Five Postgame Takes
1. To maintain your sanity, repeat after me: It’s only August 6. Our first team looked a bit disjointed, McNabb and company looked sharp. I wish it was the other way around, but it’s only August 6. We might want to resume training camp with some basic tackling drills. Nice interception and runback, nice rocket of a TD by Brooks.
2. Rob “Caveman” Ryan looks like he’s been eating raw meat and sleeping on sharp sticks for the past six months. That’s a good sign. I’m ready to put a helmet on him. I’ll be he could tackle.
3. I think we got a window into Art Shell’s commitment to the run tonight. Unlike Norv Turner, he won’t waffle at the first sign of ground trouble. That said, can we minimize LaMont Jordan’s carries in August? The risk of injury to Jordan freaks me out. Fargas just seems to lack instinct and cutting ability. He Hate Me is cool, but he sure can’t carry this team.
4. I’ll resist the urge to make snap judgments on the QB position at this point. Brooks will find his groove. Walter wasn’t lacking time in the pocket, but he still seemed jumpy and uncertain. Preseason will be good for him.
5. John Madden has seen, accomplished and experienced a hell of a lot in his larger-than-life life. So it was quite something to hear him describe his Hall of Fame weekend with such pure wonderment and irrepressible joy during the broadcast. Good for him.
2. Rob “Caveman” Ryan looks like he’s been eating raw meat and sleeping on sharp sticks for the past six months. That’s a good sign. I’m ready to put a helmet on him. I’ll be he could tackle.
3. I think we got a window into Art Shell’s commitment to the run tonight. Unlike Norv Turner, he won’t waffle at the first sign of ground trouble. That said, can we minimize LaMont Jordan’s carries in August? The risk of injury to Jordan freaks me out. Fargas just seems to lack instinct and cutting ability. He Hate Me is cool, but he sure can’t carry this team.
4. I’ll resist the urge to make snap judgments on the QB position at this point. Brooks will find his groove. Walter wasn’t lacking time in the pocket, but he still seemed jumpy and uncertain. Preseason will be good for him.
5. John Madden has seen, accomplished and experienced a hell of a lot in his larger-than-life life. So it was quite something to hear him describe his Hall of Fame weekend with such pure wonderment and irrepressible joy during the broadcast. Good for him.
posted by Raider Take at 12:10 AM
16 Comments:
how about Seabass waking his ass up?...guess he is scared now that there could be some competition
1st Half Take
Brayton looked revved and ready to step it up; plays to the whistle will make plays
Irons looks like a force; knocked a defender on his ass with one Iron
Washington almost ran one back
Jano looked good
Moss had a nice block; i'm tired of hearing crap about this guy; he leads by example and is a team player.
Gallery looked bad; he gave up a sac early, got outplayed and had a false start
Our whole line got worked and manhandled at times
Here's something subtle I noticed (and liked). When the QBs came off the field for a timeout, Shell dealt with them. In his previous incarnation, Shell would often stand with his arms crossed while Robiskie or White or Walsh or whoever talked to the QBs. Now Walsh is in the booth and it looks like Shell has learned that the head coach has to be the central figure on the sidelines. I'm sure the assistants will get involved from time to time, and maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I like it.
Game #1-Thank God it's only preseason!
I guess this is why he's 2nd/3rd string, but dude, #78 Chad Slaughter was getting schooled by Philly's DE Juqua Thomas in the 3rd and 4th Quarters. He gave up two easy sacks on Tui, from a basic outside-in bullrush. Good Lord, it appeared my grandmother could've gotten around this guy!
Tui looked worse than Walters too. The comment was made that Walters looked jumpy, and never planted his feet (hence why he was throwing high, and over his receivers heads). I expected that though, from a guy who hasn't really played. So it was ok with me, because the more he does play, the more he's going to settle down. He looked good!
Tui, on the other hand, with all of his experience looked more jumpy that Walters did. He had 2 chances within the Red Zone for 7 easy points, and couldn't punch it in. We lost 3 on one of them because of a botched hold. It wasn't a pretty game, or a pretty W. Our second and third string defense looked good. Ryan Riddle looked like a freaking animal! I say we put him with the first stringers and see what he can do.
All-in-all, I'm thankful we have 5 preseason games in all, with 4 left. I'm looking for some major improvements as we progress toward the regular season. I wasn't impressed by either side of the ball yesterday from our starters, but I think we will find our rhythm.
