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Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden didn’t like watching his team’s 43-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons the first time around. Watching him again was no better.
“Have you ever been to the dentist and had your teeth pulled out?” It’s pretty much like that, ”Gruden said Monday, via Josh Dubow of the Associated press. “It was tough, man.
The Raiders returned the ball five times against the Falcons. Six if you count turnover on tries on the team’s opening possession on the fourth and the 1 as well. They had 11 penalties for 141 yards and the offense only managed 243 yards against the league’s 27th total defense and 31st ranked pass defense.
“Fourth and one, we have the ball, we go for it, we are rejected,” said Gruden. Next possession, first down, we take a hit with aggressive game-action protection, dropping out of the sack. Just before half-time, we will be looking for points, a breakaway. At the start of the third quarter, we are in a great position on the field, interception for a touchdown. We force a kicker to miss a basket, we brutalize the kicker and they end up shooting seven (points).
“There was nothing fun about watching the tape.”
With a win over the Kansas City Chiefs earlier in the year and another really strong game against the Chiefs a week before, the Raiders are starting to look like a real playoff team until the Atlanta implosion. They still have chances of making the playoffs in the last five weeks, but the loss to the Falcons has wiped out much of their margin for error.
Las Vegas has a chance to turn the boat around against the moribund New York Jets this Sunday.
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