The regular season is officially underway. The Raiders travel to New York to face the Jets in Week 1 action at MetLife Stadium. After finishing the preseason with a 2-2 record and naming Derek Carr the starting quarterback, Week 1 is the first opportunity for the Raiders to really gauge their progress.
"We've got a tough challenge going on the road to New York against a good football team," said Head Coach Dennis Allen. "Just watching their football team, I think they're improved offensively. The quarterback, obviously, I thought he played very well in the preseason. They've added some weapons; they can really run the ball effectively. I think Eric Decker adds something to them in the passing game, as well as [Jeff] Cumberland, Jace Amaro, at tight end. So, they're a much improved, in my opinion, offensive football team than what we saw last year. Defensively, they have been and will continue to be, a very good defense. I think Rex Ryan is one of the best defensive coaches in football, so obviously that's a challenge."
In 2013, the Jets finished with an 8-8 record. They were led by the same quarterback in Geno Smith, but acquired WR Eric Decker and RB Chris Johnson as offensive weapons around the young QB. The Jets also have an offensive line made up of veterans.
DE LaMarr Woodley knows the offensive front is a challenge, but is more focused on his defensive line performing at their best. "I think it's all about what we do up front. It's us playing together, us going out there and not making mistakes, not having penalties," said Woodley. "And I think we're a hard front to beat as well with our veterans that we have up front, but as long as we do what we need to do and control what we have, then we're hard to beat."
The Raiders will face Smith for the second time. Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan says Smith is an entirely new quarterback from last season. "He's night and day different. Each guy comes from a different system or whatever, but there was no three-step drop, five-step drop, seven-step drop where he came from," explained Coach Ryan. "It was very different for him, but this young man has shown a ton of poise. At the end of last season, the last month of the year, he was the second-highest quarterback rating in the National Football League. You'll have a chance to see him up close and personal. He is a guy that is poised, much more than he was last year. He can make the throws. He's got a big, strong arm. He knows where he's going with the football, so he looks sharp to me."
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Defensive Coordinator Jason Tarver has noticed Smith's improvement as well. "He's gotten better in everything that he does. His timing is better, his pocket presence has improved through the preseason. He does a nice job of when things break down making plays with his legs," said Coach Tarver. "They do a nice job of giving him different looks but the same progressions. So they'll change the formations, but for a young quarterback, they give him the same progressions. Meaning the guys are in the same places, but they change the look to the defense. They do a nice job with that."
LB Khalil Mack will play in his first regular season NFL game and has the task of getting after Smith. "He knows how to get out of the pocket. He's been improving his reads. He's a solid quarterback and I'm ready to go against him," said Mack.
OL Austin Howard played for the Jets for several years before joining the Raiders this offseason. He played on the line with Smith at the helm. "Geno was a guy that from when I was there, he was eager to learn," Howard said. "He's a young guy who could take coaching and take criticism. Obviously in New York that's a big thing that a lot of players have to deal with - the criticism out there. He was able to take that and do what he had to do to get better throughout the season. I know they have a great group of coaches out there and a great offensive line. He's protected well out there, and they kind of lean on each other to progress every week."
The Jets added dynamic running back Chris Johnson and the Raiders front seven want to contain the ground attack that will likely come from the tailbacks as well as the quarterback. "They're a hard-running team," said Mack. "They're going to try to gut us down the middle and spread us out and get to the outside with Chris Johnson, so we just have to make sure we contain them and contain their running backs and their run game and make them take shots."
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The Raiders defense wants to get off to a fast start, something they struggled with throughout the preseason. "It's real important. That first game is the way to set the tone all the way across the league," said Woodley. "It's a chance to put something on film so everybody gets a chance to see how you stopped the run, how you get after the quarterback, so the first game is always the biggest one because that gives you momentum throughout the year."
The Jets and Raiders matched up in 2013, but the New York team will see a much different group of defenders. "The thing that pops out is you look at the names on the back of the jerseys – they are some pretty darn impressive players. You have [LaMarr] Woodley. You have [Justin] Tuck. You have [Antonio] Smith, [Carlos] Rogers. It's 'whoa.' It's a who's who on that defense," said Coach Ryan. "This team overall probably has more veteran experience than any team in the league when you're looking at the veterans that they've added. So, it's like whoa, this is not a young football [team]. This is a team that is laced with veterans, so obviously, these guys know how to play the game and there is, obviously, a lot of talent on this team."
