Raiders offense struggling to gain field position

ALAMEDA - Has Todd Downing been a disaster, or simply an offensive coordinator in need of some prime field position to operate at the level of his predecessor Bill Musgrave?

The Raiders have dropped from No. 6 in total offense to ?No. 21, are less explosive and scoring more infrequently under Downing, with Sunday’s matchup against Denver gaining added scrutiny since the Broncos promoted Musgrave from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator.

Quarterback Derek Carr did his best to dispel any talk that Musgrave’s departure was in part because of a strained relationship with his young quarterback.

“I went to two Pro Bowls with coach Musgrave,” Carr said. “He’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever been around. When we played at Denver, I went straight to him, gave him a hug, asked him how his boys were doing.

“That’s definitely the farthest thing from the truth that me and coach Musgrave didn’t like each other.”

What is undeniably true is that Musgrave had a head start over what Downing is getting in terms of field position, and offenses are typically at their most bold and diverse when on the opponent’s side of the field.

The last time the Raiders began a possession inside the 40-yard line was Week 3, when a muffed punt and a fumble recovery led to 10 points which averted a shutout in a 27-10 loss to Washington.

The Raiders also had two short-field touchdown drives courtesy of a muffed punt and a fumble recovery in a 45-20 win against the New York Jets.

Since Week 3 ... nothing.

A Raiders team that was plus-10 through 10 games last year is at minus-9. While standing at 8-2 in 2016, the Raiders had a dozen possessions inside the 40 resulting in 50 points.

The Raiders’ infamous stat through 10 games is having zero interceptions, but only five of last year’s 20 possessions inside the 40 were set up that way. The Raiders also had nine fumble recoveries and six plays on special teams - four punt returns by Jalen Richard and a pair of muffed punts that were recovered.

This season, Richard is averaging just 5.4 yards per return with a long of 13 and has yet to set up a short-field drive.

The complementary football that contributes to what coaches call “plus” field position has not been in evidence. All are interlocking pieces of a team which aren’t as easy to decipher as simply looking at yardage totals and making a judgment.

“It’s getting off on third down, creating turnovers, special teams, getting the return,” Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. “There’s a lot of different ways to create field position that an offense loves to have and take full advantage of. That’s why I say it’s not as simple as you might think. You want to have an easy fix, it just doesn’t work that way.”

Cornerback David Amerson, who could miss his fourth consecutive game with a foot injury, is mystified by the discrepancy in turnover margin from one year to the next.

“I can’t explain it,” Amerson said. “The one area we needed to keep to a high standard or go past was turnovers and we haven’t been able to do that so far and we’ve got to find a way.”

Carr, who did so much with short fields a year ago, won’t spend time worrying about where he gets the ball to start a possession, but conceded the added amount of plays needed to score makes it more difficult.

“It hurts stats. That’s about it,” Carr said. “As a team we just know, ‘Hey, if we’re not going to have a short field, we have to go down and make a long drive.’ You have to be more efficient because it takes, obviously, more times than not, more plays to get down there and score.”