Written by James Arcellana at Cover32.com
The Oakland Raiders are 1-0 after upsetting the New Orleans Saints on the road in what was perhaps the most exciting game of the first Sunday of the year. The Raiders and Drew Brees got into a shootout that did not seem to be going the way of the Silver and Black until Derek Carr and crew turned things up, scoring 22 points in the fourth quarter and pulling off the win, 35-34.
There will be plenty of pieces that take a deeper look at the week one victory, but first it’s always good to take an inventory of the first impressions from the game. Here’s a look at my key thoughts and first impressions:
- Latavius Murray looked much better than he did in the preseason. He was lowering his shoulder and even broke a few tackles, looking more like the bruising back the Raiders need for the run first scheme the coaches are hoping to run.
- Even with Murray looking improved, the Raiders are much better off with a deep running back stable. Murray, DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard all ran the ball and contributed to a big day on the ground for the Raiders.
- Jalen Richard looks like he could end up being a really great pickup for the Raiders. His 75 yard touchdown run was probably the biggest turning point in the game.
- While he was being double teamed frequently, we really didn’t hear from Khalil Mack. While you definitely want to see more from the best player on your defense, it’s also a great sign that the Raiders could pull off the road upset even without Mack having a big impact.
- Bruce Irvin, on the other hand, had a very solid game, starting things off with a strip sack and getting pressure on Brees a couple more times throughout the game.
- Sean Smith was getting burned badly before he got benched by coaches. This should not be a huge surprise as neither he nor Amerson are going to match up well against speed guys. The coaches will need to find a better way to fix that issue than putting D.J. Hayden in so he can collect pass interference calls. Whether it’s jamming receivers at the line or getting safety help over the top, they need to be able to play one of their biggest free agent signings.
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