News You Can't Use
On Wednesday, October 3, a sportswriter sat down at his keyboard, ready to earn his paycheck from Fox Sports. It was midweek after week four in the 2007 NFL season. His canvas was blank, but thankfully storylines abounded across the league.
Preseason favorites like the Bengals, Chargers, Saints and Bears were suddenly circling the drain. The Patriots were off to a wicked start, but the specter of cheating still loomed. Quarterback controversies were brewing in
Hmmm, what to write about today. Tick, tock, tick, tock…Wait, I’ve got it! The Raiders’ allegedly poor drafts of several years ago!
And so our sportswriter toils, typing away and gnashing his teeth.
His story begins in 2001, which is six years ago according to my abacus.
Wow, talk about timely and relevant.
Also, how do you write a story about the Raiders’ recent draft record without mentioning names like Curry (seventh round!), Morrison, Howard,
Am I suggesting that the Raiders’ drafts have been exemplary? No. But is now the time to dredge up mistakes from six years ago while ignoring the aforementioned picks who are starting for our team today? Is now the time to single out the Raiders for questionable draft picks when you could pick apart most NFL teams for similar mistakes? Is now the time, after the Raiders got universally high marks for their 2007 draft as a precursor to a turnaround under the leadership of Lane Kiffin, to write the same old story about how Al Davis is to blame for everything, including global warming and taxes?
Yes, if you are a hater, now is apparently the perfect time.
Hating the Raiders remains an easy paycheck, but the haters might want to start some savings acccounts, because Kiffin and Company are going to start stealing their lunch money in the weeks and years ahead.
And that, Raiders Fans, is news you can’t use.
P.S. Thanks to FiveFiveNine for the tip.
Labels: News You Can't Use
posted by Raider Take at 8:53 AM
63 Comments:
Haterism at its best...
Psycho
So we are the only team in the nfl that has had draft picks over the past six years that have not worked out. