Raiders’ report card: Coaching deserves F, but special teams were worse

How the Raiders performed in a 15-9 loss to the Falcons:

Offense: D

Too little, too late. The Raiders got some things going in the fourth quarter, but that couldn’t erase their failures in the three that preceded it. Desmond Ridder became the third quarterback to start a game for the team this season and did not play winning football. He completed 23 of 39 passes for 208 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. More than half of his passing yards — 135, to be exact — came on the Raiders’ last two drives. The team’s running game returned to irrelevance, gaining just 65 yards on 22 carries. You know things are bad when Ridder was the Raiders’ leading rusher. Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers had five catches on a team-leading nine targets for 59 yards. Running back Ameer Abdullah added seven catches for 58 yards and a touchdown.

Defense: B+

The Raiders made one glaring mistake when cornerback Jack Jones bit on a fake and allowed wide receiver Drake London to get behind him for a 30-yard touchdown. Falcons running back Bijan Robinson gained 125 rushing yards on 22 carries, but the Raiders did their job here for the most part, holding Atlanta to 261 yards. Quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 11 of 17 passes for just 112 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Linebacker Robert Spillane had eight tackles and an interception for the Raiders. He also committed a costly roughing the passer penalty with 2:40 remaining.

Special teams: Z

This group doesn’t even deserve an F. AJ Cole had one punt deflected and another one blocked. Kicker Daniel Carlson had an extra-point attempt blocked when the Raiders had just 10 players on the field. It’s clear the Falcons saw something on film and took full advantage. The Raiders caught one punt at their 3-yard line when they shouldn’t have and allowed another to bounce to the 3-yard line when they should have caught it. It was a comedy of errors.

Coaching: F

I don’t know what other grade this group deserves right now. All the Raiders’ mistakes Monday — the penalties, the special teams breakdowns, the two straight run plays that resulted in a safety — can be blamed on coaching.

Ed Graney Review-Journal