Possibly the biggest criticism the Raiders offense and Derek Carr in particular faced from last season is the lack of long balls. Carr dinked and dunked his way through a 4-12 season Rashaan Melvin Jersey , that much is..." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhiteSilver And Black Pridean Oakland Raiders communityLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpFanpostsFanshotsRaidersOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Raiders StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Raiders NewsYahoo Raiders Team PageYahoo Raiders ReportYahoo Raiders Depth ChartYahoo Raiders TransactionsYahoo Raiders PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕Watch: Derek Carr spoke of chemistry with receivers, defended willingness to throw the long ball then tosses bomb to Antonio Brown in Raiders OTA practiceNew,113commentsPDTShareTweetShareShareWatch: Derek Carr spoke of chemistry with receivers, defended willingness to throw the long ball then tosses bomb to Antonio Brown in Raiders OTA practiceKirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsPossibly the biggest criticism the Raiders offense and Derek Carr in particular faced from last season is the lack of long balls. Carr dinked and dunked his way through a 4-12 season, that much is true. There were certainly some instances he could have thrown the deep ball instead of checking it down, but there were even more instances where it just wasn’t there.The Raiders were a disaster at the tackle spots, leading to Carr being sacked 51 times. They also didn’t have much in the way of deep threat receivers. Their leading receiver was tight end Jared Cook and their top wide out was Jordy Nelson 32-year-old Jordy Nelson who wasn’t a long ball specialist even in his prime.On day one of OTA’s Derek Carr hit new receiver Tyrell Williams on a long post pattern for a would-be touchdown. Carr was asked about the addition of Williams, and took the opportunity to defend his willingness to throw the long ball.“Contrary to popular belief, I like throwing it down the field,” said Carr. He went on to say Williams reminds him of former Raiders targets like Andre Holmes and Johnny Holton who he says allowed him to go deep more often in previous years. Not surprisingly, neither player was part of the offense last season. So, in other words, Carr is saying he didn’t have the weapons to go deep as often last season and with Williams and Antonio Brown, he expects the deep ball to returnBrown wasn’t in attendance on day one of OTA’s, so there wasn’t the opportunity to show off their connection to media in attendance. Come day two — without our prying media eyes on hand — Brown re-joined his Raiders teammates and the Raiders were sure to get video of it to show everyone what they hope is a preview of what you can expect from the QB/WR duo this season.New nickel corner Lamarcus Joyner stays with Brown fairly well, but all Brown needed was a step and Carr put it on him perfectly for the long score.Making connections like this takes chemistry. Derek Carr has to get his timing down with Antonio Brown to know where he’s going to be long before he gets there. Up to this point, most of that work has had to come away from the facility, with he and his receivers getting together to throw.“A whole new group, new challenge of getting on the same page and things like that. The one thing I’ve seen about this group is they work crazy hard,” said Carr. “It’s nice to see how hard they want to work and how great they want to be. Obviously. Every quarterback wants to do that, but to have wide outs reaching out saying let’s go do this, it’s pretty cool. . . To have that, we all understood that we had to get on the same page – all the guys – we all got together and we all threw. We understood that we had some making up to do, but I think we’ve hit a good stride and we have a little ways to go.”It’s just a couple long passes we’re talking about, but it’s also quite early in the process with new brand new receivers on the team. Call it something to build upon.Follow @LeviDamien DENVER (AP) — Von Miller might be the only one at Denver Broncos headquarters lamenting Khalil Mack’s startling trade from the Oakland Raiders to the Chicago Bears.“I mean, honestly, I was shocked,” Miller said. “I always felt like Khalil and Aaron Donald were untradeable guys. J.J. Watt, I thought guys like that were untradeable. Then they traded him. A guy like Khalil, he only comes around once every lifetime. You want to keep guys like that.”The Broncos’ star linebacker said it’s “going to be a little weird” Sunday not seeing his friend, whom he’s trained with the last two summers, when the Raiders (0-1) visit Denver (1-0), where Mack once collected five sacks in a single half.“He’s talented,” Broncos QB Case Keenum said Marcus Gilchrist Jersey , “but I’m pretty sure they’re going to play 11 guys. They’re not just going to put 10 out there without him.”Raiders new/old coach Jon Gruden said he’s been asked aplenty about the trade that sent shockwaves through the NFL and smiles across locker rooms across the AFC West.“And rightfully so,” Gruden said. “He’s a great guy. He’s a great player. It’s unfortunate we don’t have him. But we feel we did the right thing for this football team, for the future of the Raiders and for this building process.“I know we’ve got to prove it. But so does he.”Mack began doing just that Sunday night at Green Bay , fresh off signing a six-year, $141 million contract, $26.5 million more than Miller got in 2016 in the shadows of his Super Bowl 50 MVP performance.Hours after Miller wrecked Seattle’s game plan by sacking Russell Wilson three times and snaring the ball out of power back Chris Carson’s arms for a forced fumble and fumble recovery, Mack burst into the NFC North conversation with a pick-6 and a strip sack of backup QB DeShone Kizer in which he, too, snatched the ball from his opponent.Whereas Miller’s showing led to a 27-24 Denver victory, Mack’s dominant debut was rendered a footnote when Aaron Rodgers returned from a knee injury at halftime to lead the Packers back from a 20-point deficit for a 24-23 win.One night later, the Raiders lost 33-13 to the Rams, barely touching quarterback Jared Goff just over a week after trading their star pass rusher to the Bears for a package that included two first-round picks. Bruce Irvin had the only sack when Goff held the ball too long.Mack is still on the Raiders’ minds.Quarterback Derek Carr said he misses his friendship more than his play on the field.“We still text, and we still talk all the time, but not seeing him every day is weird,” Carr said. “I think that was the hardest part.”Other subplots as the Broncos seek their sixth straight 2-0 start:KING STINGBroncos punter Marquette King didn’t want to talk about Gruden this week, but he made it clear he had hard feelings over his release from the Raiders this spring.He said he never had a chance to speak with Oakland’s coach before getting jettisoned.“I just saw him on car commercials and stuff,” King said. “I get to see him two times a year.”And that was certainly a factor in King’s decision to come to Denver.“I just wanted to find the best place that I thought I would fit,” King said. “I think there is somewhat of a revenge factor in there, too.”BRYANT BACKBroncos coach Vance Joseph said Martavis Bryant’s re-signing with Oakland only adds to Denver’s already stiff challenge Sunday.“Absolutely. He’s a guy that’s a vertical threat. I faced him in Cincinnati when he was in Pittsburgh for six games. He caught a 98-yard touchdown on my secondary, so I won’t ever forget that,” Joseph said.PRESSURE POINTAfter trading Mack, there were questions about how the Raiders would generate a pass rush. The results weren’t good in the opener as Oakland had one sack and four quarterback pressures against the Rams.The Raiders had more pressures in every game last year with Mack leading the defense.Gruden said playing better defense on first and second down will give Bruce Irvin and Arden Key more chances to get to the QB on third down.“You have to get them on third-and-long when you can cut loose your blitzes and some of your great rushers,” he said.HOUSE OF HORRORSGruden has had little success in Denver in his career, losing all five trips to the Mile High City. Gruden lost every year with Oakland from 1998-2001, and again with Tampa Bay in his final year as a coach there in 2008.In all, Gruden’s teams are 1-9 against the Broncos, with the one win coming in Oakland in 2001. The Raiders won 38-28 on Nov. 5, 2001, behind three TD passes by Rich Gannon.He has fond memories of that lone victory over Denver.“That was the greatest win of my career as the Raiders coach, beating the Broncos,” Gruden said, “because I knew how far we’d come in just a few years.”