Despite Al Davis, There Is Hope (Week 3 Report)

Moderator: HMFFL

User avatar
FNQ
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 62,963
And1: 20,008
Joined: Jul 16, 2006
Location: EOL 6/23
   

Despite Al Davis, There Is Hope (Week 3 Report) 

Post#1 » by FNQ » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:33 am

I'll miss the WWWF headline, I do enjoy talking about a win more :D I'll try and do this every week to see if we can map the progress/regression of the team throughout the entire year.

So we beat the Chiefs... we're in elite company. Only one other team in the NFL has beaten the Chiefs this season. True story. But the big story - our rookie came to play, his backup didn't miss a beat, and we now have an ex-starting RB in Fargas who's on a cap friendly deal. Consider this the acid test of whether or not the Raiders front office is run by smart football guys or a 90 yr old skeleton fueled by Metamucil... off we go..

QB: Its officially time to worry about JaMarcus Russell. The KC defense did not apply much pressure, yet Russell still posted a dismal 6-17. Obviously, his WR corps needs to get better, but there was a lot more to it than that. He still is very inaccurate, he doesn't set himself in the pocket, and he's not good at reading defenses. For right now, he's simply another cannon armed QB, in the Leftwich/Ramsey/Culpepper mold. For him to be successful, he really needs to be paired with an elite WR with speed and jumping ability. If only we had the #7 pick, we could trade for one..

RB: It was everything we could have hoped for. McFadden made it look easy out there once Fargas went down. And Bush made it look even better. Consider this - Bush was a lock for the 1st round before his injury, much like Gore in SF. McFadden and Bush, IMO, are 2 1st round picks when healthy. We saw a glimpse of the Raiders' future on Sunday, and it was these two guys. I expect Fargas to be traded, as its the no-brainer move. What would teams like HOU, SEA, or CIN would give up to get him?

FB: Griffith had another excellent game, and although I rarely focus on him, he doesnt make many mistakes, and thats all you can ask from a FB.

WR: Our most obvious position of need. The formerly sure-handed Ronald Curry has dropped numerous passes, and players like Lelie and Higgins can't run routes, period. Javon Walker provided nothing. I know Drew Carter was supposed to be our deep threat, but losing him didn't cause this. Not inking a guy like Bernard Berrian? A speedy guy who could spread the field and connect for long gains with Russell is exactly what we need. We should be harassing the Cardinals on the hour about Anquan Boldin's status.

TE: Miller had a couple catches, no big deal. But what he did on the blocking end was outstanding this past week. He was excellent at getting downfield and setting big blocks on safeties and OLBs.. I take back what I said before. This kid is a keeper and I think will evolve into a Scheffler-like player, if Russell improves his accuracy.

OL: Henderson played well enough in his 1st starting game, and I think his play is compeltely overshadowed by McFadden's breakout and the Kiffin/Davis feud. Gallery has proved that he belonged in the draft (not the #2 pick, but now I believe he's proven he should have been drafted) the past couple seasons, as he was strong with some blocks too.

DL: Played much better as a whole unit. Richardson again was exceptional, Warren often times commanded double teams. Kelly was solid, yet unspectacular, and I still wonder why we paid him what we did. Burgess got a sack along with Warren and Kalimba Edwards, but overall, they need to put more pressure on the QB w/o blitzing. Burgess might be at the point in his career where he's only in for a limited amount of snaps in passing downs only, as he was handled pretty well by 2 defenses in a row.

LB: Morrison and Thomas both had a sack, Kirk had an INT, and that new bum (Brown) was invisible as usual. They did a great job of stifling Larry Johnson and reacted very well to the Hagans at QB tricks the Chiefs tried.

CB: Hall definitely stepped up his game here, but definitely is not worth the investment still. A few times, Bowe was wide open and the Chiefs 3rd string QB wasn't aware. AwesomeWah was just as impressive as he always is. I have no idea how we didn't pay him... he is a shutdown corner and might be in the elite echelon of the NFL, along with Champ Bailey and Nate Clements (and the new ones, like Finnegan, A.Samuel, T. McGee, etc).

Special Teams: Props to Jano for booting a 56 yarder. He always looks good in games we are easily winning... Lechler continues to be the strongest boot in the NFL, possibly in NFL history.

Coach: Lane just wanted us to run the ball down their throats and thats what we did. I'd love to say it was an excellent game plan, but I mean - it worked, right? I can see why this win wouldnt save his job, but he sure didn't lose it either. He did the right thing - stuck to his main gun, McFadden - and it got us 23 points.

Defensive Coordinator: This is where the credit belongs. Stop the run and force them to beat us on the pass. We double teamed Gonzalez a lot, and let Bowe and Herm pick whether or not he wanted to line up against AwesomeWah or Hall... he chose Hall most of the time. Go figure? Oh well... props to Rob Ryan, the coaching MVP of the day :bowdown: Letsee if he remembers to blitz next week.

