Five Postgame Takes
Here are my five postgame takes, totaling less than 200 words, meaning that my effort here is commensurate with the energy displayed by the Raiders offense…
1. Can y’all hear me now (regarding what I was saying last week)?
2. I look around and see relatively capable names like
3. Why are we so afraid to throw downfield, especially when it works the very few times we try it? Are we afraid of missing yet another opportunity to rush the ball for no gain?
4. On that final drive, on the final play, there was utter confusion, resulting in an interception. Some will blame Williams for the confusion, most will blame Culpepper for the interception, but the entire team looked unprepared for the exercise of a two-minute offense. Confusion equals turnovers.
5. The Raider Nation is perilously close to the third step of the three-step program: denial, anger, apathy. The fans seemed to file out of the stadium not outraged, and not shellshocked, just resigned, collective shoulders slumped. Stay angry, Raider Nation. Apathy doesn't become us.
P.S. Remember, as George “Aristotle” Atkinson said on the KSFO postgame show: “This is a game about points.”
posted by Raider Take at 10:26 PM
161 Comments:
RT,
it is not the game itself, it is this team, the players, and, as you alluded to previously, the organization.
perhaps a different strategy would have netted us more points. but no matter. we simply would have given up more points.
come out and play angry, no problem. it will lead to more mistakes.
play a smart game on defense, the offense will f**k up.
play a smart game on offense, the defense will f**k up.
need a game winning kick. forget it. need a big 4th and one 1st down. forget it. need a defensive stand. forget it.
that's what this organization has become.
it does whatever it takes....to lose.
so breaking down each game is really a meaningless exercise.
if we fix one thing, something else will break.
if culpepper plays great next week, the wr's will drop all the passes.
if jordan has a 60 yard run, he will fumble on the 5 yard line.
it has become a vicious cycle. a nightmare. a cruel groundhog day, happening over, and over, again.
we had better clean house this off season.
these players are losers, bums, and not worthy of wearing the silver, & black colors.
they finish in last place EVERY freakin year.
what more proof do we need damnit !!!!
bring in Bama7 type players. players that CARE, about football. players that LOVE playing for the raiders. players that KNOW how, and have the WILL to WIN.
haven't we all suffered enough ??
am i asking for too much ??
Consul RT,
The Raider legion on the field and the legion in the front office have disgraced the Nation. Prepare your list for decimation.
Seriously RT, it looks to me like this team has fallen off the wagon of the first four games and is doing the short passing version of the Bed & Breakfast offense of last year. I say we do a top to bottom review of the team and the front office. We know about the usual suspects like Brayton, but what about the scouting department that says Quentin Moses is our guy in the third round and then he doesn't even make the final roster. We can't afford to keep making mistakes like that. I know the draft is more art than science, but we've got to turn those first day picks into impact players that contribute during the season.
Like Bama and Raider00 have said, we need great football players not great athletes. Guys like that are out there, but that's where a great scouting department can make all the difference in finding those players.
Once we find the players we've got to come up with gameplans that play to their strengths. Like I said in an earlier post, Daunte was most successful in Minnesota throwing the deep ball. He can make the short throws, but throwing it deep is his specialty. We've thrown the ball deep twice with Culpepper. Once against Miami, and Sunday against KC. Both times to Porter for huge yardage gains. Yet once we've successfully done it, somebody up in the booth or on the sideline says "OK, we've met our quota for today, no more deep balls." I seriously doubt we drafted Higgins just for kick returns. Even Miami had Cleo Lemon try to hit Ted Ginn, Jr. deep today. Just missed him. But at least there willing to try, its as if somebody in the offensive hierarchy has said "we don't want this offense to look anything like that mess from last season, so keep the deep balls to a bare minimum."
I didn't mean to add another chapter to "War and Peace", but I love this team and it kills me to see us continue to fumble around like we're an expansion team. WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS. WE SHOULD BE BETTER THAN THIS!
I told you that the "number one rated running game " that you faida fanatics were sooooo proud to speak of a few weeks ago has regressed to what it really is (as I told you it REALLY WAS) 108 TOTAL YARDS RUSHING IN THE LAST 2 GAMES! Now you have been schooled again by me.....the amazing KARNAK, I also have tried to explain to you that "dumb-o-tay skullpumper" was and is a waste of time! He was dumped by Miami for a reason....He SUCKS. If "elaine girl-boy crybaby head coach miss kiffy" keeps him starting he will pick a convenient time to go down with another season ending injury so he can collect his moola and watch safely from the sidelines as some other "lucky" faida rock tosser gets his ass ground into the turff! You heard it here first as usual from me, your faidas are DOOMED to live in the cellar. Just give up now faidas, keep defending the "notion"....2-14. Argh yar ugh yor cu cu cu cu....BLOW ME down..."the autumn wind IS a pirate in a stupid looking gorilla rilla magilla suit. Ha ha ha ha
Hey faida boy,
Hadn't you better get to bed? The little yellow short bus will be by to pick you up bright and early in the morning to take you to your "special" school.
It's really sad when it's not even about the game, after the game. It's about the culture... of losing.
Our divisonal ineptness is world class right now.
It was mind boggling RT. KC had 7,8,9 men up front the whole first half and we wouldn't spread it out and throw downfield. Coach seems to have no confidence in o-line at all--But you can't coach scared!! The o-schemes were much better in the first few games. Kiffin has got to figure things out. Also, going on 4th and 1 at the 18 was a blunder in this close of a game. As a fan you like his balls, but as a realist you gotta take the 3 there. Coaching gets a D- in this game. This one is on Kiffin.
RaiderMike
Bama7
Look at a guy like Donnie Edwards. A solid blue collar football player that must have an absolutely unbelievable record against us (Chiefs, SD, Chiefs). I would probably throw up if I knew his record playing against us, yet every time he's floated around free agency we have been totally uninterested. Why is that? IT's not like you would look at our LB corp year after year and say there is absolutely no place for him (?) makes no sense.
One of the biggest intimidators in the NFL is Rodney Harrison. We fail to make a real move for him. Why? Too much money? Yet we gace Porter how much to get us 11 cathces in 6 ball games. 11 catches. Wow, POrter, you are so fu&^% impressive.
I agree with Raider00... I can't be happy with the defense because with our team, had the offense been scoring, the defense would have fu^&e(* it up. Do one thing good, do two things bad... that's us.
Too many combine athletes, very few football players. That's why we haven't won in the AFC west in three years.
We need to sign Jason Taylor in the offseason. That'd plug one hole on this team (give Brayton a retirement party and job in front office so Al can keep close to him if that's what it takes). The Dolphins will be letting Taylor go next year and this guy still has 3 - 4 good years left in the tank. Next, grab up the best OLB, the best SS and the best LT in free agency. Too much money you say? Not for us. Unlike other nfl teams, we should have plenty of money because we have the luxury of being able to cut about 80% of our current team. 80% is simply not woirth keeping. Next sign Michael Turner who will have chip on shoulder vs. San Diego. Pair Rhodes with Turner... say bye to JOrdan. Then go out and draft football players, starting with the best receiver in draft. Go from there.
the second straight game, we abandon our running game. that was an offensive turd with peanuts rt.
again, we fail to run a defense where the corners play man, and the linebackers and safeties play a zone read-n-react. but did you see the hit stu made on gonzalez? where did that come from? that was awesome!
i'm really tired of the way we are calling games, and playing. something has to give.
I Hate Losing Haiku:
See the morning sun
Is darkened by gloomy clouds
Autumn wind stifled
This hurts. This is worse than last week. I tried to stay optomistic thinking even though we lost to a much better back on track Chargers team we could still be .500 with a win over the useless chiefs. Turns out we are useless. How many times on 3rd and long will we throw 3 yard outs or swing passes. How many times when we are at the end of the half or game will we huddle up with 20 left on the play clock and waste time so we don't get a shot. How many times will we burn stupid time outs on plays that have no effect on the game. I have held fast all year long that Kiffin was on the right track and we would be on our way with the right talent but we have more talent than the frick'n Chiefs. They tried to give us the game over and over with piss poor offense. All we had to do is take some shots. If you don't think Mcturnover and Culpepper have the ability to throw down the field than put in the big guy. I know he has the arm. I am sick and tired of being outgunned when we do not have to be. Kiffin said it is about nothing other than winning and losing so lets frick'n take some chances and win. And I am not talking about going for it on 4th down. Try to run atleast 1 play to get 10-20 yards a pop on each series. Try to get the crowd in it. Try to run a no huddle. Try to spread the field with 4-5 big athletic receivers more than once every 20 plays. It is time to stop fearing everyone. We cannot play ball control/defensive football because as good as the defense was yesterday, they are not normally going to play that good. That is how piss poor the Chiefs really are. Give us something to root for. Why for 4 years are we the most boring football team to watch. The Damn Lions suck too but they are atleast exciting to watch at times. I used to have my blood pressure up for 4 hours during games, now I just hope there are not very many penalties so they get over fast because they are so damn boring to watch. Get that damn offensive genious mind out of neutral and give us something. All that are left are true fans after this 4 year disaster and I think most of them are even more fed up this year than the last 3 because we should be winning games this year. Tired of this crap. Raider Freak, Freakin pissed, freakin tired, FREAKIN OUT!
Should have taken the fied goal early.
And why didn't anyone boo Daunte? YOu know damn well you guys would have boo-ed McKown BEFORE the interception. Racist or something?
WTF is Lamont still doing out there? His feet are moving all over the place, but his torso does not follow because of his back. "my power and vision.." Give me a break 'big dummy', you have no vision or decision making.
i was booing culpepper yesterday. but again, when you abandon your running game, the passing game becomes difficult. only brett favre could have succeeded the last 2 games.
that was truly a terrible offensive game plan yesterday.
I am going to wait on judgment on Kiffin until I see him with an actual QB. I don't like the first half "run, run, dump pass, punt" offensive strategy, but then, last week we had Raider fans complain that Kiffin didn't commit to the run when we had the best running game in the NFL.
We don't. Not even close.
Culp audibles into a run when there's 8 in the box? Culp throws the ball away when he has time, and holds the ball when he doesn't?
He's absolutely useless unless he is rolling out and relying completely on his athleticism (ie the Porter play) he is not a pocket passer whatsoever.
I don't think that is part of Kiffins gameplan though, so why not get a QB that might be able to handle being a pocket passer?
It's JR time!
Gary and Others,
Part of coaching is playing to your players strengths. If Culpepper is better on the move, then develope a gameplan and call plays that go with that talent.
You can't just plan on what you like, but what will work. If your quarterback doesn't have a strong arm you go with short to intermediate passes. If he's betteer on the move, roll outs and bootlegs.
H
H...
Ironically I just made a post like this on Usenet. Kiffin should be studying Denvers offense... Culp would be great at an offense that relies so much on bootlegs... and it would seem like a natural for the kid JR when he gets his chance too!
Culp looks like a deer in the headlights in the pocket... we need to get him out of there and let him use his athleticism. This is agonizing.
Okay. I guess I saw a different game than everyone else, espescially Take.
I saw special teams play decent football. Not great, but good enough. I saw a defense step up to the plate, and resolve their problems from the first five games. I saw an offense very focused on not making a mistake (but not necessarily on winning).
I saw an effective game plan (in fact a game plan I suggested prior to the game).
But I also saw a KC team step up to the plate and play football on the same level. I saw two very equal teams out there, on the same level, and a game played between the two today might very well come out with a similar score but with the Raiders on top.
There is also no question that we have talent problems. Talent problems don't go away in one season when they go so deep. We have a good measure of where we are. We are, right now, on a par with KC.
Being angry is absolutely pointless. Go ahead and point fingers all you want, but what got us here all happened before this season began and the people out there on the field are people who are working hard on the problems. Anger is appropriate when you are currently seeing NO effort. I see plenty of effort.
You know what's scary? Our "Faida boy" might actually be a grown human and not a nine year old. The Reference to Johnny Carson's "Karnak" gives him away. His parents should sue the public school system that supposedly taught him how to write.
Blandarocked,
I agree on the special teams (the bounce off asomugha aside). Punts and punt coverage was top notch. Kickoffs with at least two touchbacks.
I praised the defense, even had a nice comment on Schweigert's hit on Gonzalez.
I wasn't upset necessiarly with the offensive game plan, my anger came from no in game/half time adjustments.
I also keep hearing about this great hybrid west coast offense. I haven't seen anything I haven't seen before. Where are all the new wrinkles we keep hearing about?
I expect a conservative game from Herm with little or no adjustments during the game. That's what got him in trouble in NY. After all I've heard I don't expect it from Kiffin.
This is about where I thought the defnese would start showing up. I actually saw blitzes. I saw a quarterback under pressure. Two inches closer Huarte doesn't get away from Sapp and the Chefs don't get a touchdown.
We've been hearing about this new offense, and except for the Fish and Brownie game it's been fairly average.