And in addition to the veterans, Coach Ryan is keenly aware of the talent of the Raiders first-round pick. "Clearly he's a guy that has an unbelievable amount of talent," Coach Ryan said about Mack. "He can do it all. He can rush the passer, play coverage, scores when he gets picks. His movement skills are outstanding. He plays with a certain passion and things."
Coach Ryan is known to be a defensive-minded coach, so the Raiders offense, led for the first time in its history by a rookie quarterback on opening day, will have its hands full. "They have a good front five on defense, who are very shifty and can move around very strong," said Howard who has extensive experience practicing against them. "For me, I believe it's going to be a good battle up front. We have a very dominant group up front. I believe that we can go out there and really make a lot of things happen. I believe we can make holes for the running back and protect the quarterback, whoever's back there. We're looking forward to the challenge."
Carr is going into the match-up expecting anything and everything from the Jets defense. "He's got a great blitz package. He's got, obviously, a lot of different looks that he'll show. Me being a rookie, he's probably going to want to show them all. I go in and expect, as much as I can, I expect everything," said Carr. "Then if something doesn't happen, then I'll be surprised. That's how I have to prepare. I have to prepare for everything, even maybe for something he hasn't shown but could show. Obviously I reach out to anybody who can help me. I called my brother because he's played them seven times. I called him and said, 'Hey, let's talk Jets. You were there, you've seen them.' So we talked. I picked his brain, took notes and that was it. Now I went about my business for the rest of the week, picked [Matt] Schaub's brain, picked the coaches' brain, so I expect a lot."
DT Pat Sims takes down Jets QB Geno Smith. Photo by Tony Gonzales
The Jets, and the rest of the NFL teams, have very little NFL film on Carr, which could give the rookie an advantage this week. One thing Coach Ryan knows for sure is that Carr is a talented quarterback. "He had an outstanding preseason. He's just a talented guy," said Coach Ryan. "We knew he was when he came out, but he's got the arm strength. He's got mobility, a fairly quick release. He's got a feel where he can step and slide away from pass rush and stuff like that, so he looks good."
Although the Raiders offense made its share of mistakes throughout preseason, WR Rod Streater believes that's what will make them successful this week. "It helped us develop, going out and making mistakes and being able to correct it. When we go out against the Jets, I feel like we already made all the mistakes we need to and we'll be ready to go."
All of the players are excited to finally take the field for a game that counts. "We're out here to make a statement," said Howard. "We're not here to pick and choose which games we're amped up for and which games we're not. It's about going out there and making a statement as a team. Obviously, we have fallen short of having a successful record the past couple of seasons, but we're here to turn that thing around. We were brought in here for a reason and that's our focus right now."
"I'm looking forward to it," added Streater. "We get to go out there, play all four quarters, and this time it counts, so I feel like I'm ready to go. I feel like the team is ready to go. We're all excited and ready to play."
This is finally when all of the offseason and preseason hard work comes into play. "We're pumped. We have to go out there and go to war finally," said Howard. "It's not against our own team every day like it is in camp. These are when the games really matter. Obviously the games mattered in the preseason, but here it's for our actual record this season and a chance for us to go to the playoffs and hopefully further, so this is when things become very, very serious, and like I said, we're looking forward to the challenge."
For the rookies, this is what they've been working their entire lives for. The Raiders have three 2014 draft picks starting, and several more who could see playing time. "I feel good. I can't wait. I'm excited. I've put in a lot of work and I'm ready to see what happens," said Mack. "It's going to be fun. This is what I love to do. I'm blessed to get an opportunity to go out on Sunday and play some good football."
The Silver and Black are trying something new this year – traveling to the East Coast on Thursday and practicing in New York on Friday. Coach Allen hopes the extra time to acclimate to the time change will allow the Raiders to break their East Coast losing streak. "I wanted to do something different to give us an opportunity to maybe get our bodies right for the East Coast time," explained Coach Allen. "I also think going there as a group and having the opportunity to kind of bond there in the hotel, I thought was a good idea."
Sunday is the Raiders first test of 2014 – something the players, coaches, and fans have been waiting for all year. Make sure to watch the game on CBS at 10:00 a.m. PT, listen live on 98.5 KFOX /102.9 KBLX or follow along on Raiders.com, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.