Oakland picked Panther QB Jake Delhomme 4 times Sunday

You wouldn’t know it by looking at the Panthers rushing yards against Oakland at home, but the Raiders played inspired defense this Sunday.

Picking Jake Delhomme 4 times, the Raiders consistently harassed, hurried and even sacked the beleaguered Carolina QB twice.

Unfortunately, the Panthers DeAngelo Williams had a career day thanks to several big runs against Raider scrubs.

Fired earlier this season, former coach Lane Kiffin seemed to have a point about Oaklands lack of depth, (but seriously, can a team with the Raiders consistently losing record expect to be stocked like the New York Giants?) and it cost them again.

A theme they’ve repeated several times this year.

The Buffalo Bills took advantage of Raiders 2^nd and 3rd stringers on crucial plays in their victory and under performance, poor execution and bad judgements by the same cost Oakland just as much as their offensive offense this Sunday.

Pinned on their own 4 yd line early in the 2^nd quarter, the Panthers took advantage of newly re signed Raider DT William Joseph with a simple 2^nd and 9 hand off to their running back DeAngelo Williams up the middle.

Joseph picked the wrong gap and left a gaping hole seldom used Raider LB Sam Williams ineptly couldn’t fill.

                                            Raider LB Sam Williams had a pick but played poorly against the run

Williams (in for injured LB Ricky Brown) took a bad angle and then pitched forward in a half hearted attempt to tackle the Carolina RB who burst through the gap virtually unchallenged.

Back up safety Hiram Eugene had a shot to tackle him down field, but took himself out of the play with yet another poor angle by the Raider D and the Panthers set up shop out of danger and 20 yds further down field.

A chronically under performing DT and wasted 1^st round draft pick by New York, Joseph was dumped by Oakland earlier this year, but taken back on recently in hopes he’d improve their leaky run D, but he was on the field again for another pivotal play.

The former Giant was immediately dumped to the ground on DeAngelo Williams 69 TD run late in the 2^nd quarter, but it was the other Williams on the defensive side of the ball who got chopped down closing from the strong side LB position and leaving the Panther RB untouched through the line.

2 more alternate scrubs had a shot at him, safety Hiram Eugene and back up DB Rashad Baker, but again Eugene took a bad angle and instead of wrapping the breaking running back Baker spun Williams in a poor attempt to fling him down, instead propelling the Carolina RB toward the goal line and a Panther score.

Of course the offense contributed with 3 terrible drives prior, 2 plagued with penalty flags and one with a Fargas fumble after a mis handled pitch from substitute QB Andrew Walter, resulted in Shane Lechler punts.

Some ill informed fans felt a change at QB was the ticket to igniting the Raiders stagnant offense, wrongfully blaming 2^nd yr QB Jamarcus Russell for their lack of TDs and productivity, (and some of them still will) but Sundays match up demonstrated fairly well Oaklands offensive short comings would shackle any QB "rookie" or no.

Oaklands left tackle spot has to be of the highest priority. Kwame Harris’ alarmingly horrible pass protection is glaringly apparent and why he has not been benched or more appropriately been ridden out of Oakland on a rail is beyond logic.

His cringe inducing play is like fielding only ten men on offense. Its that bad.

    Raider OT Mario Henderson

He rotated with 2^nd year tackle Mario Henderson, whom the Raiders have hopes for, but it was executed poorly and Harris was allowed to do irrevocable damage despite the Raiders specifically game planning away from him on most passing plays.

Harris looks dazed and slightly annoyed as he wanders the field barely laying a hand on defenders who breeze by him on their way to wreak havoc on Oaklands backfield.

Henderson is having trouble making cut blocks in the running game, but is clearly the better alternative to Harris who could easily be replaced by a 55 gallon drum.

It difficult to stress how bad the former San Francisco 1^st round draft picks play has been and the term "addition by subtraction" has never been more appropriate.

Cable’s experiment should officially be declared over at least for 08' and beyond if they have any sense left at all.

Hopefully, Cable will come to his senses by next week and bench the obviously incapable Kwame before Russell returns to QB an offense with no tackles and no wide receivers.

All in all, Oaklands defense played inspired football today, but mistakes by back ups and a woefully underperforming and injured offense crippled their efforts and squandered a barrage of turn overs they were incapable of capitalizing on.

                                                                                                Panthers WR Muhsin Mohammed                        

Multiple targets and the hurry up could hurt Oakland against the Panthers.

Too often this season, the Raiders have been staggered when teams go hurry up with their offense.

Oaklands D can’t seem to find a player who can step up and kill a drive or make a play against the pass that will change the balance of power.

Ditching DeAngelo Hall (for what ever reason) may have been a shocking move and hopefully, it will set a fire under the asses of some of Oaklands under producing players.

Considering Hall’s play while tenured in Oakland, the Raiders may be better off with out him as the Carolina Panthers and WR Steve Smith comes to town.

Oaklands shuffled secondary faces more than just the obvious brilliance of Steve Smith, the Panthers have impressively distributed the ball very well this year. Injured last year, Carolina’s QB Jake Delhomme is making up for lost time and having a solid year dumping the ball not only to Smith but others like resurgent 13 yr vet Muhsin Mohammed who’s leading the Panthers with 37 grabs for 507 yds. Also on Delhomme’s check down list is former LSU team mate to Jamarcus Russell WR Dwayne Jarrett who, as a 2^nd year man, is quickly becoming Delhomme’s favorite 3^rd down target.

Carolina’s Dante Rosario and Jeff King have caught some productive catches from the TE position as well.

It looks like corner back Chris Johnson has moved his way up the Raiders 2^nd slot, leaving once credible Stanford Routt to languish at the Nickle spot. Part of the decision to reward Johnson, other than his blazing speed, was the fact Routt was hauled in to look at game film of him slacking on special teams.

  CB Routt "called out"

Hopefully Oakland is serious about ditching or punishing guys that aren’t here to play and work their hardest to finally win.

They’ll have their hands full against a very good Carolina defense. Oaklands tackles have been horrid of late especially and in an effort to remedy this, they will be alternating the putrid Kwame Harris and novice 2^nd year man, Mario Henderson against the pro bowl caliber DE Julius Peppers.

If Oakland can’t get their pass game going again, the result will likely be the same.

Even with 4^th over all pick in 2008 RB Darren McFadden on the bench, look for Oakland to refocus on the run and for their blocking to improve and get crisper.

Carolina on the other hand may have center Ryan Kalil and rookie LT Jeff Otah back for this game, but their injuries could be lingering and play a part in this game especially from the Raiders ,smallish, but quick DE’s and punishing big linemen who are capable of winning one on one against any line man in the League when they are hot.

Carolina will look to run the ball with a DeAngleo of their own, DeAngelo Williams who is quietly on pace to rush for a thousand yards having acquired 522 on 120 carries this year but only 3 rushing TDs.

It looks like the Panthers will be without the services of promising rookie running back Jonathan Stewart who will likely sit again with a nagging heal injury after missing another practice on Thursday.

Even if they can get their dinged up running game on track, look for Carolina to test Oaklands newly formed secondary and line backers Howard and Morrison who, last year, were considered 2 of the best coverage line backers in the League.

    LB Thomas Howard

Raider fans would no doubt love to see them show off those skills this Sunday at home against Delhomme and the visiting Panthers.

It will also be interesting to see if Oakland can use its recent humiliations as fuel to motivate them to the play they are certainly capable of.

If only they believed.

NFL Networks Adam Schefter reported the Raiders are waiving under performing CB DeAngelo Hall.

Rumors at this point have it, Hall is the beginning of another purge that may take out as many as 15 more Raiders by the start of next year.

Hall has been burnt like toast in several of the raiders match ups, but the move is being spun as a money issue with a career ending injury guaranteeing Hall big money from Oakland.

They will eat $8 million dollars to let Hall go and that translates roughly to a million dollars a game to watch receivers make catches in front of him.

Speculation has it Hall may be in some sort of trouble and his release may be followed by more news.

It will be interesting to hear what Hall’s version of events are, but he may lay low until picked up by another team.

Several appear to be interested including the Patriots who snagged Randy Moss from Oakland for a 4^th round pick and then watched him have a career year with Tom Brady.

The move is highly unusual, but in "the Davis Letter" regarding the firing of former Coach Lane Kiffin Davis alluded to the fact he was never a fan of Hall to begin with.

"For example, with the exception of Gibril Wilson, you were involved in recruiting all free agents and determining salaries for them and you were explicit in your desire to sign Javon Walker and DeAngelo Hall amongst others. All were a must to sign in your eyes, Hall in particular, because he played for Greg Knapp in Atlanta and Knapp gave him high grades. Do not run from that now."

Hall wil likely find work if there is no more to this than a simple money issue, and the vocal lightning rod may have a lot more to say about Oakland and probably not in a flattering way.

Taking into account his play while here, fans seem to think the feeling is mutual.

Whether his departure is "addition by subtraction" remains to be seen, but CB Stanford Routt can’t do much worse than Hall and he feels more comfortable on the outside rather than nickle so we’ll have to watch.

Routt is a fine corner and despite an ankle issue early this season, should be healthy and ready to play.

Photo Chris McGrath / Getty Images

You never know what your going to get.

The Oakland that completely dominates teams (in the 1^st half anyway...) Or the team that got torched by the Broncos and the Saints.

Oakland looked lack luster in the first half and the score board showed it.

Thanks to an early safety, the Ravens led 19 to nothing.

