Scouting the Enemy: Carson Palmer & Denarius Moore can’t get on the Same Page
By Jason Marcum
November 18, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Denarius Moore (17) holds off New Orleans Saints free safety Malcolm Jenkins (27) on the carry during the third quarter at O.co Coliseum. The New Orleans Saints defeated the Oakland Raiders 38-17. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE
When the Raiders come to town on Sunday, the main focus will be on the return of Carson Palmer to the city where he spent the first 8 years of his NFL career. Gone are the days of one of the most dynamic quarterback-receiving combos in Palmer Chad Johnson,
Through the first 10 games of his rookie career, Moore had 24 receptions for 396 yards (16.5 ypc) and four touchdowns, but a hamstring injury would sideline him for most of the remainder of his rookie year.
The combination of Palmer to Moore was expected to be the focus of the Raiders’ passing attack in 2012, but it has yet to take off thus far. Moore has just 35 receptions for 584 yards on the year, and has broken the 100-yard mark just once. Palmer targeted Moore seven times during Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints, and they could muster only one completion for 9 yards. It wasn’t as though Moore was tightly covered as much as Palmer not being on the same page as his top wideout. On at least three attempts, Palmer and Moore had a miscommunication on the route, something Bengals fans remember all too well with his days ins stripes alongside Chad Johnson.
A lot of that can be attributed to Moore, the second-year WR out of Tennessee missing the entire training camp with a hamstring injury. Palmer knows this, and is trying to get on the same page as Moore in time for Sunday’s return to Cincinnati to face the Bengals:
"He’s our go-to guy. He’s our number one receiver, he’s got a lot of plays (in the playbook) for him, and we haven’t had a ton of time to be on task, and that’s why some of the miscommunication things come up. He’s a second-year guy, and I need to do a better job of getting on the same page with him — see things the way he sees them."
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