12th Man Rising
FanSided

Seahawks absolutely maul Raiders with a complete team effort

By Todd Vandenberg

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 14: David Moore of Seattle Seahawks scores a touchdown as Daryl Worley of Oakland Raiders attemptst to tackle him during the NFL International series match between Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders at Wembley Stadium on October 14, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by James Chance/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 14: David Moore of Seattle Seahawks scores a touchdown as Daryl Worley of Oakland Raiders attemptst to tackle him during the NFL International series match between Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders at Wembley Stadium on October 14, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by James Chance/Getty Images) /
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Jon Gruden
OAKLAND, CA – SEPTEMBER 10: Derek Carr #4 of the Oakland Raiders speaks with head coach Jon Gruden during their NFL game against the Los Angeles Rams at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on September 10, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Seahawks had an advantage: a bad coach on the other side

Most people expected the Seahawks to win this one. After all, it’s not like the Raiders have a good coach (told you we’d get back to Chucky). Jon Gruden was a head coach for 11 years before getting snapped up from the booth for his ridiculous ten year contract. He had four good seasons in those 11. His overall record was 95-81, a .540 winning percentage. His Super Bowl win for Tampa Bay  came by beating the team he had just left the previous season. I think he was pretty familiar with the Raiders personnel, don’t you? After that, Gruden had just one season that was more than a game over .500 in his next six seasons. Yeah, he’s worth $100 million, alright.

Including that Super Bowl run, Gruden was just 57-55 with the Buccaneers. There’s a reason he spent the last nine years as a broadcaster. I liked him in that role. As a coach, not so much. Frankly, anyone stupid enough to think he didn’t need Khalil Mack on his defense deserves to see his team shredded on the field. And anyone stupid enough to give a slightly better than mediocre coach the biggest contract in league history deserves a bad team, too. Chucky really didn’t need that no-trade clause in his contract. I doubt Mark Davis will get as much as a color rush jersey in trade.

Back to a good team. Overall, the Seahawks were very efficient on offense. After the ridiculous spectacle of going 0-10 on third down against the Cardinals, things looked bleak, despite the win. Since then, they’ve been very good. Seattle was 7-12 on third down versus the Rams, and converted 9-13 today versus the Raiders. Offensively, the Seahawks look very dangerous. Spectacular, no, but they’re grinding out yards, sustaining drives, and turning those yards into points.

On defense, they’re tough and opportunistic. Don’t forget that Oakland came into this game ranked sixth in offensive yards. The Raiders averaged 411 yards per game in their first five games, and they played both the Rams and Broncos. Against Seattle, they had just 185. Yes, the Seahawks are looking good right now, despite the rough early start. The season is far from over.

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