The Raiders timid play and critical mistakes sunk any chance of competing in the 1^st 2 quarters.

Oh yeah, and the Ravens run D had a little to do with that too.

Stout all day, the Ravens held the Raiders to a paltry 47 yds on the ground all day. The Raiders were forced to the air in the 4^th quarter in a desperate and ultimately fruitless bid to play catch up.

Russell had a few moments of brilliance as he scrambled created and actually made a first down with his feet, but his line betrayed him and he was harassed and harried by the Ravens even before they began teeing off in the 4^th.

Russell did complete strikes deep down field on several occasions including a beauty to 7^th round pick Chaz Schillens that gained 60 yds and set up a Raider score.

Their only other score of the day may have been a costly one.

Fullback Justin Griffith made a super human effort to defeat a diving Ray Lewis tackle and managed to break the plain of the goal line. A fact determined after a Raider challenge and review after it was initially marked short.

The Raiders did score, but Griffith lose time to a possible knee injury suffered on the play.

No word yet on whether the injury is serious, but he did leave the game and was replaced by 3^rd year man and late pick up Luke Lawton.

Lawton was brought in after the season, possibly career ending, injury to Raider fullback Oren O’Neal in pre season.

The Raiders got out coached as their play book became limited by the absence of rookie RB Darren McFadden who was a surprise last second addition to the inactive list.

Without Mcfadden the Raiders had no answers to the trickery of Baltimore and QB Joe Flacco of the Ravens will be featured in highlight after highlight making a very nice grab over the coverage of Raider LB Ricky Brown.

Flacco lined up at wide out when QB Troy Smith came into the game in a "wild cat" like formation that worked well for the Ravens. Smith rolled right and fired a beautiful strike to Flacco who made a very nice grab.

Maybe he could offer some pointers to the Raiders receiving corps.

Combined with Russell’s occasional in accuracy, his wide out inability to create meaningful separation is a recipe for an ineffective passing game.

Walker, who caught five passes last week had 2 grabs against Baltimore. One in the 1^st quarter and one in the 4^th.

Not much help.

The Raiders defense holds most of the blame for this loss, going up against a beat up Ravens O line they were unable to get themselves off the field in 3^rd down situations time and time again, even in difficult 3^rd and long situations, the Ravens came through.

Oaklands D got out played.

Plain and simple.

Even with two TDs called back on penalties the Ravens still managed to exploit the soft Raider D and secure the win.

One of last weeks bright spots Trevor Scott got abused by the Ravens who took advantage of the rookies over eagerness to charge the passer.

Several times he failed to set the edge, most embarrassingly on a Flacco keeper that scooted past him for a TD.

Oakland showed some signs of life in the 4^th, forcing a turn over by RB Willis McGahee, but were unable to capitalize or put any points on the board as a costly delay of game penalty that was center Jake Grove’s fault, saw them move backwards further out of field goal range.

A sack on the ensuing play killed any hope of the Raiders making it a game.

Being out coached isn’t terribly surprising for such a young inexperienced team trying to come together, especially considering its their coaches 2^nd NFL game, but the Raiders slow start and costly mistakes are as much to blame as anything else.

The Raiders had a lot of excuses for losing this one, the Ravens had only answers

 Photo / Getty Images                                                           Raider QB Jamarcus Russell                          

Russell has done fairly well considering its really his "rookie" campaign in the NFL. So far this season his Achilles has been fumbling the ball.

A true rookie, Ravens QB Joe Flacco has fumbled the ball an equal number of times, but has only lost one to opposing teams. Russell’s gaffe’s have been far more costly. Oakland lost the ball four out of six times he fumbled and some of those turn overs have killed red zone drives, or led directly to points and losses.

Most disturbingly are the unforced errors Russell makes on occasion where the ball simply slips out of his hand.

Other fumbles have been the result of poor pocket presence under pressure, something that should get better with every game a growing experience, but at this point, may play a factor against the Ravens top ranked D.

Flacco’s has had his share of problems holding onto the football as mentioned, but where he’s struggling more than Russell is with interceptions.

Russell has been shackled by under producing wide outs and both teams seem to be rightly tailoring their linited play calling to their young QBs strengths. Beween the two though, Flacco seems to be the more easily rattled.

                                                                                                    Raven QB Joe Flacco

He has thrown seven picks compared to Russell's two and in all fairness, Russell’s were a direct result of receivers bobbles rather than errant throws or bad decisions.

If the Raiders can bring heat with well timed blitzes and pressure like they did last week in a win against the Jets, Flacco could struggle.

If he gets into a rhythm using the hurry up like Trent Edwards before him, the Raiders loose coverage could cost them.

They’ll need to rattle the young Flacco by shutting down the run and getting pressure again from their front four.

The Raiders should be able to do this against the Ravens dinged up O line, but then again, the Ravens should be able to get pressure too since they clearly have the better D.

Though Russell can scoot, he’s had trouble sensing pressure in the pocket. With questionable protection from both tackles, Russell will need to be on his game against an aggressive Raven squad especially if their top ranked run D shuts down Oaklands ground attack.

Wide out Javon Walker can do a lot to improve Oaklands chances by having another solid game and giving Russell a legitimate target at the receiver position. This could help stretch the field and keep the Ravens from stacking 8-11 in the box.

Photo Keith Allison                                                                    Raven Wide Out Derrick Mason

Flacco has favored WR Derrick Mason, but early reports state he has been suffering migraines headaches, something Oaklands secondary will try to increase.

The Raiders will try to capitalize on their secondaries great play last week against Favre and the Jets by adding to Flacco’s interception total and if they are successful, the Raiders defense may even end up putting crucial points on the board.

The inexperienced Russell and the Raiders offense will need all the help they can get.

With the Ravens battered O line, questionable running game and stellar run D, the game could come down to which ever inexperienced QB has the best game and makes the least mistakes.

    Baltimore Sun Photo / Lloyd Fox         

                                                                WR Derrick Mason is a fav. target of rookie QB Flacco.

The Baltimore Ravens miss Jonathan Ogden. Who wouldn’t?

Inexperience and Injuries to the O line are responsible for the seven sacks they’ve suffered over the past two games.

Oakland will look to exploit the Ravens now short of not only Ogden, but many of their starting O line men.

There is a chance tackle Adam Terry will play against Oakland, but he was ruled out of the Ravens match up with Miami. Terry has been hobbled by a bad ankle that he had surgery on in the off season and re-injured again this year.

Terry and the Ravens O line has been oft injured this year and has been plugging in players left and right.

They were dealt another blow as starting right guard Marshall Yanda was placed on IR last Tuesday and will have season ending knee surgery.

Yanda was injured in the 4^th quarter of the Ravens 31-3 loss to the Colts in week 6.

3^rd year guard Chris Chester may start in his place (If not needed elsewhere along the line) and has exactly one NFL start.

Massive left tackle , 6-9, 330 lb. Jared Gaither has suffered injuries too and is only a little more experienced in his second year in the NFL.

6-4, 310 rookie Oneil Cousins may make the field even though he really should be a practice squad rookie.

The Ravens saving grace is 12 yr. vet Willie Anderson who came over from the Bengals this off season after refusing to take a pay cut. With the injuries the Ravens were suffering in the off season, they quickly snapped Anderson up with a 3 yr. $11 million dollar contract. A 4 time Pro Bowler (03, 04, 05, 06) the 6-5, 340 pounders experience dwarfs his fellow linemen.

Despite their dinged up line, the Ravens responded to their week 6 thrashing by Indy with a solid game against the lowly Dolphins.

   Uncredited / Getty Images

                                                                                                             QB Joe Flacco

Rookie QB Joe Flacco had a solid game and found a rhythm as the Ravens went hurry up offense against Miami.

He was 17-23 for 232 yds. Though he did throw a TD, it was only his 2^nd of the season.

In 6 games Flacco has a 64% passer rating thanks to a quick release and good play calling, but he also has 7 picks.

If Oaklands defensive line can continue to play at a high level and apply pressure, the inexperienced QB could have more. Then again, Oakland has struggled against some QBs with a quick release so it remains to be seen.

RB Willis McGahee had 105 yds and a TD on 19 carries, but that was against a Miami team that lost its starting NT Jason Ferguson in the 1^st quarter.

                                                                                               RB Willis McGahee

McGahee struggled against the Colts going 8 for 18 and the week before against the Titans where he had 22 carries for 64 yds.

Oakland struggled against the Jets allowing marginal running back Thomas Jones 159 yds on 24 carries and over 230 yds on the ground.

It was Oaklands worst run defense so far this year, but the Jets do have three 1^st round draft picks manning the line and All Pro Allen Faneca was flagged twice for holding.

They’ll need to stiffen against the Ravens and continue the momentum their secondary gained with a good showing against Favre and the Jets.

The Ravens defense looked very good after the 31 point Colt blow out week 6, they punished the Dolphins holding them to 27 yds and showing why the "Wildcat" is not a viable offensive weapon against a disciplined defense.

By containing the edges and exercising good gap responsibility, the aggressive Ravens D completely shut down Miami’s ground game.

Chad Pennington threw for nearly 300 yds completing 24 of 35 and scoring a TD, but his gaffe of forcing the ball cost an interception and 6 points.

If the Raiders can keep a passing game of some sort going, they will have a much better chance of running against a very good Baltimore D.

If Oakland can get consistent pressure on Flacco and limit Willis McGahee, they could have a chance of winning two in a row for interim coach Tom Cable.

