Over the past week, the Oakland Raiders flirted with the idea of becoming America’s team.
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The NFL 2016 Atlanta Falcons vs Oakland Raiders CBS game starts on Sun, Sep 18, 4:25 PM ET and can be watched online through live HD stream via NFL Sunday Ticket.
The Falcons have spent a lot of time working on their red zone offense, and that effort paid dividends in Week 2.
Broadly, this team came uncomfortably close to blowing this game multiple times, and if you can’t shake the feeling that too numerous missed tackles, penalties, and missed opportunities look the same as they did a year ago, you’re not alone.
The Raiders would add another late touchdown, but ultimately fell short in catching up to the fast-paced Falcons.
However, in a dramatic finale, the Raiders piled on 22 points in the final quarter to steak the victory by a single point, winning 35-34.
Quarterback Matt Ryan completed 26 of 34 passes to throw for 396 yards and three touchdown. Inside the numbers, Ryan completed 7 of 9 passes against the blitz Sunday for 129 yards, two touchdowns, and six first downs, according to ESPN Statistics and Information. That Julio Jones spiked football call was, in my opinion, egregious on the part of the referees, but the Falcons still need to get these things cleaned up.
Phillip Heilman: You don’t have to talk me into starting players who are going against the Colts. On the next play, Latavius Murray ran into the end zone for Oakland’s first touchdown.
Ryan’s pass to Tevin Coleman was deflected and went straight up. He scored the two-point conversion on a quarterback draw to put the Falcons up 21-14.
OUR PREDICTION: The Raiders scored 35 points against a frightful Saints defense and while the Falcons aren’t as bad defensively as New Orleans is, Atlanta still doesn’t own a pass rush. Freeman is a good running back and he is helped out by Alex Mack as well.
Atl-Coleman 13 run (Bryant kick), 4:35.
The Raiders offense was able to move the ball as a whole, amassing 454 total yards and 28 points.
“We have an extra half hour meeting every morning during the week to try and get them up to date on some of the rules”, Del Rio said.
Musgrave’s offense performed well, but the unit can reach a much higher ceiling with more aggressive play-calling in the first 30 minutes.
A amusing thing happened on the way to a sad recap, though: The Falcons won.
Ryan found his tight ends seven times last week against Tampa. If they make a great play and catch, so be it.
The most important run of the day didn’t go well. Jameis Winston had Tampa Bay rolling all afternoon and the Falcons simply could not keep up.
Oakland coach Jack Del Rio then chose to go for it on fourth-and-2, but Jalen Richard was stopped on a 1-yard gain.
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Cornerback Robert Alford intercepted a deep pass intended for Oakland wide receiver Michael Crabtree, but he was called for pass interference. I like Woodhead more this week as a No. 2 running back.
