Now that the Raiders have lost their fourth straight game – and with the offense again sputtering in a 17-16 defeat to the visiting Los Angeles Chargers – is it time to ask if Oakland made a mistake in letting go of offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave?
The Raiders offense, which had been explosive the past two seasons, has gone dormant the past month after two solid games to start the season.
The Raiders gained 274 yards Sunday in the loss to their longtime rivals, but had trouble throwing the ball deep or consistently running the ball against what has been a weak run defense.
In 2016, Oakland ranked No. 6 in the NFL in total offense, pumping out 373.3 yards per game. This season, the Raiders went into Sunday’s game averaging 279.2 yars per game, which ranks 30th.
Last season, the Raiders scored 34 and 19 points in two wins over the Chargers; in 2015, Oakland scored 37 and 23 in a pair of victories. Sunday, Oakland could muster two touchdowns, a field goal and a missed extra point by Giorgio Tavechhio that proved to be a killer.
Yesterday’s point total follows games in which the Raiders scored 17, 10 and 10 points. Clearly, something has gone wrong. Even with the return of starting quarterback Derek Carr against the Chargers after a back injury, Oakland’s offense couldn’t get rolling. Musgrave, meanwhile, is now the quarterbacks coach of the Denver Broncos, who rank 13th in the NFL in total offense.
This past week, Downing said he wasn’t worried.
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“I wouldn’t call it concerned,” he told reporters. “I’d call it attention to detail. We’re not concerned. Obviously we’d like to have better results over the last three (now four) weeks, but it doesn’t change our belief or our resolve in what we’re doing.”
Unfortunately for the Raiders, however, if Downing doesn’t figure out what’s going wrong very quickly, this season – which began with high hopes – will be over. Next up this Thursday night is Kansas City at O.co Coliseum, and a loss to the AFC West-leading Chiefs, who finally lost Sunday to the Steelers to fall to 5-1, would put the Raiders all the way back to 2-5.
On Sunday, Carr was 21-of-30 for 171 yards and a touchdown in his return, but was intercepted twice. Wide receiver Amari Cooper, who’d disappeared from the Raiders game plan, reappeared to make five catches, but for a total of just 28 yards with a long of 8. Over the past two seasons, Cooper was a deep threat. Not in 2017.
Now the Raiders have just three days to prepare for a must-win game against a team that has handled them very well in recent seasons.
Kickoff Thursday is set for 5:25 p.m.
