Oakland Raiders still going through rebuilding stage – NFL Special
When the Oakland Raiders started preparing for the 2012 season, they released many expensive players in order to get their budget under the salary cap and strengthen the depth of the roster.
This meant that the team was not going into the season with elite players and not much was expected of the Raiders.
However, there is no denying that the fans cheer for their team even if it is ranked at the bottom of the division. The same happened with the Raiders and their head coach Dennis Allen, naturally, was brought under the line of fire whenever the team did
not perform well.
Despite the team’s recent woes on the field, one must admit that Allen is giving his utter best to take the team forward and this season is part of the rebuilding process the Raiders are going through since the last few seasons.
General manager Reggie McKenzie hired Allen with a perception in his mind that he was the right man to take the Raiders through the developing years.
In order to analyse and predict what changes Raiders really need to get better and in which department the team needs to improve, one must look at their performance in every part of the game this season.
There is no doubt that Raiders have won games against comparatively weaker teams like Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars, but they have also given tough competition to the stronger teams.
The problem for the Raiders is inconsistency, especially on the offence. Even though quarterback Carson Palmer is going through the best season of his professional career, it is not merely enough to win many games.
Palmer’s performance is also affected by the loss of wide receiver Jacoby Ford for the season. In absence of Ford, other young wide receivers have stepped up their game and have performed well. This includes wide receiver Denarius Moore who is playing exceptionally
well.
The biggest letdown of the season is the rushing attack. So much was expected from running back Darren McFadden, but the star player has struggled massively under the new zone blocking scheme put up by the offensive coordinator Greg Knapp.
Adding to the miseries, a number of players are injured and out of the field. Both McFadden and backup running back Mike Goodson have missed considerable amount of playing time due to injuries.
The defence has stayed where it left off in the 2011 season. The team was ranked 31st overall in the league after Week 10 for points allowed.
This has been a major cause for Raiders to lose many games. The passing defence has been nonexistent as the roster does not have the depth to make up for the injured players.
Both starting cornerbacks Shawntae Spencer and Ron Bartell played in the first two games of the season and have been out since then due injury problems.
Raiders have been shuffling things around at cornerback, but it has led to the team allowing a huge number of points to the opposing offences.
For running defence, it has been an up and down season. In some games it has looked strong like a solid wall while on a few occasions it has looked as shallow as it can.
This was evident in their Week 9 when Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offence completely ripped apart the Raiders running defence. Buccaneers Rookie running back Doug Martin was allowed to run a franchise record 251 rushing yards.
It is apparent that Raiders’ season will not have a big turnaround in the final few weeks of the season as the team is not capable enough to do that. However, if they manage to end the season with a winning momentum, it could have lasting impact on the future
of the team.
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