Week 16 Mailbag: Oakland Raiders

Week 16 of the JBB Mailbag, answering questions from Twitter following the Oakland Raiders win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Finding the words, any, remains an exacting task. There are certain hypotheticals, scenarios, and outcomes that just never quite cross your mind, for one reason or another. For many fans of the Oakland Raiders, this was the ultimate.

Starting from the bottom and seemingly floating along past a happy medium to an opposite extreme of excellence, this organization had positioned themselves to accomplish a feat of greatness in a flash.

Yet in that same metric, many of us lost hope momentarily; with some still struggling to recover it. So I offer you this, along with quarterback Derek Carr, it is the spirit of this team — as a whole — that got us here. Their fight and their resilience. I don’t know what this team’s destiny was this season, at full health, and I don’t know what it’ll be now. But what I do know is that this team will continue to fight, and as they’ve proven far more times than not in 2016, all they need is a chance.

Note: Some of the questions were duplicates or similar to other questions that had already been asked. If you don’t see your question specifically responded to, that is likely the reason why.

I looked at the video several times, and although slightly spirited, I don’t see much worth diving into. What I saw were two competitive teammates, tasked with the same goal, interacting as such.

Look, the stakes are high right now for this team — still. And the margin for error has drastically decreased. The players, most importantly, recognize that. As a result, passion is high, but would we want it any other way?

Nothing official has been reported, regarding Karl Joseph’s return. It was reported, today, by multiple media outlets, that the safety was seen working out on the sidelines, but did not participate in practice.

Safe to assume, here, that the best case scenario for Joseph returning to the field would be the divisional round of the playoffs. That scenario makes Oakland winning at Denver that much more vital, in hopes of securing a first round bye.

We don’t know what the future holds for Latavius Murray, if management were to allow him to hit the free agent market. With that being said, I also don’t know how confident I would be in Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington co-occupying the backfield in a full-time capacity — and few love Richard more than myself.

Where my uncertainty stems from is something I’ve touched on before, being, are these two players — Richard and Washington — effective because they are used in a part-time capacity? So personally, I would like to see a bigger, heavyweight back in that group, in 2017. Although whether or not that back is Murray, time will tell.

It’s entirely too early to address this, as it pertains to productivity, results, and continuity. Any answer would be speculation, relative to this particular upcoming stretch. The answers we want, or are hoping for, won’t even begin to reveal themselves until this Sunday’s matchup in Denver.

One could argue that Matt McGloin’s first start of the season coming at Denver actually isn’t the worst reality. Especially considering the secondary, I don’t know that I would want McGloin dropping back 30+ times, nor taking too many deep shots.

As a result, one would hope that Bill Musgrave orchestrates short routes for the receivers — digs and slants — generating quick releases for McGloin. Although specifically, two changes I would implement, personally, would be more rushing attempts — for the offense — than passing, and more involvement of the tight ends in the passing game. This would a recipe for success for McGloin, and a confidence booster heading into the postseason.

And it’s like Jack Del Rio said when he addressed the team following last Saturday’s win over Indianapolis, “Derek’s gone be awhile. So what he needs us to do is carry on.”

The season isn’t over, Raider Nation. In fact, the party’s just getting started. Our quarterback would want us to relish in this moment, and keep our heads held high to empower this team. I refuse to let him down.

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