“I think that’s a fair question to ask”, head coach Jack Del Rio said Monday.
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The Falcons (1-1) return to practice Thursday. Del Rio said he wasn’t sure yet how the workout, but ESPN reported the Raiders are optimistic he’ll play this week. “We thought that was a good matchup for us”.
“We’ve got a couple of hammerheads who might have been a little better between Maze and Latavius”, he said. On Sunday, the fabulous Falcon, Julio Jones, caught five passes for 106 yards and a touchdown where he weakened Smith’s knees.
Atlanta moved ahead 21-14 on Ryan’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Tamme and two-point conversion on a quarterback draw with 3:42 left in the third.
He definitely looked more engaged in the late-going, and Del Rio acknowledged that “there might have been a point where I jumped in”.
That helped erase the bad feeling from last week’s 31-24 loss at home to Tampa Bay.
“For us, it’s huge to be able to switch personnel groupings the way we did”, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said. “We were coming out here, big, long trip. Get your eyes where they belong and do your job”.
The rookie safety will make his defensive debut Sunday against the Titans, one of the first changes that Del Rio will make to a defense that has allowed 1,035 yards in the first two games.
Del Rio acknowledged after Sunday’s 35-28 loss that there “may have been a point” in which he took over play-calling duties from Norton, his second-year defensive coordinator.
“I wouldn’t say that”, he said. “I’ve never experienced this experience”.
He still did the right thing by sticking the whole thing on himself rather than have his guys on defense questioning the meaning of life today.
Safety Karl Joseph (42), the Raiders’ first-rounder from West Virginia, is in line to get playing time on defense on Sunday.
The Raiders’ eyes were especially off when it came to the Falcons running an assortment of the no-huddle offense and when they ran drag routes to wide-open tight ends.
“We did a great job with the tempo – it was effective for us”, Ryan said. We’re all accountable. It starts with me. We all share in it.
Oakland is the first team since the 1967 Falcons to open the season allowing at least 500 yards in two straight games.
“We’ll correct what needs to be corrected and we’ll go forward. There’s nothing that’s going to divide us, at all”.
But there are other issues: Mack has yet to record a sack this season, the Raiders’ secondary is getting ripped apart, and this is after the Raiders supposedly made improvements throughout the lineup.
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But, in response to a question about whether linebacker Ben Heeney may have been pulled from the game for poor performance in pass coverage against the Falcons’ tight ends, Del Rio said no, and reiterated that the buck stops with him.
