Grüße und Vorstellung » A week off helped cure the Oakland Raiders

ALAMEDA Kenny Stabler Jersey , Calif. (AP) —offensive woes even with Amari Cooper and Marshawn Lynch not around.The defense still is plagued by all the problems that have been evident all season and a major reason why the Raiders are such a big disappointment in Jon Gruden’s first year back as coach.The Raiders (1-6) allowed Marlon Mack and the Colts to run for 222 yards, gave up three touchdown passes from Andrew Luck to his trio of tight ends and failed to generate a sack or takeaway in a 42-28 loss that came after what players and coaches felt was the best week of practice for the defense all season.“Well it just wasn’t good enough,” Gruden said Monday. “I’m not going to sit up here and say much more. We have to do a better job collectively. Getting off blocks, staying in the right gap and making physical tackles and knocking them backward. Those areas, it’s hard to practice live. It’s hard to practice against the exact look you’re going to see at full speed, as you know. But we are practicing well. We are practicing hard.”The results just aren’t there. The Raiders have allowed their most points (218) through seven games since 1961 and rank third worst in the league in third-down defense (49.4 percent), second worst in scoring defense (31.1 ppg), last in run defense (144.7 ypg) and last in sacks (seven).Oakland even made several changes in personnel with defensive backs Gareon Conley, Karl Joseph and Nick Nelson; and linebackers Jason Cabinda, Kyle Wilber and Nicholas Morrow all getting their most extensive playing time of the season as searches for answers.But that didn’t help at all as the Raiders allowed 42 points for the second straight game at the Coliseum.“We’re looking for more consistency. We’re looking for somebody to step up, not only on game day but during the week,” Gruden said. “We’re still working through who are the best corners, who is the best combination for us in every situation. Hopefully we can settle on it soon.”The one positive to take away from the game was the performance of the offense in a week after the team traded Cooper and placed Lynch on injured reserve, knocking out the No. 1 receiver and lead running back.Playing behind a healthier offensive line that provided much more time than it did the previous game in London on Oct. 14 against Seattle, Derek Carr had perhaps his best game yet under Gruden.Carr threw three touchdown passes, ran for a fourth score, completed 17 straight passes at one point and perhaps most importantly, committed no turnovers for just the second time this season.“I think we’ve tried to be creative. I think anyone will tell you that the injuries on the offensive line, multiple injuries at left guard, right tackle, can stymie you, it can make things tough on everyone George Blanda Jersey ,” Gruden said.“An 11-hour flight can make things doubly hard. I’m not going to say anything other than yesterday we had a good rhythm, we were able to finish some drives. I think Derek Carr showed you what kind of quarterback he is when he gets legitimate pass protection and gets some balance. That was exciting.”The offense got a boost in the running game with Doug Martin playing his best game yet in place of Lynch. Martin ran for 72 yards on 13 carries and caught two passes for 17 yards in his most prolific game since 2016.But Martin also lost a key fumble in the fourth quarter with Oakland trailing by seven, sealing another loss.“He’s a good player,” Gruden said. “He had the fumble. Obviously, that will be remembered by a lot of people and rightfully so. But, what a performance he had yesterday. He picked up a couple blitzes. He ran with authority. He can catch the ball. He has a great stiff-arm, still. He still has a lot of life in his legs.”NOTES: Gruden is hopeful LG Kelechi Osemele could return from a knee injury this week. … OL Backup OL T.J. Clemmings will go on IR soon with a season-ending knee injury. … DT Eddie Vanderdoes could return this week from a major knee injury in last year’s season finale. GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The hollering in the post-game locker room sounded as if Oakland had just won a playoff game or something.That's how good victory finally felt for the Raiders.Daniel Carlson kicked a 35-yard field goal as the game ended to give Oakland a 23-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday in a matchup of teams scraping the bottom of the NFL standings. The Raiders (2-8), who had lost five straight, matched the record of the Cardinals."It's fun to win again," said Jon Gruden, whose return to coaching this season after a decade away has been difficult, to say the least. "With the injuries and the lack of practice, I really credit our guys for finishing the football game and finding a way to win."Derek Carr threw for two touchdowns and had completions of 32 and 20 yards on the final drive that led to Carlson's winning kick."I was just ready," Carlson said. "I stayed ready those last two drives because I didn't know when it was going to happen. I had a feeling it was going to happen eventually. … It's awesome."Carlson also had field goals of 49 and 21 yards in the second half after the teams were tied 14-14 at the break."We all believed. There was never a doubt," Carr said. "There's been times when we believed and we didn't win. It was the same feeling you need to have, same mentality, same look in everybody's eye. It was a good win."Arizona rookie Josh Rosen threw for three touchdowns, two to Larry Fitzgerald, but was intercepted twice. Both picks led to first-half touchdowns for Oakland. David Johnson rushed for a season-best 137 yards, including a 53-yarder that set up Rosen's 5-yard TD pass to Fitzgerald that gave the Cardinals a 21-20 lead with 5:02 to play.Later, Johnson had a 57-yard touchdown run called back by a holding penalty against Ricky Seals-Jones and also had a key drop. That possession also featured an unnecessary roughness penalty on tight end Jermaine Gresham that helped force the punt to Oakland."It was just a dumb play by me Jim Plunkett Jersey ," Gresham said. "I turned around and saw my guy (Fitzgerald) on the ground. It was a stupid thing. … I cost us the game."Carr completed 19 of 31 passes for 192 yards.Rosen was 9 of 20 for 136 yards, but three of the completions went for scores: 18 and 5 yards to Fitzgerald and a 59-yard pass play to fellow rookie Christian Kirk. Fitzgerald has 114 career TD catches, seventh most in NFL history."This one is going to definitely sting," Johnson said. "You know, the Raiders, everyone knows they're trading guys away, they're doing everything to try to rebuild. This one is a tough one."Or, as Rosen put it, "No disrespect to the Raiders but we feel we are the better football team. That's what makes this so frustrating."The day started badly for the Cardinals and ended that way.On Arizona's second play, Gareon Conley made a diving interception and returned it 28 yards to the Cardinals 33-yard line. Three plays later, Carr threw to wide-open Jared Cook for the touchdown.Arizona took the subsequent kickoff and tied it with a nine-play, 64-yard drive. Rosen threw 18 yards to Fitzgerald for the touchdown.The Cardinals took the lead when Rosen, changing the play at the line of scrimmage, threw short to Kirk. Kirk, on his 22nd birthday, shook loose from a would-be tackler and raced to the end zone, a 59-yard play to make it 14-7 late in the first quarter.Karl Joseph intercepted a deflected pass at the 50 and Oakland drove from there for the tying score. Carr threw 5 yards to Brandon LaFell for the touchdown .Carlson's 49-yard field goal on Oakland's first possession of the second half gave the Raiders the lead. Later in the quarter, the Raiders used 7:39 in a drive that stalled at the 1-yard line and Carlson's 21-yard field goal made it 20-14.Both of Arizona's wins came against San Francisco. The 49ers, Cardinals and Raiders are now tied for the worst record in the NFL.TIMEOUT TROUBLESOakland drew a 5-yard penalty for calling consecutive timeouts in the second quarter. It moved what would have been a third-and-2 situation to third-and-7 and the Raiders failed to convert. Coach Jon Gruden was demonstrably upset with Carr afterward on the sideline.INJURIESRaiders: LaFell left in the second half with an Achilles tendon injury. Cornerback Leon Hall hurt his back in the first half.Cardinals: Linebacker Deone Bucannon left with a chest injury in the second half.UP NEXTRaiders: at Baltimore next Sunday.Cardinals: at the Los Angeles Chargers next Sunday.