Raiders on ‘Hard Knocks’: Episode 5 by the numbers
Here’s a close look by the numbers at Tuesday’s fifth and final episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks: Training Camp With the Oakland Raiders”:
1 Cars for coach Jon Gruden and defensive coordinator Paul Guenther
Early in the season finale of “Hard Knocks,” viewers got a glimpse of how coach Jon Gruden and defensive coordinator Paul Guenther get to work. Gruden says the two carpool because gas in California is so expensive.
Gruden then says that when he was still broadcasting ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” he studied different defensive schemes and was impressed by what Guenther was doing as coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals. Gruden says he thought then that if he ever got back into coaching, he wanted to work with Guenther.
However, he figures Guenther’s time to lead his own team is coming.
“He’ll be a head coach soon,” Gruden says. “I’ll have a hard time keeping him.”
That’ll only be true if the Raiders’ improve on last year’s defensive performance, as they allowed a league-worst 467 points.
53 Number of players after final cuts
Much of this week’s episode focused onthe 53-man roster. But if you followed the news over the weekend, you already knew how the story would end up.
Linebacker Brandon Marshall, for instance, was shown early in the episode telling right tackle Trent Brown that he was starting to feel like himself after recovering from a knee injury. But he was still concerned about making the team.
“I just don’t know if their perception of me is already solidified,” said Marshall, a Las Vegas native.
The Raiders, of course, cut Marshall.
59 Passing yards by Nathan Peterman after hurting his elbow
Quarterback Nathan Peterman garnered plenty of preseason headlines based on his history of turnovers and Gruden’s continued praise. Peterman did end up surviving final cuts, but was placed on injured reserve with an elbow injury.
He was hurt in the final preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. Peterman was hit hard and sacked late in the third quarter, and “Hard Knocks” captured him on the sideline telling fellow reserve quarterback Mike Glennon and offensive coordinator Greg Olson he felt a “twinge” when he threw.
Nevertheless, Peterman stayed in the game and engineered a last-minute touchdown drive — completing 7 of 10 passes for 59 yards after the injury.
0 Number of cuts actually shown on camera
One of the staples of the “Hard Knocks” franchise is showing the conversation between either coach or GM and player when they’re being cut from the roster. None of that was shown on the Raiders’ version of the show.
The closest viewers got was linebacker Jason Cabinda’s conversation with Guenther. The defensive coordinator told Cabinda that he’d help in any way he could and that Cabinda being cut had more to do with spread offenses emerging in the NFL than his play. Because of that, Guenther said the Raiders weren’t going to carry as many linebackers.
Cabinda did end up accepting a spot on the Detroit Lions practice squad.
2008 Year of a Gruden flashback
The show ended with a flashback to 2008, the last year Gruden was coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Cameras caught him on the sideline during practice talking with officials. One of the men in stripes told Gruden he’d be a good football commentator someday — a fact we now know to be true.
Gruden replied he’d rather be on HBO so he could use foul language.
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Contact Myles Simmons at msimmons@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @MylesASimmons on Twitter.