The Oakland Raiders continue their abysmal stretch. However, one bright spot is the play of guard Richie Incognito.
When Incognito was signed in the offseason, many in Raider Nation feared the worst. With his documented issues in the past, this was more than warranted. Instead, the veteran has been an anchor on this offensive line and has surprised folks as one of the best free agent pickups.
Dominating The Trenches
Even though quarterback Derek Carr has had some struggles, the blame cannot be placed in the trenches. Stalwart Rodney Hudson continues to dominate as one of the NFL’s best centers. Incognito for his part has allowed only nine quarterback pressures all season long. Pro Football Focus recently shared this jaw dropping stat via their Twitter account.
Richie Incognito’s 84.0 overall grade in Week 14 led all #Raiders, and put him on the Week 14 Team of the Week!
He has only allowed 9 QB pressures all year 😤💪#RaiderNation https://t.co/hPO1uHnnwS
— PFF Las Vegas Raiders (@PFF_Raiders) December 10, 2019
With such a dominant performance this year and by all accounts an incident-free season, it would certainly make sense to bring him back. Yes, he’s 36 years old but the fact is he’s one of the primary reasons Carr hasn’t been sacked much this year. only 20 sacks given up by the o-line this year.
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Back To The Struggles…
So what does Incognito think about the hurdles that have hindered the Raiders season? Well Incognito recently said via The Athletic that “We got home after the big road test, we got three in a row, In my opinion, we probably weren’t playing our best ball during those, but we’re still winning. And then we take the trip to New York and get exposed, went to Kansas City and they jumped on us, and then today. I’m pretty shocked that we’re in this position.”
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It’s certainly a different perspective on what happened with the Raiders prior to the “unraveling.” Was it then simply a mirage or luck that the team got those victories? It depends on who you talk to; it certainly seems the Raiders beat the teams “they were supposed to” in that stretch. Then, what do you call what happened on Sunday with the Tennessee Titans? Well, via The Washington Post, Incognito shared his thoughts.
“On offense, we just bogged down, Three-and-outs, our Achilles’ heel. When we’re going three-and-out and not picking up first downs and going down and scoring points, it’s tough. The offense put the defense and the rest of the team in a tough position to start that second half, and they just exploded on us.”
Incognito in his assessment that the offense shut down on Sunday. Nonetheless, the focus must now turn to this Sunday and the Jacksonville Jaguars. The offense must come out firing on all cylinders. But what there is little doubt of is that Incognito will do his part as he has all year long.