disadvantage of having your DB’s in man coverage. With your corners’ backs to the play and your safeties closer to the line and getting caught in traffic, running away from the play, or mirroring their eventual blocker, you’ve got to get a higher percentage of plays made by your front seven. In a zone scheme you’re less likely to see big runs getting sprung, but you’re more likely to see passes completed unless you get pressure on the QB. Speaking of which…
In the passing game, the Raiders attempted 13 passes, which is indicative of how well they were running the ball as well as how infrequently they were forced into long downs. Being sacked once they only attempted 12 passes and completed 5, for a paltry 41.7% completion rate and a mere 75 yards passing (5 deducted for the sack giving a net of 70 yards passing). Other than the sack, the Raiders tried 2 quick passes, used play action twice, and rolled to throw once. Culpepper was never hurried, was flushed 4 times, was hit once, and couldn’t find an open receiver 3 times.
Miami attempted 27 passes, 7 of which were quick passes, and another 7 of which were play action. Despite their obvious attempts to help their offensive line protect the quarterback, the Raiders hit Green 4 times, flushed him twice, hurried him 3 times, sacked him twice, tipped three passes, and intercepted him twice. By percentages, 56% (14) of their passes were completed, 28% of their pass attempts were quick passes and another 28% were play action. On 36% of their passes Green was hit, hurried, or flushed, and on 20% the ball was tipped or picked.
All in all the Raiders did a good job in the trenches. Unfortunately, Miami didn’t come into this game as one of the league’s tougher teams in the trenches. They also came into this game without their tackling machine middle linebacker Zack Thomas.
You can only play the teams on your schedule, and the Raiders did what was necessary to dominate the game. Losing LaMont Jordan does come at a convenient time, if losing a player can ever be called convenient. The bye week will give him two weeks to recover from his back injury. With Dominic Rhodes coming off suspension, there is no need to hurry Jordan back into action. Jordan might want to hurry back to preserve his starting spot, but the team can hold him back if necessary for his health.
Regardless of all that, the Raiders are at 2-2 going into the bye week. They’ve won their first road game in over a year. They also found that Culpepper works well under center, he didn’t make any bad throws, had a couple drops, one lousy offensive PI called, and one defensive PI not called. I guess to make up for that, the refs blew a replay where a non-fumble recovered by Miami could easily have been overturned. Additionally, the Raiders can go into the bye week knowing they didn’t sneak one out by the skin of their teeth. It’s no great feat to dominate one of the league’s weaker teams, but it’s good to know you can dominate a team when you should, which is not something the Raiders have done that often in the past 4 years.