Raiders Performance Subpar Despite Victory Over Jaguars
By JL Herrera
The Oakland Raiders defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday afternoon with a score of 19-9 at the O.co Coliseum. The match was not very exciting, as kicker Sebastian Janikowski provided most of the scoring for the Raiders. As for the Jaguars, nothing went their way until the last quarter when time was a major factor.
Terrelle Pryor's performance was not what had lifted the Oakland Raiders earlier in the season, but it was still decent enough to get a home victory.
Also, Darren McFadden provided as the workhorse gaining over 100 yards in rushing; however, the main back did not get a touchdown against a bad Jaguars defense.
In the end, the Raiders, thanks partly to the defense, deserve a decent grade of a B.
The Offense: C+
The offense did not do as well as expected. However, they pulled it off, forcing a nice Sunday afternoon. Terrelle Pryor did not get any touchdowns, which was a bit of an upset for the fans.
The passing was almost stifled by the Jaguars defense; so instead, the Raiders relied heavily on the running game. Marcel Reece got the only Raiders touchdown for the day on an 11-yard run.
Darren McFadden, even though he didn't get a touchdown, managed to get 129 yards in 19 carriers with a 30-yard run being the longest. Pryor had the second most rushing for the Raiders, gaining 50 yards total.
More should have happened with the offense, since the Raiders were playing one of the worst, or perhaps the worst, defense in the NFL league.
Quarterback: C+
More was expected of Pryor in this game against the Jaguars, but the Raiders quarterback did not get much passing done. Pryor had 15 receptions out of 24 attempts, totaling 126 yards. That is not good considering the fact that Pryor was up against an inexperienced and weak defense.
On the other hand, Pryor did not have any picks, but he did fumble the twice. Luckily, none of the fumbles amounted to anything that could have hurt the Oakland Raiders. Since more could have been done by Pryor, his final grade for the day is a C+.
The Defense: B+
The Oakland Raiders defense was the best thing out on the field. They held out and lived up to their reputation against a struggling Jaguars offense. The Silver and Black defense held Jacksonville to three points for three quarters. Enough said! Yes, the defense gave up a touchdown in the last quarter, but it still held out by stopping a two point conversion.
Another bad highlight against the defense was the Jaguars first down conversion on a fourth down in the last minutes of the game. The conversion led to nothing, in the end.
Conversely, the best part of the defense was the five sacks on Chad Henne. The defense provided a lot of pressure on the Jaguars QB. The Raiders defense held out and did a nice job at it. Again, the defense was the best thing the Raiders had against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Special Teams: B-
The special teams did most of the scoring in the Raiders victory over the Jaguars. Kicker Sebastian Janikowski scored 13 points for the day and made four of five attempts. Yes, he missed one again. This time, the missed kick did not prove to be costly for the Raiders like it was last week against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Jaguars returned for 79 yards total on kickoff returns out of four attempts. That is not good for the special teams. The kickoff returns were the only thing that kept the Jaguars chances to keep up in the game. In the end, the special teams had a lopsided performance.
Final Thoughts
The Raiders were expected to play better. The victory was not very pretty with the special teams scoring most of the points. Also, more was expected of Terrelle Pryor since he is the hope of the team. Pryor will have to have better performances in order to lead this new Raiders squad. In the end, the Oakland Raiders will have to be more impressive in order to make a statement this NFL season.
For more Raiders news and updates, visit Raiders Central.
J.L. Herrera is a huge fan of football and has been following the Raiders since the 1980s during the LA era. J.L. is also a freelance writer and copywriter on the web. He taught English for a little more than a decade in Los Angeles at the secondary level. While writing for web based news outlets, J.L. enjoys reading, creative writing, and watching sports. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
