It’s been a rough couple weeks for the Raiders, having dropped consecutive road games in blowout fashion, most recently to the Chiefs with first place in the AFC West on the line.
But the story of this year’s Raiders is still being told.
At 6-6, their remaining four games are against teams without elite records, so Oakland still has a shot at the playoffs. At the very least, they can recover the league-wide respect they earned in going 6-4, building momentum for next season in the process.
Their first challenge could be the toughest and not solely due to the quality of the opponent. After two lopsided loses, finding their confidence and building positive momentum will itself be a task. Here are the players to watch as the Raiders attempt to start the last quarter of the season with a win.
DT Jonathan Hankins
Against a Tennesse Titans team featuring running back Derrick Henry, the Raiders’ stout run defense will be put to the test. Defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins will be key in stopping the man Raiders coach Jon Gruden says has an under-recognized and valuable skill.
“I think the secret sauce in Henry is he’s got all the talent, and size, and running instincts, but he never tires. He’s a machine, man,” Gruden said during his Wednesday press conference. “You’ve got to gang tackle him. The more they give him the ball, the better he gets … an impressive human being.”
Hankins can’t stop Henry by himself, but by disrupting the middle of the Titans’ offense, he can make Henry work harder and allow the rest of the Raiders’ defense to swarm. It’s been Hankins’ formula for success all season, but Oakland needs him perhaps more than ever this week. Watch to see if he can make Henry spend some stamina and have a subpar game.
K Daniel Carlson
After a stellar rookie campaign with the Raiders last season, kicker Daniel Carlson is facing a bit of adversity.
He’s dealt with plenty before, having been cut from his first NFL team, the Vikings, due to poor performance. He returned to pro ranks with Oakland, hitting 94 percent of his kicks for his new club in 2018.
He’s missed five kicks already this year, along with two extra points. Gruden has taken notice. “It’s disappointing,” he said when asked by reporters Monday about Carlson’s struggles. “I think a couple of snaps weren’t perfect. The conditions weren’t great the last two weeks. But we think he’s a great kicker [and] he’s going to work himself out of it.”
This will be a big game for Carlson; he already knows that kickers get cut at a moment’s notice in the NFL. And with Oakland playing nailbiters at home all year, the contest could come down to a field goal. Watch to see if Carlson can regain his form and perhaps come up big in the clutch.
WR Marcell Ateman
With the Raiders set to shake things up at the wide receiver position in search of playmakers, second-year wideout Marcell Ateman is in prime position to make an impact against the Titans.
The former seventh-round draft pick’s chemistry with quarterback Derek Carr has been solid from the start, with the two connecting during training camp in 2018 despite Ateman’s limited reps with the starters.
He had 15 catches for 154 yards last year, and seven of his grabs were for good for a first down, per pro football reference. He has two receptions this season, and those moved the chains as well. His lone touchdown in 2018 came in the final quarter of a hotly contested game against the Chiefs.
Ateman doesn’t possess impressive speed, which is perhaps why Gruden has tried other options at WR, such as the recently waived Trevor Davis. But he has a 6-foot-4 frame and soft hands. Watch to see if he can help Carr revive the Raiders’ passing game.
QB Derek Carr
The Raiders have had a tough go the last two weeks, especially with the offense scoring just a single touchdown, and that came late in their blowout loss to the Chiefs.
Naturally, Carr, the team’s quarterback and most-tenured leader, has shouldered a lot of the blame. It doesn’t help that he threw two interceptions in Kansas City, including a pick-6 that put his team down 21-0, and that he’s still yet to win in Arrowhead.
Carr is having a solid season overall, however, especially with the lack of a No. 1 WR. And since he’s a veteran, he knows every week is different.
“I’m excited we get a chance to go compete against a good football team. That’s the beautiful thing about this game. You rewind two weeks ago, we were the greatest story in the NFL, and two weeks later, we suck again,” Carr said Wednesday to reporters, eliciting laughter. “I think we’ll be alright. We are just going to keep grinding, we’re going to stick to what we do.”
Watch to see if Carr can get back to playing efficient football, leading the offense to points as he was earlier in the campaign. As an added incentive: this is the second to last game for Carr at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, the only place he’s called home in his career thus far and place he loves with fans he adores.
“It’s our fans. I think that there’s that mystique about the Raiders. Whether we’ve been 0-10 or we’ve been trying to get a playoff spot, our fans are selling that place out, and they’re always here,” Carr said Wednesday about what makes the Coliseum special.
RB Jalen Richard
Raiders running back Jalen Richard has excelled as Gruden’s third-down back this year, and the coach asked more of him last week and could continue to do so.
Richard replaced Davis as kick returner against the Chiefs, and Davis was waived after the game.
When asked Monday if he would stick with Richard in the return game, Gruden said, “We want to look at Jalen. Looking for a spark, you know? We’re looking for somebody to create some field position, and Jalen’s had a history of doing it, making some big plays.”
Richard served in that role during his first two seasons in Oakland, though in 2017, he developed a habit of fumbling the ball, and was removed from those duties. Watch to see if Gruden sticks with him and if Richard can deliver.
If Gruden ends up looking elsewhere, possibly at WR Rico Gafford, fresh off promotion from the practice squad, or rookie cornerback Keisean Nixon, pay attention to special teams this week. Most importantly, fumbles or miscues will be frowned upon, and none of these players, most notably Richard, can afford to land Gruden’s dog house.
Every week is a new opportunity in the NFL, and if Oakland is to put its terrible losses of the past two weeks behind them, they’ll have to recapture the fight they displayed earlier in the year.
If not, this feel-good season, marked by winning while rebuilding with a young core, not to mention a revolving roster, could dissolve into a losing campaign. Luckily for the team, the Coliseum crowd will do all it can to will the Raiders to yet another big win and possible playoff run.
