Raiders vs. Jaguars: A new Greg Knapp, but the same old results

The Oakland Raiders are currenlty in their second stint with Greg Knapp acting as their offensive coordinator. Knapp's first stint in that gig for the Raiders was under Lane Kiffin. As most will remember, those were the JaMarcus Russell days, when the Raiders offense often considered a 4th and short a moral victory, because at least it wasn't 4th and 15. This year, Greg Knapp has completely changed his game plan, but still has the same results.

As ESPN points out, Knapp has taken two completely different approaches in his two stints with Oakland. During his first tenure, Knapp oversaw an offense that was very run heavy and focused on time of possession. This year, the exact opposite has been true. Knapp's offense is 8th in pass attempts per game in the NFL, while they are 30th in rush attempts per game. Back in 2007, the Raiders were 4th in rush attempts per game and 29th in pass attempts per game. While Knapp probably deserves credit for being willing to switch things up, neither game plan has worked well for the Raiders.

Last weekend, against the Atlanta Falcons, Knapp went against his trend this season and ran the ball consistently throughout the game, despite getting rather poor results. But the rush yards accumulated by the end of the game are not what was important. What is important is that the Raiders had a balanced offense throughout the game, and as a result, they controlled the ball for longer and were able to play with the best team in the NFL.

Knapp has shown that he is willing to make changes when things do not work, and his changes before last week's game clearly made a difference. Now, Raiders fans need to wait and see if he can continue to learn from his mistakes and start calling games in a way that will result in wins for the Raiders, not just a good showing. This weekend will be a good opportunity to show just that as the Raiders come home to take on one of the leagues worst teams in the Jacksonville Jaguars.