New York Jets overmatched and fall to the Oakland Raiders 45-20

Breaking down the New York Jets loss to the Oakland Raiders.

For all of the fans of the tank, the New York Jets took one more step towards the number one pick with their loss to the Oakland Raiders. Not all of us want the tank, however, so we take a look at the loss from a competitive perspective. On paper it was a blowout, 45-20 in favor of the Raiders. Oakland was the heavy favorite heading into the game and they delivered. How did it happen? Let’s talk about it.

28. 20. 30. Final. 45

Who saw this kind of game coming out of Michael Crabtree? He is a talented receiver but he was not the one I expected to be the driving force in the Oakland offense. Two of his three touchdown passes came early as the Raiders took the early lead, but the turning point in the game was late in the first half.

The Jets had answered with ten points of their own and were looking for more. They were receiving a Marquette King punt coming out of the two minute warning. At worst, the Jets were going to go into the half down 14-10. Disaster struck when Kalif Raymond muffed the punt and Johnny Holton recovered on the four yard line. Three plays later it was 21-10 Raiders and they never looked back.

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Take a minute and think about Darron Lee, Jets fans. This guy was a first round pick, don’t forget that. All game long he proved he still can’t keep up. He might have been out of position every single time he dropped back into coverage. Being that he is in his second year and a high draft pick, he needs to start getting it soon. Otherwise, opponents will complete those intermediate throws on every drive all season.

By the way, this wasn’t a reason for the loss, but what were those refs watching this week? That penalty on Buster Skrine for hitting a defenseless receiver was horrible. It amounted to a penalty for hitting a guy with the football. That was just plain awful.

In the second half, the Raiders were simply too much to handle. The speedy Jalen Richard broke off a 52 yard scoring run after Cordarrelle Patterson ran one in from 43 yards out earlier in the game. Derek Carr completed passes to nine different receivers on the way to posting 230 yards and three touchdowns on 23-28 passing. The defense got tired and simply couldn’t keep up.

Next: New York Jets: Earning their wings week two

On offense, it was we all thought it would be. Aside from the two touchdowns to Jermaine Kearse, there were no chances taken. It was short passes and running the football. Granted, the running game looked much better, averaging five yards per carry. It wasn’t anywhere near enough. This offense just doesn’t have the gas to keep up. How long will we continue to see Josh McCown? We will find out.

The home schedule begins next week as the Jets play host to the Miami Dolphins. Some legendary battles have occurred between these two teams. Will that continue?

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