Struggling Raiders Offense Must Step Up Before It’s Too Late

LAS VEGAS, Nev. --After an interception on the first play of the game set the tone, the Las Vegas Raiders' offense never got going against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night. Still, it is undeniable that Las Vegas' offense has potential; they have to put it all together.

Raiders rookie wide receiver Dont'e Thornton spoke before practice on Wednesday about the state of the Raiders' offense and more.

To hear today's comments, view below.

Raiders Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly spoke before practice on Thursday. We have a partial transcript below.

Q: When you look at the film just from a run blocking standpoint, what do you think you guys clean up on?

Coach Kelly: "Yeah, I mean every play has its own individual entity to it. So, on this play, all five guys blocked it right, Ashton [Jeanty] hits it. The second play of the game, they blitzed off the front side edge and we blocked it up perfect, Ashton got the 12-yard gain, ran through the safety. The unblocked player was the safety and ran through him and made a play. So, I think you have to look at the individual plays. Sometimes it's a one-person breakdown. Did they step with the right foot?

“Did they get their hand placement in the right spot? It's a combination of all those things when you take a look at it. But I think in the game from a run standpoint, I think what people have to realize is we were down 17-6 at half. Our first drive of the second half was a 20-play drive, and we came away with three because we had a penalty in the red zone. But then after that, we were in two-minute mode. So, we didn't run the ball as much as we did the week before, the week before, we were up, so we ran the ball more.

“So usually when you're up in the second half, you're running the ball more because you're running clock. If you're down, you're throwing the ball more. So, when you look at the run-pass breakdowns by game, it's really what is the situation that presents itself. And we also had, I think, eight passes right at the end of the first half, because we had actually two two-minute drives in that portion of it, too.

“So, that sometimes can skew the numbers, because you're not running the ball in two-minute situations. And I think after that drive when we got the ball back, there was eight and change to go. And it was a 20-9 game, so it was an 11-point score, two score game. So, we kind of went back to two-minute mode at that point in time. So, you're going to throw the ball a little bit more in those situations."

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