By the way, Routt may be this years Asomugha.
H
Quick note for the stat guys.
We have the number 12 ranked pass defense and are tied for the league lead with 10 interceptions.
H
Regression. Horrible regression. After teasing us the last couple of games with the possibility of offensive explosion, the team's fallen back into the same old routine of being unable to execute offensively, with the lone exception of being simply offensive.
This team, thus far, has been horribly inconsistent. The great plays only come in spurts (even Schweigert had an uncharacteristic big hit shortly after the Curry TD fired put them in the lead) but after that, mostly everything else has been lackluster. Seriously, take away the INTs this season from Howard and Morrison and what has this defense accomplished?
Also, Anon 7:31 stole my thunder. What exactly was Kiffin trying to prove with ~6:00 (i forget the exact time) on the clock in the 2nd quarter, down only 6-0, when he bypassed a ~35 yd FG on 4th down, opting to go for it instead (unsuccessfully)? When it looks like any points...by either team...are going to be hard earned, you need to make the most of your scoring chances. Besides, it's not like your offense has been the master of sustained drives recently. Who does he think this team is? The Colts? Those three points would have been the game.
H, my feeling was the second half fit into the overall strategy. In other words, the adjustments were built into the pre game game plan.
The Raiders spend the entire first half attempting to establish the run. That is working into KC's strength, but it was exactly what they needed to do. I'd hoped the Raiders would be more successful running but KC did a good job defensively.
In the second half the Raiders came out with play action passes, having set up KC perfectly for them. And they obviously worked, because that's how we got our TD. But this is where you have to give KC credit. In order to keep working with the Play Action passes, you have to be able to sell the run on the play, and KC did a good job of keeping them out of running situations.
I tell you this. Right now, at this very moment, the thing that is keeping us from becoming a playoff calibur team is, believe it or not, the running game. We have to be able to run on even the teams with the best run defenses.
Regarding the early FG. I too thought that Kiffin made the wrong call. I think at that point Kiffin wanted to show the offense he had faith in them, and that they'd had an excellent record on converting fourth downs. But sometimes you have to show confidence in the offense by saying to them, "Let's put up some points, I know you guys will be down here again."
Doobie,
What has the defense done? See my post just prior to your question. Further, Three of our ten intercepsitons are by Routt.
Blanda,
Agreed on the early field goal. You also want to show confidence in your kicker. He hadn't kicked a field goal in four weeks I think. No real opportunity. The game was close enough to take the points.
H
This is what I like about RT. A spectrum of perspective. (Is that possible?) Blanda- as always a cogient, level headed analysis. Before the season started I took a hard, emotionless look at the roster and came up with the same conclusion that you have on talent, or lack of. It will take time for certain.
That having been said special teams are not exempt, however, everytime Carr goes to field a punt it seems like a spin at the roulette wheel for whatever reason.
I just hate the chefs so much and did anyone ever tell jared allen that he looks like a cheap 80's porn movie guy with that cheesy mustache and head band.
X-
If cheater boy knows who karnac is then he is as old or older than me.
If that is the case then he is either senile or retarded in order to drool the nonsense that he/she does.
Thanks for the praise, memdf.
I think the picture is becoming fairly clear. As I see it now, we didn't get good picks in the draft addressing the DE spot. We need another solid, pass rushing DE, and we move Kelly back to the middle. We need some more depth at LB. We need to replace Schweigert, because he's always been a journeyman player. But he'd make a hell of a back up.
That's where I see the defense, but as the defense stands right now we can win with it as long as they play their positions like they did yesterday.
As for offense, we need two OTs because we can't be expecting our TEs to have success attempting to block DEs unless they're chipping for the OT. We need at least one franchise WR. That's not a statement in support of Moss, because we want him to have a healthy attitude as well. But Curry is the best we have, and he dropped two first down catches in a row. A franchise WR doesn't do that. We need to get Russell into the mix fairly soon. That does not mean play him whether he's ready or not. If they do that, they need to have at least seven losses in the books first.
Nobody on our offensive unit, with the possible exception of Rhodes and Griffin have proven themselves in the NFL. They are a mystery, or they have proven (at least thus far) to be a bust. Culpepper has not proven himself because he's been out of football for two years. We will have to work just as hard this offseason on the offense as we did last year.
I will point out, however, that if the defense played in all of our games this season like they did yesterday, we'd have been at least 4-1 going into yesterday's game.
Hello all,
I just returned home from Oaktown. As I watched the game I wondered how the season tickets holders put up with this crap 8 weekends out of the year. Even my non-football boyfriend (I'm not gay, I'm female) commented that "those guys (the offense) don't even look like they want to be out there playing. Is it just about the money?"
A few other thoughts:
-- Culpepper is NOT Plunkett.
-- there will not be a QB controversy and Russel should start sometime after week 8.
-- we need some WRs that can catch the ball
-- Good to have Cooper back on STs
-- It was great to back in the coliseum, yelling and cheering next to other Raider fans. I won't wait so long next time, and next time they better win!
JF
memdf-
Hilarious comparo of Jared Allen to an 80s porn star. I thought the TV guys even mentioned he's trying to grow a mullet.
Sad thing is, he kills us and I'd take him on my team in a second. And, he grew up a Raider fan. Now, that's cruel.
Could you imagine him and Burgess on the ends for us?
Blanda-
Take heart, at least you got the 10 points part right. The bad news is that we scored them :). I know its going to take time to turn this thing around, but aren't you even at least a bit perturbed at how the offense looks to be regressing into last year's form?
Hey Blandarocked, how about that prediction you made of Raiders 42 Chiefs 10? What a football genius you are. Whats your prediction for this week? Raiders 56 Titans 3?
I freely admit that I thought our running game is better than it is. We can't run on strong run defenses, because that's two in a row we've faced, both times failing to do what we needed to do.
I did feel that our defense would step up this time, and they did.
I saw an offense that couldn't get the job done that needed to get done, but I didn't see a lack of effort that everyone else wants to believe they saw. And this team is not regressing to last year. I don't know how anyone can say that.
The fact is we need better receivers and better OTs, and we all knew that heading into the season. Everyone seems to have forgotten it because of the promise we showed coming out of camp. But promise doesn't get the job done in front of you.
This wasn't just "a game on the schedule we wanted to win." We desperately needed to exercise some divisional ghosts. We are five years removed from a win against KC. How can we possibly need more motivation than that?
It didn't look like the offense was prepared to play the first half, and barely in the second half.
That was a very beatable Chefs team we played yesterday. Is anyone else afraid that if we match this effort next week against the Titans, we might as well just save the plane fare. Ok, I know. That's not very constructive.
Tennessee 26
Oakland 14
Raiders 2-5
>>>Blanda...
The fact is we need better receivers and better OTs, and we all knew that heading into the season.
>>>>
I'd agree with the OL, but disagree with our receivers.
What we need is better QBing.
Did anyone watch the Patriots yesterday with a different QB under center? They looked HORRIBLE.
They are seriously just a QB injury from being just above average.
The difference between the Raiders (and most other losing record teams) and NE/Indy is mostly QBing, IMO.
I don't have time to look at it tonight, but I'd bet all the teams with highly rated QB ratings have winning records.
RT--
Are you suggesting Raider fans be more like Phili fans?
JF
Gary, the QB situation is just what we have to work with right now. Our future is Russell. It's impossible to do anything to improve on what we have until the season is either over, or might just as well be over. But how many of us really expected the playoffs this year?
And we do need a WR. Curry dropped two balls in one game which would have made substantial yardage, one may have been a TD. Your #1 guy should never do that to you.
I still think that Culpepper is the better option over McCown and Walter, but I thought he'd be better. He is playing better than anything we put on the field last year.
Bama7
Blanda, do you even have a pulse?
This team needs so much it's not funny. We haven't won an afc west game since 2004 and we had a very averge team (the Chiefs) coming into OUR stadium... and we got whipped again. YOu'd think anger alone could have propelled our team to that elsuive next afc west victory. but no we got smacked again. Don't sugar coat it. I can't take it anymore. What's it gonna take to get things clicking on this team.
We need a SS, an OLB, a couple of DE's, a couple of O-lineman, a stud RB and another solid WR. In other words, we need a lot.
If our running game is substandard, and if we need better WRs and linemen, why do our starters at these positions look suspiciously similar to those from 2005? Who is responsible and accountable for developing talent? Players don't sign, re-sign, draft or start themselves. We've had years to figure out how to not play like this, to figure out how to field a moderately functional offense, and we still haven't figured it out? It is disgraceful.
I really hate to reference the Patriots, and let's forget abut Moss for a moment, but they also signed Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth THIS YEAR. But we're still counting on Jerry Porter as our LEAD RECEIVER, after the organization felt he was such a disruption and non-factor that he was benched most of last year?
We need better WRs. Yeah. Are they going to draft or sign themselves?
JF nails it. I don't want to fall into the trap of saying that "you need to be there" (because I don't believe that gameday attendance is proportional to passion or dedication), but if you, in fact, were there, you saw an utterly lifeless performance that sucked the blood right out of the bottom of your shoes.
You just sat there, after considerable investment of time and money, being treated to lethargic impotence from moment one...again. You wondered, in the words of JF, "how the season tickets holders put up with this crap 8 weekends out of the year." Even JF's non-football friend could sense that something was horribly wrong with this situation.
JF, good question, I am not suggesting that Raiders fans be more like Philly fans, but just guard against becoming like Lions fans.
Even here in cyberspace I see some measure of resignation to our situation, and I saw it in the fans filing out of the stadium yesterday, as if five or six years of miserable losing is just our fate, something to meekly accept without questioning who and what is behind it.
I'm not calling anyone out, and I was among those fans yesterday, but I just remember after tough losses, the crowd would exhibit some piss and vinegar. After all, this is THE RAIDERS! We'll see you next time!
I didn't see that yesterday. There was, understandably, mostly resignation. Thus, I caught my first glimpse into the life of a long-suffering Detroit Lions or Arizona Cardinals fan, trudging out of the stadium, having gotten what you expected, more inept football for another painful loss.
It's not about throwing batteries or booing Santa Claus, it's about expecting not to lose, and not accepting losing.
When I say regressing, I'm talking about the line not being able to protect the QB or block adequately for the run, a la last season.
When I see this team go from scoring 20 points or more per game to dropping to 14, then 10 points, that's when I worry about regressing. You can talk about better defenses we're facing and I get that.
But when you have two weeks to prepare for a hated division rival and come out that flat, only to be followed up by yesterday's offering, that's where I say it looks like we're regressing.
It would be grand indeed if you change your entire roster with a bunch of winners and go from 2 - 14 to 14 - 2.
Unfortunately folks around here seem to have a very short memory (except for the bad things). Kiffin brought more new players into camp than anytime in Raider history. We've added a few quality players, and a couple of players have improved.
Are going back to discuss all of the bad things that Calahan, Turner, and Shell did? Where does that get us. Are we going to give up because Kiffin didn't turn it all around by the fifth game in his first season. Go back to January and consider what you thought, at the time, we could reasonably expect this season. So far, I think I'm getting as much of what I thought I could reasonably expect, just not a lot more.
But it's still early, and with the exception of one stinker, every game has been an improvement on this time last year.
Also, I don't know what teams you guys were watching yesterday, but it looked to me like KC is far better than advertised. They play hard and they don't make a lot of mistakes.
The problem is that the Raiders have not yet remembered what it's like to play with pride. KC hasn't and they showed pride yesterday. I give them credit for that.
Blanda- in Curry's defense, he was clearly arm ripped before the ball got there on the long pass he dropped. The ref totally missed it, or overlooked it.
The other drop was all Curry... and his frustration cost a delay of game (when he threw the ball).
For the most part, Culpepper was on target. He is consistently accurate on long passes, which begs the question, why don’t we throw long more? And there's no way McCown makes those passes. He couldn’t even hit Porter by himself down the sideline... let alone in coverage.
I like the suggestion that many of you make that Culpepper should be allowed to roll out more.
Qu: Why is Walter still on the team? He should be traded or released to make room for Bush. The kid is healthy and needs to get practice reps and see game time this year.
Starting Game #1 next year, I expect to see a winning team on the field. No more excuses!
Blandarocked,
All of your points on the needs are well taken. As for the OT's I would prefer going the free agency route. You get more os a known quantity.
Having said that, we have Mario Henderson on the roster, has he played any besides special teams? What I've heard is he has tremendous upside, but needs to get better on his work ethic.
Schweigert could be kept as a backup. I agree Kelly back on the inside. Sapp probaply only has one more year. Kelly, Warren and Burgess would be clearly formidable with another rush end. If Russell's team mate Glen Dorsey is available when our pick comes up I say take him. He plays the run and the pass equally well.
I watch mostly SEC so for another wide receiver I would recommend D. J. Hall of Alabama. He reminds me of Fred Biletnikoff with a little more speed. He gets open (good routes), has good hands and will go over the middle. He's not necessarily the fastest but he can get down the field. If he happens to fall to the second round we would be foolish not to take him. Plus he has a great team attitude as does Dorsey.