Game time in Baltimore is scheduled for 1:00 EST

                        K Sebastian Janikowski after kicking the record setting game winner

In some ways, they looked like the Raiders of old, especially in the 1^st quarter with 8 penalties, but the Raiders managed to accomplish a lot of things they haven’t been able to do recently to seal this victory.

1. Get the ball to receivers.

Mainly Javon Walker who has here to fore been M.I.A. from the Raiders non existent passing game.

For once, a wide out led in receptions for Oakland. Walker came down with 5 grabs for 75 yards and helped Oakland move the chains.

Though he was leading Oakland in receptions with 18 receptions, he hadn’t been the pass grabbing TE he looked like he was becoming last year.

He stepped up and made 4 catches for 57 yds including a 27 yarder in OT that helped extended a the drive that led to winning kick.

2. Get Hall to cover better.

Though he has never been considered a shut down corner, many were surprised by how ineffective Hall has been since joining Oakland, especially in 2^nd half melt downs that saw completion after completion to his side in heartbreaking losses, but in Sundays match up, Hall was a lot better at coverage and reads against Favre.

Hall had several good plays knocking down passes and making 7 tackles. He even read the mis-communication between Farve and his receiver running the proper route and snagging the rainbow for a pick.

3. Get better play from reserves.

Oaklands defensive 4 got handled by a Jets line that is chock full o’ 1^st round draft picks, but Kalimba Edwards and rookie Trevor Scott applied heaps of pressure from the edges, harassing and haranguing Farve most of the day, the 6-5, 255 lb. Rookie DE added 2 sacks and a forced fumble to his fine special teams play and finest NFL game so far.

Early in the game Al Davis scholarship player Sam Williams made several solid special teams plays providing big hits and recovering a fumble that set up a Raider score.

Hiram Eugene, in for demoted FS Michael Huff, made 4 tackles 2 of them crucial stops that might’ve gotten much bigger yardage had he not.

Rookie Chaz Schillens contributed 2 grabs in place of under performing WR Ronald Curry, and back up line backer Jon Alston made a game changing run on 4^th and 2 on their own 27 and with 6:37 seconds left in the game, Oakland, in punt formation, direct snapped it to Alston who scampered 22 yds for an Oakland 1^st down and an eventual Janikowski field goal.

4. They overcame.

Raider penalties plagued Oakland especially along the O line. Forums are already asking if Mario Henderson might see time instead of left tackle Kwame Harris who had 4 costly flags thrown against him, one that even nullified a TD pass to Zach Miller.

Instead of folding and coming away with nothing or a field goal, the Jamarcus Russell managed to connect with Javon Walker for the 8 yd score.

5. Janikowsi finally came through.

Too often for his 1^st round draft status Janikowski has come up snake eyes when the Raiders needed him for the win, but today, he helped his cause by finishing the game with a record 57 yard field goal to win the game in OT.

A lot of things the Raiders haven’t been able to do the last few years came together this Sunday and though it was close, the Raiders finally managed to come out on top.

Congratulations Oakland, you earned it.

Photo Jarrett Baker / Getty Images                                                             NY Titans QB Brett Favre

With their new personell and throw back uniforms, some may not recognize the Jets. but one things for sure, they’re not the Saints.

The Jets may have a great run defense and Brett Favre at the controls, but their 3-2 record is a bit deceiving.

This year New York has struggled against two teams with out their starting QBs and gotten some lucky breaks and big performances that helped them head into their bye week with a winning record.

At 1-4, Oakland is looking to redeem itself after an embarrassing blow out served up by Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.

Do they have a chance against Brett and the Jets?

Yes. Yes they do.

A lot has been made of Favre’s last performance against the Raiders and it was a remarkable performance in the after math of his Fathers death, but that was then and this is now.

Favre has shown he’s fully capable of connecting through the air now that he’s with the Jets, already turning in a 6 TD game this season, but the Jets aren’t an 07' Patriot like juggernaut.

Week one Favre threw 2 TD passes and RB Thomas Jones added another in a 20-14 victory, but it took 2 costly penalties against this years #1 draft pick Tackle Jake Long and an interception in the end zone with :05 seconds left by a Jets rookie, Darrelle Revis to seal the win.

In week two the Jets fell to the aforementioned Patriots playing without Tom Brady, 19-10.

Though the Jets are currently ranked 3rd overall against the rush, in week two, they could not stop former Raider RB Lamont Jordan from gaining crucial second half yardage that helped New England keep the Jets offense off the field.

Despite throwing an interception that was returned for a TD on his first pass, San Diego QB Phillip Rivers went on to win the game ball for his 250 yd, 3 TD performance. LaDainian Tomlinson added 2 TDs of his own as the Chargers rolled over the Jets 48-29 in week 3.

Favre threw his 3^rd interception of the year. The first came the week prior. San Diego’s Antonio Cromartie snagged 2 in this contest, returning one for a TD.

Favre does throw a lot of picks and Oaklands secondary could help vindicate its self for last weeks vivisection by New Orleans Drew Brees last week by having a good showing against Favre.

In week 4 Favre threw another pick this time within his first four passes, but rebounded to throw a career 6 TDs against the Cardinals who were being blown out 34 nothing by the half.

They rallied on New York and put up 35 by the 4^th quarter whistle. The Cards were doomed by an equal if not opposite QB performance by Arizona’s Kurt Warner who turned the ball over 6 times, including throwing 2 picks to rookie DB Darrelle Revis.

Favre tossed 3 TDs to WR Laveranues Coles, but distributed the ball to 8 different receivers.

Week five the Jets sat out their bye week.

Week six against the Bengals running back Thomas Jones scored all 3 of New Yorks touchdowns to mark his first 3 TD game in his 9 year career.

WRs Coles and Jericho Cotchery each had 8 catches from Favre, but the former Packer QB also threw 2 more picks and a fumble on the 3^rd play of the game that was run back for a TD.

The Bengals may have had more of a shot at a victory had they been able to do anything on the ground. They failed to get a first down until there was 1:54 left in the half. Including a 23 yd run by QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, in for the ailing Carson Palmer, Cincinnati finished with a total of 43 yds on the ground.

Despite their struggling offense, the Bengals managed to hang in with the Jets until the 2:22 mark when Jones capped a 41 yd drive with a 1 yd TD to finish the scoring. The Jets had actually scored twice already on the drive with TD passes from Favre, but both were called back on penalties.

The Jets reside at 3-2 , but have faced some less than stellar opponents and haven’t looked like a consistent football team so far.

But, they are finding a way to win, something Oakland has done only once this year.

The hope is Oakland will rebound from its blow out against the Saints like they did after a week one ariel thrashing by the Broncos and play the inspired football they are capable of.

The Jets will have safety Eric Smith back in the line up after he served a one game suspension against the Bengals for a week 4 helmet to helmet hit on Cardinal wide out Anquan Bolden, but Oakland may have their 4^th overall draft pick Darren McFadden up to speed.

Photo Jamie Squire  / Getty Images

                                                                                                          DMC against the Chiefs

After suffering with a turf toe injury acquired in Oaklands win against the Kansas City Chiefs, McFadden has been unable to plant and cut off his right foot.

Now that he is apparently healed, interim Coach Tom Cable admitted the Raiders lost half of the plays they’d run with McFadden if he were healthy.

Adding former Panther NT Kris Jenkins and LB Calvin Pace has helped the Jets defense go from a League worst 32^nd against the run last year, to 3^rd overall this year, so Oakland will likely need not only McFadden, but success in the air to keep the Jets honest.

Though the Jets are a much improved team, they are certainly not undefeatable and the Raiders stand a chance of coming away with the victory this Sunday in Oakland.

Game time is set to start 1 pm PST.

Photo Chris Graythen / Getty Images

                                                 Hall tries to haul down Reggie Bush          

Its been said "You learn more from your losses than your victories." Prepare to get a lot smarter.

There are some who will use this game as evidence it was the players and not Lane Kiffin holding back the offense.

With the chains finally off, Offensive coordinator Greg Knapp called a vanilla game that leads some to believe it is Oaklands young and inexperienced offense that is limiting Oaklands attack.

Thats partly true, but Oaklands offense had the ball very little after the 1^st quarter and were never able to establish a tempo and game plan of their own.

They are partly to blame with dropped passes and turn overs, but it is also safe to say the New Orleans Saints defense is very good.

Oaklands defense was marched on repeatedly with long extended drives including an 18 play drive with several 3^rd down conversions. This weeks drubbing by the Saints may be used as ammo for those Raider fans who dislike Ryan and yes, he of course is to blame, but it’s a safe bet to say this New Orleans offense is very good.

Bottom line, the Raiders came up against a very good team on the rise.

On offense especially, this is a very young Raiders team and more so, Oaklands wide receivers are adjusting to a "rookie" QB who throws the ball like no one on earth. Russell has yet to develop consistent touch, accuracy, fundamental foot work, defensive reads and pocket awareness let alone a mental bond with his receivers.

Combined with two Tackles who are questionable at protect and Oaklands struggle in the passing game become a little clearer.

Rookie Darren McFadden was replaced by RB Justin Fargas who returns from a groin injury and its likely since Fargas was named the starter at the beginning of the year he was going to be the focus today, but it also served to cover the fact McFadden’s toe is still an issue.

Though he did get touches, McFadden was not called upon to cut back to his left. His turf toe may need more time to heal. Putting him in when he is not 100% doesn’t help Oakland, even psychologically.

The disappearance of 2nd year TE Zach Miller has surprised many, but due to Oaklands suspect Tackles, he is being kept in as part of "max protect" packages, limiting Russell’s number of targets.

