Team Grades: Packers End Raiders' Playoff Hopes For 13th Consecutive Season
By Abraham Gutierrez
Despite a resilient effort, the Oakland Raiders were unable to pull off what would have been a huge upset over the Green Bay Packers Sunday afternoon in the East Bay. Instead, with a 30-20 decision, the Silver and Black dropped to 6-8 on the year, which puts an end to Oakland's playoff hopes for the 13th consecutive season.
"Just go play football," said Raiders free safety Charles Woodson when asked what the team's approach will be for the final two games on the schedule. "Regardless of playoffs, the game is still fun. It's still great to be out there on the field, so we're just going to continue to go out there and have fun."
Offense: C
From an offensive standpoint, things couldn't have possible gotten off to a worse start for quarterback Derek Carr. Facing a must-win situation, the Fresno State product threw a pair of interceptions that Aaron Rodgers simply wouldn't let go by the waste side. After capitalizing by getting into the end zone twice, the Raiders had some catching up to do, trailing the Packers 14-0 in the opening stanza.
"You can't dig yourself into a hole early like that," said Raiders free safety Charles Woodson after the game. "Gave them 14 points early in the game."
Nevertheless, Oakland responded the way the capacity crowd at the O.co Coliseum hoped, answering the Pack's opening salvo with a 13-0 run that sent both teams into the locker room separated by a point after. Carr would recover from his shaky start to finish the game by completing 23-of-47 passes for 276 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions for a quarterback rating of 63.8. In the end, the Raiders closed things out with 20 first downs and 372 yards of total offense, out of which, 120 came on the ground and 252 through the air.
Rookie wide receiver Amari Cooper had a whale of a game, reaching the 1,000-yard plateau on the season thanks to his six catches for 120 yards and two scores on the afternoon. Michael Crabtree was pitched in with six grabs for 70 yards, while running back Latavius Murray did his part with 78 yards on 21 rushes, including a long of 22 yards.
Defense: C
Going up against one of the most explosive offenses in the league, the Raiders offense did its defense no favors falling into a 0-14 hole right out of the gate. While the Raiders would come all the way back in the second half, the defense simply couldn't find a way to contain Rodgers and the Packers when they changed things to a no-huddle offense.
"We were able to claw our way back and took the lead but we ended up having another breakdown in the touchdown to James Jones," Woodson added. "Those kinds of mistakes will kill you as a team, but we gave ourselves a chance to come up at the end when we needed it."
When it was all said and done, the Raiders defense gave up 18 first downs, 293 yards of offense and 29 minutes and 29 seconds of time of possession. Green Bay also rushed for 103 yards, threw for 190 yards. Raiders defensive standouts include Malcolm Smith (7 tackles), David Amerson (6 tackles, 3 passed defended and an interception), Ben Heeney (4 tackles and 1 sack), Khalil Mack (2 tackles and 1 sack) and Charles Woodson (3 tackles and 1 forced fumble).
Special Teams: A+
After a few rough outings, the Raiders' special teams unit did a great job of field position and coverage. In particular, punter Marquette King did a fine job this afternoon, averaging 43.4 yards on five punts including a long of 60 yards and a pair of boots inside Green Bay's 20-yard line. Also, worth noting was the play of kick returner Taiwan Jones. The Raiders backup running back finished the game with 92 yards on four kickoff returns, including a long of 33 yards.
Finally, Sebastian Janikowski was back to his old perfect ways, as he closed things out eight points on the afternoon. The former FSU product successfully connected on a pair of field goal attempts and extra points.
Coaching: D+
While Del Rio did a great job of not quitting after what was a discouraging starts, the same cannot be said for the rest of his coaching staff. For starters, Ken Norton has to take some of the blame for this week's loss, as his play-calling not only surrendered a lead that the Packers would never relinquish, but also took the crowd out of the game by giving up a score just seconds after Oakland took the lead.
Abe Gutierrez's (Twitter: @GutierrezAbe) passion led him to ditch law school journey in order to launch his own publishing company. His expertise make him a valued addition to Examiner.com, AXS.com and the CBS-Sports family. Some of his work can be found on CBS-Miami (Dolphins), CBS-LosAngeles (Chargers), CBS-BayArea (Raiders), CBS-NewYork (NY Jets), CBS-TampaBay (Buccaneers), AXS.com, Examiner.com and other online publications.
