Raiders Opinion: Remember The Players That Made The Offense

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On the final meaningful play of the Las Vegas Raiders postseason, Derek Carr threw an interception on the goal line with a chance to tie the game. While this alone is not particularly noteworthy, the location of his two leading receivers is. Both Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow did not cross the goal line on that fateful play. Two of the targets Carr had looked to his entire season were essentially used as decoys during the most important play of the team’s season.

Study Long, Study Wrong

While some could judge this as trying to be the smartest man in the stadium, it should be viewed as a bungling. Although a checkdown to Waller or Renfrow could have led to a sneaky touchdown, getting cute with playcalling is not how the Raiders were successful last season. Whenever Las Vegas needed points, they utilized gutsy, big-yardage plays to get downfield. Every receiver had a route, and every receiver was a viable target.

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Good Thought, Awful Execution

Now, using one high-level player to create a gap for the other to settle in for a catch could be acceptable, but if the goal was to drag coverage out of the endzone, leaving a gap for Zay Jones to pull in the game-winning catch, then that was an atrocious play call. For what feels like Carr’s entire career, the Raiders have struggled in the red zone. The blame cannot be placed on one person’s shoulders, as playcalling and execution hand-in-hand dragged the team’s success downwards.

Follow The Leader

Once again, a poor play call led to failure. This cannot continue. The Los Angeles Rams do not leave Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. on the wrong side of the goal line when needing a score. Again, they may run routes with the primary focus of pulling coverage towards them, but if said coverage leaves them alone, they will still have a chance to score by simply catching the ball. Regardless of who becomes the Raiders’ “deep threat”, the offense can be successful if run through Waller and Renfrow. Both have the innate abilities to get open and moving quickly and a medium-depth route tree could lead to massive yards after the catch. Not to forget that against certain schemes, two important targets running crossing routes could pull the eyes of safeties for just a second, and allow a deep threat to an open field.

Fix The Problem

Year after year, Carr has received criticism for his below-average yards-per-attempt stats, and diverting back to those ways is not beneficial. But, sending Waller and Renfrow on corresponding routes, and allowing them to get open could lead the Raiders to increased success, in and out of the red zone.