The Oakland Raiders continue to show improvement, but not enough to get wins as the team is dealing with three straight losses as they prepare to face the Tennessee Titans in Week 12. What originally looked like a well-oiled machine, the offense is now stagnant and suffering from mistakes. As Derek Carr vows to make necessary improvements before playing the Titans, the Raiders need more from Amari Cooper going forward.
Cooper was well on his way to being a candidate for Rookie of the Year, but getting held to just one catch for four yards is not helping his case. The receiver had the worst game of his short NFL career while continuing to struggle with dropped passes. If the Raiders are going to get wins coming for them starting with the matchup against the Titans, getting Cooper more involved and better will be the key. Head coach Jack Del Rio is hopeful that as practice continues this week, getting Cooper more chances will help come Sunday.
"I think there were some opportunities with one-on-one coverage that, quite frankly, we didn't take advantage of," Del Rio said, via ESPN.com. "We have to do a better job of making sure that we get our top playmakers involved. Coming out of that game, I feel like we didn't do a good enough job there as a staff of getting him involved."
With Cooper struggling, Seth Roberts and Michael Crabtree were the keys for Carr in Week 11. The improvement from Roberts was a welcomed sight for the quarterback while having Cooper playing better would mean the quarterback has three quality passing options to work with. Carr recognizes that the offense has dropped off in the past three games from where it was at the start of the season. He believes fixing mistakes and mental errors could get the Raiders back on track. Del Rio believes something is just out of sync with the unit.
"We were not in sync," Del Rio said. "We were not operating the way we expect to operate ... Whether we missed the throw or whether we dropped the ball, (we are) just not firing on all cylinders right now."
The keys to getting out of the fun are Cooper and Latavius Murray. The running back had just 28 yards of rushing on Sunday, bringing his total to a quiet 78 yards over the past two games. If the Raiders can get both players moving in the right direction against the struggling Titans, they stand a chance at getting momentum back in their favor going forward.
"We know what we're capable of," Carr said, via ESPN.com. "We know what we can do, and it just needs to be better than (Sunday's performance), because that wasn't good enough."
