After getting off to a bad start to the season, Raiders Head Coach Dennis Allen went on with 97.5 The Game Thursday morning to discuss some of the reason's why his team has started 0-2 and why he isn't worried about it.
When asked about their loss to Miami last week, Allen felt that the team was ready but just didn't execute:
Did you feel the team was ready to roll against Miami last week?:
"Absolutely. I thought we were ready to play the game. I thought we were prepared to play the game. I think, when you look at how the first half played out, obviously passing game-wise, we were able to get some explosive passes down the field. And defensively, we let them drive down the field on the first drive, but after that I believe it was six straight possessions where they had to punt or downed it at the end of the half. I thought the first half went pretty well, but there in the third quarter, we lost momentum and couldn't get it back."
Allen also mentioned that poor tackling and field position played a large part in their loss last week as well:
If there's a takeaway in terms of what cost you the victory, what was it?:
"I think at the end of the day it came down to being able to finish making the tackles when you have the opportunity to make the tackles. ... Field position was a critical factor in the game. We started a bunch of drives back on our end of the field, which causes our offense to have to go the long, hard way."
When asked about the turn around of the franchise, Allen notes that the expectations from outsiders is just as the team tries to improve day-by-day:
Were the fans and media a bit over-zealous when it came to predicting how fast you could turn this into a consistent, winning team?:
"I don't think that it's any surprise what the expectations are. I think we all have expectations of winning football games. That's what we do this for; that's what this profession is all about. But we look the daily process of trying to get this team better on a daily basis and we've got to keep improving as the year goes on. And we'll count the wins and losses up at the end of the year and not worry so much about what that says right now."
Oakland will look for their first win of the year as they host the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday at the Oakland Coliseum.
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