Silver And Black Pride
The Las Vegas Raiders will have a new-look offense in the season opener against the New England Patriots on Sunday, especially when it comes to the passing game. One problem that offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and quarterback Geno Smith will have to solve in Week 1 is how to attack cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is coming off an excellent season where he earned second-team All-Pro honors and ranked ninth among cornerbacks with a 78.2 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus while recording 11 passes defended and two interceptions.
So, the third-year pro projects to have a significant impact on Sunday’s game. However, he did give up nearly 500 yards in coverage last season, so let’s take a look at what Kelly and Smith can do to exploit the 2023 first-round pick.
In full disclosure, Gonzalez is battling a hamstring injury and may not be ready to play on Sunday, per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones. The cornerback didn’t practice on Monday.
In fairness to Gonzalez, he’s in press coverage against Tyreek Hill here, where his primary goal is likely to keep Hill in front of him given the receiver’s speed. But the corner does struggle to get in and out of his breaks against sharp routes, which is part of the reason Hill gets so much separation here.
Especially if Gonzalez matches up against Tre Tucker or Dont’e Thornton Jr., this is something Kelly should try to take advantage of. If Tucker and/or Thornton can make Gonzalez feel their speed, the curl and dig routes should be open with the latter’s issues changing direction.
Gonzalez is in man coverage again, but against a dig route from Calvin Ridley this time. The clip above is a good example of how Gonzalez struggles to sink his hips and stay in phase against sharp routes. Ridley’s shoulders start to rise right before the 30-yard line, indicating he’s about to break on the route, but the cornerback doesn’t pick up on it. Combine all of that, and it’s an easy pitch and catch for a 25-yard gain.
Here, we’ll see another dig route from Ridley while Gonzalez is in man coverage. The difference in the play call between this clip and the previous one is that the Patriots blitz a linebacker, meaning there is no low-hole defender to help protect the middle of the field.
So, Gonzalez tries to take away the in-breaking route by turning his hips to the sideline. However, that doesn’t work because he’s a little quick to open the gate, doesn’t maintain inside leverage post-snap and nearly falls while trying to open to the middle of the field and change directions.
Look for the Raiders to test Gonzalez with dig routes early in the game, if he plays.
This is a really impressive release and route by Ridley to win on the slant against press coverage from Gonzalez.
First, the receiver creates space on the inside by using an outside release and jab step, which gets the corner to open his...
