Mid Season Report

Mid Season Report

So far through out the season, we have definitely exceeded my expectations. Before the season, I expected our win lose record to be 2 wins and 5 losses but to my surprise, we are the exact opposite at 5 wins and 2 losses. I would take the the record with a grain of salt because ironically, the two games we've lost have been games where we've played on the road and the four games that we've won that on paper we weren't suppose to win were games where the starting quarterback of the opposing team was hurt earlier in the game. Against the Cincinnati Bengals, Andy Dalton got injured and A.J. McCarron came in and played absolutely better than I expected that he would ... unfortunately, that would be the story for the rest of the games where back up quarterbacks stepped in for the starting quarterbacks.  

Statistics 

So far this season... 

• Derek Carr has performed well in some games but mostly inconsistent. Some games he'll have a QBR (quarterback rating) over a hundred and not throw any interception the next game he'll throw 4 touchdowns and have a great QBR  then we'll go on the road to Minnesota and post an average QBR and throw an interception. Because of our weak defense, we need him to be a lot more consistent and keep putting on great performances especially on road games. 
• Threw for a total of 1,284 passing yards
• Has 13 Touchdown passes and 6 interceptions 
• Has a terrible 59 completion Percentage 
• Averages 7.4 Passing yards per attempt and 183.4 yards per game
• Has a great 92.6 total QBR 
• I don't really have any real solution to make Derek Carr a more efficient passer because our receivers aren't quick to get open and we don't have a lot of time to throw the ball so most of his passes are a lot of times rushed and of course inaccurate.
• Our team is last in the league in total passing yards but that is okay because we're winning and winning is everything 

• Our leading rusher is Kenjon Barner who has had 125 rush attempts and rushed for 609 yards. 
• We signed Kenjon Barner after our week one game. Before we signed him, our starting running back David Wilson who went down with a broken collarbone. Since Kenjon has been on the team, he has had games where he hasn't had much success rushing the ball but none the less, his been great. 
• Barner has averaged 101.5 yards a game and 4.9 yards a carry

• Rookie Running Back Deron Pickett has been great in the red zone. 
• He has averaged 3.8 yards a carry and rushed for 3 Touchdowns 

• Our defense has been very bipolar 
• The Good
• Our defensive line has recorded a league leading 30 sacks 
• Our defense leads the league in fumble recoveries with 10 
• We have NOT allowed the most rushing yards in the league 
• 883 rushing yards
• The Terrible
• We've allowed the most passing yards in the league 
• 2,459 passing yards

MID-SEASON TEAM MVP: Kenjon Barner 

As I said earlier Kenjon Barner has been amazing without him we would have a losing record. Enough said.

Division Race 

As I said before the season started, we have a tough division and winning it will be difficult. At the top of the division, we have the undefeated Denver Broncos who we will face for the first time this season in week 12. In second place, we have the Kansas City Chiefs with their win/loss record at 6-1 with one loss coming against the aforementioned Denver Broncos and the other coming against the Pittsburgh Steelers who we lost to in week one. In week 11 the Chiefs will go head to head against the Broncos again. But this time, they'll be playing at their home stadium Arrowhead Stadium so the game shouldn't be as hard for them. If the Chiefs beat the Broncos, then they'll have the tie breaker against them which means that if they ended up with the same record at the end of the season, then they'll win the division (or be second place depending on or ranking).We face the Chiefs in week 10. At last place we have the 0 and 7 San Diego Chargers who are pretty much irrelevant in the division race at this point. Though, I am worried about them when we face them in week 13 because its an away game for us, we haven't won at all on the road, and they came close to beating us when we faced them in week 7.

Injuries

To start the season we did have a plethora of injuries, but thankfully, we were able to take players and plug them into those positions. For example, when David Wilson, got hurt Kenjon Barner filled his role. When our first round pick Left Tackle Kirk Lane got hurt, we plugged in Levi Brown and he performed well. On the injury list we have QB Jake Locker who has recovered from his injury but earlier in the season I placed him on the injured reserved (IR) because I needed the roster spot. Next, we have LG Travelle Wharton. Travelle got hurt a while ago and we really do not need him anymore so his on he IR along with Locker and will be there till the end of the season. Finally, our kick returner Trindon Holliday is hurt. Holliday's injury definitely hurts us on the special team side of the ball because he is the difference between starting off on our oppenents twenty yard line and starting off at the 50 yard line. When we start at the 50 yard line all we need to do is get twenty yards to guarantee us at least three points as oppose to having to gain 50 yards just to get into field goal range. Holliday will return during the first week of the playoff (wildcard week) but that is long away and until then, we have to do with rookie wide receiver Sergio Black as our kick returner and hope he can give us a spark on special teams.

