It’s been two weeks since a Raiders have been victorious, but they look to bounce back against the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are the opposite and have won two in a row with Jacoby Brissett displaying he can be a viable starting quarterback in the NFL.
The Colts will be missing key players with Malik Hooker and Darius Leonard hurting the team with injuries. They could be without T.Y. Hilton as well who is the most significant threat for them in the passing game.
The Raiders are facing a must-win game before they have to face the menacing Chicago Bears defense in London next week. The offense needs to bounce back after a lackluster performance against the Minnesota Vikings that left fans calling for Carr’s head.
How can the Raiders bounce back? Let’s look at the three keys to victory against the Colts.
1. Get TE Darren Waller involved early
The Raiders are incredibly lost on offense without Antonio Brown, and Jon Gruden even admitted to that this week. After three weeks of football hopefully, the Raiders brass realizes that the best player on offense is Darren Waller and start to feed him early.
Waller only has three targets in the first quarter this year while Gruden gets cute and tries to target players like Derek Carrier and others. The dynamic tight end didn’t even get a target against the Vikings until the 2nd quarter with 9 minutes left in the half.
He, of course, exploded after that for 13 catches and 134 yards. Hopefully has caught on and starts to use him like he didn’t Jared Cook in 2018 and make him the focal point of this offense for them to move the ball and put up points.
2. Keep the Colts behind the chains
The Colts are a methodical offense which likes to move the chains with long drives. They have a 54% conversion rate on third down this season, and it is essential to keep the Colts in third and long situations.
Brissett has not been throwing downfield that much this season with only 11 percent of his targets going 15 plus yards in the air. The Raiders have to play to this tendency and force him to throw past the sticks on third down.
The Raiders can do this by playing tight man to man coverage and sprinkling in blitzes here and there. If the Raiders can accomplish this, it can be a long day for the Colts offense.
3. Stop RB Marlon Mack
Marlon Mack is off to a hot start this season and has solidified himself has a top ten running back in the National Football League. The Colts offense runs through him, and if the Raiders duplicate what they did last week, it’s going to another 1-3 start for the Raiders.
Luckily for the Raiders, the offensive line is beaten up with Ryan Kelly being on the injury report all game which is a mauler in the run game. Quenton Nelson, however, is still there and will be a menace for whoever is across from him while playing the run.
It is up to the second level linebackers Vonteze Burfict and Nicholas Morrow to come and make tackles and not let Marlon Mack get free in the second level.