Thats probably fine since Russell seems to be having trouble making his progressions and locking onto primaries. Even when Zach Miller is out in pattern, he has not been available for Russell because the Raiders have not found an answer for defenses man coverage.

Last year Miller caught over 40 passes, but teams have made the adjustment and the Raiders, so far, have not.

I won’t belabor the point with anguishing recounts, but suffice it to say, Russell’s miscues have cost the Raiders points, momentum and games this year.

Though he’s gotten virtually no help from his receivers (Maybe Davis should draft a "Lofton letter.") Russell has shown signs of growth and improvement, like when to throw the ball away and he will eventually set his internal clock and know when to get rid of it and when to run.

His wide outs could help by getting some kind of separation. Their inability to break free of coverage, combined with Russell’s poor mechanics and hence inaccuracy, the Raiders passing game will continue to struggle.

It is true you can learn a lot more from losing than you can winning and today we learn though they are loaded with talent, the Raiders are a young team that may be limited on offense by its young weapons lack of experience.

                                                    Saints WR Marques Colston

Saints WR Marques Colston may be back early from thumb surgery and TE Jeremy Shockey has reportedly been involved in limited practices.

Colston is an example of what some analysts call a "value pick".

As a tight end Colston was predicted to go undrafted though he possesses great hands and size. The Saints took a flyer and drafted him 252^nd over all in the 7^th round of the 2006 NFL draft.

Colston immediately began producing at WR and a lot of talent scouts were called to task for missing a player with numbers that had some considering him rookie of the year.

2006 saw Colston come down with 70 grabs for 1,038 yds and 8 TDs, despite missing 2 games due to an ankle injury.

In 07', he proved teams still had no answer for him and that 2006 was not a fluke.

With 98 catches, 1,202 yds and 11 TDs, Colston worked himself into to a new 3yr contract extension in late July.

September 10^th it was reported Colston under went thumb surgery to repair a torn ligament suffered in a week one collision with the Buccaneers Ronde Barber.

He was expected to be sidelined and miss 4-6 weeks, but The Times Picayune states he and Shockey are seeing limited practice time and could be a go against Oakland.

On September 22^nd it was announced Shockey had a sports hernia and would be out 3-6 weeks.

At the time, he was the Saints 2^nd leading receiver with 16 catches for 151 yds over 3 games.

Not known for his blocking he does tend to make crucial ones when it counts. No telling if he’ll be full speed, but even so, the Raiders secondary especially FS Michael Huff have made a name for shutting down some of the Leagues finest TEs.

                                                                                                      FS Michael Huff

Right tackle John Stinchcomb could be more of a worry for the Saints especially if DE Derrick Burgess is in any shape to play. He dismantled a wounded Damion McIntosh the Raiders win against the Chiefs, but has sat the last 2 practices with a torn triceps.

Coach Cable said he will probably need to practice Friday if he's going to appear in New Orleans.

If not, Fred Wakefield and Trevor Scott will fill at DE. Another key injury not on manies radar is to DB Stanford Routt who sat out against the Chargers. Routt says he "would be surprised" if he wasn't ready to go this Sunday.

With the amount of spread offense the Saints present, Routt's nickle position could see some heat as New Orleans shuffles to create mismatches.

Besieged CB DeAngelo Hall may have a small advatage from playing against the Saints with NFC South division rival Atlanta.

Then again Sean Payton might've gained some insight into Cable and Kiffin when they met in 2006. In their first meeting September 25, of 06', Payton's Saints pounced on the dinged and hapless Falcons, beating them 23-3. Marques Colston showed signs of things to come with 97 yds in catches.

Coming off a 500yd + passing performance against the Benglas, Brees showed little soreness.

In the second game November 26th Atlanta faired even worse than in their first meeting as Brees racked up another 349 yds, 158 of them to WR Devery Henderson who filled in nicely for Colston who sat with a turned ankle.

Both games, Michael Vick was the leading rusher.

Lets hope the Cable , Knapp connection works better now they are in Oakland.

It should.

                                                                 RB Reggie Bush

Oakland has a running back named Bush too, and if Darren McFadden isn't up to snuff RB Michael Bush could see more reps against the Saints.

He's a second year rookie who has the potential to be a contributing player in the NFL and Reggie, well, Reggie is already pretty solid.

It will be interesting to see if Oakland tries using some of its offensive weapons as creatively as the Saints and if Oaklands D can stop them.

Key to that will be their Bush (of course) and QB Drew Brees. 

Though he entered Monday nights game with a 109 % QB rating Drew Brees struggled at times against the Vikings.

With the Vikings front four, its no wonder the Saints went air 46 times. Brees completed 26 of those to various targets. Brees finished the night with 2 picks in part due to their no.1 wide out and pass catching TE on the injured list.

WR Marques Colston exploded last year for over 1.200 yds production but the 6-4, 225 lb Hofstra grad recently had surgery on a thumb he damaged week one against the Bucs. He should miss the next couple of weeks.

Former Giants TE Jeremy Shockey remains out 3-6 weeks with a sports hernia. 

Despite missing vital targets the Saints passing game goes on and WR Devery Henderson has proven to be a deep threat due in part to the fact the Saints are very good at creating match ups.

The Raiders have the personnel to play the Saints in man coverage, but wether or not Stanford Routt’s ankle injury is healed after the bye could be a factor.

Henderson needs to be smacked early and often by an aggressive Raiders D. Though a talented wide out, he has focus issues and drops a lot of passes. Especially if he’s hearing foot steps.

Hall cannot play off as much or the accurate Brees will destroy him like Trent Edwards, Jay Cutler before him.

Look for Oakland to utilize their talented secondary in man on man coverage. This should bode well for Oaklands LB corps who can be very good at coverage. The Saints like to distribute the ball to their wide outs and RB Reggie Bush has nearly 200 catches in 33 games.

  LB Thomas Howard

Oaklands tremendous speed at the LB position could give them an advantage. On the lines Oaklands D faces a Saints line that allowed a League low 16 sacks last year. All the more impressive considering their 652 passing attempts was the most.

The Raiders Tommy Kelly may have a good game or one of the Raiders big DT’s against versatile guard / tackle Carl Nicks. Though he is an impressive 6-5, 345 lbs, Nicks is a rookie and likely not terribly used to some one close to his size moving as well if not better than he does.

6-3, 318 lb Center Jonathan Goodwin has only been at the position four games, but played well enough to win the job and a new 3 yr contract, but including time in 2005 with the Jets at left guard, he has 14 career starts.

Have no illusions though, the Saints O line will be a tough nut to crack.

Minnesota’s stunts and DB blitzes worked well against the Saints TE’s and Oakland has been executing them well the last few weeks. The Saints will continue to miss TE Jeremey Shockey’s assistance in blocking.

The Raiders have shown marked improvement against the run this year with line dominating play by Gerard Warren and Terdell Sands tanks in large part to one on one match ups afforded by Tommy Kelly double teams.

Discipline at the second level has made a substantial difference too.

The Saints have a solid defense of their own with a fine tradition of good LB’s. They will miss rookie DT Cedrick Ellis who is out for at least a few more weeks with a knee injury that required surgery.

Now that it appears Justin Fargas may be back on line, the Raiders may not utilize their Reggie Bush, Darren McFadden as much.

McFadden did not practice yesterday and appeared still wearing a protective boot. If he’s not ready to contribute or 100% Oakland at least has the option to put its original starter in the back field.

Fargas can be a more consistent pass blocker too.

      RB Justin Fargas 

If McFadden is healthy, it may be interesting to see if new Coach Tom Cable and O coordinator Greg Knapp get more creative.

Forums are abuzz about Miami’s success with the "Wild cat" offense and it is certain Arkansas "Wild Hog" formation, custom designed around McFadden, could be a consideration at least a time or two.

This game could be telling for Oakland with Kiffin gone and Cable at the helm.

Some think Kiffin’s conservative play calling and poor substitutions played a major role in Oaklands late game collapses this year, but it could be that Oaklands young and inexperienced offense may not be ready for trickery.

With a new coach in place, it may not be feasible to expect too much.

RB Michael Bush is for all intents and purposes a rookie having sat last year healing a broken leg suffered his senior year at Louisville, but he is a very talented and versatile football player too and is capable of throwing as well as catching and running should Oakland decide to let it rip in the back field.

Then again, WR Javon Walker could play if healthy and Oakland could light up New Orleans suspect secondary.

I’ve said it the past 2 weeks. Oakland will need to throw the ball effectively. They failed to do so in critical situations and lost both games.

Ashley Lelie could make noise and WR Ronald Curry has struggled this year but is due to turn it around and theres no place like dome.

Another point of interest will be wether Oakland sticks with Kiffin’s dink and dunk west coast passing offense or if cable loosens the reigns and lets QB Jamarcus Russell unleash some long bombs.

Oaklands receivers will have to play aggressively and run down errant balls as Russell has never been forced to be accurate. But if they can stretch the field like New Orleans does, this could be a different ball game.

Oakland could finally free up talented TE Zach Miller against the Saints secondary just to keep the Saints off balance.

Indoors, Sebastian Janikowski should have an advantage over New Orleans kicker Martin Gramatica who has struggled the past few weeks, blowing late game scoring opportunities that could’ve sealed wins for the Saints.

Oakland has been playing much better special teams this year and with Tyvon Branch’s cast finally removed we could start to see the guy Mike Mayock called "Possibly the best gunner in the League day one."