We're going to need a decent backup QB also, I don't see McCowan or Culpepper being around. I don't think Walter is the answer with only one more year.
Having said all that the next three games are winnable. Lets just do what needs to be done. Roll out that hybrid offense we keep hearing so much about.
H
I honestly thought that, while we might not win a ton of games, that we could produce more than two offensive touchdowns total against SD and KC, and that we would at least show some measure of energy and competence on offense. There's no reason to expect stuff like this to go on for years with a team in today's NFL, least of all one with a winning tradition. I truly didn't expect to see this year what I saw yesterday.
Of course it's not about Turner or Shell at this point. Coaches don't hire themselves. Was Detroit's problem last year Wayne Fontes? Is Miami's problem this year Dave Wannestedt? Of course not.
Is Oakland's problem this year Lane Kiffin? I don't think so.
But in all of these cases, whenever you have losing upon losing, year after year, you must conclude that you have an organization problem.
So tell me: how are we addressing this problem? Who is our GM? What has been the change in philosophy from a personnel and organizational standpoint? How would you describe the difference? Don't give me new coaching staff, that's been tried for three straight years. I need something more than that at this point.
This current team is built on the foundations of the mistakes of those previous regimes. We know that. We(if I may be so bold at to speak for the Raiderfans on this site) were told to expect things to be different. No more scholarships.
Yes, we brought a lot of guys to camp. But quite a few of those guys aren't here now(Bing, Moses, Frampton, Darius), and some of the guys that are we thought had their scholarships revoked(Brayton). What we can't do now, but what we can do next draft(as I stated on the previous post) is make sure that our first day picks count.
Anybody miss what that 3rd rnd pick could be doing for us on the O Line or the D line? Nobody is jumping off the ship, but we're getting mighty tired of lashing ourselves to the deck in preparation for our annual plunge to Davey Jones' locker.
RT:
You put your finger on something, but I don't know if you know it.
"I really hate to reference the Patriots, and let's forget abut Moss for a moment, but they also signed Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth THIS YEAR."
Why do you suppose that Welker and Stallworth showed up at the Patriots doorstep. Because they love those ugly ass uniforms? Because they're in love with Patriot ownership? No, they showed up there because if you're going to sign with one more team, you sign with the team that's been winning and has the best shot at the SB so you can have a career highlight. That's why Jerry Rice signed with us when he did. He saw the steady improvement on the Raiders for more than THREE YEARS under Gruden, and decided that he might get one more SB under his belt with the Raiders.
This is how losing perpetuates losing and winning perpetuates winning. The difference between draft picks is negligable. But you attract the big boys when you're winning.
These players, as bad as they are, are the ones who are going to have to pull us out of this rut before the best players want to sign with us again. The best players are going to have to decide that they like what they see here and want to be a part of it.
It's true, they don't play with much passion, and I'm wondering if that's intentional. I don't know what kind of a guy Kiffin was at USC, but most people equate rah-rah type stuff with the college game. Maybe he is hesitant to push that level of passion because of the age concerns that have been cited - he doesn't want to seem too "collegiate".
That's a big problem in my opinion, and it has been for the last few years. Being professional doesn't mean you don't play with passion, you don't get fired up, you don't take some games (i.e. division games) more seriously than others. Sure, you can be professional with the media, but it can't be that way all the time. Kiffin may be great with Xs and Os, but you have to have someone who can inspire the troops. Last week against San Diego they were obviously fired up. This week KC was to a lesser extent, but certainly more so than us. Because our defense is further ahead I'd expect to see it come from them, but I'd take it from anybody right now. With Cooper back maybe it will start with special teams, but if we don't start seeing some pride soon it won't matter how good the scheme is - we won't have the corresponding results to show for it.
The Patriots traded the Dolphins their 2007 second- and seventh-round draft picks for Welker.
H & Blanda,
you guys want to move kelly inside next year, and keep schweigert around as a backup.
hmmmmm, very interesting. but wait, i have a better idea.
how about next year, schweigert can clean the toilets, and kelly can mow the grass.
for the love of God, can we please get some real football players next year.
maybe we can send groucho over to some speakeasy to find us a couple of ringers. it's getting desperate.
In Curry's defense -
As someone already mentioned, he was interfered with on the first "drop". DB had a hold of his arm and official "didn't see it".
And the other drops were after he took the big hit (on a ball he caught, by the way). Does anyone else think he might have been affected by that...minor concussion perhaps? Hope it wasn't the "hearing footsteps" factor.
Ahhh, recall the days when Raider DBs made them hear footsteps? Stu's one career hit was like a drop in the ocean.
RT,
I too was shocked at the reaction of the fans after the last interception. It was like everyone stood up at the same time and filed out. I sat there stunned. Uninspired players, uninspired fans. Mind you, the last game I attended was 26 yrs ago, but it was a very different experience. Back then it was expected that the Raiders pull out a win, and more often than not they did. When they didn't it was a shock.
So, what do we (the fans) do? Maybe we need to act more like Philli fans. I've never advocated "booing" my own team, but then again I've never witnessed such inept and uninspired play. Maybe we need to stand up and say this is no longer acceptable. I think we've been patient enough.
One more thing I notice this weekend-- Raider fans are living in the past. I saw more jerseys of past player than current players. I saw people wearing Alzado, Tatum, Stabler, Lamonica, Hendricks-- all great players, but the people wearing them weren't even born yet when those guys were playing. Who are the current stars? Who is the face of the current Raiders? No one. That is a problem.
JF
Bama7
I still say Al doesn't know what a tough football player is anymore. Somewhere along the line he just got obsessed with speed and athleticism and forgot all about Tatum and Wiz. I just want mean SOB's on the team. That's it. Don't care if we don't have one Jerry Rice on the team. All I want is Romo's, Alzado's, Tatum's, Rodney Harrison's, Roy William's , Sean Taylor's, Albert HAynesworth's on my team.
When a Damon HUard comes to Oakland he should not be able to finish the game because he is hurt. And RB's shouldn't run wild on us because they get nailed and become passive. We're the passive ones right now. The hunted.
H, unfortunately, pass defense isn't everything...something LT made abundantly clear to us last week. The Raiders did a much better job containing LJ yesterday, but this defense is still a long way away from the word we're all looking to use again with pride: intimidation. It's been what feels like an eternity the last time the Raiders defense caused fear in their opponents.
As I mentioned before, this team lacks consistency. We all know the Raiders have historically been a big play team, but I think to an extent the big plays on defense this year (and even on offense, especially yesterday's 1-2 Porter-Curry punch in the 3rd) have masked an inconsistent unit. They've kept the team in games that, otherwise, were lopsided in the opponent's favor. Case in point: the Broncos game in week 2 where put up 441 yards of offense (260 passing yards by Cutler and 181 yards on the ground). A late safety and defensive TD by T. Howard but the team back in a game where they were only able to muster 53 yards of passing (at least they were able to get 200 on the ground).
Oh, and RT? It looks like you're getting dangerously close to criticizing Al Davis there pal. LOL
I haven't had the time to read all the posts but here goes ...
It is time for Kiffin to take the training wheels off of Culpepper and chuck them to F'N curb.
It is time for Kiffin to playcall with the intended purpose of keeping the D guessing and on their heels.
It is time (for now) to get off Ryan's back. The D played inspired, solid football. To my recollections, there were only 2 or 3 major defensive breakdowns; LJ 50+ yard run and Bowe 50+ yard reception on a broken play. 12 stinkin points? Is it asking too F'N much to ask the O & ST to do their part?
It is time to start passing to Curry & Porter on 1st down. Start passing on running downs and running on passing downs.
It is time for the Raiders to start a game strong. In our 4 losses we have come out punch drunk and dug a hole. Sure it was only a 6 to 0 hole vs. KC but it felt like 20 to 0 the way the offense was playing.
It is time to start stretching the field both horizontally and vertically. Using the entire field and all of our weapons in effect makes our offense SO much less predicatable.
It is time to install a no huddle offense and use all means necessary to jump start the offense.
It is time to stop making excuses, expecting more, and start playing with the mentality of shoving all your chips to the center of the table and screaming at the top of your lungs "That's right F'Wad. I'm ALL in!"
P.S. I took my 11 year old nephew to his 1st game last year vs. the Texans. This year I took him to the Condiment game. Sad but true. This young tyke had the maturity to say to me last night on the flight home "Don't worry uncle. We'll get a win next time".
Raider00,
Kelly has been his most effective when playing tackle. He, like Warren and Sapp, is a good gap rusher. I believe they thought he might be a Howie Long type that could play any position on the line. But he is just not as effective at end. That's why I say move him back inside.
As for Schweigert, like it or not, you still have to have backups. They have to be cap friendly and they have to play special teams. You're never going to have pro bowlers as a backup. Not for long anyway. If we do bring someone in who's going to back them up.
Routt is holding his own at corner, why don't they try Fabian Washington at free safety and move Huff to strong safety.
Calico,
I've been saying for over a week it's time to unvail this new offense. We keep hearing about it, but keep seeing the same thing over and over.
The last two games were not just mirror images of last year, they were clones.
Kiffin has three games to show me something. I'm not requiring all three as wins at this point. But, I am requiring some emotion and physical play from the offense.
Kerry Collins may be starting the Tennessee game. The last thing we, as fans, need is to have him beat us.
H
Amen Calico! If we just mix it up and pick up the tempo a little I believe we have the weapons. These last 2 games the play calling was predictable and mundane. It's not a coincidence that Porter and Curry were open by 10-15 yards when we openned it up a little while KC continued to crowd the line. We did not get the opposing defense back on their heels once in the last 2 games. Both times the D was in attack mode the entire game because of predictability. Kif will learn, I just hope he learns fast.
RaiderMike
Doobie
You warn RT that he is getting close to criticizing Al Davis. Well Al Davis's team is 17-53 since they got nuked in the Super Bowl, so I think that should warrant some criticism for the old man. Everyone in the entire organization should be held accountable including the old man.
H said, “The last two games were not just mirror images of last year, they were clones.”
I agree to an extent, but that’s overstating it a little. When last year did we see a well-executed screen pass? When did we see Porter (or any receiver) hit in stride on a deep route?
I’ll admit the playcalling was unimaginative, and that’s the primary resemblance to last year, but there are enough differences to still distinguish this team from their high school counterparts of last year.
That said, how do we get Calico Jack in a conference call with Lane Kiffin? I vote “yes” to all his proposals.
Bama7
Kiffen said LB John Alston got some playing time on D because he is a "Physical" player. You can bet Monte Kiffen is telling his son the Raiders lack toughness. I think Al will heed the call for a new type of player in the offseason. I wonder if the team had a party for Schweigert since he lost his cherry with his first hit Sunday?
Warren coming back next week would help us tremendously.
Well I made it back alive. My Chef fan buddy did not get us killed. In full Chef gear and a big mouth there were a few close calls, but for the most part I was shocked at how well-behaved we Raider fans can be.
Then I drive through a scorched, smokey California, which I could've sworn was a result of pissed off Raider fans because it seemed like a trail of bread crumbs leading all the way from Oakland.
RT I'm now with you 100% in pissed-off'd-itude levels. I won't be making any effort to attend any more games this year, because most of our guys can't even drive 4 miles and match that little effort. All I did was drive, lose sleep and drink beer, and honestly I felt I was more prepared mentally for this game than most players. I haven't seen the tape yet, and the sun was in my eyes, but it still looked pretty damn pathetic.
OK Kiffin, you know exactly what you have to work with now. Keep what you can work with and clean this house. I don't care what names are cut, I promise I will not get pissed!
We obviously have character issues somewhere. I guess "I'M IN" means nothing to some people. We need to separate the real ones who are "IN" from the ones who just slap the sign because they have to. As fans we don't get to see who these people really are during the week so it could be ANYONE.
Psycho
My round trip to Oakland is a eight hours. Sounds like Psycho's was longer. Calico Jack had to take a freakin' plane. Some guys at the Raider Nation Podcast tailgate came all the way from Germany. I don't know where JF traveled from, but it sounds far...All of us (and thousands more) expended a tremendous amount of time, money and fossil fuel to, at the very least, finally, after many years, see functional offensive football. But all we found in our stocking, once again, was a lump of coal. Again.
Psycho's take: "I won't be making any effort to attend any more games this year, because most of our guys can't even drive 4 miles and match that little effort. All I did was drive, lose sleep and drink beer, and honestly I felt I was more prepared mentally for this game than most players."
I was there, and I can assure that Psycho's effort and preparation outperformed the Raiders offense on Sunday.
Doobie jokingly states that I'm coming perilously close to criticizing Al Davis.
I am definitely criticizing the organization, and to such a degree that Al Davis is the organization, then I am criticizing him.