Al Davis: Firing Kiffin would be the worst thing for this team. You have impressionable rookies and a franchise to think about. Let Kiffin do what he does - remember, this is your fault old man. You were to cheap to can him before the season, so you damn sure better let him ride it out and give him his shot at doing things his way. If Ronald Curry could catch to save his life, or we weren't signing injury cases, degenerate WRs, or loudmouth/little work CBs, Kiffin might have enough to actually turn this franchise that you've massacred, around.


Moving on to Buffalo... they have stifled RBs, though none of our caliber yet. MJD + Taylor were working with a patchwork O-Line, and the Seahawks, well, they suck. So how good is their run D? We don't know. What we do know is that Trent Edwards is an accurate, weak armed QB who likes the middle of the field and needs good route runners to do well. Lynch is stoppable - I think our defense can handle him. Can our DBs handle Edwards/Lee Evans? Can out DL provide enough of a pass rush to help our DBs at all?

We're playing in Buffalo. Here's hoping it's a rainy day where we can run all over them :D

Also on a side note... Marshawn Lynch, Cal alum (sorry bud, have to say it), looks like a ghetto version of the Geico caveman.

Here's hoping for 2 - 1 :beer:
User avatar
Bay_Areas_Finest
Lead Assistant
Posts: 5,505
And1: 1
Joined: Apr 10, 2006
Location: Bay Area, California

Re: Despite Al Davis, There Is Hope (Week 3 Report) 

Post#2 » by Bay_Areas_Finest » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:56 pm

Just imagine if we had drafted Cutler two seasons ago and then Calvin Johnson last year. Oh man, what could have been. :(

Good write-up once again. I agree with just about all of it.

I have no idea why we signed Javon Walker. I liked him when he was healthy, but he's been plagued for a couple seasons now, and to pay the guy max. Man, that was just beyond desperate. I agree Boldin would be friggin great for us right now, but I can't see Arizona taking what we have, especially with them playing well right now.

I thought Henderson was pretty damn good in his first NFL start. He run blocked well (as did the rest of the line) and he did solid on passing downs.

I'll cut Hall some slack because those two catches by Bowe (30 and 15 yarder) were pretty lucky by Bowe, but yeah, he's still the glaring weakness of the corners, but thats not surprising.

Russell is just...gah. His timing is horrible right now. He's got happy feet and he needs to cut that out. He has the tools, but hell, so have most QBs. Buffalo will definitely be a test and he cant be throwing out 33% completion percentages again or I'll REALLY start to worry.
User avatar
FNQ
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 62,963
And1: 20,008
Joined: Jul 16, 2006
Location: EOL 6/23
   

Re: Despite Al Davis, There Is Hope (Week 3 Report) 

Post#3 » by FNQ » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:42 pm

Yeah, I remember one of Bowes catches, when he was laying on the ground... Hall did a good job on that one.

BTW - I think a 2nd rounder for Boldin would fit, certainly a lot better than D. Hall. We absolutely need a big time recieving threat if we're dumping the #1 pick on a QB. The Bengals had Chad, the Texans got Andre, the Giants got Burress... if you don't surround your QB with a good set of recievers, you wind up with Hasslebeck like #s (and FWIW, I think Matt Hasslebeck would be an elite QB on a team with any kind of WR).
User avatar
Bay_Areas_Finest
Lead Assistant
Posts: 5,505
And1: 1
Joined: Apr 10, 2006
Location: Bay Area, California

Re: Despite Al Davis, There Is Hope (Week 3 Report) 

Post#4 » by Bay_Areas_Finest » Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:38 pm

A 2nd rounder for Boldin? Wouldn't Arizona be asking for a lot more than that? I was thinking Michael Bush would have to be involved in a deal like that.
User avatar
FNQ
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 62,963
And1: 20,008
Joined: Jul 16, 2006
Location: EOL 6/23
   

Re: Despite Al Davis, There Is Hope (Week 3 Report) 

Post#5 » by FNQ » Thu Sep 18, 2008 5:00 pm

Demanding a trade has a way of lowering a player's value... remember a peak Randy Moss cost us a #7, and a peak DeAngelo Hall cost us a #2...

For all of Boldin's good qualities, the dude is 28 y/o and wants to get paid like an elite reciever and be a #1 somewhere. He's got a laundry list of demands, so yeah, I think a 2nd rounder is about what he should net. There could be a desperate team out there somewhere, but considering how well Boldin's thrived as option 1-B and not 1-A, teams won't be willing to part with their #1, unless its real, real late.

But knowing Al Davis, if he wants Boldin, he'll get his mind set to it and trade anything and everything to get him. So multiple 1sts is not out of the question.

Return to Las Vegas Raiders