Josh McDaniels on Play-Calling Changes From First to Second Half
Sunday's matchup between the Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars was a tale of two halves for the Silver and Black.
The Raiders were held scoreless in the second half after scoring 20 points to take a 20-10 lead going into halftime.
"[W]e could be better, but it was working," said Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams after the game. "I feel like we got away from that and started playing the game a little different. And that's not the way we got to do it. We got to take the field, be ready to make plays and convert on whatever's called."
Raiders coach Josh McDaniels spoke on Adams' statement in his Monday media availability.
“I always think there's areas that I could do better in," McDaniels said. "I've stood up here before and said I've never called a perfect game, and I probably never will. I think there's a lot of things that go into that. I know what he meant when he said that, and I don't take any of those things personally. The reality is, we have opportunities and we’ve got to come through with them. And I have to do a good job of trying to make sure that we continue to try to present opportunities for our team. It's really a two-way street in that regard where you got to keep probing as a coaching staff and as a play caller to find opportunities for your best players to get involved and produce in the game. Then when we have those opportunities, we're going to need to come through.
"I thought one of the things that was really interesting as the game wore on yesterday -- and it is what it is -- but you end up throwing it really well in the first half and producing a lot of yards and points with very little success in a running game, and when you look at it -- and I've looked at it many times because I've called a lot of different games -- is that a sustainable model to keep playing where you're going to throw it for 450 [yards] and not run it for any. So, it's a tough thing to think you're going to be able to just do it that way.
"We were fortunate we got out to the start we did, and obviously we were doing a very good job of getting him [Adams] involved in the game. Derek [Carr] found him on a number of plays, and we continued to try to do some of that. But I also think we didn't run it very good in the first half and it was something where I'm looking at it going, ‘OK, we got a lead but you're going to need to be able to find some balance in the game at some point, so that we're not just sitting there with a lead dropping back to pass on every play and giving them opportunities to make plays in the pass rush or blitz us or those kinds of things.' So the thought process hopefully was the right mindset. Obviously, the execution at the end of the day is what's important, and we didn't put enough points on the board to win the game."
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