Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) launches himself between Los Angeles Chargers outside linebackers Nick Vigil (59) and Kenneth Murray (56) and makes it into the end zone for a touchdown during the second half of a game at Allegiant Stadium Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020.
Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020 | 2 a.m.
The Raiders have scored touchdowns on less than 40% of their trips to the red zone during a three-game losing streak that’s torpedoed their playoff aspirations.
That puts them in the bottom five of the NFL in the span and counts as one of the many issues that’s led to their downfall. But it’s not one coach Jon Gruden is particularly concerned about.
Asked about Las Vegas’ 1-for-4 red zone efficiency against Miami on Saturday in his first availability since the game, Gruden pointed out the Raiders’ decision not to score at the end of the game and defended his offense.
“We had two third-and-goals at the 5-yard line situations,” Gruden said. “I’ve just got to do a better job of finding the right play. The Dolphins are pretty good to say the least, but I thought we scored enough points to win the game.”
Gruden didn’t seem to put much stock into the cries from fans that the team could have utilized backup quarterback Marcus Mariota to make their attack more dynamic near the goal line. Mariota ran for 88 yards and a touchdown in addition to throwing for 226 yards and a score two weeks ago in relief of Derek Carr, who was admittedly not 100% against the Dolphins.
Mariota’s ability in run-pass- and read-option schemes is a natural fit for the red zone and could still come in handy when the Raiders attempt to get to .500 and close their season at the Broncos at 1:25 p.m. Sunday.
There would be an added benefit to getting Mariota more snaps as one of Las Vegas’ biggest decisions of the offseason will be what to do with the backup who’s owed a non-guaranteed $10 million next season. But Gruden didn’t make any promises to get Mariota on the field for the second time this season.
“Derek will start and finish the season just like we anticipated he would,” he said. “Whether Marcus has a role in this, we’ll wait and see.”
Gruden went on to further downplay the possibility of a Mariota package, though admitted it could get the defense off-balance “if that’s what you think.”
“When we put Marcus in at quarterback, most coaches are pretty sharp,” he said. “I think they know plays can be different. He’s not the only dual threat quarterback playing in the NFL, but I think it might apply a different defense. You might see some different looks.”
The Raiders have demonstrated a season-long, situation-independent commitment to Carr, who’s responded with the best season of his career. Some expected, and even pushed for, Mariota to supplant Carr after the Raiders signed the latter to a two-year, $17.6 million free-agent deal but a quarterback competition never came to fruition.
Mariota struggled in training camp and was then added to injured reserve with a pectoral injury. Even after the Raiders took him off the injury list midseason, they opted to use Nathan Peterman as their backup quarterback over Mariota for the next six games.
The former No. 2 overall draft pick wasn’t active until a Week 13 game at the Jets. Asked who would be the backup against the Colts the next week, Gruden said the Raiders were going with Mariota but not necessarily because he had beaten out Peterman.
Gruden said he was going with a “hunch” that Mariota would be familiar with the Colts should something happen to Carr because of his five years with their AFC South divisional rival Tennessee Titans.
Once Mariota did finally see action, the next week against the Chargers, he was better than almost anyone expected. But the Raiders’ red-zone troubles persisted anyway.
Las Vegas wouldn’t have lost to Los Angeles if Mariota could have finished a drive that saw him take the Raiders down to the 4-yard line to start overtime. Gruden faced criticism for not calling a run for Mariota on three plays inside the 5-yard line before settling for a field goal, but he derided the assessment and said the first two plays had a quarterback option.
“You know, when you run a read-option, you don’t make the decision for Marcus to run it,” Gruden said a day after the loss. “He makes that decision himself based on the read so we did run Marcus. We tried to run the zone read a couple times down there. Both times they gave him a give-it read and he handed the ball off.”
Read between the lines, and barring injury to Carr, getting a glimpse of Mariota in the season finale appears a bit unlikely. Then again, if the Raiders did intend on using Mariota in certain packages, the last thing they’d want to do is ruin the element of surprise by announcing it to give the Broncos a heads-up.
There are enough reasons, both immediate and forward-looking in nature, to justify seeing Mariota play against Denver. There’s just no guarantee it will happen.
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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