No telling if New Orleans will risk RB Reggie Bush fielding punts against him Sunday, even with Bush’s record setting 2 TD returns against the Vikes Monday night.

The Saints showed they are a good team who despite 4 turn overs, several dropped balls and 11 penalties for 102 yds, nearly pulled off the victory.

Oakland will need good play from all 3 squads if they hope to come away with a crucial win on the road in Cajun country.

                                                        RB Justin Fargas will be back after the bye

Jamarcus’ lack of pocket presence and feel for the rush is understandable considering its his FIFTH start ever. He held the ball a little too long and doesn’t protect it as well as he should. His mechanics were improved and for the most part, so was his accuracy. (22 of 37, 277 yds, a TD, a pick and a costly fumble) He did leave a few passes off the mark and occasionally behind the receiver, but that happened mostly on the move.

Darren McFadden was a non factor again.(7 for 20 yds, 2 receptions for 17 yds) His toe is really bothering him. The Raiders really could've used RB Justin Fargas who is out with a groin pull, but is expected back after the bye.

Its easy to see McFadden is favoring his injured toe when he runs. Gutsy of him to play and though his addition to the back field still gets defensive coordinators attention, at 3 / 4 speed and unable to cut, its probably better to leave him off field.

Michael Bush contributed to the ground game ( 14 for 48 yds) and through the air ( 7 for 80 yds) but his receiving numbers were skewed by a lot of "meaningless" dump offs late in the game that simply helped delay the inevitable.

When Javon Walker is on the field, this is a different offense. (2 for 34 yds) When and if the Raiders get him on the field full time, the Raiders will start winning games.

Ronald Curry managed to hang on to a single pass, (1 for 11yds) but that was on the opening drive. He never created enough separation to be a viable threat. (So much for putting on muscle with new conditioning coach Brad Roll) Even when he does get open he hasn’t been able to hang on. (So much for new WR coach James Lofton.)

Higgins has been the surprise Raider receiver (4 for 35) His contributions on kick offs have helped the Raiders especially at the beginning of games. (6 for a 21 yd average)

TE Zach Miller led the team in receptions (5 for 95 yds) and with a play that came right out of Denver’s earlier win over the Chargers, Miller simply ran a straight line to the end zone and with a block from Curry, scooted in for the 63 yd TD.

Miller needs to be involved in the passing game more often, but the fact is, teams that got beat by him last year adjusted and began playing more man coverage and it has been very effective.

Oaklands offensive line was missing only one "starter" with Kwame Harris back in the line up, but like I've said before, for most teams news that your starting left tackle was back would be a good thing.

Not for Oakland.

Russell’s ineptness at sensing and avoiding pressure paired with a tendency to hold the ball too long didn’t help matters, but Horrible Harris’ mental errors and bad pass protection were as much to blame for some of Russell’s costly mistakes.

In fact, one Harris whiff led directly to a Russell fumble. A fumble that resulted in a Charger scoring drive that changed the momentum of the game.

Robert Gallery had another uneventful game and blocked very well. Center Jake Grove’s inability to do his job and get second level against linebackers was a big part in Oaklands lack of success on the ground. Especially late in the game. Just like last week.

Filling in for Oaklands best offensive lineman Cooper Carlisle, guard / center and 3^rd year man, Chris Morris faired well, especially in the 1^st half picking up blitzes and helping in the run game.

Carlisle should be recovered from a high ankle sprain after the bye.

Right tackle Cornell Greene is a another liability. Tackle is supposed to be the least important line position in the ZBS, but both Harris at left and Green at right tackle cost the Raiders points.

On 4^th and 1 deep in the 2^nd quarter, the Raiders scored a TD on the ground with RB Michael Bush off the left side. Green’s tackle of a Charger defense man on the goal line cost Oakland the TD.

They settled for 3 instead.

As much as anything, Oaklands offense was too often its own worst enemy.

So far Russell has been asked not to win games, just not to lose them.

With help from his tackles, he failed.

Next time, the D.

                               
                                                                                                              QB Jamarcus Russell

For most teams the news their starting left tackle was back from injury is good news. Then again, the Oakland Raiders aren't most teams.

Granted, the tackle position is supposedly the least important line position in a zone blocking scheme, but with mental errors, whiffs and bone headed plays the Oakland Raiders tackles cost games.

Russell did make mistakes, to be sure, but they were mistakes that were capitalized on by the guys they were responsible for.

Once again, rookies cost Oakland in critical situations.

Tyvon Branch was the last victim and his collapse inside instead of protecting the outside cost Oakland more than 6 points, it was a Ladanian dagger to the heart and an unwarranted and deceptive100 yd rushing performance.

Oaklands D was dominant in the 1st half, but to say they collapsed isn't entirely true.

The loss came because of rookies impacting crucial plays, turn overs and catastrophic penalties.

Lane Kiffin's questionably conservative play calling can be blamed for some of the Raiders failures, but poor execution late in games by its O line must carry someof the blame as well.

Blatant holds along the Chargers line helped their cause on more than one occassion. The fact is, if they hadn't Oakland's front 4, especially its DT's would have destroyed them.

It was truly awesome.

The secondary performed much better this week as well with picks by back up #37 Chris Johnson and DeAngelo Hall who always looks dangerous with the ball in his hands.

Oaklands LB played the run and pass very well and it was only an improvisation by gates and Rivers that allowed the only real connection of value between them.

Unfortunately it was a TD.

Wilson is an awseome safety but did not have his best game in coverage.

Huff blew coverage on more than one play and isn't a liablility, but still remains almost invisible.

Hardly the 7th overall play maker the Raiders desired.

Javon walker showed up and looked good. For a handful of plays.

Its almost a tease.

You get the feeling if he was healthy, it would be a whole other ball game.

McFadden was a nopn factor and they did not line him up at QB. They did send Michael Bush into the flat on occasion though.

Bush padded his stats with several meaningless catches at the end of the game but was pretty unspectacular as well.

General concensus is Oakland is a very good football team on the verge of putting it together.

They need to learn how to close out games. Not just the players but the coaches.

Like Kiffin said, they need depth, but if their rookies progress they will have some homegrown depth next year. Several rookies show serious potential.

Another loss for Oakland in the 4th, but teams that had scoffed and laughed at the Raiders in the past are now shifting uncomfortably in their film room chairs.

More to come...

                                           DT Jamal Williams "Oakland thinks the bench would be fine."

The Chargers added a DT this week and it probably had to do with 6-4, 348 lb DT Jamal Williams who had arthrosporic surgery to both knees last fall and is prone to ankle sprains, finds himself hobbled by his chronic knees. He sat out Wednesdays practice but could still see limited game reps.

San Diego decided to bring a some insurance against Oaklands run game in the form of injury plagued DT Ian Scott. Once a 4th round pick by the Bears in 2003, Scott hasn’t seen the playing field since 2006, but singed with the Chargers Tuesday.

The Raiders have damage of their own at the tackle spot and with Gerard Warren likely out with a partially torn pectoral, DT / OT / TE Fred Wakefield may see more than his share of time.

That could prove to be a nightmare.

DE Derrick Burgess might play though he is suffering with a triceps injury and pass rushing DE Kalimba Edwards could see more time as DE / DT Jay Richardson helps fill the gap left by the oft injured Warren.

The Chargers have Brandon McKinney to lean on and an MRI this week on 6-3, 290 lb DE Luis Castillo came back negative.

Though the Chargers have given up huge yards this year on defense and are ranked 29^th overall, the Raiders have yet to mount a consistent offensive campaign. Some blame youth and inexperience, some blame play calling and coaching, both are probably right.

A bad combination of things have plagued the Raiders effort so far, but they showed against the Bills they have the ability to play some good football. Now they just need to get consistent at it.

Lost in the meltdown and over hyped media circus was the fact Oakland played some of its best football against the run. In fact, Oakland has been fairly stout against the run not allowing a single 100yd rusher this year.

Against the pass though, it has been a different story.

DeAngelo Hall has proven himself a serious liability to the Raiders so far, accumulating costly penalties and playing so far off even old fart announcers like Dan Fouts recognized it. (He did mistakenly think its was #27 Rashad Baker, instead of #23 Hall) if Hall can’t get his poop in a group by Sunday, the Raiders will get picked apart by Phillip Rivers who leads the League with a passer rating over 124 % .

He has distributed the ball very well and another Cutler esque nightmare could be on the way if Oakland doesn’t start the lock down right away.

The good news is TE Antonio Gates has been bothered by a lingering hip injury and may be slowed a fraction.

The bad news? Ladanian Tomlinson may be back. Though he sat out another practice this week, L.T. finally made some production last week scoring 2 TDs on the ground.

Every Raider fan knows what L.T. and the Chargers have done against Oaklands run D.

With out Warren they’ll have to prove they can stop the run. Then they’ll just have to fix their passing defense.

Speaking of passing...

                                         WR Ronald Curry "The Raiders hope he remembers how to catch soon."

Millionaire hermit Javon Walker has been a no show so far this year. Ronald Curry, who has shown up shouldn’t have bothered. He has been horrible. The Raiders WR woes that started with the loss of Drew Carter and have not been fixed by the late addition of WR Ashley Lelie must be fixed if Oakland is to have a chance of putting points on the board.

"Rookie" QB Jamarcus Russell hasn’t been asked to carry let alone contribute much to any games so far and against the Chargers D who tore apart Brett Favre and the Jets isn’t a likely place to start.

Russell’s mechanics have been shaky lately and he tends to stare down targets.