Past and Future Draft 

For this years draft we have 5 draft picks: one first , two fourths, a 5th, and a 6th. So far, from last years draft, we only have four players that are currently starting for us. I've been pleased with 3 round draft pick RT Owamagbe Ogbonna's development this season. On the other side of the line, defensive lineman Edivaldo McKinney has been okay. I moved him to Defensive tackle because he was better there and depending on his development, he could possibly keep the second defensive tackle spot going into next season. He has 12 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. In the second round of last years draft we drafted Cornerback Derek Burnnett, This season, Burnnett has been our slot corner and hasn't been the best but his young so I'm confident that he'll get better.

 In the first round, I plan on drafting a center so that I can move Gabe Jackson, who is currently starting at center, back over to left guard.

Upcoming Schedule 

Our remaining schedule for the team is going to be interesting because most of the games are against division opponents so we need a lot of luck so we can win this division and make a playoff run.

Regular Season Weeks 4-8

WEEK FOUR

Cincinnati Bengals
(1-2) 

Oakland Raiders
(2-1)

VS

Pregame Notes:

• The Cincinnati Bengals Have...
• An above average QB in Andy Dalton 
• Two great Running backs in Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard 
• 3 great top receivers in A.J. Green, Mohamed Sanu. and rookie Bryant Patterson 
• A pretty good offensive line 
• The weak spot is at the center position
• One of the best Defensive Tackles in the NFL in Geno Atkins 
• A weak secondary (players that play the corner back and safety position) 

Final Score: Cin 34 - 41 Oak 

Game Takeaways:

• Defense
• We had a bad overall performance 
• allowed over 400 yards
• 338 yards passing 
• Kept Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill under a hundred yards 
• They ran the ball a total of 23 times 
• We had a hard time stopping TE (Tight End) Tyler Eifert
• Recorded 10 receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown
• Defensive Tackle Henry Melton had a good game 
• Recorded 2 sacks  

• Offense 
• We had a good overall performance 
• Got 377 yards 
• 153 rushing 
• 224 passing 
• Derek played amazing 
• Recorded a 135.0 QBR (quarterback rating) 
• Threw for 250 yards 
• Threw 2 touchdowns 
• Completed 61 percent of passes 
• averaged 12 yards per pass attempt 
• Kenjon Barner also played great 
• Got 152 yards on 19 rushing attempts 
• Averaged 8 yards a carry
• Longest rush was 60 yards 
• Team 
• Despite having a great time rushing the ball, we lost the possession battle by allowing the Bengals to have their offense on the field for 32 minutes and 39 seconds compared to our 19 minutes and 21 seconds 
• This is bad because the longer their offense is on the field the more of defense gets tired and the more our defense gets tired, the more our not so good backups play which gives the Bengals offense to gain over 400 yards like the did today 

PLAYER OF THE GAME (POTG): 

The player of the game goes to Kenjon Barner for his great rushing performance.

WEEK FIVE 

Oakland Raiders
(3-1)

Week five is our bye week. In the NFL, a bye week is a (for lack of better phrases) an off week for the NFL players and coaches. But since I'm playing a video game, I don't have an off week. This bye week came at the right time because we had a myriad of players coming off injuries. Some of these players include our great rookie Left Tackle Kirk Lane, our 6th round draft pick Sergio Black and our free agent signing David Wilson. 

Our next game will be against the Minnesota Vikings. Before I took on this project, I had a Connected Franchise with the Minnesota Vikings. And they aren't completely similar but their are some uncanny similarities. Like us, the Vikings have 2 seconds year players that will be the cornerstones of their franchise for years to come. Ironically enough, they all play the same position. The Vikings have Anthony Barr who plays Left Outside Linebacker (like Khalil Mack). Also, they have Teddy Bridgewater who plays quarterback (JUST LIKE DEREK CARR!!). Along with those two players, the Vikings have a rookie offensive guard,in John Dalton, that they could build their interior offensive line around (similar to our right guard Gabe Jackson). If you didn't think that was weird enough, they have a 20 year old starting rookie Left Tackle called Travis Lane (I don't know this for a fact but I am convinced that he is the brother of our 21 year old starting rookie Left Tackle Kirk Lane). One more blaring Similarity is that they have two good corners in Xavier Rhodes and Captain Munnerlyn. A couple of difference is that they have one of the best running backs in the NFL in Adrian Peterson. 

