News » A week after a 45 point explosion and first win of the season

the Raiders had their Oakland Raiders T-Shirt worst performance of the year in a 26-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.The Raiders didn’t need to worry about blowing a lead in this one because at no point did they have the lead. The offensive line, in particular struggled badly.Without Donald Penn and Kelechi Osemele active for the game, Jon Feliciano and rookie third round pick Brandon Parker got the start.With the loss the Raiders fall to 1-4.Let’s take a look at the Raider week five report card.Aerial Attack: CAll things considered, two rookie tackles and a back up guard starting on the offensive line, on paper the numbers look ok.Carr finished the day 24-33, with 268 yards and one touchdown.Major points were taken off for a back breaking interception late in the third quarter.On the Chargers one yard line, Jon Gruden called a play action fake to Marshawn Lynch.Carr’s primary option was not open, Carr trying to make something out of nothing tried to make a play and the ball ended up in the hands of Melvin Ingram.After the game Jon Gruden defended his play call. “We haven’t thrown the ball in a goal to go situation all year.It’s first and goal, the decision there is to throw it and if it’s not open you throw it away.”Derek Carr has a history of at times trying to do too much, this season has been no different.“I think he just presses in some moments, he knows we have to do a lot with the ball when we have it and I think that’s what happened today,” said Gruden.Amari Cooper and Jordy Nelson combined for five catches for 53 yards. Ground Game: FThe running game was a non factor today.The blame can be shared between the offensive line being ineffective and game flow.Marshawn Lynch was only given nine opportunities to carry the ball.As a team the Raiders carried the ball 13 times for 44 yards.Offensive Line: DStarting two rookies at tackle and a back up at guard were taking into consideration when evaluating their performance.Even with the inexperience along the line today the performance was not good.Carr was sacked three times Oakland Raiders Hats , all three were given up by Kolton Miller.Also keep in mind, Joey Bosa did not play.In addition to poor run blocking, allowing pressures, the offensive line also committed several pre snap penalties which turned manageable third down situations into third and longs. Defensive Line: B+The boxscore numbers might not be indicative of the defensive lines production but this was one of their better performances overall.Bruce Irvin picked up his third sack of the season.Rookies Maurice Hurst, PJ Hall, and Arden Key all had an impact on the game.PJ Hall had a tackle for loss as well as a deflected pass and Hurst had another pass deflected.Arden Key is continuing to improve as a pass rusher, it’s only a matter of time before he begins to rack up some sacks.The Raiders defense held the Chargers to 79 yards rushing on 31 carries for a 2.5 yards per carry.Linebackers: CTahir Whitehead led the defense in tackles with nine but it was the tackle he did not make that had the biggest impact on the game.Austin Ekeler took a screen pass 40 yards for a touchdown, Whitehead whiffed badly on the play which allowed Ekeler to take it to the house.Big plays have plagued the Raiders all year long.Secondary: D-Phillip Rivers had his way with the Raiders secondary, completing 81 percent (22 of 27) of his passes for 339 yards and two touchdowns.Going into the game the Raiders defense ranked seventh in explosive pass plays allowed.An explosive play is defined as any pass play that is completed for 20 yards or more.Today the Chargers completed passes of 26, 34, 44, and 48.Early in the game the secondary made some plays to get off the field on third down but in the second half that was not the case.Special Teams: BUnlike last week the special teams were a non factor in the game.Dwayne Harris returned two kickoffs for 44 yards.Matt McCrane was made one of two field goal attempts.His miss was a long 57 yard attempt 11 seconds before the half.Overall Grade: D Raiders NewsRaiders sign former Cowboys DE Kony Ealy | Silver and Black PrideThose obviously are not jaw dropping stats Oakland Raiders Hoodie , but he has been somewhat productive for a 5 year veteran. Hopefully either Ealy or Jacquies Smith can step in and provide some sort of spark for the struggling Raiders defense, though it can’t really get too much worse from what’s been on the field anyway.Raiders sign journeyman DE Jacquies Smith to fill void left by Bruce Irvin release | Silver and Black PrideThe 6-2, 260-pound defensive end has 13.5 career sacks, all of which came in his first two seasons in the league with the Bucaneers in 2014-15. That was also the only 18 games he’s started in his career.Making the argument that the Raiders aren’t the worst team in the NFL | NBC Sports Bay AreaYou might