Perespective, Job Status, and other ramblings (week 3)

[FNQ]

Gonna start writing these Sundays, so the game is fresh in my mind...

A 24-23 nailbiter against the 3-0 Bills, in Buffalo... a lot of positives to take from this game, but its essential to remember that the Bills have beaten the depleted Seahawks and Jaguars thus far. Regardless, its a big step forward and hopefully a game to grow on.

I watched the game with 3 friends, and I often wondered aloud how it was Kiffin who's job was in jeopardy and Ryan was the golden boy. First off, Icness had this to say about Ryan's demeanor:

viewtopic.php?f=139&t=838321

Ryan has been playing up his own credentials, undermining Kiffin, and trying to get back to the halcyon days of Hendricks and Tatum with the implicit reason to get the HC job. That's been going on since the day Lane Kiffin was hired; that's why Kiffin asked to have Ryan fired this offseason.

Then I think, yes our offense is raw, but we're drafting players there, not signing FAs. We didn't pour 130M into 3 players on offense (Hall, Kelly, Gibril Wilson). And for the first time in a while, I don't believe its the talent's fault. In the 4th Q, after a game of successful blitzing and forcing Edwards to make quick decisions, we back off and fall into a zone. We essentially turned around, pulled down our pants, bent over, and backed into the Bills. They moved the ball so easily on the last two drives, it was sad. Initially I wanted to blame Hall, but he was getting isolated every single play, and the defense never made any effort to help. And I can't believe Ryan hasn't realized how lousy Hall is in single man coverage.

Rob Ryan cost us that game, and despite his tough look, he's a pansy. A scared wanna-be biker who doesn't have the cajones to take any risks, and look where it got us.

We should be 2-1 right now and the focus of Bay Area sports. Instead I have to hear about how JT O Sullivan is so damn great because he tore up a team my nephew's pee-wee team could manhandle. Yet, its still the best I've felt as a Raider fan since 2002. Moving on to the actual game...

QB: Shame on all of you who were ready to give up on Russell! The kid showed some great touch today, got rid of the ball quickly except for one fumble, and was just slightly off on a lot of passes, but put them in a place where only his receivers could get them. He was smart with the ball and that strike to Higgins was pinpoint. He's still a got a ways to go - a competent WR wouldn't hurt - but this a lot better than his showing in KC.

RB: McFadden obviously had issues with the steel plate in his shoe, as he continually slipped off his right foot during the game. Besides that, he attacked holes, fought for yardage, and even was a solid pass blocker. Bush was exactly the same... All we need from Fargas is to prove he's healthy for one week, and get some value for him.. Bush/McFadden should handle the load from here on in.

WR: Outside of JLH, the WR corps was brutal again. Walker started off nice, but after the 1st drive fell off the map. Lelie shows minimal effort, and Curry was held catchless. The Raiders need some help here in a big way.

TE: Zach Miller did extremely well in blocking sets today, but was ignored in the passing game, his strength. I don't even recall Russell looking his way today. Madsen was waived earlier in the week, and former 1st round pick Ben Troupe was signed. Not a bad guy to look at, IMO.

O-Line: Another very solid game against a good defense. 97 yards on 28 carries, only one sack, and they also broke some holes that McFadden couldnt run through for the afformentioned reason. Mario Henderson is looking worlds better than what Kiffin said in week 1, and it seems to me that Kwame Harris will either move to RT, or to 2nd string. Cooper Carlisle went down with a leg injury but continued in the game.

D-Line: A pretty impressive day for the D-Line, barring the 4th Q. Kelly, Burgess, Kalimba, Wakefield, Richardson all got in the backfield a couple times. I completely underestimated Marshawn Lynch, who shouldn't be allowed to travel without a Hannibal-like restraint on. That kid is a monster, and the Raiders did well to hold him under 100 yards.

Linebackers: As I watched Ricky Brown blow another tackle, I wonder how bad Ed Hartwell played in practice, or how injured Robert Thomas really is. Because man, this guy brings nothing to the table. If it weren't for the "assist" statistic, this guy would be a complete zero. Morrison and Howard played OK, not great, but did very well in Q1-Q3. They were expected to do way too much in the 4th in that horrible zone.

CBs: Hall started earning his paycheck for the first half, then in the 2nd half, started getting picked on by Evans, Jake Reed, Roscoe Parrish, Andre Reed, James Lofton, Mark Beebe, and several fans wearing Bills jerseys. Every pass on the last few drives went to the "top" half of the field, right at Hall. By the 3rd, I was focusing on the Buffalo reciever who drew AwesomeWah, and you could see the lifeless-ness in the route he was running. AwesomeWah defeats people before the play even starts. He's like the Chuck Norris of CBs.

