Struggling Raiders offense looks largely the same in first game under interim coordinator
NGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The offense for the Las Vegas Raiders looked marginally better in the team’s first game since Chip Kelly was fired. And the unit still finished with less than 200 yards for the third time this season.
The end result was a 31-14 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Raiders finished with 156 yards of total offense and averaged 3.4 yards per play under interim offensive coordinator Greg Olson, with nearly all of that coming on their two sustained touchdown drives.
“Offensively, to have an expectation we’re going to flip flop it all of a sudden and be ripping it, we’d like to have seen that. But that didn’t happen, and we’re a ways away,” coach Pete Carroll said.
Essentially, Las Vegas (2-10) was what it has been — an offense that looks effective only when getting the ball into the hands of All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers. It once again struggled to do anything else, whether that was protecting quarterback Geno Smith, blocking for rookie running back Ashton Jeanty or trying to involve its wide receivers in the passing game.
Bowers had four receptions for 63 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday. He had a 24-yard catch on a corner route set up by a creative play-action late in the second quarter, moving the Raiders down to the 5. After Jeanty lost a yard on a rushing attempt, Bowers was all alone in the middle of the end zone for a TD reception that tied it at 7.
On Bowers’ second touchdown reception, another 6-yarder, he pulled the ball off the turf with one hand for a spectacular play midway through the fourth quarter.
“Brock Bowers is a tremendous player, we see it week in and week out,” Smith said. “He makes plays all over the field, does things not many guys can do, and we got to continue to find ways to get him in space and get him the ball. But he’s a great player.”
Everything else the Raiders tried on offense tended not to work.
On Bowers’ second touchdown reception, another 6-yarder, he pulled the ball off the turf with one hand for a spectacular play midway through the fourth quarter.
“Brock Bowers is a tremendous player, we see it week in and week out,” Smith said. “He makes plays all over the field, does things not many guys can do, and we got to continue to find ways to get him in space and get him the ball. But he’s a great player.”