WEEK SIX 

Oakland Raiders
(3-1)

Minnesota Vikings
(4-1)

VS 

KICKOFF!!

This week we are on the road at TCF Bank stadium to face the Minnesota Vikings. As I said earlier, the Vikings have the best running back in the NFL, Adrian Peterson, and our task for today is to keep him under 100 yards. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't even keep him under 200 yards. This Vikings team had one plan and they executed it to perfection. The Vikings game plan was to run the ball down the teeth of our defense and then when they felt like it they would throw the ball without a problem because there was always a threat of them running the ball. The benefit of having such a good running game is that you open up the play action. If you have an effective running game, the play action, late in the game, become your best friend. The play action is basically a Quarterback faking that he would hand the ball off to the running back, then either throwing the ball down the field or throw a quick pass to a tight end or the slot receiver cutting across the field, depending on the play call. 

Final Score: Oak 27 - 52 Minn

Game Takeaways

• Defense
• Overall Terrible Performance
• Allowed almost 300 yards rushing 
• Adrian Peterson ran for over 200 Yards 
• Teddy Bridgewater Completed 80 percent of his passes 
• Completed 12 of passes 
• They had more rushing yards than our whole offense gained yards 
• As a team, they got 297 yards

• Offense
• Derek Carr had a below average game
• Passed for 230 Yards
• Threw a Touchdown and an interception
• Had a 76.3 Quarterback Rating 
• Completed 56 Percent of his passes
• Kenjon Barner didn't perform well 
• Had a total of 62 yards 
• Averaged 3.4 yards a carry
• Jeremy Maclin had the best receiving performance of both teams 
• Caught 6 Passes for 90 yards 

• Team
• Terrible performance on both sides of the ball. This was a blowout at halftime when the score was 28-6. Then it went to 38-6 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, our offense finally decided that they had a game to play and they started scoring some points as we scored 21 points in the quarter. 

POTG: Due to the fact that nobody perfomed well, there isn't a player of the game 

WEEK SEVEN

San Diego Chargers
(0-5)

Oakland Raiders
(3-2)

                VS 

Today we play against the San Diego Chargers who haven't won a single game this season and also this is a home game for us so we have the odds in our favor. The significance of this game is that we have our rookie Wide Receiver Glenn Gaitor and our Half Back David Wilson returning from injury. As you may remember, earlier this season, Wilson was my starting running back till he got hurt. When he got hurt, I signed Kenjon Barner to take his place and I like the performances that Barner has had. In week 3 against the Cleveland Browns, he rushed for 125 yards averaging 4.6 yards a carry then the following week against the Cincinnati Bengals, he rushed for 152 yards averaging 8 yards a carry. With all those good performance in mind I was pretty conflicted on who to start. So I decided that I would stay with the hot hand and keep Barner as my starter. As a matter of fact, Wilson didn't even play in this game. 

The Chargers have a pretty solid 11 year veteran starting Quarter Back in Philip Rivers. 

At running back the Chargers have a lot of depth as a matter of fact, their 4th string running back is good enough to become our starting running back. 

The Wide Receiver that we'll have to worry about is Kennan Allen. But I trust our corner Prince Amukamara to keep him under a hundred receiving yards.

The Chargers have 2 great tackles in Left Tackle Branden Albert and Right Tackle D'Brickshaw Ferguson. But their interior offensive lineman are that good. 

The Chargers have a pretty weak defensive line headlined by rookie Left End Malik Chaney. The Chargers Linebackers are pretty average with the weak spot being at Right Outside Linebacker Jerry Attaochu. 

The defensive backs for the Chargers are pretty good at free safety, they have one of the best Free safeties in the league in Eric Weddle. They also have two great corners Brandon Flowers and Jason Verrett. 

Lucky for us, they are missing a lot of their starters. They are missing: RB Ryan Mathews, MLB Donald Butler, ROLB Melvin Ingram, DT Paul Soliai, WR Danario Alexander 

KICKOFF!! - Thursday Night 8:20 PM at  Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. 

This game was pretty weird in the sense that it was closer than I expected it to be. I expected us to decimate the Chargers considering that most of their key players were hurt while the majority of our guys are healthy. 