Safeties: Abysmal. Huff is still poor in coverage, and Gibril Wilson has shown nothing but a temper. Getting yourself ejected from a game like this, and then watching us get continually passed on after that... its frustrating. Especially when you know you just handed that clown one of the most lucrative offers ever for a safety. Both of these guys need to step it up and clamp down the secondary, especially whoever's on Hall's side.

Special Teams: A++++. Jano and Lechler have become near automatic kickers, and JLH is dynamite as a kick returner.

Head Coach: No D-Coach this week, we already did him. Kiffin's game plan was solid - run the Bills into the ground, and hope Rob Ryan blitzed them enough to make Edwards win the game for them. Worked great for three quarters. Admittedly, the offense got very vanilla, but he gave Russell chances to succeed. Although close, it didn't work out for us. Putting up 23 against Buffalo in their house is impressive though.



In week 4 we take on a Chargers team with a chip on their shoulder. They could be 0-3 or 1-2, it won't matter. It's a huge game for them regardless, so we need to be ready to take Rivers down. The Chargers O-line hasn't been that great this year, and LT doesnt look like his old self. The Raiders could very well have a chance... here's hoping McFadden's foot is healed by then

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

Great writing once again, Reggae.

First off. Yes, Awesome-Wah is a **** beast. Its crazy how good he is. Hands down, the best cornerback in the game today. From what I recall, Buffalo passed against him ONCE, and on that play, he forced a fumble on Evans, which was a huge play at the time. God I love him. By far my favorite player.

To be honest, when the Bills drove 96 yards in the third quarter (I believe), I told my friend before the drive started that Buffalo was going to score a touchdown. Why? Because we had gotten a comfortable cushion, and I just feel that when we've done that over the past few years, things have fallen apart, mainly to **** play calling by Rob Ryan. I honestly have no idea why someone would NOT blitz. What is the downside? When the front four is getting ZERO pressure, is there really any other option? Especially against a guy like Edwards. Christ.

Morrison and Howard looked pretty good, even if the latter was taking some poor routes when attempting to tackle at times. Hall sucked (as you mentioned) aside from that sick interception he had.

Russell looked solid. Sure, he was off on some passes, but through three games, he has ZERO interceptions, which is very encouraging. He's fumbled at times, and looks a bit nervous in the pocket, but hey, its his first season starting. That pass to JLH was just flat out nasty. It all happened so fast that I didnt have much time to take it in, haha.

Overall; A game we SHOULD have won. I was very upset at the end of the game, but I saw it coming. With the way Ryan was playing our defense, it was inevitable. And, to be honest, I root for the Niners in the NFC so their victory made me feel a bit better.

[FNQ]

Thanks man and thanks to HMFFL for the sticky as well...

I cant get over that dart to JLH... what it reminded me of, was back in 2000 or 2001 we were playing the Ravens in the AFC Championship game, and Dilfer threw a dart to Shannon Sharpe, just like that one, on their own 10 yard line and he ran 90 yards for what was the game's only TD...

Good catch on Howard too. I've always had him pegged as an extremely fast but average IQ type player, and I thought I was just trippin, but I'll have to watch his routes to tacklers next week. In fairness, this week is difficult, as someone as explosive as Lynch would scare the piss outta me too, and I sure wouldnt run directly towards that.

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

Not many QBs can make that JLH pass either. I mean, you really had to have a rocket arm to pin-point that pass at such a speed. What's crazy is that it looked like your typical 3 and out up until then. Almost no yardage on a first down run, then an incomplete pass, and we had a 3rd and long. Just shows what Russell can do at times. Dude just needs some hands out there to catch his passes and run clean routes.

Oh, and gotta say; Big ups to Warren for playing one hell of a game. He did well in the middle and was finding his way into the backfield. Been pleased with his play this season. Sands too, he was solid. Tommy Kelly....Not so much.

Yeah, I've noticed that about Howard. It's almost like we need to combine him and Morrison into one player. But there was just one play that stuck out when their fullback caught a 2 yard pass out the wing and Howard just ran up really quickly, and almost skidded right past him when he already had sideline help, leaving the middle of the field open and the dude ran for like 15 yards.

<3 Lechler though.

[FNQ]

In more Raider-like news, Warren has a torn pectoral muscle. I dont know if this has made it out to the media yet, but I found out today he might be done for the season..

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

Wow, and just after I go on about how well he played against Buffalo.

That's a killer. Weakens our D-Line by quite a bit.