Combined with zero separation, lazy routes and piss poor hand placement by his wide outs, the Raiders passing game has not been a factor.

Oaklands running game may be their salvation and special teams looked good last week, but if Oakland hopes to beat San Diego it will need to not only stop their passing game, it will need to find one of its own.

                                                                                                        QB Trent Edwards

After FORCING myself to re watch the game, I noticed several things and realized I had not brought you the most accurate account of the game.

In the heat of battle, these things can happen.

Rather than simply re-write and pretend, I wanted to ask your forgiveness and amend my former story to tell the story as accurately as possible.

Thank you.

I can hear it now.

"Rob Ryan threw the game by playing prevent to get Lane fired!"

So our the days of our lives.

Not easy being a Raider fan.

Just when it looked like the Raiders might be back.

They were.

I can recall T-shirts from back I the day that read "Ban the Prevent Defense!"

Here, here.

After dominating the Bills for 3 quarters the Raiders inexplicably went to a four man front, dropping into coverage and *calling off the dogs.

*(Amended. On further review, the Raiders DID blitz several times in the 4th quarter with varying success. What really happend to Oakland in the 4th as part of that 17 play drive? The Raiders had TE / DE Fred Wakefield in serving as NOSE TACKLE in a 3-4 in some instances. Substitutions hurt Oakland late in the game.

Gassed or winded, starters took time off and it cost.)

There were several key plays including one on 3rd and 5 with :30 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. Trent Edwards dumped a short pass to Marshawn Lynch left side that was extremely well covered by MLB Kirk Morrison. Lynch juked Morrison out of his diaper and picked up the 1st down that set off the 96 yd TD drive.

Individual effort by Lynch cost the Raiders several times. Not that the Raiders were bad. They weren't. Lynch was just that good.

DT Tommy Kelly, who had a DUI in the down time between KC and Buffalo, played well in the 1^st half crushing the run and applying pressure.

His fellow DT’s Gerard Warren was disruptive again, until reigned in in the 4^th.* See amend

Terdell Sands was dominant against the run early and even showed signs of life late in the 3^rd with more dominant run D and a bull rush that looks truly awesome.

If they can stay healthy, they could evolve into a solid unit.

Blitzes that were extremely effective came from all directions early and often with Hall and Wilson getting to Edwards as the Bills double teamed Burgess.

The Raiders defense caused 3 forced fumbles and tallied 3 sacks as they held the Bills high powered offense in check.

What ever the decision to post 3 man fronts and drop waaaay back into coverage. *Amended: It would seem the Bills play calling and execution would not allow Oaklands D to get off the field after playing such inspired football for 3 quarters the starters were gassed and had to be substituted several times in the 4th. This may be the reason for some of the 4 man 3 man fronts we saw late in the game.

Its obvious your not going to be able to run plays as effectively with the 2nd - 3rd string guys in, so you adjust with "safer" coverages ie. 3 man rush, 4 man front and drop your few subbies into zone insteadd of man on man where they are more likely to get burned.

With 8:52 left in the 4th quarter the Bills threw on the Raider 10 yd line 2nd and 6 completing a pass to Josh Reed (who led the Bills with 6 catches for 72 yds) for a 1st down.  DeAngelo Hall was mis identified by commentator Dan Fouts, but it was Hall who played a full 3 yards deep into the end zone, giving the Bills an easy 1st down.

Hall played 7 yards off of receivers many, many times through out the game and back peddaled even more when the ball was snapped giving huge cushions to Bills wide outs. The result? Completions and 1st downs that kept drives alive.

The capper to the 17 play drive came on a 4 yard run that decimated the right side of Oaklands defense barreling them backwards into the end zone.

For what ever reason, the Raiders had DE Jay Richardson lined up at DT with safety Gibril Wilson on end and 2nd team LB Jon Alston guarding the Raiders right side.

Sands was lined up on Oaklands left, so the Bills ran to their left and decimated the 2nd DE and 3rd string LB.

Both Wilson and Richardson were held like babies.

Richardson was literally bear hugged and Wilson was had his jersey nearly torn off of him by #82 WR Josh Reed.

All the refs saw was Wilson retaliating.

*So, it was NOT lack of blitzes as I commented earlier, it was as always a comedy of errors that conspired and transpired. With Oakland unable to get Edwards off the field, the Bills took advantage of Raider substitutions.

Better play calling, execution and performance. Plain and simply, the Raiders weren't bad, the Bills were just better when they had to be.

A very good game by Oakland negated by a Bills team that put it together when they had to.

If the Raiders learn ANYTHING from their brutal loss, the will indeed "Ban The Prevent Defense!"*

* Editors note: "Apologies again. Rather than simply try to pass off my mistake by re-editing, I'll seek to amend the original.

Thank you for your understanding."

Notes:

Ashley Lelie got the start but it was Javon Walker who set the pace with 2 nice catches for 18 yds.

Then, he was never heard from again.

Someone should have told him the game lasts 3 more quarters. He’s been away a lot. He may have forgotten.

Russell went 9 for 19 for 156 yds, but 84 of that came on one play to JLH, a really precise laser to Higgins across the middle that diving LB Paul Posluzsny was a fraction away from batting down.

Higgins was off to the races and taunted the Bills pursuit by coasting from the 30 yd line. This angered the Bill DB and he tackled Higgins 5yds into the end zone.

Penalties off set, but it showed a lack of maturity and brains on Higgins part.

The Raiders saw some success in the 1^st half with their offense, but the play calling was ridiculously predictable.

Either this young Raider team is incapable of running but a few plays or they wanted them to be comfortable, because there were at least 4 plays in the opening drives that were carbon copies of plays we and of course the Bills defense has seen already this season.

The plays were of course, not very successful.

Even so, the Raiders seemed to have finally shaken the curse of bad luck, penalties and as fans would put it, bias by officials as they won important challenges and had plays that normally wouldn’t, go their way.

The Raider ineptness in the red zone early on saw J.Kow account for all of Oaklands points in the first half and truthfully, that can be attributed as much to the play calling as anything else.

Conservative.

This is likely due to the lack of a receiver, the Raiders youth (for all intents Russell is a "rookie" with this as his 4^th start, DMC and Michael Bush are rookies as well and fill in left tackle Mario Henderson is a 2^nd year man who until being plugged in, struggled mightily.

He enjoyed an excellent game blasting open holes and serving adequately in protection.

Of course Oakland played away from him with play calling, draws and roll outs to the other side, but all in all, the Raiders may be onto something with the former Seminole who has drawn the ire of many irate Raider fans over his brief and until now, silent career.

With 12:13 in the second quarter a scrambling Russell was caught by DE Chris Kelsay rolling left side, was hit and fumbled the ball which was recovered by LB Paul Posluszyny.

3 plays later, the Bills were in the end zone and the momentum had shifted from what had been a very close and well played game to one of survival.

The Bills launched another time consuming drive but DE Kalimba Edwards applied serious pressure and forced a Trent Edwards fumble that was recovered by the hustling DT Terdell Sands and gained Oakland 3 points from a J.Kow Field goal.

  J. Kow did his part

The Raiders inability to capitalize on field position and in the red zone would cost them.

The Raiders DT played well today, with Kelly stepping up applying pressure and stopping the run. Gerard Warren made noise with pressure in the backfield for the second week in a row and Sands, bull rush is impressive.

With 2:51 remaining in the 2^nd quarter excellent right guard Cooper Carlisle went down with an ankle sprain. A slashing Darren McFadden had his feet slip out from under him and he landed flat on his back with all of his weight on high on Cooper’s left ankle.

Carlisle did return to finish the game.

He had a very fine game against a much bigger and stronger Marcus Stroud who is a pro bowl caliber DT.

McFadden had trouble keeping his feet all day and was unable to cut. Perhaps the steel plate placed in his shoe to help with his turf toe injury played a part, but Raider play calling changed to more straight ahead runs when he touched the ball from that point on.

He finished with 14 carries for 42 yds and 3 catches for 7.

2^nd year "rookie" Michael Bush touched the ball 14 times as well as the Raiders went conservative on offense to help their conservative D lose the game.*Amended

The Bills looked to be driving on the Raiders as the clock wound down and in fact were in field goal range to take the lead 10-9 and gain serious momentum heading into the half.

After completing another short pass to Lee Evans to convert a 4^th and 2, CB Nnamdi Asomugha made a heads up play stripping Evans of the ball, negating the 7 yd play and with Gibril Wilson recovering, effectively killing the Bills scoring drive.

The Bills showed signs of things to come and came out passing connecting for 34 yds to Lee Evans on the 1^st play of the half.

The play helped set up a 43 yd field goal attempt by K Rian Lindell that was no good "wide right".

After a pathetic 3 rushes up the middle by Bush, the Raiders punted. After a holding penalty on Buffalo, the Bills found themselves on their own goal line.

DeAngelo Hall made a diving twisting interception on the Buffalo 13, stripping the ball away from Lee Evans. The Bills lost a challenged that claimed Evans was down by contact, but were over ruled.

A one yard TD sneak by Russell put the Raiders up 16-7 with 8:31 to go in the 3^rd quarter.

    Pro Bowl caliber Shane Lechler

After forcing the Bills to punt Oakland returned the favor pinning them on their own 4 yd line after another excellent punt by pro bowl weapon Shane Lechler.

The Bills answered by mounting a 17 play 96 yd drive that started in the 3^rd quarter and saw the Raiders immediately stop applying pressure as the 4^th quarter started.*Amended, several blitzes were run.