find that hard to believe if you have not yet forgotten what you watched four days ago in Santa Clara. You might have concluded that such lack of inspiration from the visor to the helmets cannot be matched by any other team. You might have decided that this is as low as it gets.Are players really dying to play for the Raiders or is this just a Jon Gruden hustle? | Silver and Black PrideYeah, Galette, the current free agent edge-rusher that had his last 10-sack season in 2014. Navorro Bowman, who led the Raiders in tackles last year, has repeatedly said he would like to return as well. Perhaps Dez Bryant and Colin Kaepernick are dying to play for the Raiders too?Former Raiders 2nd round pick Obi Melifonwu signs on with the Patriots | Silver and Black PrideAfter being slow to return last offseason, drawing the ire of Jon Gruden, he eventually made it back, only to once again get injured and once again be placed in injured reserve. On October 23rd, he was waived from IR Cheap Customized Oakland Raiders Jerseys , which is usually a sign he believes he is healthy enough to resume playing. Now two weeks later, he has found a home in New England.2018 Raiders as hopeless as 2006 team and perhaps worse | Silver and Black PrideThe 2018 team re-hired head coach Jon Gruden after wrongfully trading him following a 10-6 playoff season in 2001. Gruden went 48-26 and to the playoffs in two of his four years as Raiders head coach from 1998-2001. And so far in his first year back in the Raiders’ director’s chair, he’s been ineffective just like Shell at 1-7 midway through the year. The offense hasn’t been good but it’s the defense that’s hitting the all-time lows the 2006 offense hit.AFC West Broncos may not fire Vance Joseph during the season | Broncos WireIf Joseph finishes under .500 again, it’s hard to imagine him being brought back for the 2019 season. Fans may just have to wait until the offseason for Denver’s front office to make a move official.Broncos’ Matt Paradis ‘out for a while’ with fractured fibula | ESPN.comThe Denver Broncos have not played a game without Matt Paradis at center since the 2014 season, and now they might have to finish out whatever becomes of this season without him after he left Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans with a lower leg injury.NBC’s Rodney Harrison says the Chargers are a better team than the Chiefs | The Kansas City StarOne thing to note about the Chargers: They are 6-0 against teams with a .500 record or worse and 0-2 against teams with a winning record. That, of course, includes a loss to the Chiefs.Chiefs open as biggest favorites of 2018 season over Cardinals in Week 10 | Chiefs WireEven with Arizona coming off their bye week, Vegas is not giving the Cardinals much of a chance in this game. According to Oddsshark, the Chiefs are favored to win by somewhere between 16.5 and 18.5 points.Chargers reportedly cut Caleb Sturgis as nightmare kicking situation continues | CBS SportsChargers coach Anthony Lynn said he was going to evaluate the team’s situation at kicker after watching Caleb Sturgis struggle on Sunday and it appears that evaluation is going to end with Sturgis out of a job. NFL NewsPatriots’ Win Over Packers Earns Highest Ratings of 2018 Season | Patriots.comThe highly-anticipated matchup soared in both local and national television rankings, finishing as the highest-rated Week 9 game in the 13-year history of NBC’s Sunday Night Football (SNF). ESPN: Nevada Sportsbooks Lost $7-10M from Sunday’s NFL Week 9 Action | Bleacher ReportOn Monday, David Purdum of ESPN.com reported it was “one of the betting public’s best” days as three heavily wagered teams—the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers—all covered the point spread during Sunday’s action.The NFL’s partnership with ‘Fortnite’ is probably a bad idea Womens Kolton Miller Jersey , right? | USA TodayLike a father trying to prove to his kids that he’s actually cool, the NFL has struck up a partnership with Fortnite, the immensely popular video game that all the youths are playing.Steelers’ Le’Veon Bell bids farewell to Miami | NFL.comAs much as everyone might want to speculate on what this might mean, we simply don’t know if Bell is any closer to returning to the Steelers. As NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport noted Sunday, the team still doesn’t know when or if Bell will report before the Nov. 13 deadline to maintain his playing eligibility for the 2018 season.Veteran RB Chris Johnson retires after 10 seasons | NFL.comWhile he had a one-year stop with the New York Jets in 2014, Johnson’s best seasons came with the Tennessee Titans from 2008 to 2013 as one of the NFL’s most explosive dual-threat players with the ball in his hands. Johnson produced six straight seasons with 1,000-plus yards rushing, including a 2,006 yards rushing effort in 2009, and amassed 58 total touchdowns (50 rushing) in that span.