One of the downsides of moving on from Derek Carr in favor of Jimmy Garoppolo was the lack of big plays. Carr was always willing to throw the ball down the field to create big plays. The trade-off was that Carr would generally take a lot of sacks and would have bigger turnover numbers.
However, Garoppolo isn’t someone who likes to push the ball down the field. Instead, he usually takes the safer throws to keep drives alive. Unfortunately, he’s already thrown five interceptions in the first three games and the offense has really suffered without any explosive plays.
According to ESPN, the Raiders have just eight explosive plays through three games, the fewest in the NFL:
With just two rushing attempts of more than 10 yards and six passes of more than 20 yards, the Raiders have generated the fewest explosive plays in the league.
The Raiders can’t afford to have a non-explosive offense and a unit that turns the ball over at a high rate. That will lead them to have one of the worst offenses in the NFL, which has been the case through three games.
Josh McDaniels and Garoppolo have to open up the offense more in the upcoming weeks by taking more chances down the field. If not, the Raiders will never be able to have success on that side of the ball.