If we were all shareholders in a company that woefully underperformed and got creamed by the competition, year after year, we would expect sweeping changes, would we not?
And if that company kept changing CEOs (ie: coaches) to little avail, we would expect the organization to take things a big step further, and to articulate a new plan, new structural accountability, and a new vision that will help the next CEO (Kiffin) lead us out of the woods.
I am a shareholder in the Raiders, and I am still waiting for such a statement. Who is our GM? What are we doing from a personnel development standpoint that's different than past years? Who is responsible for these duties, and what are they SPECIFICIALLY doing differently to undo what got us here in the first place? Are we going to start emphasizing character over speed, toughness over raw ability, team chemistry over selfishness? Are we? Says who?
It's unfair to put the whole thing on Kiff's shoulders, as a first time head coach at such a young age. You think you don't need a Bruce Allen or Ron Wolf because Kiff is a 32-year-old superhero, the next Vince Lombardi and Scott Pioli all rolled into one? Even Belichik and Dungy have strong GMs behind them.
Gruden did not inherit a situation nearly this bad, so I don't want to hear how it's the same.
H-maybe the resemblance to last year goes deeper than I think. It was about this time last year our D came alive, and we had nothing good to say about our offense. Scary.
It's weird, I don't think there's been anybody on this site I've agreed with following this game. Everyone seems to be forgetting all history except for the fact that we've had several losing seasons in a row, and appear to be on path to another. Folks have forgotten things I know they've said in the past. I understand the frustration because I feel it myself, but throwing hissy fits doesn't get us anywhere.
So far this week, I don't even agree with H. Nothing new? Really? I just saw the Raiders run a flea flicker which I don’t think they've ever run before in the Al Davis era. But since I've mixed it up with Calico before, I'll start there.
"12 stinkin points? Is it asking too F'N much to ask the O & ST to do their part?"
I thought the ST played a damned decent game. They were far better than they had been through the first 5 games. No, a ball was returned for a TD, but that rarely happens for anybody. That's why it's exciting when it does. Except for the Nnamdi screw-up, I thought they played a relatively error free game. And you sure as hell can't complain about Lechler's punting in that game.
"It is time to start passing to Curry & Porter on 1st down. Start passing on running downs and running on passing downs."
Running on passing downs? Really? You don't think they've been doing that? Seems to me I've lost count of how many times they've run the ball on 3rd and long. I also know I've seen them pass many times on 1st downs, but I have no way of knowing who the primary receiver is on any given play. It could just be that neither have been getting open on those plays. I've also seen the Raiders throw on 2nd or 3rd and short.
"It is time for the Raiders to start a game strong. In our 4 losses we have come out punch drunk and dug a hole. Sure it was only a 6 to 0 hole vs. KC but it felt like 20 to 0 the way the offense was playing."
This I can basically agree with except that it seems to me that the major problem with this team is confidence. They seem to be focused mainly on not making mistakes. Not making mistakes is over rated to a certain degree, as long as you have the CONFIDENCE that you'll be able to make for the loss. How do you instill confidence in a team that has been losing for years? You can't. All you can do is give them the best opportunities to succeed, and then expect that confidence will grow with success. Other than that, all you can do is to bring in players who have an infectiously confident attitude.
"It is time to start stretching the field both horizontally and vertically. Using the entire field and all of our weapons in effect makes our offense SO much less predictable."
Seems to me that's what Kiffin tried against San Diego. See how well this team responded to that? Also, we haven't been that predictable. Everybody knows we're going to run a lot, but so what? Last year's offense was predictable. You can't compare the two.
"It is time to install a no huddle offense and use all means necessary to jump start the offense."
Okay, back to this "no-huddle" cure all. There are few teams that do this, and fewer still who do it well. The Colts are successful at it because they have Payton Manning who is likely the best QB since the 70s. In fact, he's the only player in the NFL who I feel would fit right in in the 70s. The Raiders used to be successful at it because they had a coach who loved to use it, and they had Gannon who called many of his own plays anyway. Other than a "hurry-up" offense, the no-huddle is a whole different offensive philosophy and must be added over time to be successful. Gruden wasn't successful with it until his third year.
"It is time to stop making excuses, expecting more, and start playing with the mentality of shoving all your chips to the center of the table and screaming at the top of your lungs 'That's right F'Wad. I'm ALL in!'"
That sounds like desperation to me. Desperation doesn't lead to success. Desperation is an ant trying to extricate itself from a sand trap. If you fail after encouraging the players to play like they're desperate, they fall deeper into the pit of despair.
"P.S. I took my 11 year old nephew to his 1st game last year vs. the Texans. This year I took him to the Condiment game. Sad but true. This young tyke had the maturity to say to me last night on the flight home 'Don't worry uncle. We'll get a win next time.'"
Perhaps he sees more than his uncle because he is not beaten down by four plus years of frustration. Perhaps he sees more than Raider players for the same reason. Perhaps he sees more than the local media because his uncle taught him something about football.
Okay, Take, now it's your turn.
"And if that company kept changing CEOs (ie: coaches) to little avail, we would expect the organization to take things a big step further, and to articulate a new plan, new structural accountability, and a new vision that will help the next CEO (Kiffin) lead us out of the woods."
You have, yourself, articulated vast and far reaching changes since the hiring of Kiffin. But now, since the Raiders are 2-4 in the first season of those changes, it's the same old same old. I don't agree.
"I am a shareholder in the Raiders, and I am still waiting for such a statement. Who is our GM? What are we doing from a personnel development standpoint that's different than past years? Who is responsible for these duties, and what are they SPECIFICIALLY doing differently to undo what got us here in the first place? Are we going to start emphasizing character over speed, toughness over raw ability, team chemistry over selfishness? Are we? Says who?"
You're not a shareholder of the Raiders. You're a customer. You're recourse is to refuse to buy the product. Period!
What are doing that's different? Christ almighty, where do I begin. Unhappy that Brayton is still here? Well, he's been on the bench mostly. I'm certain if you showed Kiffin a better backup, he'd replace him. For a healthy list of changes, go back and re-read some of your previous takes.
You want to know who the GM is? Well, the Raiders never grant that title (for whatever reason). But they do give out those same duties. That position appears to be occupied by one Mark Jackson, or did I miss something. You know, the guy who took a long time to get Russell signed, but pretty much engineered a brilliant contract that benefitted the entire league.
I'm really feeling like I've stepped through the looking glass here.
blandarocked:
I am with you on all of your posts, I am tired as much as the other guy, but I see positives and I know that this year we'll win more than 4 games and I also know that next year we'll have better stock to pick from.
I am hoping that Bush get activated and can spark the running game again also I am hoping that they give a little more playing time to Rhodes and Fargas.
In regards to Stu, I am sorry but the hit to Gonzalez was more of an accident than Stu searching for Gonzo and actually putting a lick on him.
raiderdecoachella
Boy, I'm sure glad someone's happy with the state of the organization and is confident that we have taken all the necessary steps to right the ship.
Take,
In your financial analysis don't forget about us who buy Sunday Ticket just to watch the Raiders. It's not the same as attending in person, but it mounts up over ten years and more.
Blandarocked,
I'm a reasonably patient guy, and a very optimistic person. You and I have backed each other up on this site on multiple occasions.
The main problem is we've been spoiled by this franchise. This makes the last four years even harder to handle.
For years, nay, decades the Raiders making the playoffs was a given. When they didn't they were in the hunt almost until the end and were back usually within a year, two at the most.
70 consecutive games of ineptitude will wear on a person, especially if you are not used to it.
I realize it will take a little time. However, the offense needs to start stepping up at least a little more. They should feed off the defense when they perform as they did yesterday. Hell, we spent a second round draft choice on a tight end and rarely throw to him.
Kiffin looked depressed in his news conference. Depression is not an emotion I want to see in our head coach.
This team has enough talent to compete and win. Maybe not enough to get into the playoffs or go very deep, but compete and win.
Hell, the mules have only three wins. ALL on last minute field goals. We need fifteen yards and throw an interception.
That's the hard part.
H
H, I would never forget that, I know that following the Raiders can be a financial (and increasingly mental) hardship for fans around the world.
Despite Blanda's academic interpretation of the term, I believe that we are all shareholders in the Raiders organization, and even if we are mere "customers," we can and should be heard by an organization that expects us to purchase season tickets or Sunday Ticket in advance on the premise that they are doing everything it takes to re-think the product they are selling.
Take, you don't have to believe that everything is peachy to give credit where credit is due, and reasonable criticism. You also can't blame the current regime for everything that happened before they got here. Kiffin came here to clean up the mess. You can criticise him for not cleaning it up fast enough, but you can't criticise him for the mess. You also can't praise him for all of his changes, and then accuse him of not making any. You'll recognize this behavior in your kids. It's called a temper tantrum.
H, we are where we are. "The Raiders never rebuild, we reload." H, that quote, unfortunately, is a relic of the past. No team, in the history of the NFL, ever needed rebuilding as bad as this one. Rebuilding takes time. While it's may be emotionally gratifying to say to yourself that you can make all of the changes you need to make in the first six games of a season... well, you're right. We've been spoiled by never rebuilding, only reloading. Unfotunately reality has come home to roost, and you either have recognize it and deal with it, or drive yourself insane.
Most people around here recognized last January that this could well be at least a three year project. Now people are complaining that the project hasn't been completed in six games.
Please read my comments above and prior. I state VERY CLEARLY that Kiff is not to blame for this, and that he can't do it alone. He is holding up his end of the bargain. I am not convinced that the organization is meeting him halfway.
You seem to think that the dismal state of our player personnel after four years in the cellar has no lineage, is not rooted in any sort of failed philosophy, and is not connected to anyone in the organization.
You seem to think that another three years in addition to four previous years is a normal turnaround time in today's NFL.
I wonder: what is your breaking point? How many more performances like those we've seen in the past two weeks can you take before your faith is remotely shaken? Hopefully, we won't have to find out.
Take,
I know you didn't forget about us. Really just throwing my two bits in on that subject.
Blandarocked,
I with you more than you think. I do give credit where credit is due. I even praised Stuart Schweigert for his hit on Gonzalez.
I think we have some very good young talent on defense. My fear is by the time we get the offense put together we will have either lost some of that talent or they will be falling off in their abilities.
It was more like being dissappointed than a tantrum. I'm way too old for those types of histrionics. When I was younger I admired these guys for their talent and tenacity. Now I look on them more like my kids and wanting them to succeed. (Strange but true). I have a kid older than any of the players.
H
Well then, Take, explain exactly what you expect the organization to do RIGHT NOW to turn this ship around. They instituted a ton of changes, don't tell me they haven't. They haven't sunk in yet, or they haven't or won't work. What do you suggest.
Don't tell me they haven't changed anything. Tell my why you think the changes are crap, or suggest some that they should have taken, and then tell me the plan that would hold it together.
I anticipated faster improvement as well, but that was based on success that the changes had already brought. The news that there's still work to do isn't devistating to me as a Raider fan.
H, don't get me wrong. I'd likely be here laying out my own criticisms if it didn't seem to me that everyone else had gone over the edge. More variation in the offense might be reasonable, but don't forget that Culpepper's start against SD was his first in over three years. He was much better against KC, even though he didn't get the job done. I expect he'll be better again against the Titans with more wrinkles thrown in there.
Check that, on Culpepper - two years.
What they should be doing right now is what they should have been doing "right now" in October of last year, which is planning aggressively for the following year in terms of personnel and organizational improvements.
-Our biggest pickups at the offensive skill positions were a guy who was suspended for the first four games (Rhodes), a questionable reclamation project (Williams), a guy who couldn't claim the starting QB job in Detroit (McCown), a running back who is still on IR (Bush), and a QB whom we failed to sign until after the season started (Russell). Culepper fell in our lap, and we are finding out why the hard way. We put our receiving corps in the hands of a guy with a chronic injury record (Curry) and a guy with a chronic character problem who was benched most of last year for insubordination. Meanwhile, no updgrades were pursued on the left side of our offensive line, which was one of the worst lines in the history of the NFL last year. I'll give you Zach Miller, however.
Do you honestly think we couldn't have done much better than this? What evidence do you have that it will be different this offseason? Have you seen or heard anything from the organization about this?
-We still can't stop the run. Why didn't we find or draft players who can stop the run. It's not like this is a sudden revelation.
-Rather than go out and find a proven GM and verbally declare him as such, we hired Mark Jackson, who was the head of a boxing-related organization last year. I'm not declaring him a failure, but here we go playing with fire again (see bed and breakfast). Maybe he's brilliant and will outsmart the league. Of course, he hasn't been declared even close to being the official GM.
I'm not going to spend my whole day on this. My day job isn't football. When the team signs, drafts or sticks with players in the offseason, I have to have some faith in what they are doing, because it is they, not me, who are getting paid to watch every practice and every frame of every film, and to make the right decisions.
It is not my failure when they blow it. It is theirs. My job, as a paying fan, is to expect improvement and excellence.
