As the Raiders head into the bye, there isn’t much over the past two weeks for them to feel good about. Dominated in Los Angeles against the Chargers, and now vs. the Seahawks in London, Oakland continues to struggle in all facets of the game.
From the opening kickoff, the Raiders seem to be voting “present” as they once again failed to field even a competitive effort against a Seahawks team still led by the dynamic Russell Wilson at quarterback.
Wilson would take Seattle 82 yards on the opening drive to score their first opening drive touchdown since Week 3 of the 2016 season. There were three plays we’ll focus on that exemplify the ineptitude of both the Raiders offense and defense in the 20-3 loss in London.
Play 1: Wilson Exploits Weak LB and DB Play
Ok, I’m cheating a bit here as it’s really two plays. On the opening drive of the game, as the Seahawks approach the red zone, Wilson exploits weak defensive back play for a long gain – something we’ve seen way too often this year for the Raiders.
On the first play, the Raiders DBs lose track of Doug Baldwin who take the ball down to the five-yard line making it look easy. Look familiar Raider Nation.
On the second play, linebacker Tahir Whitehead can’t handle (or keep track of) Jaron Brown who easily catches the throw from Wilson to give the Seahawks a 7-0 lead. They would never relinquish the lead.
Play 2: Carr is Strip Sacked
After the Seahawks initial drive and touchdown, the Raiders were able to run their offense on the field. On a key 3rd-and-5 from near their own 30, the Raiders banged up offensive line crumbles resulting in a turnover.
Seahawks linebacker Frank Clark beats rookie right tackle Kolton Miller and strips Carr for the fumble. Miller, who is also playing injured with a sprained knee, is overmatched and can’t keep the veteran off his quarterback. Miller even had a chance to recover the fumble but ended up rolling over like a turtle unable to snag the ball. The Seahawks would then score another touchdown to take a 14-0 lead.
Play 3: Russell Wilson Does Russell Wilson Things
Although this score gave the Seahawks a 26-0 lead, it was really the straw that broke the back of the struggling Raiders secondary. Wilson, flushed from the pocket, finds Tyler Lockett in the back of the end zone.
One could argue the game was already over at this point, and I wouldn’t argue. Yet the disturbing nature of Wilson’s ability to find the receiver in a sea of silver and black showed just how lost the Raiders secondary was on this day. The Raiders inability – again – to generate a pass rush, that finishes in a sack or short yardage gain, allowed Wilson to create another scoring opportunity in the red zone. The Seahawks rank second in the league in red zone efficiency and show you why here.