Jon Gruden must solve two big problems for the Raiders to harbor playoff hopes
Jon Gruden
Jon Gruden  has a career record of 95-81 (.540) with nine playoff appearances and one Super Bowl victory in 11 seasons as a coach. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
 Jon Gruden  was welcomed back for a second stint as Oakland Raiders coach on Tuesday  now  he âll be tasked with getting them back to the postseason. Based on  his  starting point  however  an immediate return to the playoffs is unlikely in 2018.
[Brewer:  Jon Gruden  is âa big effinâ dealâ to the Raiders  but perhaps even bigger for all coaches]
So where can  Gruden  make up ground and quickly improve this roster? The wide receivers â once thought to be a strength of this team â may need a makeover.
Amari Cooper produced even fewer yards per route run than Crabtree (1.5)  and was ranked 60th out of 78 qualified receivers for his on-field performance. Both need to be better in 2018. If not   Gruden  is going to have to find Carr a top target to throw to.
 Gruden  has even more work cut out for  him  on the defensive side of the ball. Oakland allowed 2.1 points per drive last season  the fourth-most in the league  with a 101.8 passer rating against  the third-worst in football in 2017. To put that in perspective  opposing quarterbacks performed as well as Carson Wentz â an MVP candidate before  his  season-ending injury in Week 14 â against the Raiders while the league average was closer to that of Andy Dalton (86.6).
[TGT] has a career record of 95-81 (.540) with nine playoff appearances and one Super Bowl victory in 11 seasons as a coach. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
  [TGT] was welcomed back for a second stint as Oakland Raiders coach on Tuesday  now   [TGT]  âll be tasked with getting them back to the postseason. Based on   [TGT]   starting point  however  an immediate return to the playoffs is unlikely in 2018.
[Brewer:   [TGT] is âa big effinâ dealâ to the Raiders  but perhaps even bigger for all coaches]
So where can   [TGT]   make up ground and quickly improve this roster? The wide receivers â once thought to be a strength of this team â may need a makeover.
Amari Cooper produced even fewer yards per route run than Crabtree (1.5)  and was ranked 60th out of 78 qualified receivers for his on-field performance. Both need to be better in 2018. If not    [TGT] is going to have to find Carr a top target to throw to.
  [TGT] has even more work cut out for  him  on the defensive side of the ball. Oakland allowed 2.1 points per drive last season  the fourth-most in the league  with a 101.8 passer rating against  the third-worst in football in 2017. To put that in perspective  opposing quarterbacks performed as well as Carson Wentz â an MVP candidate before  his  season-ending injury in Week 14 â against the Raiders while the league average was closer to that of Andy Dalton (86.6).