One of the things I keep hearing this week (not right here) is why can't we copy the organizational model that brought back the Jets and the Saints last year after being bottom dwellers for several season before?
That is the last thing in the world I'd want to do, because look at those two team this year. They are right back on the bottom. The Saints have the same record as us, and the Jets are worse. They got lucky!
I'm not interested in a one year turn around. I'm interested in rebuilding a dynasty, and that's going to take time.
Take, no team, and I mean NO team advertise their investigations or the results of such investigations at any time anywhere. Surely you're kidding.
You commented yourself during the off season free agent signings that there wasn't much available, but was available was going at far too high a price. Six games in, I guess you've changed your mind. But that's a luxury you have, Mr. Shareholder, that the CEO doesn't. He makes choices, and has to live with them for the whole season.
We can't stop the run? I saw a team this last Sunday do an excellent job of stopping the run against a team that runs the ball very well. So what's your gripe here? When a team performs well, I don't complain about it. I made a lot of complaints after the SD game which is when they deserved it. This time they were near stellar.
A rose by any other name... They never called Bruce Allen the GM either. They called him the "defacto" GM. Are you really going to reduce this to symantics?
It's your site, Take. You put up the argument. It's up to you how much time you want to spend defending that argument.
I don't think that this is a matter of blanda and myself looking at this in a different way, we see it just like you guys, the only difference is that "we" realize that the damage started long ago, maybe even before the superbowl, you want to blame an individual or a group or an organization, fine due so but the fact remains the same, we are at the bottom and as blanda says no proven player is going to come and play for us because they are looking for the jewelry, it would be impossible to have the turn around that New Orleans and the jets had last year without a team suffering from the sophmore blues.
I hope that we get a little bit of help next year with FA and hopefully we will get a couple of good draft picksm than maybe we'll have an average year.
raiderdecoachella
I have nothing to defend, as our performances over the past two weeks are indefensible.
We were giving up an astonishing average of 5.6 yards per carry going into this game, in which Larry Johnson ran for 112 yards and a touchdown, and you think we've fixed our run-stopping problem?
I join Lane Kiffin in saying enough is enough, that losing in this manner is unacceptable, and that everyone needs to raise their game, their focus and their effort going forward.
I will not pat the team or the organization on the back after a game like last Sunday, and neither will Lane Kiffin. He will not make excuses, and neither will I.
One thing we forget. The press called Bruce the "defacto" GM. Truth is there is not, nor has there ever been that title within the Raider Organization.
Sometimes we get caught up in titles.
I don't know who would think we should pattern our organization after the Saints. Just look at their history. Sheer sophistry.
Careful there Blandarocked, quoting Shakespeare.
Maybe I haven't explained myself clearly on this. It's the old Bob Golic thing. If I feel the team has walked off the field and I think they have left everyghing they have out there, win or lose, I can deal with it.
I just didn't feel like I saw that on the offensive side of the ball.
The defense play and played hard and well. It was a missed opportunity. We have to start taking advantage of them when we have the chance and not find a way to give the game away.
When we start doing that, more of the free agents will look our way. We don't need big names, just solid competent players. The bigger the name, generally the bigger the ego, e. g. Moss.
H
Thank you, decoachella, and thank you H. Ah, reason, a breath of fresh air. Posturing just doesn't get us anywhere.
As many here know, I've been a Raider fan since 1968. I never had kids, but if I'd chosen to have them at the time I was married, I'd have a 31 year old kid by now. So I'm about as familiar with the Raiders as H. I'm used to winning. I'm pissed at the last four years.
But I understand that you can't maintain success forever, as I often tried to explain to 49er fans in the 90s.
Currently we are involved in multiple year, to-the-finish, AFC Championship game against the Steelers. It is a knock down, drag out, game of survival against the grim reaper of sporting organizations. It is a life or death struggle that has taken the lives of teams like the Cards, the Lions, Texans, and currently the 49ers.
We are mid game, and have made three adjustments since Callahan. We are taking the current set of adjustments and attempting to engineer working room. The fans in the stands need to stop booing long enough to allow the team to hear the QB signals.
Trust me, I do not want to see us lose this game. We will come back. We will win this game. Maybe not in this quarter (however long a quarter is here) but when the last second ticks off the clock we will have finished on top.
Awhile back there was that incident where Amy Trask was talking with the director of NFL officials. Amy complained about bad calls, and the director said something along the lines of, "well if your team hadn't made mistakes earlier in the game, the bad calls wouldn't matter."
Well, the Raiders made a lot of mistakes earlier in this game. Don't throw bum flags because of it.
And where has not naming a GM gotten us over the past five years?
I find it odd that you are all citing an entrenched and apparently failed approach to executive structure and management as proof that we are now on the right track.
The "mystery" GM approach hasn't worked lately, as evidenced by the state of our personnel. Now we have hired a guy whose most recent gig was in the boxing profession, and whose role and influence we still don't really know, and it doesn't occur to you to question the situation?
Look, I hope it works out, but I've got limits when it comes to blind faith.
Talk about the looking glass.
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Wow, semi-heated exchanges between Blanda and RT. This is something I'd thought I'd never see. Someone get RT a transfusion of Scope, stat! The Fresh-ometer is dangerously low!
RT, I think we all share your frustration, but Blanda and others are right. This is going to take time. Yes, the constant "rebooting" of the team over the last few years is taxing, but we've already won as many games this season as we did last year and we haven't even unveiled our 1st overall pick from the draft.
You managed to keep your composure all last year and we've certainly got more reasons to be optimistic now than since the last couple of years.
So cheer up! Things are certainly looking better than 2006!
Also, when we turn things around, hopefully sooner rather than later, I don't want to hear "I told you so."
When we turn it around, I will take pride in being a small part of the solution, in holding this team accountable, along with Lane Kiffin, and accepting nothing less than a winning attitude, intestinal fortitude, energetic play and intelligent decisions, things that have been absent for two weeks now.
No more, golly, it'll just take time for Culpepper to know not to take the sack, or gee whiz, I guess we just botched another two-minute drill, or well, sometimes 50 yards in the final three minutes while down two scores is all you can try for, or jeepers, that first long bomb sure worked, but it might not work again, so let's not try even though we've got eight guys locked in the box, or crikey, guess that ball just bounced off my hands, better luck next time...
You say it will take years to fix these things. I say all the things mentioned above can be fixed in a matter of weeks, as long as no one (including us) is shrugging their shoulders about it.
I feel like my point is being misconstrued. The losses against Detroit and Denver were perfectly acceptable to me for a team in this position. I never said it won't take time.
What we have seen over the past two weeks is a firm backslide into the ineptitude and losing attitude of the past three years.
Such a backslide was wholly unexpected on my part, which I don't think is unreasonable. Such a backslide, I believe, deserves shock therapy. Desperate circumstances require desperate measures.
I'm sure Kiffin has told his team that it will take time, too. But I'll bet his message after these two recent losses has changed since those first two, and so has mine.
Well, Take, you keep saying you and Kiffin. If you read my posts from yesterday, and what Kiffin said in his press conference, they're pretty much the same.
Just because one refuses to throw a tantrum doesn't mean one doesn't care about winning.
And in terms of Sunday's game being an absolute refersal on previous games, I say absolute BS! The defense did a great job of reversing the backslide from the previous weeks. Except for a fifty yard run by LJ, the Chefs couldn't get anything out of their running game. Except for 50 yard reception on a broken play, they couldn't pass either. The special teams as well played better than they did all year.
I say BS if you say that Culpepper was as bad Sunday as he was the week before. I say BS even if you say the OL was as bad as the week before. The whole game plan on Sunday was to attack the opponents at their strength. If you want to instill confidence in a team, that's the way to do it. Anything else is Cirque du Soleil.
There is no way the Raiders showed on Sunday that they were back sliding like the week before. But they lost anyway. Give KC a little credit. The fact is, and this is why I feel I've gone through the looking glass, is that I think, overall, that was one of the best games they played this year. Are we anywhere close to being where we need to compete? Hell no.
Would anyone else who was at the game on Sunday please help me explain our offense's utter lack of energy, willpower and execution to my good friend here? JF, Psycho, Calico, etc.?
What I saw was truly pathetic. Maybe that's just me.
Apparently, we saw two very different things on Sunday. That's okay, I guess, and it's the hub of our argument here today.
Take, it doesn't really make that much difference to me. All I can go on is what I saw on television. Close ups of players didn't seem to reveal any disinterest on their part. And, yes, you can tell a lackluster team normally on television. Different perceptions from being there, I can't account for, unless you saw players on the sidelines acting, in some way, inappropriately to the circustances. If that's the case, call out those players.
I never said that the offense showed that they have gelled. But what I can't tollerate is the failure to recognize the difference in the defense over previous games, or the Special Teams. If the Defense and the Special teams can turn it around like that in a week, so can the offense (so long as the offense has the same level of tallent as the D and ST). I'm not even ready to claim that. I've said specifically that we have severe holes still to fill on the O. Please SEE my posts before calling me blind.
RT-
I think its time for a new discussion. Its obvious that some of us saw a different game than others. Period.
True, RaiderRealist, and I'm taking suggestions ;)
Let me get to my criticism now. Jerremy Newberry? Have you had all of the nerve ending removed from your ass? That's twice in one season I've seen you snap the ball as though the QB was goosing your behind. When he's there, you should feel him there. If you don't feel him, then snap the ball as though you're in a shotgun, because you probably are.
Culpepper, meet Newberry. Newberry, meet Culpepper. It's perfectly acceptable in the NFL for QBs to touch the behind of the center. Trust me on this. Nobody's gonna start spreading rumors about you in the locker room.
How about what should our game plan against a strong Titans defense be? They're ranked number one against the run.
Blanda-
I saw that bungled snap. I can't recall seeing a center not realizing his QB was in the shot gun instead of under center.
Regarding the Titans and our running game...I don't think it was entirely our runners' fault last week.
While our line was protecting Culpepper moderately well, they weren't getting blowback or creating holes. With eight men in the box, we were literally running into a brick wall.
Short of vastly improving our o-line (touchy subject right now), how about backing the defense off the run a bit by throwing the ball more than five or seven yards more often?
I'm sure the Titans would be more than happy to repeat the Chiefs' game plan.
The Chiefs dared us to throw deeper, and we really didn't, except for one time, and it was successful.
It's hard to explain but the offense appears flat, there is no emotion. To start the game I watched Culpepper stroll out on the field more like he was taking a walk on the beach rather than playing in an NFL game. Maybe it's coaching. Or maybe Culpepper is just not providing leadership. There is no spark and no one is stepping up and making plays on a consistent basis.
The defense on the other hand started to liven up a bit, esp in the 2nd half. They did a good job of keeping the crowd into it.
Being that I usually watch games on TV I can tell you that there is a big difference. I felt this game more than any other watching on TV, and I certainly have a better understanding of RTs frustration.
By the way, I traveled from Idaho to attend last Sundays game. Yes, I live in the same state as everyone's favorite offensive coordinator. By coincidence I did stay at Walsh's B and B last summer. If any of you fly fish I highly recommend it-- some of the best fly fishing in the country.
JF
With the cutback blocking scheme, Kiffin has introduced several running plays designed to attack a stacked box. They were very successful running against a stacked box in Miami - but, sadly, that was Miami.
Kiffin came into the season saying this was going to be a running team, and that we'd run until we turned blue. He wants the personality of this team to be a hard nosed grind it out team. That is what surprised me about his game plan against San Diego. He started that game by throwing wide as often as possible to stretch their defense East and West. He wanted to be able to pound it up the middle in the second half.
I think the SD downturn might be on Kiffin for completely changing the offensive personality before the intended personality had a chance to dry. It may also be why they were a little flat in the running game against KC.
One thing I don't want to see is a backslide by the defense. Against KC they showed they understood what they'd been doing wrong, now they should be able to build on that. A shutout against the Titans would be a hell of a boost.
Now that we're on to the Titans game, playing the former Oilers always brings me back.
My first career was as a professional actor. My first professional acting gig was playing the romantic lead in a bedroom farce and dinner theatres in Houston and Phoenix. At the time, Dante Pastorini was married to the female lead, June Wilkinson. June was famous because she had been called "Hugh Hefner's favorite pinup."
My job every night was to let June push me onto a sofa, and then she and her 40DDs would dive on top of me.
Dante used to show up on occasion. We'd all get together and hit the clubs on off nights, and do stuff like play Charades after the show (while drinking liberally).
Dante was never the sharpest knife in the drawer, and I was upset a year or so later when they traded Stabler straight across for him. Defenses understood that if you could confuse him, you could beat him. Thank God for Jim Plunkett.
Lets hear your genius prediction for this week's game BlandaRocked.....Your stellar prediction of Raiders 42 Chiefs 10 last week, really shows how you know the game of football. So what genius prediction do you have in store for the Raiders and Titans?
Anon, get over it.
