Skip to main content

Raiders Working on Key Areas

According to most reports, the Raiders worked primarily on blitz pickup and red zone passing during practice on Wednesday.

The Raiders ranked 29th in the league in red zone scoring in 2009 and scored on just 41.4% of their red zone possessions.

Red zone scoring is often time a predictor of playoff teams and four of the top five teams in red zone scoring qualified for the playoffs in 2009. The top five teams in 2009 were Arizona, Miami, Indianapolis, Minnesota and New Orleans.

The passing game behind JaMarcus Russell was especially weak in 2009, but the team only managed to put up 0.6 passing touchdowns per game, good (or not good) for last in the league. Again, four of the top five teams in passing touchdowns per game were playoff teams, New Orleans, Minnesota, Indianapolis, Green Bay and Houston.

Another factor to consider as a key to winning is the all important third down conversion percentage. It is also well known that blitzes are often used on third down.

Getting first downs and keeping a drive alive was a reoccurring theme during the Gruden years. Three of the top five teams in third down conversion percentage made the playoffs in 2009. The top teams were Miami, Indianapolis, Green Bay, Jacksonville and Minnesota. The Raiders ranked 30th in third down conversion percentage at 29.6%.

So while these practices aren’t mandatory, the Raiders are attempting to get the most of them by working on areas of significant weakness.

If you were wondering, the Raiders defense ranked 9th in red zone scoring percentage, 4th in passing touchdowns against and 7th in third down conversions against. Pretty good?

You could make a case that the Raiders were working on blitzing and not blitz pickup, but they may be a poor assumption considering the pad-free environment and the stats below.

The Raiders ranked 4th in the league in sack percentage at 7.8%, behind only Minnesota, Miami and Pittsburgh. In the final three games, the Raiders were the top team in the league with a sack percentage of 11.4%. If the Raiders can stop the run or put a few points on the board, the defense has the potential to be very good without added blitzing.

The Raiders did blitz more last season than in recent years. With Trevor Scott and Kamerion Wimbley at outside linebacker expect more of the same.

Decide for yourself if the Raider need to blitz more and keep this in mind, if the Raiders stop the run and score more points on offense, they may blitz more if only because their opponents will need to pass more.

For more interesting NFL stats go here: http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Oakland Raiders Swing for the Fences in 2016 NFL Draft

[embed align="center"]http://gty.im/153039819[/embed] These aren't your daddy's Oakland Raiders or even your younger self's Raiders. If anything, these are your newborn's Raiders or your puppy's Raiders. These are the Raiders we've never seen before. Indicative of the freshness of the franchise was their 2016 NFL Draft. No longer slave to a high draft pick and desperate needs, the theme of the draft for the Raiders was upside. It's as if general manager Reggie McKenzie got so used to hitting his draft picks out of the park that he started swinging for the fences. We'll have to wait a couple of years before we know if he struck out or if he'll continue his Ruthian ways. First, McKenzie boldly went with a safety at No. 14 overall. Kyle Joseph is coming off a torn ACL and fills a major need, but safety isn't a premium position. Only a handful of safeties have been drafted in the first 14 picks in the last 15 years and include names like Ea

The Raiders aren't who we thought they were....they're better

The Oakland Raiders are tired of being the team that will be good in a year or two. The team expects to win now and it is winning now. We thought the Raiders needed more talent. We thought that being in the playoff hunt was a year away for this team, but we were wrong. This isn't the team we thought they were, they're better. On Sunday, they moved to 3-3 on Sunday with a 37-29 win over the San Diego Chargers that wasn't close until the final minute. It was also the Raiders second road win of the season. The last time the Raiders had two road wins by their sixth game was 2011. Before that, a five-year streak from 1998-2002. The Raiders went 8-8 in 1998, 1999 and 2011 and narrowly missed the playoffs each year.  They made the playoffs in 2000, 2001 and 2002. They didn't have a losing record in any of those seasons because teams that can win on the road are usually pretty good. As the season matures, there is more and more evidence that some of the "best-case scenario

Looking Forward: Raiders 2012 Free Agents

Khalif Barnes - Weakest link on the offensive line with youth behind him. Raiders will look for for other options. It's not as if there aren't a dozen Khalif's on the street each year. Darryl Blackstock - Was a Chuck Bresnahan guy, but found a home on special teams. Would have to make the team as a reserve LB and special teams guy next training camp. Wouldn't be surprised to see him back as a camp body or gone entirely. Kyle Boller - Hue didn't have enough confidence to turn to Boller. Expect the Raiders to look elsewhere for a backup to Carson Palmer. Jerome Boyd - Was nothing more than a reserve and special teams player. Some good moments and some very bad ones. Camp body again and fate will depend on the defensive coordinator. Tyvon Branch - About the only consistent producer in the secondary. Raiders will want to bring him back. Desmond Bryant - He's been great in limited action and can play inside and out. Key reserve. Michael Bush - He'll find a home a