Raiders Have An Achilles Heel That’s All About Red Zone Scoring

The Las Vegas Raiders have one of the highest scoring offenses in the NFL, and they’re averaging 27 points a game, which is sixth-most in the league. That average helped three straight wins to open the season, but now an Achilles heel has surfaced, according to  Sam Warren of The Athletic. 

The Raiders have scored touchdowns on 12 of their 23 drives into the red zone, per Warren, and that 52 percent clip ranks 21st in the NFL. It’s hurt them in recent losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, although it probably didn’t matter much in the Raiders’ blowout road loss to the New England Patriots. 

They went 2-for-5 in their 33-30 defeat to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, and coach Klint Kubiak said that’s unacceptable. He also said it starts with him, and while his direct accountability is impressive, he’s also got a tough job implementing a fix as he added that “it’s not one thing” that’s causing the problem. 

One problem is penalties. Center Tyler Linderbaum was flagged for a procedure penalty when fullback Connor Heyward took the direct snap on a tush-push play, and that forced a key field goal. 

Another problem is the run game, which is a serious problem in its own right that’s been bleeding into other areas. Kubiak has pinpointed the running game as being especially important in the red zone, which isn’t exaclty a coaching revelation. 

The stats tell a dark tale. The Raiders have a -0.23 EPA per carry this season, which is the third-worst in the NFL. Their struggles somehow more than double in the red zone, per Warren, with their EPA per carry dropping to a league-worst -0.59 across 27 attempts.

Surprisingly, this problem isn’t new to a Kubiak-coached unit. Last year’s Seattle Seahawks offense scored touchdowns on a little more than 55 percent of its red-zone opportunities, which was ranked 22nd in the NFL.

The coach did say that the offense was playing to its strengths, one of which is moving the football. That one’s more avoidance than accountability, and it will be interesting to see how Kubiak tackles the problem this week. 

One change that could be coming is more of rookie running back Mike Washington Jr., who gave the offense more explosiveness that would ease the red zone pain. But the coach doesn’t have much time to find a solution, not with the Raiders in the midst of a three-game losing streak and a promising season quickly slipping into mediocrity.