The end result was a 3 yd TD by RB Marshawn Lynch who along with the Bills line steam rolled the exhausted *and depleted Raider D.

This was the play that sent Gibril Wilson to the showers for a wicked palm strike to WR Josh Reed's right eye socket. Reed's face mask helped deflect it, but his aggregious holding infuriated the usually cool Wilson.

Oakland answered with the 84 yd TD to Higgins, but the Bills came back behind critical completions from Edwards to Lee Evans against DeAngelo Hall that led to a Rosco Parrish 14 yd TD catch.

Pressure from Terdell Sands came a fraction too late, but Edwards was visibly shaken by the full weight of mammoth 335 lb. Sands pan caking him on the TD throw.

CBStanford Routt was late on coverage.

The Raiders had a chance to eat up the clock and secure the win, but called two predictable and ultra conservative inside run plays to Bush, who made little head way.

On 3^rd and 9, the Raiders threw the typical pass. Good coverage by the Bills forced Russell out of the pocket. He tried to improvise with Ronald "Hands of stone" Curry who headed up the sidelines, but triple coverage by the Bills saw Russell throw it away.

With out pressure Edwards quickly completed passes to Reed and Parrish for a 11 and 16 yds.

With the Raiders playing off and zone,*amended, As stated before the Raiders did indeed blitz. Substitutions at critical junctures hurt. the Bills went ground to Marshawn Lynch 20 yds on 3 carries that came after the 2 minute warning.

With the Bills in field goal range they wound the clock down to 3 seconds, called time out and had Rian Lindell kick the 38 yd field goal for the win.

The Raiders seemed too controlled and held back.

Theirs a lot of talent on that field, but they may still be experiencing growing pains. At some point though, every parent needs to let their boys run.

Thats not what happened to day.

Oakland made mistakes, but their defense in the first half was inspired and for once their special teams played very well, but with conservative play calling especially late game and on defense,* the Raiders let this one slip away with a last second 38 yd field goal that may or may not have cost lane Kiffin his job.

This is a very young Raiders team and frankly, it looked like they were out coached in some spots. Kiffin decided NOT to stop the clock even though he had 2 time outs left. he didn't even use one to ice the kicker, letting the Bills dictate the last seconds of the game.

Theoretically he could've called time out and given Oakland at least a shot at a hail mary with 10-12 seconds left, but instead Oakland was booted out of a win by Lindell and solid coaching and play calling of the Bills.

The Raiders played inspired football today for the 1st time in a while Buffalo played well when it needed to and is lucky to walk away with the win.

                                                                TE Ben Troupe

On Friday the Oakland Raiders signed TE Ben Troupe.

The 6-4, 260 lb Troupe played with the Titans from 2004-07, but left on poor terms after Troupe was critical of his former employer.

Troupe caught 88 passes for 859 yds in 04-05' but saw his production dip to 18 grabs for 197 yds the following 2 seasons.

Troupe blamed what he called the QB carousel the Titan were enduring at the time. Billy Volek, Kerry Collins and Vince Young all saw time during that period.

Troupe was also critical of then O coordinator Norm Chow.

He was hoping for a fresh start with Tampa Bay, but saw action in only a few games he did not contribute in.

On September 17^th the Bucs cut him to make room for former Seahawk TE Jeramy Stevens who sat out a two game suspension for a prior DUI conviction.

Some feel Troupe can be a valuable contributor like he was in his early career, but those who feel he’ll be able to come in and free up fellow TE Zach Miller from blocking chores may be disappointed.

Troupe is known as a receiving TE first and foremost and its there the Raiders hope he can contribute.

Some speculate the Raiders lack of contributions by its receiving corps may be part of the reason for the interest in Troupe.

It remains to be seen if the 5^th yr vet has anything to bring to the table.

posted 09-19-08 12:19 am PST

photo Doug Benc / Getty Images

                                                                                New Bills LB Kawika Mitchell

The Buffalo Bills may be two and O to start the season but have faced off against teams crippled with key injuries.

In week one against Seattle, the Bills won against a Seahawk team missing 4 of its starting receivers (Deion Branch, Bobby Engram, Ben Obomanu and Nate Burleson) and one of its starting running backs (Maurice Morris left with a knee injury.)

The next week it faced a Jags team that lost the entire core of its offensive line.

Center Brad Meester and right guard Maurice Williams had biceps injuries and left guard Vincent Manuwai tore 2 ligamnets in his right knee in the second half of the Bills match up.

Buffalo's D had a field day sacking QB David Garard 7 times, snagging 2 picks and forcing a fumble, but remeber, against Jacksonville's depleted O line.

Oakland isn't exactly full strength either, RBs Justin Fargas is out with a groin injury, rookie Darren McFadden with a turf toe and WR Javon Walker is still nursing a hammy, but compared to the offenses the Bills have faced so far this year, the Raiders may present more of a challenge than some realize, but they will have to be wary of Buffalos fine special teams play.

         photo Jamie Squire Getty Images                                                     DMC lights up KC

After an inefectual 1st half and a battle of two bad offenses featuring 3 different QB for KC, Oakland turned on the juice behind rookie RB Darren McFadden and gained well over 200 yds on the ground in the 2nd half.

All this with out Justin Fargas.

Fargas suffered an apparent groin injury running a deep sideline route in the 1st half.

Oakland tried to give the game away in the 4th quarter with some bad plays, turn overs and penalties, but with KC's back up, back up QB Tyler Thigpen in and 12 yr vet Damon Huard knocked out of the game, Thigpen threw a pick to Kirk Morrison.

Oakland was able to grant RB Michael Bush redemption (16 for 90 yds and a TD) after a fumble late in the game as he effectively ran, gained critical yards and not only wore out the clock, but managed a nice TD run to cap the game.

Russell's stats were not great (6-17, 55 yds) by any measure but he did show better decision making and alot of it can be lain at the feet of his receivers.

Curry's frying pan hands are a cause for major concern.

Lelie wasn't much of a factor, Walker made a nice block once, but was never a threat to make a catch.

Miller contributed with key blocks but had only one nice catch late to extend a drive.

Thankfully, Oaklands ground game carried the day.

KC's rookie DT Glen Dorsey has struggled openly with the speed of the Pro game and was ineffectual. Tank Tyler was injured in the 3rd quarter and the Raiders took full advantage.

Mcfadden broke of several long runs and finished with 164 yds on 21 carries and his first NFL touchdown.

To many peoples dismay, he was run down on a break away run that he would'eve finished in college. Chased down by KC safety Bernard Pollard, he was not only caught he was stripped of the football.

His second fumble of the day.

The good news is he was tired from carrying the ball 3 times before including a 21 yarder and the first fumble was a fluke. As he was falling to the ground, the ball clipped the heel of FB Justin Griffith and squirted out.

The second one, punched out by the pursuing Pollard, flew out of bounds.

Redemption came for Oaklands defense, but with injuries and inept play by inexperienced players, KC made the task almost inevitable.

Hall made a few nice breaks on the ball and his coverage was better, but in the 4th quarter Dwayne Bowe made some very nice grabs against him.

The secondary played much more aggresively, taking chances and jumping routes, but again, against esentially a 3rd string QB, they should look good.

Rookie safety Tyvon Branch was Johnnie on the spot, snagging a deflection for his first caeer interception that led to a 25 yd field goal by Janikowski.

J. Kow started the Raiders scoring with a team record and career best 56 yarder and finished 3 for 3 and accounting for 11 of Oaklands points.

Oaklands defenders came away with 5 sacks on the day against a shaky Chief line, including one each by blitzing LB's Morrison and Howard.

Oakland looked more cohesive as a unit against a thrashed KC team, but fumbled, drew flags and had an uneven performance on offense, but did alot to silence critics,even if it was with a fair performance against a shell of a team.

Among the good news for Raider fans, fill in left tackle Mario Henderson's start was uneventful and he looked confident as he cleared holes for Raider runners.

Whether he can pass block effectively remains to be seen since Oaklands ground game carried the day, but it was a load off fans and minds to see the shaky 2nd year man play well on the crucial blind side.

It counts as a "W" and Oakland has a foundation to build on.

                                 Rookie WR Eddie Royal "Royal pain in the ass"         

Lane Kiffin is an honest man.

Oaklands lack of performance against division rival Denver demonstrated what he’s alluded to all along.

This is no team and the Raiders are not very good.

After "impressi" at practice this week end, Javon Walker was an inexplicable last minute no show.

More about him and Al Davis later.

Ashley Lelie made a decent showing snagging passes and scoring a jump ball TD, but fellow receiver Ronald Curry set the tone for the night whiffing on two well placed long balls from Russell.

On one deep slant over the middle Curry inexplicably broke his stride and awkwardly lept at a pass that deflected off his hands.

The other deep ball that might’ve changed the complection of the game early hit him in the hands and was dropped. Curry demonstrated terrible hand positioning when trying to make the catch.

Rookie Chaz Schillens made two nice catches for 29 yds.

TE Zach Miller, usually a favorite target of Russell’s was non existent as a receiver in the first half and ended the night with 4 token grabs for 34 yds.

FB Justin Griffith led the team in receiving yardage with 39 measly yards. 24 of it on one play late in the 4^th when the game was out of reach.

McFadden had 1 catch for 11 and Fargas snagged 2 for 12.

Russell made mistakes, like eating a sack he shouldn’t have and letting the ball slip out of his hand on a simple screen pass in the red zone for a drive killing fumble.

