Oakland Raiders NFL Report Card Week Fourteen: Raider Woes Continue In Green Bay

The Raiders had their second straight blowout loss in a row this week when they were throttled by the Aaron Rodgers and the undefeated Green Bay Packers. Not many in the Raider Nation believed that there was much hope for the Raiders pulling out a win in Green Bay. However, most in the Raider Nation also did not believe the Raiders would get blown out this badly.

Passing Offense: Carson Palmer had one of his worst days since coming to the Raiders. Palmer was 24 of 42 for 245 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions. Yeah, four interceptions. Three of which came in the first half. The Packers are not a team you can afford to turn the ball over to that frequently, and when you do, and do so early in the game, there is almost no hope. That is what happened here, the Raiders were out of the game very early and in large part due to the interceptions thrown.

Grade: F

Rushing Offense: The Raiders again failed to establish a consistent run game. This was the third week in a row that the once dominant run game of the Raiders was shut down. Michael Bush has not been able to regain the form he showed when he first took over for Darren McFadden. On Sunday, Bush had 23 touches, but was only able to put up 78 yards and a touchdown. Not bad numbers for fantasy purposes, but not good numbers for reality purposes either.

Grade: C-

Passing Defense: Aaron Rodgers had, well, kind of an average day against the Raiders. Well, by his standards at least. Rodgers went 17 for 30 for 281 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. In reality, those are pretty good numbers, but with what Aaron Rodgers is capable of doing, these numbers equate to keeping him in check. Really, not a terrible performance by the secondary. Though, with a 31-0 lead at half, and Rodgers sitting out late in the game, its not like he had to throw a whole lot.

Grade: C

Rushing Defense: While the rushing numbers are not as gaudy as they have been in previous weeks, this was a very poor performance for the run defense. The Packers put up 136 yards on the ground. While that is not an immense amount, it was a terrible performance by the Raiders primarily because of the big play. Ryan Grant busted a 47 yard touchdown early in the game that essentially broke the Raiders backs. This is not a team that runs the ball well and allowing Grant that type of play is unacceptable.

Grade: D

Special Teams: Not a whole lot to speak of in terms of special teams. Sebastian Janikowski was not asked to kick a field goal for the second straight game. Shane Lechler remains a beast as he had five punts and averaged 49.4 yards per punt despite spending half of the game punting into a very strong head wind. The Raiders did not allow rookie Randall Cobb to play a major role in the return game.

Grade: B

Coaching: As I have always said, a blowout falls primarily on the shoulders of a coach. However, this loss cannot fall too hard on the shoulders of Hue Jackson. His game calling was not bad and at the end of the day, he was forced to take a much inferior team into one of the harder places to play and to face off against one of the best NFL teams in recent history. Fact of the matter is, the Raiders were simply over powered in this game and I am not sure there was a whole lot that Jackson could have done. Bresnahan, on the other hand, needs to do something about the terrible defensive play exhibited by the Raiders in recent weeks.

Grade: C

Overall: This was an embarrassing loss for the Raiders, but it is not even close to being the same type of loss as they suffered to the Miami Dolphins a week before. This was a game that, to be honest, the Raiders should have lost big. They were essentially playing with their second string offense and doing so against the best team in the NFL. There was not a whole lot of hope for this thing from the get to. Just wish the Raiders had put up more of a fight.

Grade: D

The Raiders need to do something to right the ship and do it soon. With only three games left and the Raiders trailing the Denver Tebows, I mean the Denver Broncos, by one game, there is no room for error. The Raiders play the Detroit Lions at home this week in what is truly a must win game.