Wow! You guys had quite a day.
The whole KC game can be summed up in one play. 4th and one yard. While hindsight suggests we should have kicked the FG, this is a play we’ve made all year. After all, we were the #1 rushing team in the NFL a couple weeks ago. Right?
And like Ray Lewis said about the Ravens in a similar situation... it’s only 36 inches. You have a RB, a FB and an offensive line (although, he was referring to the Ravens passing on 3 consecutive downs, it carries the same weight - get the job done).
That was maybe the worst 4th and one effort I’ve ever witnessed (sorry RT, I wasn’t at the game -per your request for a little backup). The Chefs D wanted that play much more than we did.... and that sucks!
I question why Jordan even played (with a back injury) the last two games, much less started. Why isn’t Bush being activated? As I said before, will Russell have to split an atom before Kiffin lets him play (I don't mean rush him in, but will he get a fair chance)? As X aptly stated, “Stu’s one career hit was like a drop in the ocean.” These are some of the things that bother me, although I realize they’re a little more short-sighted than what's been presented today.
And why does Kiffin think a divisional game is no more important than any other game on the schedule? Forget that we haven’t won a divisional game in like five years (repeat, 5 years), isn’t that the first order of business to win in the division? Duh! So, put away the psycho crap and call it like it is. Repeat after me coach, “divisional games are the most important games we play.” Period!
Not that any of you need a reminder, but we’re 0-3 in the division. That gives us about a zero chance of winning it.
I truly believe that teams match up differently, so that we may be able to still put our best foot forward against the rest of the NFL; but when it comes to our division, it’s still business as usual.
So while I’m in awe of the exchange and knowledge of the Raiders that Blanda (sorry to single you out, but I always respect your posts) and others have displayed today, I would have to disagree that we played up to the competition that the Chefs represent. I’m more inclined to believe the Chefs were a very beatable team and we simply dropped the ball. Thank God for the fins and the Rams.
nyraider, I agree with you. The players have said themselves that Kiffin thinks no differently regarding division rivals. That's going to have to change, because rivals think differently about us. Schottenheimer based his whole career on coaching against the Raiders. You can't ignore that kind of thing.
That also may explain the discrepency here. We get UP to play KC. Approaching them like any other team at least creates the illusion of a let down.
Be sure to check out Calico Jack's Silver & Black Forever for a very honest, accurate and eloquent take on Sunday's game.
RT:
Short of vastly improving our o-line (touchy subject right now), how about backing the defense off the run a bit by throwing the ball more than five or seven yards more often?
>>>>>>
I think that is what the entire problem is.... SD had enough tape on Kiffin's offense to notice that all our offense is either a run or short passes, and our qb's are either not adept enough (McCown) or too stupid (Culp)to throw deep.
I think we will see 8 in the box for the rest of the season until we start torching people long.
The running game is done folks... STick a fork in it until we can throw effectively long and put big scores up.
BTW.. If I were Kiffin, I'd playaction bootleg Culp out three straight plays and toss it deep all three times the first series against Tenn.... just to get them out of eight in the box. I'd bet he could complete one of them.
>>>>
I saw that bungled snap. I can't recall seeing a center not realizing his QB was in the shot gun instead of under center.
>>>>
My first thought was, what, did he forget his ass grew or something?
Embarrassing. Reminded me of the old footage of TB when they lost every game.
Gary- I agree. Throw it long every series until they back off. It can't be any worse than wasting the entire first half, and it might actually work... I mean score.
Not to beat a dead horse, but here's a question for you guys that recorded the game: Did I see Justin Griffith standing upright and just watch Jordan run by him on that 4th and one play?
Why is our lead blocker watching the play in front of him? Maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps I dreamed it.
>>>>
And we do need a WR. Curry dropped two balls in one game which would have made substantial yardage, one may have been a TD. Your #1 guy should never do that to you.
>>>>>
This sounds like a Raider excuse, but the long pass was PI... the defender grabbed and pulled his arm from behind. The second surprised him I think... Culp frigging LASERED it. I haven't seen Curry drop many routine passes his entire career... in fact he has made the tough passes look routine. I think he is a fine number one. JMHO.
Thank you RT for providing a wonderful "internet pub" where the debates are interesting and the level of discourse has been raised. The debate between you and BR has been very stimulating which I will cover later.
To my old chum BR: Thanks for taking my 10:19 post from last night and sharing your views.
My counter points ...
CJ:
"12 stinkin points? Is it asking too F'N much to ask the O & ST to do their part?"
BR:
I thought the ST played a damned decent game. They were far better than they had been through the first 5 games. No, a ball was returned for a TD, but that rarely happens for anybody. That's why it's exciting when it does. Except for the Nnamdi screw-up, I thought they played a relatively error free game. And you sure as hell can't complain about Lechler's punting in that game."
CJ Counter Point:
Everyone naturally agrees that the D played stellar. The offense laid an egg and the ST had 1 major miscue that led to points. I would agree that overall the ST played well but this 1 critical mistake was inexcusable and costly. When you run into your own man attempting to field a punt that means you are not aware of your surroundings. We lost possession of the ball and 3 points for a play that should not be tolerated.
CJ:
"It is time to start passing to Curry & Porter on 1st down. Start passing on running downs and running on passing downs."
BR:
"Running on passing downs? Really? You don't think they've been doing that? Seems to me I've lost count of how many times they've run the ball on 3rd and long. I also know I've seen them pass many times on 1st downs, but I have no way of knowing who the primary receiver is on any given play. It could just be that neither have been getting open on those plays. I've also seen the Raiders throw on 2nd or 3rd and short.
CJ Counter Point:
My point is quite simple. Check the play by play summary in CBS Sportline. The fact is that we didn't attempt a pass to a WR until the mid point of the 3rd quarter. My other central point is that in a generic sense, our offensive playcalling vs. KC was like a broken record. Also, keep in mind that my point was specifically for the KC game not past games.
CJ:
"It is time for the Raiders to start a game strong. In our 4 losses we have come out punch drunk and dug a hole. Sure it was only a 6 to 0 hole vs. KC but it felt like 20 to 0 the way the offense was playing."
This I can basically agree with except that it seems to me that the major problem with this team is confidence. They seem to be focused mainly on not making mistakes. Not making mistakes is over rated to a certain degree, as long as you have the CONFIDENCE that you'll be able to make for the loss. How do you instill confidence in a team that has been losing for years? You can't. All you can do is give them the best opportunities to succeed, and then expect that confidence will grow with success. Other than that, all you can do is to bring in players who have an infectiously confident attitude.
CJ Counter Point:
The key to getting off to a good start is executing a sound game plan, minimizing mistakes, capitalizing on opportunities, and playing with passion & energy from the opening whistle.
CJ:
"It is time to start stretching the field both horizontally and vertically. Using the entire field and all of our weapons in effect makes our offense SO much less predictable."
Seems to me that's what Kiffin tried against San Diego. See how well this team responded to that? Also, we haven't been that predictable. Everybody knows we're going to run a lot, but so what? Last year's offense was predictable. You can't compare the two.
CJ Counter Point:
I couldn't disagree with you any more regardless of what type of offense is being executed. A few basic principles always apply.
#1 Balance of Run to Pass
#2 Run to the left, middle, right
#3 Pass to the left, middle, right
#4 Pass short, intermediate, deep
#5 Balance of Run to Pass on 1st down
#5 Using as many weapons at your disposal.
I'm not suggesting a "bombs away" approach. I'm not suggesting that we stop running the ball as a primary staple. What I am suggesting is using every inch of the field to our advantage, keeping the D guessing and on their heels, opening up passing lanes, using more play action pass, and using a wider variety of plays in the playbook. When the box is stacked with 8 Chefs on 1st down, run a play action pass, max protect, and go to Curry or Porter in single coverage. By no means am I insinuating that this needs to be done every 1st down but it should be done enough to put the D on their heels.
CJ:
"It is time to install a no huddle offense and use all means necessary to jump start the offense."
BR:
"Okay, back to this "no-huddle" cure all. There are few teams that do this, and fewer still who do it well. The Colts are successful at it because they have Payton Manning who is likely the best QB since the 70s. In fact, he's the only player in the NFL who I feel would fit right in in the 70s. The Raiders used to be successful at it because they had a coach who loved to use it, and they had Gannon who called many of his own plays anyway. Other than a "hurry-up" offense, the no-huddle is a whole different offensive philosophy and must be added over time to be successful. Gruden wasn't successful with it until his third year."
CJ Counter Point:
You act like intalling a no huddle offense is rocket science. High School teams run no huddle offenses. I would bet my last dollar that every NFL team has a no huddle offense intalled in their playbook for the simple fact that it is used for a 2 minute offense.
My point about the no huddle is that using it selectively (like once or twice a game depending on the opponent, score and other variables) does a few things:
#1 It catches the D flat footed and off guard
#2 It creates tempo & energy and can be used to jump start an offense.
#3 Make the D get out of its comfort zone, limits substitutions, and changes the dynamic of the game.
If the no huddle fails, so what? What is the difference between a 3 and out in the no huddle and a 3 & out in a regular offense? Answer: Nothing besides less clock used.
CJ:
"It is time to stop making excuses, expecting more, and start playing with the mentality of shoving all your chips to the center of the table and screaming at the top of your lungs 'That's right F'Wad. I'm ALL in!'"
BR:
That sounds like desperation to me. Desperation doesn't lead to success. Desperation is an ant trying to extricate itself from a sand trap. If you fail after encouraging the players to play like they're desperate, they fall deeper into the pit of despair.
CJ Counter Point:
You are entitled to your views. I don't look at this declaration as "deseration". On the contrary. I look at it as passionately believing ... a committment, accountability, raised expectations, and higher standards. Each and every game there needs to be the type of determination and mentality of going to war ... to win at all costs.
RT vs. BR "Shareholder Debate":
My view is that your vested interest in the Raiders doing well is directly proportionate to the amount of time & money spent on the Raiders and your overall level of interest. It is our own free will to make choices. Beyond the dollars spent & time invested, the customer/fan is virtually powerless to impact the Raiders fortunes. All the talk about stategy, draft choices, personnel, etc. is merely for own amusement and mental stimulation.
>>>>
Look, I hope it works out, but I've got limits when it comes to blind faith.
>>>>
I think the context of all this should be that if we had even average QB play all season we could very easily be 5-1 right now.
JUST AVERAGE.
Our qb(s) SUCKS ASS, that is the main reason we are losing... the same as all the other losing teams.
It's not the team, or the coach, or the line, or the play calling,or the defense, it all is irrelevant if you have a QB that can't CONSISTENTLY make good decisions and accurate throws.
Al tried to fix it with Russell, and we have to wait to see if it works out. Until then, most of the rest of this is like arguing over pre-season games. Its fairly meaningless.
The reason we went on a great three year run five years ago wasn't the line or the coach or the defense, or the play calling, it was GANNON playing at MVP quality. Thats it. Thats the list.
Man I picked the wrong day to be on the street and not at my desk. Look what I missed! Blanda-parry, Take-thrust! I'm out of breath from reading....
Blanda normally I'm with you (and I still am, i.e., taking longer than 6 games time to right this ship), but Take I think your backslide description of the last two games was right on and your accompanying reaction justified.
Although the D played better at times I felt and saw what I thought was a scary regression.
As for the shock treatment suggestion, after watching the press conference it looked like Kiffin was first.
The division game thing is odd to me. You mean to tell me that when Kiffin was at USC they never had a geeked up week for say Cal or UCLA or whoever?
You guys watch more football than me so I'll let you devise this weeks game plan.
Blanda you thespian dog you!
No worries about the ghost of KFC beating us this week... Young is reported as the starter. This may be one week where our absolute refusal to blitz works in our favor. Keeping Young in the pocket might be our best chance.
Of course, if Collins plays we should bring everybody. We all know how good he is under pressure.
Game Plan vs. the Flaming Thumbtacks:
Is there any doubt that the Flaming Thumbtacks are going to stack the box to take away the run? No, I didn't think so. 2 corners in man to man coverage with 1 deep FS ... what do you do? 1st play from scrimmage play action pass and send both Curry & Porter streaking down the sidelines. Max protect with the TE, RB, and FB. Let Culpeeper air it out. Is there anyone in RT Land that doubts that this would work?
Here's what I would like to see done in the 1st half:
Everytime the Flaming Thumbtacks overload the box, Culpepper should call an audible (if it is a run call) to go to a pass play to a WR. The audible is quite simple. It tells the OLine that it is a pass play. It tells the backs and TE to pass block. It tells the WRs to run their designated routes. Nothing fancy or complicated. WRs running basic routes & beating their man.
As the Raiders march down the field in big chunks of yardage, guess what happens? Lo and behold the defense starts respecting the threat of the passing attack and goes to a more conventional D which in turn gives our rushing attack a chance to gouge them.
