Air Raid

New head coach and GM (Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler) have given the Raider Nation a reason to be hopeful that the mystique of the Raiders is returning.

Bringing in elite talent such as Chandler Jones and Davante Adams instantly brings hope that the Raiders will be more competitive on the field.

Jones and Crosby should wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks. Adams, Waller and Renfrow will give opposing defensive coordinators fits as they try to figure out how to handle them. And, if they do, then they’ll need to find an answer to Josh Jacobs.

Ruggs was released by the Raiders yesterday after being arrested and booked on a charge of DUI resulting in the death of another person. The accident happened at 3:39am that morning. Ruggs along with the Kiara Je’nai Kilgo-Washington, the passenger in the car with him, were transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The release abruptly ends a promising second season with the Raiders for Ruggs.

Yesterday, the Raider also released QB Nathan Peterman and waived LB Javin White.

The Raiders now have a record of six and two in games played on the 24th of October with the convincing 33-22 win over the Eagles in Las Vegas today. This date is not even the best day for the Raiders in October. That belongs to October 9th where the Raiders have an impressive nine wins and a single loss.

Derek Carr on his way to another 300+ yards passing performance missed just three completions all day. One of which was a deflection off Jalen Richard’s hand into the waiting Eagle’s defender’s hand. It should have been caught by Richard.

With Darren Waller missing the game it gave Foster Moreau at chance to shine. And, shine he did, catching the ball each of the six times he was targeted. Compiling sixty yards and a touchdown in the process.

Hunter Renfrow continues to be a dependable pair of hands for Carr to throw to. He now has three-plus receptions in nine straight games. Which is the longest streak for a Raiders WR since Michael Crabtree’s streak in 2016-17.

The defense against had an impressive outing with the defensive line pressuring the Eagles’ QB all day. The score does not reflect just how dominant they were (just like last week). If they hadn’t stepped back mid-way through the third quarter and played to consume clock rather than dominate then the score have easily been 33-7.

The Raiders, after a rocky week with the resignation of Jon Gruden following his old and disgusting emails, bounced back into the win column in convincing style.

The matchup featured a battle of the 2014 draft class’s premium quarterbacks in Carr and Bridgewater. A matchup that saw Carr, the only QB from that class still with the team that drafted him, coming out on top. Clearly, head and shoulders above Teddy.

Henry Ruggs continued to grow, catching the first touchdown of the game. Waller tied the great Tim Brown eleven straight games with at least four catches and forty yards in each game.

But the real game ball should go to Max Crosby for his three sacks (becoming the first Raider to do so since Mack left) and the ball hawking and beat up secondary that recorded three interceptions.

This had to be their finest performance of the season and a strong message that the Raiders will prevail over the current controversy.

Back to Carr, he passed the 300 passing yards again. Doing it against a very respected Denver defense.

The key now is to repeat this performance against the Eagles next week and every week after that. Go Raiders!

Articles in The Wall Street Journal and New York Times detailing Jon Gruden’s use of racist, homophobic and misogynistic terms in emails dating back to 2010 led today to him resigning as Las Vegas Raiders head coach.

Gruden was five games into the fourth season of his one hundred million dollar, ten year contract. A season that started with such promise with three wins.

Rich Bisaccia, who was the Raiders’ special team coordinator and assistant head coach will serve as the interim head coach. He is not expected to speak to the media until the schedule press briefing on Wednesday.

This was a should win game for the Raiders. One that if they are to challenge for a playoff berth that they had to come away with a game in the W column.

Distractions late in the week, with Gruden’s old email surfacing and two corners ending up on IR following last weeks game.

That said, early on it looked like the Bears QB was going to have a long and painful day and that the Raiders would indeed walk out of the Death Star with a 4-1 record.

But the Bears rallied around their rookie QB and held a 14-3 halftime lead. A lead that didn’t look in threat until the last drive of the third. It ended with a touchdown run by Josh Jacobs then a failed two point conversion. Thanks to a sack by former Raider Mack.

