The Oakland Raiders beat the Tennessee Titans 26-16 on Sunday morning, opening the season with a 1-0 record. This morning, like every morning after a Raiders game this season, I will give some quick thoughts and impressions from what I saw on my second watching of the game. These are things I find to be worth noting but not necessarily worth writing an entire piece on.
So let’s get to it!
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The game started off with a big time play from the preseason MVP, Shalom Luani. The Titans tried to surprise the Raiders by starting the game with an onside kick but the rookie was ready and recovered before the Titans could, giving Derek Carr and company great starting field position.
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And with that field position, Derek Carr picked up right where he left off before getting hurt. There were absolutely no signs of lingering effects from the broken leg, nor rust from the rehab process. It’s only one game but if Carr continues to play like this, he will be in the conversation for MVP once again this season.
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MARSHAWN LYNCH IS BACK!!! But we already talked about that.
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Despite losing for of their best players, the Raiders special teams unit looked no worse for ware. Cordarrelle Patterson, in particular, was very good on kick coverage.
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Speaking of Cordarrelle Patterson, he only got to return one kick and 41 yards later, he showed exactly why hes one of the best in the game. It was a hell of a fun return to watch and I just hope opposing teams are stupid enough to kick it to him a lot this year.
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The Raiders have a ton of weapons on offense and one their newest weapons, Jared Cook, had a very good first game. He was targeted five times and caught all five passes for 56 yards. He’s a big target and Carr is clearly already comfortable leaning on him.
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Amari Cooper was involved early and often which was good to see, but it’s Michael Crabtree who really impressed in week one. The savvy veteran had one hell of a game. He caught six of seven targets with the only non catch being when Adoree Jackson made a good play on defense and knocked the ball out of his hands. Crabtree would have another catch if not for a terrible offensive pass interference call.
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Cooper had a solid but not great day. He did his thing getting yards after the catch, but he also only caught five of 13 targets, which is not a great rate. That said, Cooper did have an amazing touchdown where he caught the ball at around the seven yard line then carried Titans defenders into the endzone.
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Eddie Vanderdoes looks like the real deal. The rookie was throwing Titans linemen around all day long. In fact, we might start seeing compilation videos of Vanderdoes taking souls the way we see with Kelechi Osemele. He looked good in the preseason, but it’s a whole other thing to look good in a real game and against a very good offensive line.
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Jalen Richard outplayed DeAndre Washington in what will likely be a back and forth battle for more backup touches that lasts all season long.
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Second year safety Karl Joseph had a very good game, leading the team in tackles and making an incredible play just before the end of the second quarter, to prevent a touchdown for the Titans.
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Kicker Giorgio Tavecchio was one of the biggest stories of the day, hitting two field goals from 52 yards out and another clutch field goal from 43 yards to put the game away late in the fourth quarter. Oh, and he had a short 20 yarder early in the game but that one is pretty forgettable after everything else he did.
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As good as Tavecchio and the Raiders offense looked on Sunday, I’d like to see them score more touchdowns and fewer field goals.
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Khalil Mack looks ready to have another big season. No sacks in week one but Mack did get two tackles for a loss and looked like his dominant self for much of the game.
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It’s been a REALLY long time since the Raiders won a game where they played good football in all three phases of the game. It was the kind of complete game that the Raiders never really achieved last year. A great way to start the season.
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