Raiders’ Pete Carroll Makes Maxx Crosby & Brock Bowers Announcements on Friday
The Las Vegas Raiders are running out of chances to turn the season around. Week 9 against the Jacksonville Jaguars should be a prime opportunity to get another win.
While the Jaguars have been a better team than the Raiders, it was just revealed that star rookie
Tight end Brock Bowers has missed three games due to a knee injury, and defensive end
During his Friday press conference, head coach Pete Carroll announced that both Bowers and Crosby will be playing. Defensive tackle
This is good news for the Raiders, as they’ve been battling injuries all season. If the Raiders can’t beat a banged-up Jaguars team at home coming off the bye week, it’s clear they have bigger problems than injuries, so they can’t afford to lose in Week 9.
Bowers Draws Praise From Jaguars
Bowers had the greatest season for a rookie ever last season, but hasn’t been able to make an impact in Year 2. Now that he’s healthy, he could be looking to make up for lost time.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen knows his team will have its hands full on Sunday.
“I had a lot of experience with him in the SEC at Kentucky,” Coen said,
Coen Talks Crosby
Crosby hasn’t been getting a lot of help on defense, but he’s still finding ways to make an impact. The Jaguars won’t be sleeping on him when the two teams play.
“He is creature for sure,” Coen said of Crosby. “Just the strain, the relentless effort, the batted balls, they lead the National Football League right now in tipped balls as a defense, as a group. So long that initially, like if your eyes as a quarterback are maybe at your number one read right away and it’s like quick game or whatever it is, he does a great job of getting his hands on balls and then if it is a little bit of a longer developing pass play, well that’s when you just kind of see him relentlessly strain. He’s just so long in terms of his legs, the bounding, his ability to get to the quarterback. And then the way he’s played the run, they’ve played the run well as a defense all year as well.”
Dan Campbell’s brutally honest assessment of Lions should scare rest of NFL
The Detroit Lions have been one of the best teams in the NFL this season. Even after losing both of their coordinators this offseason, Detroit seemingly hasn't lost a step. They come out of their bye week with a 5-2 record, scoring key wins against some of the top contenders in the process.
If the Lions are to be believed, they still aren't playing to their full potential. Head coach Dan Campbell believes that Detroit still has another gear this season. The Lions HC said that they could stand to be better at playing complementary football over the course of the season.
“I really believe we haven't played our best ball yet collectively in all three phases,” Campbell said, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN. “And that's really what we're trying to get to here is how can we sharpen ourselves. We know it's going to take every phase. Every game's different, and one unit may have to pick up the slack, but we need to start playing complete ball across the board. And just keep improving — like with all these teams that we're in the race with right now. So, that's where we're at.”
The Lions have highlighted four key areas for improvement during their bye week. That includes their third-down efficiency on both sides of the ball. Detroit is ranked 22nd in third-down conversion rate this season with just 37.7%, far below their 47% rate last season. On the other side, they're allowing a similar third-down conversion rate on defense, which is higher than their 32.5% rate last year.
The two other areas that the Lions focused on during the bye week are their red zone defense and Jameson Williams' involvement on offense. While Detroit's defense has been generally solid this season, it's allowing a whopping 63.6% of its opponents' red zone trips to end in a touchdown. On the other hand, Williams has had an up-and-down season thanks in large part to his fluctuating target rate. Detroit's offense is at its best when the threat of Jamo downfield opens up the rest of the offense. Finding ways to get him in space is going to be crucial for this team moving forward.
The Lions open the second half of their season with a matchup against the Minnesota Vikings at home. Will Detroit apply what they've installed during the bye week in their next games?
