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The Raiders starting defense played far too much last season. The offense had the opposite problem.

Whether it was injury or ineffectiveness, the Raiders offense couldn’t establish continuity of any kind at virtually any position. That’s evident in the Raiders’ playing time breakdown, as reported from NFLPA documents. Areas of traditionally high snap counts had splits far too great among far too many to keep things going strong.

According to NFL statistics, the Raiders used 456 unique lineups on offense. Also, the Raiders only played 1.9-percent of their snaps with the most common lineup on the field. Both of those stats marked NFL highs for offensive units. 

No position was immune, but a lack of continuity dramatically impacted two position groups.

In a perfect world, quarterbacks and offensive linemen play nearly all of a regular season. That means a team is healthy and effective at those key spots. That didn’t happen because the Matt Flynn experiment failed and Terrelle Pryor couldn’t lock down his starting job.

The Raiders had injuries aplenty along the offensive line, which forced the team to start eight different combinations in 16 games. Only tackle/guard Khalif Barnes played each game this season.

The Raiders had to platoon at the skill spots without healthy or consistent all-around production at receiver, tight end and running back. Receiver Rod Streater and fullback Marcel Reece were the most consistent long-term producers, and tailback Rashad Jennings proved strong when injuries to Darren McFadden gave him an opportunity to play.

Here’s a complete breakdown of the offense’s playing time:

Offense play time
(1,036 snaps)
1,034 (99.81%) – LT/LG Khalif Barnes
904 (87.26%) – C Stefen Wisniewski
871 (84.07%) – RG Mike Brisiel
748 (72.2%) – WR Rod Streater
713 (68.82%) – RT Tony Pashos
642 (61.97%) – LG Lucas Nix
592 (57.14%) – TE Mychal Rivera
590 (56.95%) – WR Denarius Moore
588 (56.76%) – QB Terrelle Pryor
548 (52.9%) – RB Rashad Jennings
538 (51.93%) – TE Jeron Mastrud
505 (48.75%) – FB Marcel Reece
380 (36.58%) – WR Andre Holmes
378 (36.49%) – QB Matt McGloin
336 (32.43%) – RB Darren McFadden
323 (31.18%) – LT Jared Veldheer
278 (26.83%) – WR Jacoby Ford
275 (26.54%) – G/C Andre Gurode
256 (24.71%) – T Matt McCants
210 (20.27%) – WR Brice Butler
182 (17.57%) – FB Jamize Olawale
173 (16.7%) – OT Menelik Watson
95 (9.17%) – G Lamar Mady
75 (7.24%) – TE Nick Kasa
70 (6.75%) – QB Matt Flynn
63 (6.08%) – WR Juron Criner
12 (1.16%) – RB Taiwan Jones, RB Jeremy Stewart
4 (0.39%) – OL Jack Cornell