Pressure after a putrid chip attempt on a blitzing Bronco by left tackle Kwame Harris, who pulled second level too soon, allowed the muff.

Harris even managed to blow that block too.

Harris suffered a leg injury when a rushing Bronco slid into him awkwardly.

2^nd year back up tackle Mario Henderson immediately drew a crushing and stupid roughing penalty after a scrambling Russell fumbled the ball.

At least Henderson has an excuse.

Oakland drew 9 flags for 97 yds in the first half alone.

Missed assignments by the usually reliable G Cooper Carlisle and the never reliable and always awful right tackle Cornell Green  Harris’ flags and spotty play rounded out a sad outing by the Raiders O line.

Oakland looked ok early on the ground but the aforementioned fumble by Russell, misses by Curry, penalties and sacks crushed any momentum Oakland might’ve gained in the first half.

Curry's key drops killed

The Broncos torched the Raiders secondary with Michael Huff a non factor. Fellow safety Girbril Wilson helped a few times against the run, but could not cover up for DeAngelo Hall’s terrible coverage of Eddie Royal.

Rookie VT wide out Royal owned the former hall of fame corner back who Al Davis brought over from at Atlanta at a pretty penny and a 2^nd round pick.

Hall accounted for back to back personal fouls that were ticky tac flags that could’ve gone either way, but still showed error in judgement on Hall’s part.

His play and Walker's absence gave fuel to critics who think Davis made some lousy signings this off season.

Its early, but if tonights an indicator...

The penalties extended a drive that put points on the board and seemed to break Oaklands spirit, while bolstering Denvers.

The Raiders defense looked slow and confused as QB Jay Cutler deftly tore them apart, distributing the ball evenly and giving lots of attention to Royal who finished with 9 catches for 149 yds and a TD to lead all NFL receivers this week.

I had predicted earlier that he might have a "Plaxico Burress type opening night." (Burress caught 10 for 133 yds, but no TD)

This is horrible news for a defense supposedly predicated on superior coverage.

The Broncos didn’t even have their number one, Brandon Marshall.

WR Brandon Marshall "Shudder to think if he played" 

Part of the blame can be lain at the Hobbit like feet of defensive coordinator Rob Ryan who’s "vanilla defense" sans blitzes, got torched and applied virtually no pressure from their front four.

Former All Pro DE Derrick Burgess left the game late with an undisclosed injury that might involve his chest.

Replacement scrub Trevor Scott was just as ineffectual.

Jay Richardson on the other end offered a lone bright spot with improved run defense. Unfortunately, that only forced the Broncos to throw and once they did successfully, they kept throwing. Cutler was 16-24 for 299 yds and 2 TDs.

Oaklands fat and out of shape DT’s did absolutely nothing to generate a rush and only stopped the run on occasion due to the lack of depth in Denver’s "running back by committee" approach.

Anthony Alridge is out for the year with a foot and rookie RB Ryan Torain broke and elbow in training camp.

They didn’t need them.

Young looked good later in the game, but it was clear mid way through the 3^rd the Raiders defense had given up.

Howard was a non factor and Morrison was burned on a deep pass to TE Tony Schefler that helped break Oaklands back.

They did look better against the run, but again, that was in part because they were so bad against the pass and Denver didn’t need to until late to eat up the clock and finish the game.

Oaklands D looked listless, confused and reactionary as Denver’s play calling befuddled them and the increasingly unlikeable Ryan.

With some very talented players and a game plan by the Broncos catered to his units strengths, his defense was lack luster and embarrassingly awful.

One wonders if he isn’t merely an obedient minion catering to ancient Al Davis’ dated and flawed philosophy or is simply incompetent at getting his players to understand or perform.

Probably a little from column A, a little from column B.

 Hair or no, his defense sucked

With massive penalties, sloppy play, stupid mistakes, by Coaches and players, poor performance and key injuries piling up, the hapless Oakland Raiders could be just the thing and awful and banged up Chiefs team need to boost their confidence this Sunday.

This mess had Raider fans praying for the end.

Russell ended the night with a token touchdown drive and his passing was one of the few offensive bright spots.

He threw 189 yds on 17 completions and 2 TDs with no picks, but as expected, made some "rookie" mistakes.

With WR Drew Carter and FB Oren O’Neal gone for the year with knee injuries, Javon Walker’s mystery hamstring (personally I think it’s a mental issue.) McFadden’s game ending injury and the possible loss of pass rusher Derrick Burgess, the lack of depth Kiffin whined about recently seems to have come home to roost sooner than even he imagined.

The Raiders could come back and put something together because the seasons young, but this Monday night opener could not have been more unsettling. disturbing and disappointing.

They better learn to talk to each other because whether they realize it or not, football IS a team sport.

Final score: 41-14.

And it wasn't even that close.

                                                                                                                    RB Justin Fargas

Denver travels to Oakland for a sell out Monday night opener that will be shown on ESPN. ( No, not "The OCHO!" )

Some quick notes on what might transpire...

Both teams had cellar dwelling run defenses and though Denver did acquire some new faces on the D line like Dwayne Robertson from the Jets, they’re still working through a new defensive scheme and trying different LB configurations.

Oaklands running game could be very effective.

Then again, so could Denvers.

Despite the devastating losses suffered at the position (recently Anthony Alridge was written off as a loss for the season with a foot injury.) Denver seems to find a way to gain yards on the ground.

One of the ways they do it is with the ZBS which the Raiders adopted last year.

Another way is by cheating.

Look for possible injuries as Denver’s O line struggles to make up for the fact they have zero starts together as a unit. All of last years starters are out or gone and they've been using some dirty tactics this off season.

Help comes for their O line from rookie T Ryan Clady, but twice this off season he has injured players with dirty, "blocks", diving at the defenders knees and ankles when they’re not looking or in pursuit.

He's not the only one.

Also look for Oakland’s DE's to try and take advantage of the rook despite the fact he has good feet, a nice kick slide in pass coverage and decent size. All Pro DE Derrick Burgess is often a slow starter, but could teach the newbie a thing or two.

Kalimba Edwards, a DE who joined Oakland from Detroit was hoped to off set the loss of Chris Clemmons who had 8 sacks last season and now resides with Philly, but Edwards is questionable with an injury.

With Mr. "One more time and I’m out of the League!" Brandon Marshall riding the pine for only this game, the Broncos are left, just like Oakland, wanting at the wide out spot.

Rookie WR Eddie Royal is the real deal.

Though small he plays a lot bigger, but up against Asomugha’s excellent cover skills and Hall’s ability to make plays, Oaklands DB's should have an advantage especially w/ Marshall in slacks.

After Royal, its below average wide outs Brandon Stokely, Keary Colbert, and Darrell Jackson.

Jay Cutler is an outstanding QB though and can make plays with a cannon arm and heads up play. If and when Oakland fails to get a pass rush, he will likely be successful. Whether the receivers hold on to the ball is another matter.

Targets of Cutler’s passes will likely include Denver’s TE’s and though Tony Schefler has struggled with a foot injury, he can make big plays catching the ball. Oakland has been tough against some of the best receiving ends in the League and have excellent coverage, but the Broncos TE's could make some noise.

Though Oakland will likely go ground against the Broncs terrible run D, Oakland could surprise by throwing it around, especially to TE Zach Miller who as part of the "J to Z" (Jamarcus to Zach) connection could be a major factor this season.

Check downs and screens to Oaklands stable of RB’s and FB’s are a major component of Kiffin’s offensive scheme and even with Oren O'Neal out, new FB Luke Lawton showed in his one game agaisnt Seattle he can at least catch.

Darren McFadden won’t likely be unleashed all at once according to Kiffin who make a good point when he stated McFadden needed to carry the ball in a real game with out fumbling first before rigging up gadget plays and movement.

They could throw in a few wrinkles though like lining him up in the slot.

Look for the other backs to see the lions share with McFadden hopefully providing special fireworks.

Oaklands wide out position is worse than Denvers. At least they’ll get a 100 catch plus receiver back after this game.

Rumor has it Javon Walker has a hammy (though he was at practice today) and is "questionable" for Monday nights match up. Extremely new wide receiver Ashley Lelie joined the Raiders days ago, but as a veteran who played in Denver and Atlanta, is familiar with the system and O coordinator Greg Knapp.

Both Lelie and Walker played for Denver and both left disgruntled.

Whether either one can exact a modicum of revenge remains to be seen, but Lelie’s sudden arrival, emphasis on the run and Walker’s questionable health make this less of a focus.

Play calling, an effective ground game and the according play action pass are expected to help Oaklands questionable protection, but 2^nd year man DE Jarvis Moss could have a big night against the Raiders RT Cornell Greene who is an awful lineman.

The Broncos could send lots of blitzes from other positions and Oakland struggles against "enemy at the gates" scenarios.

Some one from their D could have a big night if things don’t go well for Oaklands ground game.

Special teams will be a major concern for the Raiders, but LB / ST star Isaiah Ekejuiba has played well this pre season and Tyvon Branch is better than most even with only one hand.

Eddie Royal’s return skills can be negated or limited with J. Kow and Lechler’s big legs, but Oaklands ST’s have been bad the past few years.

With the aforementioned Tyvon Branch’s broken hand in a cast, WR Johnnie Lee Higgin’s will have the Raider faithful holding its breath when he steps in to return.

His M.O. has been 1 step forward, 3 steps back.

Denver’s team is in decline and trying to rebuild. They have a very good QB and usually throw in some tricks to stymie Oakland, but if the Raiders D can make some plays and its offense can generate points they could walk away the victors.