I agree on all the above points. Apparently, Art and Jackie have more work to do on this o-line than they may have thought. I was particularly concerned with the amount of ease that the Philly 1st string offense blew through the Raiders 1st string defense to open the game. Again, this is only game one of the preseason...but still.
As for Madden, I can make a case that he may be one of the most important figures in the history of the NFL. Between his HOF track record as a head coach, his nearly thirty years as a prominent broadcaster and nearly twenty years of sponsoring (and playing a significant part in the strategic brains behind) EA Sports Madden Football, Madden's one of the few people...if not only person...who's been a significant NFL face for 40 years. And with the success of the "Madden" line of games, he'll ensure that his name will be mentioned fondly decades from now as people recall their youth...assuming that there *won't* be a Madden '43 on the PS31 by then.
Seabass looked great!
But the 1st team looked soft and undisciplined. We were getting pushed around on the offensive & defensive line. Gallery is going to give me a stroke. He is commiting penalties and does not seem to have an answer for speed.
Jordan looked nice, but we really need to address the backup position. I dont want He Hate Me anywhere near the field after August.
I think Brooks will be better once he can force passes to Moss all game.
In all, I am really glad we won. And it is only Aug. 6!
Realistically this team is going to be inching forward gradually over the course of the entire season not just preseason.
We've got a new coach, lots of new and young players (especially on D), position changes in the mix too and all that takes time. The roster isn't a disaster but isn't exactly wall-to-wall premium talent. It's going to take time for it to come together.
I think we're 8-8 and teams are going to want to play us early as we'll get better in the back end of the season.
We're building and next year we'll get winning football.
OK that's the me trying to stay calm.
But it isn't working. We SUCKED our first team unit vs Eagles first units got destroyed in every area of the game.
It was painful and embaressing and all too familiar. Dear God I hope we improve or this season is going to be grim indeed.
another positive was Fargas. He didn't run awesome but he did very well considering our offensive line.
Walter's shuttle pass was also a nice improvision. I think he'll improve as preseason rolls on.
Jerry Porter where are you???? I hope you enjoy riding the pine.
I agree that the O-line, looked sluggish. They may have the heart, but perhaps the talent is lacking. Time will tell.
Big gaps right up the gut of the D-line, and piss poor tackling all night. Raiders are a little light in the ass up the middle on D.
Brooks didn't throw that much, but looked ok. Walter seemed to be leaning on his back foot way too much.
The best thing I saw was that everyone seemed to be fit, and trim. the Raiders really looked to be in great shape, and their team speed was excellent.
Aaron Brooks connecting with Courtney Alexander was definitely a highlight for me. We under utilized our TE's last season, and I get it's Brooks zipped the ball right to him. I thought we were soft in the trenches, both defensively and offensively. I disagree with anyone who thought Fargas looked good. He was useful as a dump guy, making himself available as a last option for Walter. Still, he had trouble getting out of the backfield.
I think we all need too take another look at GRANT IRONS. He looked impressive.
Well, half way through my second viewing of the game (Just Tivo, baby!), I'm feeling a little better about things.
A couple points.
1. Seabass. God, it is good to have you back, you ol' drunk!
2. The tackling was less than impressive at spots, but can anyone remember a time in recent history when that many black jerseys swarmed the ball?
Nice 10 min. videoclip from the game :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aREpl29d9Xw
OL and DL must get better. Seabass looking very good.
Speaking of Madden, did you guys check that "John Madden: My Road To Canton" show on NFL Network? Fuggin great!!
Scoreboard!
Philly's Eagles Lost
Who cares if it's preseason?
The Oakland Raiders won!
Sweet haiku music to my ears!
Those turnover drills at training camp appear to be paying dividends. Janikowski's alarm clock appears to have gone off.
Shell says that our starters just weren't physical enough on Sunday, which he characterized as a carryover (hangover) from last year. I like the fact that he's so vocally committed to this concept. You'd think that aggressive, physical play would be second nature to starting linemen. I'll sure be glad when we've finally squeezed the last vestiges of the Norv Turner era out of the team's system.
I noticed the o-line still fucking stinks and we have no Quarterback
In other news Cutler excels. And Culpper is fit.
We have no Quarterback.
Great call on Brooks Al, he really was the best we could do.
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