Biggest Criticism of Kubiak's Raiders Offense Is One Word: Preposterous

Biggest Criticism of Kubiak’s Raiders Offense Is One Word: Preposterous

HENDERSON, Nev.-The Las Vegas Raiders (1-0) are headed to Los Angeles this weekend to face their fellow AFC West rival, the Chargers (0-1).

The Raiders are not a playoff team; in fact, my season prediction was based on the fact that this is a rebuilding team.

That doesn’t change the fact that after an impressive performance in Week One, downing the Miami Dolphins 27-13, the prevailing criticism of Klint Kubiak’s system is nothing short of preposterous.

Criticism Doesn’t Equate to Football Knowledge

15-year grizzled NFL veteran QB Kirk Cousins threw for three touchdowns on 21/30 passing for 150 yards, two bad interceptions, and a rating of 88.

Additionally, the Raiders ran for 130 yards on 37 carries in one of the most impressive offensive performances since December of 2023.

Consider that they don’t have a true WR1, and the man the passing game runs through was out in Brock Bowers; those stats and a double-digit win are impressive. Wouldn’t you think?

But in today’s era of hot-take (do not read educated) opinion sharing, or social media bravery behind a pseudonym and an avatar, for a team in the midst of a Raiders rebuild, the critics still found an area to criticize, making themselves, not Klint Kubiak, look foolish.

Say What?

At the end of the third quarter, and even today, people have been critical of Klint Kubiak and Kirk Cousins for not throwing the deep ball.

Failing to take a deep shot is only a criticism from someone ignorant of football or a Raider hater, if you actually assess the situation. I agree that if they chose not to even attempt to avail themselves to the deep ball, that would be wrong. They did have it available as an option on multiple plays, but it wasn’t available. Please let me explain.

The only place the hot-take artist and the rational person who knows football can agree is that they took no shots downfield. The rationale ends there.

Allow me to educate the ignorant, or enlighten those who hate the Silver and Black. Even though the absence of a true WR1 who gets open every play, or the loss of Brock Bowers, would be a reasonable excuse, that would be false this week.

Understand Offense

Klint Kubiak is universally respected as one of the top young offensive minds in the National Football League and was a coup for Tom Brady and the Raiders’ leadership team.

On several occasions on Sunday, a deep ball was part of a called play; the football ignorant would not have noticed, but the Dolphins, on nearly 70% of plays, were in a nickel (five defensive backs) defense unwilling to give up the ball deep. They took it away.

What about the other 30% of plays? They weren’t deep-threat opportunities.

On Monday, Kubiak was asked how to get the ball down the field deep, and he answered tongue-in-cheek, “Chunk it deep. Yeah, no, to answer your question, I thought Miami did a good job of limiting the explosives. Credit to them.”

You Do That, I’ll Do This

When the play was called, Cousins read the defense correctly and moved to a different read. Everybody loves the bomb in football, and it is a deep part of the legendary history of the Raiders, but with the Dolphins sold on not letting the Raiders do it, it would have been foolish.

I asked Kubiak about the fact that Cousins correctly saw it wasn’t there, and you can’t throw it if it isn’t open. He agreed, “Yeah, a shot called is not a shot taken. If it’s not there, you got to check the ball down. So, I think that’s part of our philosophy.”

Understand the Concepts of the Kubiak System

Kubiak is married to running the football and using the passing game effectively, but he isn’t married to doing something to appease the masses.

This isn’t the Raiders of old that cared more about impressing than winning.

That is why Cousins’ explanation taught the concept of the Kubiak system.

“Yeah, I feel like defenses around the league have really tried their best to prevent explosives if it means the run game is a little more effective then so be it. But defenses, I think are willing to give up some runs in order to make sure they’re getting deeper than the deepest and putting more players back there.”

“So, it’s that dance all game, all season of how aggressive do defenses want to be, and then how do we counter that? Shots will get called. You got to try to get them. If they’re not there, then you got to check it down, and you got to play for the next play, and vice versa. When we have a chance down the field, and they give us one, we got to take advantage of it.”

Commitment to Excellence

For years, the Raiders abandoned Al Davis’s mantra of “Commitment to Excellence” by making too many poor decisions. That isn’t the case now, and running a tough offensive scheme, with complementary football from the defense and special teams, is impressive.

They are proving their new identity is rooted in their old identity of “Just Win, Baby,” through a “Commitment to Excellence.”

I asked OC Andrew Janocko about the security blanket he and Kubiak have in Cousins, who can read those defenses and know when to check down. He didn’t hide his appreciation.

“I think we say that all the time. In our lingo, ‘A shot called is not always a shot taken.’ We want to take what the defense gives us. Quarterback’s always trying to listen to his feet, go through his progression, operate with intelligent aggression. Then when it’s not there, get the ball and playmaker’s hands underneath. Let them break tackles and create explosives that way.”

One other benefit is that the Raiders expect Fernando Mendoza to run this offense for the next 15 years, and the 2026 NFL Draft No. 1 overall pick, which NFL executives called the best in the last four drafts, can see how taking what they give you and winning is better than a wasted play.

The Kubiak Doctrine

Kubiak and his OC, Janocko, both echoed the same line: “Shot called is not a shot taken.” A more obvious point would only be, “Whoever scores the most points wins.”

So the next time someone wants to unthinkingly criticize, to impress you, make sure they actually understand the game of football, and perhaps tell them, “Shot called is not a shot taken.”

When the shot is there, Kubiak will call it, and Cousins will “chunk it.” It just hasn’t been there yet, despite what you have heard.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/raiders/onsi as Biggest Criticism of Kubiak’s Raiders Offense Is One Word: Preposterous.

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Biggest Criticism of Kubiak’s Raiders Offense Is One Word: Preposterous