The Las Vegas Raiders can take some positives from their 31-14 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, specifically from the offensive side of the ball.
New offensive play-caller Greg Olson won’t solve all the issues that plague the Raiders offense, but his game plan showed promise in short glimpses.
The Raiders must do a better job of extending drives. They only converted on two of their third-down situations against the Chargers. Though on a better note, Geno Smith recorded a 107.4 passer rating, Brock Bowers saw quality looks in the red zone and Ashton Jeanty touched the ball 21 times.
Here are three positives the Raiders can take from Olson’s first week calling offensive plays.
Geno Smith Was More Efficient in the Pocket
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Although Geno Smith threw his 14th interception, he completed a season-high 78 percent of his pass attempts. Under Greg Olson, the Raiders featured the short passing game. They attacked the middle of the Chargers defense with intermediate throws between the numbers.
Smith also took a couple of shots downfield, completing a pass between 10 and 20 yards and another for 24 yards on the deep right side of the field, per Pro Football Focus.
Because of the Raiders’ poor pass-blocking on the edges, Smith doesn’t have much time for long pass plays to develop downfield. He took five sacks last week. Still, Olson is trying to mix it up to get more explosive gains out of the team’s top playmakers.
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Greg Olson Featured Star Youngsters in the Passing Game
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Smith connected with Brock Bowers twice for touchdowns. The All-Pro tight end should be the go-to option in the red zone. He made an incredible catch against the Chargers, which will be one of the highlights of his career.
Bowers hauled in all four of his targets for 63 yards and two scores. He should see at least eight targets per game.
Olson and the coaching staff must work on the pass-catching tight end’s target volume. That said, it’s a step in the right direction to see him involved in critical situations. In the Raiders’ first 11 games of the season, Bowers had two touchdown receptions in the red zone.
On the one hand, Ashton Jeanty continued to struggle on the ground, averaging just 2.1 yards per carry.
However, the rookie running back led the team with six receptions and racked up 30 receiving yards. While he didn’t produce any home-run plays, the versatile tailback maintained an active role on passing downs. Smith has targeted him at least eight times in three consecutive outings.
Bowers and Jeanty are the core playmakers in the Raiders offense for the foreseeable future. They should combine for 30-plus touches in most weeks. The duo had 25 against the Chargers.
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Caleb Rogers and Atonio Mafi Played Well at Right Guard
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Caleb Rogers made his career debut at right guard against the Chargers. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed just one pressure on 10 pass-blocking snaps.
Rogers rotated with third-year pro Atonio Mafi, who played the majority of the snaps at right guard. While on the field for 20 pass-blocking snaps, he only allowed one pressure, per PFF.
While Alex Cappa fills in at center, Rogers and Mafi could be decent plug-and-play options at right guard until Jackson Powers-Johnson returns from an ankle injury. If they continue to progress on the strong side of the formation, Jeanty may find more room to break out for big gains on the ground.
Maurice Moton covers the Raiders for Sportsnaut. You can follow him on Twitter at @MoeMoton.
Maurice Moton is our Sr. NFL columnist and co-host of Silver and Black Tonight on Southern California’s The Mightier … More about Moe Moton