Down to their third string quarterback, the Oakland Raiders were smoked against Denver in week 17. Now the team must quickly regroup or face an early exit in the playoffs. In Houston the offensive line and running backs, defensive front seven, and Jack Del Rio will hold the Oakland Raiders wild card weekend keys to victory.
Oakland Raiders Wild Card Weekend Keys to Victory
Captain Jack
It remains to be seen if Jack Del Rio is a good coach or if he has been riding the coat tails of an MVP all season long. Derek Carr was spectacular, but the Raiders defense? Far from it. This is particularly concerning considering Del Rio is a defensive minded head coach. His defensive unit should be the reason the Raiders are winning games, not the reason Derek Carr had to orchestrate seven fourth quarter comebacks and throw five game winning touchdowns. The Raiders defense gave up over 6,000 yards all year and has been far from the physical, tough, and smart defense they were supposed to be.
In week 17, the Raiders came out flat and could do nothing to stop the Denver Broncos. Against the Houston Texans, where it’s win or go home, Del Rio is going to have to do a much better job of making sure his team is prepared and ready to play a meaningful game. The Texans will be starting Brock Osweiler who has proven this season to be nothing more than a glorified backup. However, he may just be good enough to beat a Raiders team with an average head coach and a below average defense.
Khalil Mack Sack Attack
If the Raiders’ defense has any chance to keep this game competitive and give themselves a chance to steal a victory, it will be on the front seven, namely Khalil Mack. The Raiders allocated a ton of draft capital and cap space to revamping the secondary and the results have been less than desired. Sean Smith has routinely gotten torched, Reggie Nelson mostly plays like a 35-year-old man, and David Amerson is the definition of a hot and cold player that’s mostly cold. In short, they’ve been bad. The lone bright spot has been rookie safety, Karl Joseph, but this is his first game back in a month.
To beat Osweiler isn’t hard. It just requires an ability to stop the run game and force even the slightest bit of pressure. All year long, the Raiders have really struggled to get pressure from players not named Khalil Mack so if the rest of this talented but raw defensive live can create some havoc it will go a long way in protecting this porous Oakland secondary. On the year, Osweiler has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns and has been largely ineffective if the threat of the run is not there. The Raiders defensive game plan should read “force third and long and hit Osweiler.” If the Raiders can get to him on the majority of his drop backs and eliminate the threat of a run or effective play action on short yardage to go situations, they will stand half a chance escaping Houston with a win.
Offensive Explosion
The pride of Reggie McKenzie’s team is the offensive line, a unit that gave up only 18 sacks all season and helped the Raiders rank sixth in rushing. It’s time for the Raiders offensive line to put their large amounts of money where their mouth is and dominate a game. Last week, they could manage hardly any push against a tough Denver defense that dared Oakland to pass. Now it’s up to the Raiders line to dare Houston to stand in their way. For the Raiders to have any chance to move the ball, the offensive line will need to have a statement game, that statement being “We don’t care who lines up in front of us they’re getting run over.” A dominant running game sprinkled in with a few shots to Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper should keep the Raiders in the game and hopefully keep it watchable.
Connor Cook. Who is he? Well, he was a three-year starter for Michigan State, a Rose Bowl MVP, led a ferocious 20-point fourth quarter comeback win in the Cotton Bowl, and led MSU to a College Football Playoff berth. He’s a winner and a former fourth round pick whose only real experience against an NFL defense came against the number one ranked pass defense in the NFL. He played admirably after being thrown into the fire, showcasing a live arm and ability to go through his progressions. Most importantly, he looked poised. A big man (6’4’’ 217 pounds) with a good arm that’s well protected could be dangerous. Not Derek Carr dangerous, but a dangerous third string quarterback who could get the ball to his playmakers and beat a bad Texans team kind of dangerous.
The Raiders will need to establish the run but if they do, Cook will thrive on play action intermediate routes and bootlegs that give him room to either run it on his own or hit the open man. MSU utilized the read-option as a compliment to their run game and Cook’s passing game, so don’t be surprised to see Cook keep it himself and pick a first down or two on a third or second and short. Cook presents an upgrade over Matt McGloin, but will it be an upgrade enough to steal a road playoff win?
