Oakland Raiders vs. Atlanta Falcons...What Happened??

Nov 15, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio reacts after no penalty was called against the Minnesota Vikings on a pass play in the third quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Vikings defeated the Raiders 30-14. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Blackhanside is back for Week 2, and he’s not happy. Here are his thoughts on the Oakland Raiders’ performance against the Atlanta Falcons.

It’s the middle of the week and most of you have calmed down a little bit. I’m glad I decided to wait a while before writing. Let me rephrase, I HAD to wait; the comment section would have been ridiculous. “Fire Del Rio!” “Reggie is overrated!” “Let Connor Cook throw a football!”

To that, I say…STOP! (Click the link for full affect)

Let’s get down to business.

The defensive effort was terrible. I’m always positive but I can’t help but be honest.

Blown assignments. Bad alignment. Poor tackling. A lack of intensity only rivaled by the time we went to London and got bollocksed by the Dolphins (I don’t even know if that’s a word over there but I know what it sounds like).

I had to watch the game again, because I always do. As a result, I actually found things worth addressing.

First of all, the defense lost this game. Almost every single member played a critical part in this debacle. I’m not here for that. I’m here for this…..

Latavius Murray gets a lot of flack for being “soft”, while laying hands on defenders like he was Benny Hinn at that phony church.

This clip is especially relevant right now. We have a trio of running backs in Oakland that can produce. There are a lot of factors that play into Murray playing better. Most noteworthy, is competition.

Some of the best Latavius Murray we’ve ever seen is when he was trying to break onto the playing field supplanting Darren McFadden as lead back. It makes sense that as the level of competition has increased, so has his ability.

It’s contagious. It’s happening to the entire offense. Kelechi Osemele arrives with this nasty attitude and suddenly you see Players like Austin Howard doing stuff like this…

Not to be upstaged by anyone, Osemele makes it known why he’s paid handsomely. He’s a bully.

When you see plays like this and it’s clear how much more physical we can be as a team — it makes you wonder…what happened? Where is the disconnect?

To me it’s very clear — it’s chemistry. The offense has been playing together for a while. There aren’t as many new pieces, and they all know where each player is going to be at any given time.

Look how clean the line play is…

Fixing the defense could possibly as simple as letting it play out. Oh, and also covering open receivers.

– Blackhanside