How does the loss this week prepare you for the next game?
We knew the Raiders would be a tough opponent and coming off our first win of the season, we seen this game as a measuring stick as to where our new roster and scheme currently place us in the league. The loss was a tough one as the game was closer than it seemed the entire 1st half. We have to do a better job of playing competitively beyond the first two quarters. Looking ahead for next week against the Patriots, controlling the flow of the game beyond 1 half of football will be a key component to victory.
Can you summarize what it was like playing against the Raiders last week?
The Raiders are known for their ground and pound style of football and we deployed a lot of 4-4 and bigger packages to counter the run game they would bring at us. While we did a great job at bottling up the Raiders run attack all game, holding Jacobs to 50 yards, they gave us fits on some man to man coverage plays which really hurt us throughout. Matigy did a great job identifying and taking advantage of man coverage to make up for the lack of ground production.
Can you talk about the development of Reid Carrico so far?
Reid Carrico was a 3rd round pick to take the place of the now departed Alex Highsmith. Unfortunately Carrico went down with a 4 week injury so he missed a better part of pre-season and Week 1 and 2. He had a chance to shine week 4 against the Patriots where he picked off an INT in the flats and was able to return it for a touchdown. At a star dev, we are hoping these are the big plays he is able to come up with to further develop into a superstar player in this league.
How has Tom Brady’s experience in the league helped the team so far?
Tom Brady has been much more of a game manager over the past two season where we had a lot of inexperience. The turnovers have been down (beside the Raiders) he has managed a great horizontal pass game really involving the backs more than previous years. His ball placement has been a major upgrade and we are fitting in some passes that may have no been as accurate with Lawrence and Pickett. With the possibility of Mac Jones taking over next season, there is no better mentor to learn from.
