Teams just refuse to give Marshawn Lynch the ball on the 1-yard line. It happened again this week.
How are Marshawn Lynch’s teams STILL not giving him the ball at the 1-yard line?
The Raiders should know better.
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Trailing 20-3 the Raiders had first-and-goal at the 1-yard line with 1:13 left in the third quarter of the Raiders’ loss against the Chargers. Easy decision, right?
The Raiders have an offensive line featuring three big money players on the interior with Kelechi Osemele, Rodney Hudson, and Gabe Jackson starting up front. You’d think they would be comfortable just plowing the ball ahead for a single yard on the goal line.
Nope. The Raiders opted to throw the ball instead. Quarterback Derek Carr threw an interception right into the hands of Melvin Ingram.
Marshawn Lynch was visibly upset after the play. He took his helmet off, threw it into the air and pretended it was a basketball, putting up a shot. He was yelling as he walked to the sideline. It was an all too familiar situation for him.
That put the Raiders in bad company. When Lynch is on the field and his team throws the ball on the 1-yard line, they tend to struggle.
On first-and-goal, there was no reason to not try running behind a highly paid offensive line with Lynch. But Gruden defended the decision, of course.
“The decision there is to throw it. And if it’s not there you throw it away,” Gruden said of Carr’s interception. He added that he knew the criticism was coming, “rightfully so.”
But Gruden of all people should have known better. Lynch has two touchdowns this season from the 1-yard line. And when they haven’t handed off to Lynch from the 1, which has now happened three times for the Raiders, it hasn’t worked. The most notable instance was in Week 2 when fullback Keith Smith dropped Carr’s pass on a fourth-and-1 play in the fourth quarter against Denver, a one-point loss for the Raiders.
Carr probably should have known too. When the Raiders acquired Lynch, he made it very clear that he didn’t want to make the same mistake the Seahawks did on that infamous Super Bowl play.
One day, teams won’t overthink this.
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