Is anyone happier to play in Oakland than Marshawn Lynch?
Nope. And that’s dope.
What was an uncomfortable tension-filled nail-biter early on, eventually became an unshackled hyphy celebration at O.Co Coliseum this past Sunday as the Oakland Raiders trounced the New York Jets 45-20.
Lynch was going dumb to a song called “Oakland” and the Coliseum was getting hyped. When CBS returned from commercial, and Ian Eagle said this was a live look at Lynch on the sideline, the camera panned out and showed the video board. That led to even more noise and the “Town” truly getting down.
“I was going to join him,” head coach Jack Del Rio joked. “I thought it was best if I just stayed back and continued to coach. It got me fired up.”
That got me fired up for the Quick Slants:
- Michael Crabtree, who turned 30 last Thursday, overcame an ankle injury and snagged three touchdown passes from Derek Carr. If Carr and Amari Cooper are AC/DC, Crab and his QB are C+C Music Factory. Admit it, you heard the song “Everybody Dance Now” reading that.
- Carr yelled out “Seattle!” when changing the play to a pass at the goal line. How fitting. He audibled to a fade to Crabtree for the score.
- Lynch getting ball three straight times for his first touchdown as a Raider in the Town was also fitting. Raiders OC Todd Downing and Del Rio wanted to clearly play big boy football there.
- Cordarrelle Patterson’s 43-yard TD scamper was reminiscent of his rookie year in Minnesota. The Vikings routinely put the special teamer/wide receiver in the backfield and it paid off handsomely for Oakland. Next time, CP, keep running hard and don’t slow up.
- Karl Joseph is hitting home on the blitzes and came away with the strip-sack fumble recovery. He came a long way on those blitzes too. Khalil Mack advised Joseph to swipe at the ball and Joseph followed suit.
- Gareon Conley played outside corner in nickel packages and produced. His tip and swat of the ball was a play we waited for DJ Hayden to make. Conley did it in his rookie debut.
- Bruce Irvin was hit with a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty. I agree with Del Rio, that was mularkey. The whistle hadn’t been blown and it was a football play. Official Jeff Triplette is known to leave everyone flummoxed.
- Mario Edward Jr. is on the warpath. The third-year defensive lineman had 1.5 sacks on Sunday and has two on the year.
- Jalen Richard lived up to his Rocket nickname. One cut and he torched the Jets defense on the 52-yard gallop.
- Marquette King & Johnny Holton jolted the Raiders with a booming punt and muff recovery deep within Jets territory. Oakland’s momentum flatlined and special teams was the timely defibrillator.
- Raiders defenders gave up some plays, namely touchdowns from Josh McCown to Jermaine Kearse. But, in the end, a “W” matters most.
Quote(s) Of Note:
“I think they’re watching me extra now. It was a football tackle to me but they thought differently.”
— Bruce Irvin on the unnecessary roughness penalty
“I kind of had to work around the tackle, dip underneath him. We say all the time that rush and coverage work together. The coverage was good and I had time to get there.”
— Karl Joseph on his strip-sack and fumble recovery