When it came to scoring points in the third quarter, few teams in 2019 were worse than Jon Gruden’s Raiders. Scratch that. That’s not entirely true. No team was worse than Gruden’s Raiders in the third quarter. The head coach and chief play-caller spearheaded a team that scored a feeble total of three touchdowns in
3rd & Wrong: Raiders must exorcise third-quarter demons
Given that Gruden was pretty good at crafting the first few plays of a game in advance, it is strange that he is unable to do it very well for the third quarter. The team needs to start and finish each half strong–especially when the team defers at will get the ball back AND has the last possession of the second quarter. If memory serves, they did not do too much in that situation, either.
Not only were the Raiders bad in the 2nd half last year, but also in Gruden’s first year in 2018.
The Raiders would come out like gang busters in their first drive and then after the first quarter, slowly fizzle. Lack of adjustments? Bizarre.
Gruden has to get more 2nd half points in 2020.
I’d also like to see the offense score points when the defense gets them the ball back, especially following a turnover. Capitalizing on those mistakes go a long way towards winning games.