The Bears then extended their lead with a field goal in the fourth. Forced a turnover on downs on the Raiders next drive which they capitalized on with another field goal. The game then ended with a Carr run after three plays.

The game was marred by some accuracy issues for Carr, Darren Waller having trouble catching the ball and penalties that killed drives. All of which Gruden needs to fix quickly or this season, like so many in recent years, will slip away and we’ll be again thinking in terms of what-ifs.

The Raiders headed into the Monday Night Football game as the only undefeated team left in the AFC and one of the two undefeated teams in the entire league. The game saw them facing their first division challenge and it was against a team that had just beat the Kansas City Chiefs, who had been in the Superbowl the last two year running.

Win and they would be a game clear atop the AFC West and two games ahead of the Chargers and Chiefs. With a loss the Chargers would have a two-zero division record that would put them top of the division.

Like the Dolphins game the week before, the Raiders slipped to a two-touchdown deficit, but unlike last week they then fell further behind. Entering half time behind by twenty one to nothing.

The third quarter looked like a reversal of the previous two, as Carr and the Raiders offense moved the ball and scored twice. Meanwhile, the Raiders defense stiffened and denied Herbert and the Chargers any further glory.

The final quarter saw both defenses dominant. An interception and a missed field goal ending drives for the Raiders. Before the Chargers add another touchdown late to seal their win.

To go anywhere this season, the Raiders need to compete early in games and not stop seeding a lead to their opponents.

NFL Research: With wins against the Ravens, Steelers and Dolphins, the Raiders have become the first team in NFL history to win each of their first three games in a season in which their first three opponents all had 10-plus wins the prior season.

That information was on NFL.com last night. Amazing way for these Raiders to open the season. Beating three teams with winning records last season.

Raiders are 3-0 for the first time since 2002.

A sad fact, but one that gives hope for this season. The 2002 season ended with the Raiders in the Superbowl.

This highlights just how good Derek Carr is playing right now. I’m starting to feel like he will find a way to bring the Raiders back no matter what.

The Raider started slow today, spotting the Dolphins fourteen points before they came alive. Going on a 25 point run that started with a safety.

Carr once again passed for over three hundred and fifty yards while completing touchdowns to Hunter Renfrow and Alec Ingold. Alec’s touchdown a reward for recovering a fumble on the previous play.

The running game also got on track with Peyton Barber racking up 111 yards on 23 carries as the next man up to the injured Josh Jacobs.

The defense looked stifling at times, but also allowed the Dolphins backup QB to look good late in the game as he drove down the field to tie the game up. they stood tall when it matter, in overtime. Stopping what looked at times like a game winning drive.

With a 3-0 record, the Raiders now move on to a divisional matchup against the Chargers. A team that managed to get a well deserved win against the Chiefs this week.

A slow start against the Ravens had me wondering if we’d see the same old Raiders. The defense seemed to struggle, the offense showed live but not enough. But as the game progressed, Derek Carr’s lead offense started to score and the defense showed that maybe it wasn’t going to be a repeat of years past.

The game resulted in an overtime victory, but before that their final drive seemed to highlight the Raiders of seasons passed. Offering hope as they drove down the field and got in field goal range to win it. Pressing his luck, Gruden sent on the field goal team rather than seek a few more yards for an easier kick. Only to see the chance of a field goal evaporate with a penalty. Something decades of Raiders have suffered with.

But, hopefully, to prove this season might be different, Carr threw a touchdown to a wide-open Jones on the very next play.

The next week, the roll into Pittsburgh and we got to watch a Raiders defense frustrate Big Ben the whole day while Carr looked every bit the NFL’s leading passer.

So we roll into week three and now it’s time for these Raiders to show they are for real this year by beating a team they should beat after taking down two top teams from the year before. This is a game for them to show they are serious about winning this year.

I for one think its high time Gruden’s Raiders showed us they want to win.