I hate to be a simpleton but the way I look at it is you pass when the box is stacked and run when it is not. I realize that defenses disguise their formations but we haven't gotten to the point where opponents are worried about getting tricky on us.
Attack, attack, attack. Jump on the Flaming Thumbtacks. Stick you foot on their windpipe and see how they respond to the element of surprise and being down 14 to 0 after 1 quarter.
Raiders 31
Flaming Thumbtacks 13
Go ahead and quote me on the above prediction Faida Boy & Patsie Boy because I don't give a flying F. Until you boys learn not to wet your bed, all I hear coming out of your bubble gum chewing lips is Blah, Blah, Blah.
interesting debate between blanda, and take.
i agree with blanda that it's going to take time for the raiders to get better.
however, rt is also correct that we must see some evidence of the improvement before our anger can subside a little.
afterall, we are a last place team, with no division wins, seemingly every year now.
my opinion is that we should rebuild this defense around morrison, & howard, and build the offense around jruss, & miller.
everyone else on this current roster should be on some very thin ice right now.
we need big changes, and we needed them, like, yesterday.
but we can't go back, we can only look foward, and i for one, will be bitterly disappointed if we do not have sweeping changes to our roster this off season.
it's something, as rt says, that should have been done already.
Time for Dr. H to step in.
Blandarocked,
I said the same thing about Newberry earlier. If he can't feel the QB back there look between your legs to verify the formation. It's permissable. Also, hearing. If he sounds further away, he probably is.
Also, I only have you by four years as a fan goes, so we are of the same generation.
What this season may turn out to be is equivalent to passing a kidney stone. There will be periods of normalcy for which we will be happy and greatful. These will be interspersed with waves of sheer agony which are represented by the past two weeks.
We will scream and cry, and beg for the pain killers. But, eventually the pain will subside for a bit, only to return.
At some point the periods of pain will become shorter and somewhat less intense. Then when you think you have reached your limit, you will look down at the little strainer the hospital gave you and there will be the source of you agony, finally flushed from your system.
As I stated before, we are spoiled, and I admit I am. But, in the grand scheme of things our agony has always been short lived when compared to others like fans of the Falcons, Saints, Bengals, Lions and, yes anon, the Patsies, who accept for a couple of decent years pretty much sucked in the 70's, 80's and 90's.
So, the next time that kidney stone starts to move, just let it all out. Scream, kick and holler, but remember, this too shall pass.
H
Calcio- I agree 1000%. We need to stretch defenses away from this 8 and 9 in the box sh*t. This simple philosophy used to be a way of life for the Raiders. Now, it's a completely forgotten art (along with throwing deep at the end of the half or game when even a pass interference penalty is possible).
Unfortunately, the former is not as easy as it seems. We tried pass first against the Dolts and couldn't protect the QB. However, I don't remember attempting any deep passes early. (Teams can stack 8-9 in the box against us and still play our short passing game more effectively.)
Plus, our receivers are big, and should be a mismatch in almost any man coverage in the league... the key words being "should be."
Unless and until we find more dynamic in our current offensive strategy, we can pretty much expect more of the same from opposing defenses.
H
Yeah you are right, my Patsies did suck in the 70's, 80's and some of the 90's. I have been a season ticket holder since the early 80's and I have witnessed some really bad Patriots teams. I got to witness the Patriots be the sacrifical lambs for the 85 Bears in Super Bowl 20. Believe me I was not singing along when the Patriots made their own lame video to try to counteract the Super Bowl Shuffle. I also was there when I was so sure a Bill Parcells led squad was going to overcome Brett Favre and the Packers. More heartache.
But I have to tell you. Witnessing what I am witnessing this decade has made everything and all the suffering worthwhile. When all is said and done, I feel that the 2007 Patriots are going to go down as the greatest football team ever assembled. We are going to have our fourth Lombardi come February and one day when I am living in the past, just like the Raiders fans do now, I can refer to the 4 (who knows, maybe we can get it up to 5 or 6) Lombardi's we won in the decade of the 2000's. I mean my cousin reminds me of the Raiders over the Redskins Super Bowl win every chance he gets and that was 25 years ago, so I figure I can ride this decade out for the next 50 years at least!
Anon,
A lucid intelligent post. If your post were more like that, you would be taken seriously. However, we don't want to encourage you since this is a Raider site and not a NE site.
Now, for the Raider Fans. It appears Mr. Young will be starting. He has a quad injury, so we shouldn't be afraid to pressure him early. The more strain he puts on it the less mobile he will become. I belive the injury is to his plant leg, but will have to confirm.
If the defense can stay away from the one big play and keep it close I belive we can pull one out 20 - 13.
H
Wow, I missed a lot. I can't even bring myself to watch the tape yet because I like my TV and don't want to see it broken.
What I do remember was seeing a run-first team who didn't run the ball. Once again we let the other team dictate what happened by not playing physical enough.
We simply need to get tough. 50 yards rushing won't cut it. The D and ST did good but for some reason we just can't get all 3 phases playing good at the same time. This has been true for years and must change. Consistency, toughness, and F the Chefs, pound it into their heads every day until they get it right.
Psycho
>>>>>
Everytime the Flaming Thumbtacks overload the box, Culpepper should call an audible (if it is a run call) to go to a pass play to a WR. The audible is quite simple. It tells the OLine that it is a pass play. It tells the backs and TE to pass block. It tells the WRs to run their designated routes. Nothing fancy or complicated. WRs running basic routes & beating their man.
>>>>>
This would work perfectly except for one problem... for some reason Culp does not audible into anything besides running plays.
I have not seen it once.
At some point this does become a coaching problem... why doesn't Kiffin grab him by the face mask and say "WTF are you audibling into a running play when they have 9 in the box"???? If I were coach this would drive me INSANE.
This is the same problem we saw with the last two coaches, simple solutions to obvious problems are NEVER fixed. It's my main bitch about Kiffin thus far.
Oh, btw, did anyone else see where McCown wants his starting job back?
I think he would be worse because he can't hit wide open receivers down field if his life depended on it... at least Culp has the ability, he just doesn't want to us it for some strange reason.
I'm excited about the prospect of Josh returning, but that won't surprise anyone. :)
A couple of things:
Calico, good arguments. Thanks for clarifying. Pissedoffitude often gets in the way of sounding reasonable. And we're all guilty of it.
Also, the Flaming Thumbtacks is great. I was always tempted just to call them the Oitans.
As for throwing deep on play actions when the box is stacked, it's more complicated than how it's being discussed. Against a team with fast linebackers it's suicide. A smart team with fast linebackers knows that on any obvious running play you show a stacked front, and listen for the audible. Just before the snap, the defense drops back into coverage. If on top of that you send a blitzer with instructions to ignore the fake hand off, the QB can get himself killed.
KC has good, fast LBs. Kiffin had to pick his moments, and like any good coach, he tried to set those moments up by doing one thing repeatedly and consistently, running on first down. That is why the 2nd half play actions worked. From then on, KC started dropping into coverage and Kiffin had to be more selective about his moments. 1st down was no longer a given because KC was then prepared to drop back. If our running game had been better, KC would have had to worry about it more, and would have been more reluctant to drop into coverage. This is why you have to give KC credit. Both teams played damned fine defense.
Pattie, Annon, whatever... Yes you'll have fond memories of your asterisks in fifty years after suffering through hell in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Hopefully they'll last you through the next forty years of frustration. We in the Raider Nation, however, have been to multiple AFC Championship games in every decade, and have been to Super Bowls in every decade but the 90s. So while you're enjoying your forty year old memories, we'll be looking to build our next SB team.
Anon, I'm going to get this off my chest, and since you're the spokesperson for the patsies on this site, you're the one who gets it.
NE was caught in the act of cheating. You know the scenario, so I don't have to repeat it here. You've said all teams do what the Patsies did. Well, if your going to accuse others of criminal behavior, you have to provide some evidence. The Patsies were caught in the act.
After the Patsies were caught, the NFL demanded the evidence that might show the Patsies cheated even in their Super Bowl victories. Once receiving the evidence, the NFL didn't review it, they destroyed it. It's obvious to me, and to others, that the NFL destroyed that evidence because they felt that cheating would be found, and didn't want 3, perhaps 4 Super Bowls TAINTED.
I will tell you that a 4th is unlikely, because since the Patsies were caught THIS SEASON, the NFL will likely feel that the trophy will be tainted this year if it goes to the Patsies. Now in view of the Snow Job, we both know that the NFL will attempt to control the outcomes of games where they can. A controversial call will occur in the playoffs that will keep the Patsies out of the Super Bowl. So now I've predicted your future. We'll see if I'm right come January.
bama7
Take, yours and Blanda's argument is really just an example of the underlying raider divide that exists, subtly, within raider Nation. It's been here since the early 90's. Al Davis.
If your an Al fan (Blanda for example) you can only put a positive spin on the garbage we're forced to watch, because to question things is to question Al. And to the Al apologists, Al IS NEVER WRONG. To them we're just an inch away from being great... a missed assignmnet here or there, a bad bounce of the ball, refs that hate us... a bonehead play here and there.
Al was the best NFL mind in the sixties and seventies. In the eighties the game started to pass him by. In the nineties it comepletely left him. And now, he hasn't a clue.
All we can hope for is that Al will realize his shortcomings and continue to turn over all aspects of this team to others.
meanwhile we wade through Al's garbage. Honestly, if any of y'all were coach, would you not have cut Brayton by now? How about Porter? I hate the guy. Wouldn't you love to see Porter muscle the ball away from someone once? Just once. he's paid like a great NFL receiver, but he sucks. Al's fifth round gem, the great, Porter. have you seen thos eincredinle abs? Wow. makes me sick.
Wouldn't you love to see schweigert get his second good lick on someone? Schweigert has to have the nfl record for fewest licks by a starting nfl safety.
Sam Williams, seriously.. anyone really still have him on your team after his 4 year try-out? How's it possible to miss so much contact in a game?
If the Broncos, Chiefs or Dolts hadn't won, not one, afc west game in three years, we'd think they were PATHETIC.
That's how we're viewed right now.
Stand up raiders and win one game on anger alone. Damn.
Bama - Your last sentence, plus "damn", describes exactly where I'm at right now.
Whoever on our roster is not completely pissed off and can actually get sleep at night, without wanting to choke a Chef at least once per day, does not belong here. If I'm Kif that's my #1 player evaluation tool for the next two years until we get all of these guys weeded out. WWTD?
Psycho
"Blanda you thespian dog you!"
Yeah! What was THAT all about? Now every time I read Blanda's posts, I'm going to imagine him holding one of those "alas, poor Yorick" skulls and delivering it in a booming Patrick-Stewart voice. LOL
Whenever I listen to the postgame show on KSFO, there's always a featured player. I can't recall one instance in the past few years where a player put aside the platitudes and revealed serious fire and emotion.
Would it hurt one of them to once, just once, throw some verbal chairs? After the Lions game, Kirk Morrisson, whom I love, kept repeating, "Well, if we'd won this game, then we wouldn't be talking about all this." Blah, blah, blah.
Where is Rich Gannon when you need him, someone who will be brutally honest, someone who will take the bull by the freakin' horns and say, publicly, enough is enough.
At some point, year after year, you have to wonder if these bland platitudes reveal some form of acceptance of the situation. I'm not saying they're not trying, but perhaps the blood just isn't turned up to full boil. If it was, don't you think it would come out of someone's mouth once every blue moon?
Here we go again,
bama! are you sure you are not my best friend Joe!
Al Davis has lost it, why didn't Al select romo or bratty, why didn't he select LT or LJ, why didn't he select OCHO CINCO or Jonhson from detroit.
He also should have selected on the defensive side Allen rather than the chefs, merriman and castillo and on and on.
The fact of the matter is that he did not and I will tell you why, he reason is very simple if and wherever you work I am sure that you see people get hired and eventually most of them don't pan out, the same holds true for sports, how many bratty's do you see in the nfl, only one, how many romo's do you see in the nfl, right just one! the selection is huge when it comes to drafting more than 80% don't make it to what their teams hope they would become, look for example at Warren, Detroit gave up on him as a third overall draft pick, Denver thought that they were doing us a wrong by packaging him to us, he's working out for us, so is Burgess and Sapp.
Get over it, Mr. Davis has not lost anything, what happen to our 3rd. round pick, he was dumped from his 2nd. team, bad choice, most certainly yes, but at least we are not carrying a liablility.
raiderdecoachella
Maybe my friend is right!
As per my best friend "Al Davis told Kiffin that if he wins one more game, he is personally going to kick his ass, Kiffin is getting to be to famous in the nfl and "al" can't tolerate that".
Al davis' plan is to have the Raiders as the worst team in the nfl, that's davis' wet dream.
Please!!!!!!!!
what is wrong with this picture!
raiderdecoachella
{Psycho on Kiffin}. I'm still in his corner 100% but I'm beginning to think he's not God afterall. Who knew?