At halftime the score was tied at 10. Then in the beginning of the fourth quarter, the score was 17-13. In the fourth quarter, we managed to extend the score to 30-13. In the last two minutes, the Chargers drove down the field and scored a touchdown to make the score 20-30. Then proceed to successfully recover an onside kick. After they recovered the onside kick they drove the field to score another touchdown as time expired to make the score 27-30

FINAL SCORE: SD 27 - 30 OAK 

POTG: This weeks player of the game is MLB Chris Borland 

-Borland recorded 13 tackles, 3 sacks and 4 Tackles for Loss (TFL).

GAME TAKEAWAYS 

• Defense

• Our defense allowed the Chargers offense to gain 447 yards
• 115 yards passing 
• 332 Yards rushing 
• We got a lot of pressure on the Quarterback 
• Recorded 9 sacks 
• MLB Chris Borland recorded 3
• RE Ryan Davis recorded 3 
• DT Henry Melton Recorded 2 
• Rookie DT Tavarus Steward recorded 1
• Danny Woodhead rushed for over a hundred yards 
• Averaged 6.7 yards a carry
• Fumbled once 

• Offense 

• Our offensive line did a good job protecting Derek Carr
• Only got sacked once
• Rookie RT Owamagbe Ogbonna got 2 pancakes (when an offensive lineman runs over a defender)
• Derek Carr had another below average game
• Threw for 176 yards 
• Threw 2 Touchdowns and 2 Interceptions 
• Recorded a 68.1 QBR  
• Completed 56 percent of his passes
• Completed 17 of 30 attempted passes
• Kenjon Barner Rushed for over a hundred yards again 
• Average 6.2 yards a carry 
• Fumbled once 
• David Wilson did not play 

• Team

• We can't keep allowing quarterbacks to throw all over us like they did
• Derek Carr needs to get improve his performances 
• We got 3 turnovers
• We were dominated in the time of possesion battle once again
• They had ball for 27 minutes and 36 seconds
• we had ball for 24 minutes and 24 seconds

Regular Season Weeks 2-3

WEEK TWO

Lions
(1-0)

Raiders
(0-1)

VS

Pre Game Notes: 

Coming into this game, the Detroit Lions are leaps and bounds better than us on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. On offense, they have an above average Quarterback in Matthew Stafford along with him, they have two All-Pro receivers in Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate. Calvin Johnson is 6'5" so I'll try my luck and put my best corner Prince Amukamara on him and hope that he can shut him down. On the defensive side of the ball, the Lions have a GREAT defensive line headlined by Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley, and my favorite Ezekiel Ansah. Along with the outstanding defensive line, they have a pretty good line backing core with Deandre Levy and Stephen Tulloch. In the secondary, the Lions are pretty average in the secondary so if our offensive line can give Derek Carr time in the pocket we could probably make some throws down field and give our receivers a chance to make some plays. 

Kickoff!

As soon as the game started I thought that we were destined to lose when Mathew Stafford threw a 80 yard pass to Robert Meachem for a TOUCHDOWN. Meachem would finish the game with 5 receptions for 128 yards. 

The first quarter ended with the score 10-3. But in the second quarter, our offensive was able to score 3 touchdowns with the help of Derek Carr and Wide Receiver Jeremy Maclin. Maclin had a pretty good day, catching 8 passes for 98 yards and of course 2 touchdowns. 

We go into the fourth quarter all tied up at 27 a piece. Fortunately for us, our defense was able to keep the Lions from scoring and allow us take time off the clock and kick a game winning field goal to give us our first victory on the year. 

Final Score: DET 27 - 30 OAK

Game Takeaways: 

• Our defense
•  Excluding the fourth quarter, our defense didn't play good at all. 
• We allowed 437 yards from their offense.
• Stafford threw for 367 yards.
• We did a good job keeping Calvin Johnson from having a monster game. 
• He had two receptions for 24 yards. 
• We did good job stopping the run. 
• They had 58 yards rushing and averaged 3.1 yards a carry
• Our Rookie Corner Back Priest Maclin got an interception 
• Our offense
• We did good rushing the ball 
• Deron Pickett got 56 yards on 12 attempts averaging 4.7 yards a carry. 
• Derek Carr had an average game.
• He completed 57 percent of his passes
• Had 2 Touchdowns 
• Had a 92.1 Quarterback Rating
• We had four opportunities in the red zone (inside the 20 yard line) but we failed to score a touchdown 3 times and had to kick a field goal.
• We won the possession battle by keeping the ball longer than they did.
• We had the ball for 30 minutes and 13 seconds compared to their 21 minutes and 47 seconds.