Besides some minor complaints I've read around here about questionable play calling or whatever he's still a damn good coach by all accounts. But I'm worried.
Like every other Raider coach, he was brought in with the expectation that he would win division games. We've now lost to all three division rivals. The scary part is they were all "Just another game" which I'm sure is not sitting well upstairs, and frankly is starting to piss me off after watching my team come out flat in all 3 of these games.
Kiffin has a little time to monkey around with his team before we play another division game Nov 25th and he better figure this thing out by that time, for his sake. "Another Game" or not, the other teams don't think so. We've been unable to match their intensity for years, and we lose every time. They simply HATE us, and we don't hate them back.
Madden used to find SOMETHING, ANYTHING to hate about teams before ANY game. And we're too busy talking about what a nice guy Norv is, and what a great sack artist Jared Allen is. Meanwhile J.Allen was talking sh*t about how much he loves to beat us in our own house to see the looks on our faces! That's BS!!! Guess what happened, he got 2.0 sacks while we're standing around admiring what a f'in great player he is!
Yeah, I saw you on the Silver & Black Show too before the game Barry Sims. Not to single out Barry as the only person, but I didn't hear any hint of wanting to kick Jared Allen's ass, only how gooooood J.Allen is. Get mad or get out!
Psycho
decoachella, I'd add that Brayton is primarily relegated to the bench. Just as Kelly was out of significant portions of the KC game because he had "disappeared."
Brayton is on the team because we need something that resembles warm bodies to feed into games when people get tired or injured. Fist Round draft picks are not generally happy about finding a "home" on the bench. If you can find a different warm body who plays better than Brayton for his, what, 12 plays per game, then introduce him to Kiff and I'm sure he'll be signed.
Now don't go off and tell me about which teams have great DTs and DEs, because that's the point, they have them, we don't. Yes, we can trade for them, but at what cost? You can't work in the NFL off of hind sight. Hind sight is strictly relegated to us fans. HCs and owners don't have the benefit.
Doobie, that was a whole other life ago. And "Pajama Tops" was hardly Shakespeare, although as primarily a stage actor I did my share of the clasics in my time.
Later on I did some television work, managed a small theatre company, and directed some. The industry got hit hard in the early 90s with three consecutive strikes and the war in the Persian Gulf, so I went off to pursue an new career. Been doing that ever since. If I was still doing the other, I wouldn't be able to spend as much time sitting in front of a computer, and you likely wouldn't even know BlandaRocked existed.
On the other hand, it could be that you'd be arguing with BlandaRocked and never know it was really someone like George Clooney. The Raiders have always had their share of celebrity fans. I remember the days when Jim Garner (Maverick, Rockford Files) used to prowl the Oakland sidelines.
Bama7
Here's hindsight for you (or rather a nightmare flashback or two)... was I the only one on this board that was disgusted when our first two picks a couple of years ago were Wahington and then Routt?
Two speedy, CB's.. gee i wonder who was in love with those two?
Bunch of track, finesse guys. When you're losing like we are you need fighters. It's not that their bad players, just we needed something different. The Pats have proved that a good front 7 makes even average CB's work okay. That's the new NFL... niot Davis's 1969 view of overvaluing the next Willie Brown.
It's been shit like that over the years that has driven me crazy.
Who was the lame ass Cb from dallas that Davis brought in that time after his two gift INT's in the superbowl? Nauseating. And did we really at various times have Gault, Rocket Ishamel and Desmond Howard as WR's? Let me guess how much Al liked those speedsters.
And didn't you just know we were going out and pick up Rhodes after his superbowl game? While an okay player, why not spend the money on Donnie Edwards instead?
And as for Moses... I read the Cardinals view there move to a 3-4 this year as permanent now. Moses in no 3-4 guy. You watch, you'll see.. Moses will be a good pass rusher in a 4-3. Hell, he was much better than Philip Daniels & Robert Geathers at Georgia and those guys have done well in the nfl.
Bama, I think you're just trying to get something started today. I shot my wad yesterday taking on Take and Calico. I'd just point out that Rout has 3 interceptions and has won the starting job from Washington. And even though he disappeared for a couple of games, Washington is currently playing very well. We were also very low on CBs when they were drafted.
The idea has been mentioned, and I think I might like the idea, is to convert Washington to FS and let Schweigert back up both safety positions.
I saw an interesting article on Coop yesterday. Interesting perspective because he was gone at the beginning of camp and hasn't been back with the team until recently. He says the atmosphere is completely changed, and the players act like an entirely new team. Everything is much more positive. I bet they'd be even more positive if they started to win.
Careful guys, that kidney stone is starting to move again. Quick, more fluids and pain killers. Preferably in the same bottle.
H
Sorry, H. Can't be positive 100% of the time. Otherwise you can fall off the edge big time.
Well...
Might as well make my prediction(s) for this week. Last week I forgot they always had to be conditional.
If the whole team shows up to play:
Raiders 24 Thumbtacks 14
If just the defense shows up:
Raiders 10 Thumbtacks 13
If just the offense shows up:
Raiders 17 Thumbtacks 24
Moses got picked up by Miami. He's the fifth defensive lineman they've signed in two weeks. Doesn't seem like any have worked out for them, but Moses was their fifth choice. That makes two of our cast offs signed by Miami. Darius was released by them again, and soon, I imagine, Moses will be released by them again.
Well, well...
Grady Jackson is available. Now days, if you can just crane him out and drop him on the line of scrimage, he's too big to run around.
You might be able to run up and over the top of him like a small hill.
Blanda-there's something not mathematically correct about your predictions. If the offense shows up in scenario #3, shouldn't they score 24 points (see scenario #1), which leaves us in a tie. This time, however, Culpepper gets the job done and Jano boots a 45-yarder to win, 27-24.
Did I just say that?
I have to admit, for all the Jano bashing I did earlier in the year, the guy has shown up on kickoffs. But I still can't figure out the occasional squib kick. That's worthless.
NYRaider: I'm a thinking man. You have to understand that I also account for defensive scores.
When I heard Grady was cut I was all over him. But they said his attitude has not been good.
They said he didn't practice much during the week, and practiced half-assed when he was in there. Also he was free-lancing too much in games. Really fat too.
Psycho
Raiders beat the Flaming Thumbtacks. Final Score will be one of the following;
21 to 12 or 31 to 13 (my 1st choice) or
41 to 14
I'm getting a reverse visual image in my head where backwards is forwards and forwards is backwards ... got it?
Blandarocked, I am surprised you didnt predict the score to be Raiders 56 Titans 3. Oakland goes into Tennessee and loses again just like they have the other 53 times since being destroyed in the Super Bowl.
Tennessee 26
Oakland 13
Bama7
How about Cooper at SS and Huff at FS? At least Cooper TRYS to hit people.
And Blanda- maybe we should take a cue from Miami and bring in some FA defensive help. I can think of at least 5 on our D that we could cut and not miss.
And NY, I read where Jano says his long KO's are due to his big ass losing wait. Thanks fatass for finally trying to better yourself... now if our coach just had faith in you he might try a long field goal again instead of letting Jordan make a half-assed effort on 4th down.
Sorry, but the Dolt loss was bad enough... the Chief loss just did it for me. We can't beat those guys at home? Their defense is nothing special and yet we play as if they're '86 bears. In our own backyard!!! Embarrassing.
I'm over here in bama having to endure this shit on the internet with gregg papas making the calls... getting my hopes, only to hear, "he dropped it" or "he threw it away.. the raiders will have to punt" or "Carr fumbled... I think someone .. a raider... ran into him."
Doobie-
If I were Blanda I would be holding something else on Joey Heatherton and it wouldn't have been her skull.
Yorick my *ss- 40DDs :-)
Calico-
Rememeber the '76 Super Bowl season when Warren Bankston had a dream before each game about the coin flip landing heads or tails? I thought he called every flip right the whole year so I'm OK with you on the visual image.
Interesting deal on Jano. Before this new regime, everybody was making him kick squibs, making him try to hit the corners, or anything else. The new guys come in and say, "Just kick the damn thing as far as you can, fat ass!" Now every kick is beyond the goal line. Who knew?
>>>>
Bama7
Here's hindsight for you (or rather a nightmare flashback or two)... was I the only one on this board that was disgusted when our first two picks a couple of years ago were Wahington and then Routt?
>>>>
Yup... here's an Al-hater to a tee.
"I am smarter than all you morons because I KNEW this guy wouldn't turn out."
JFC... THE MAJORITY OF ALL NFL PICKS DON'T TURN OUT!
Get over yourself, or start wearing Patriot or Colt colors.
It's your choice, really.
Bama, I think you're talking about Jerry Mac's blog from Monday with Jano-
Sebastian Janikowski has attributed his success on kickoffs this year to improving his diet _ he says he weighs 242 pounds and lost 34 _ and a philosophy that is allowing him to kick deep rather than for a specific direction.
"I feel my leg speed is faster. I'm approaching the ball faster," Janikowski said. "I feel better."
So while he attributes it partially to being in better shape, it also goes to a new philosophy. It's been mentioned before about how our new ST coach changed things up for Jano and took advantage of his strength.
I know that right now things look bleak, but think back to earlier in the year when people were making predictions- and there was a lot of cautious optimism. A lot of 7-9, 8-8 predictions.
The Altoid Take
We can still get there. We've hit a bad patch, but we got blinded by the Miami game because our team looked so good. I'm as disappointed as any of you, but I at least see hope. We can complain about having had to suffer through 4 years of poor teams, but we have to remember that this is year 1 of Kiffin's team. We knew this was a rebuilding year before it started, and as much as it hurts, we have to give Kiffin time. One of the reasons we got in that 4 year rut was because we (and by that I mean the Raider organization) made too many knee-jerk decisions. That's how you end up with a revolving door of coaches.
Titans WILL win 28 to 6 92(2 "seabiscuit" FG'S). The faidas will play like the great teams of "06", "05", "04" etc....Just keep playing with pride and poise babies. The "nation" is in distress! 2-14.
Bama7
Gary, that's where you're at with AL? "most nfl picks fail"? Where's the fire bro? You like being the Chief's bitch? The dolts doormat? The donkey's toilet.
And I'm not an Al hater, you blind zombie. I just don't think he knows what the hell he is doing. I think he is the reason we've been losing.
Parcells said on radio recently: the franchices that are successful in today's nfl have a clear line between the three parts of the team: management, the coaches and the players. He said that the franchises that have trouble in today's nfl have leaks between those groups... players going to mgt about coaches, mgt trying to coah etc. Parcells knows the NFL and he wasn't talking directly about us, but he was right.
Well in our case all of that stuff has been happening for a long time, and we don't EVEN HAVE mgt. Other than Al.
It's time for a real GM... who picks the talent in conjunction with Kiffen. A guy that knows today's football. Not Al. We'll start winning again if Al stays completely out of it. Sorry Gary I know that's upsetting to you. Heil the jumpsuit!
Blandarocked,
While we can't be positive all the time. As you and I have pointed out, there were positives in last Sunday's game. Even though I was highly perturbed at our offensive play calling, the defense did show up. Johnson had one big play, and so did Huard. Other than that a solid performance.
Also, at my advanced age I can only hold onto the negatives so long, then I have to let it go.
As for Grady Jackson, most of the players were surprised and upset he was released. He is supposedly a good locker room guy. He played fairly well for us but got the big head about his worth.
He may come fairly cheap since I hear the Falcons have to pay him for the entire season.
He would definitely occupy space, much like Jupiter. As a bonus I think he has his own gravitational field.
H
Grady Jackson this year has 21 tackles, 5½ for a loss, and a sack. Not too bad.
His release signifies Atlanta's attempt to infuse youth and prepare for 2008. The Vick situation was more than they could overcome this year.
The rub on Grady when he was here is that he didn't show up for every play (partly a weight issue I'm sure). Maybe if he's platooned, that won't be a problem... but who knows.
Curry made an amazing catch in the 1st quarter. He got nailed right when the ball got there. The ball popped up and he still caught it in severe pain.
Psycho
Great Take as usual Take'
As far as your 5th Take. It's unfortunately true, even in the tailgates the divisional hatred and tension was missing. I suspected that the team would come out strong at home, but instead we came out flat and lethargic.
It was sad: around 3.15pm we had our first big offensive play.
Are you kidding me? This game was painful to watch and i can't stand the thought of another losing year. We have extremely poor execution and horrible luck in these 17 division games that we have lost.
I am numb. The best part about coming to the games is the tailgating and the fans, I am considering staying in the parking lot for our next home game, cause i might see some better football and then i can leave early and avoid the traffic.
Bama...
I've seen your stuff from too many Raider "fans" to really even give much credence anymore to it. It's all the same... everything bad is Al's mistake... everything good was anything but Al.
There's young talent all over this team, and somebody brought them in.
Could there be better? Sure.
A 20/20 hindsite "fan" can always parade around here as a genius.
Knock yourself out bubs.
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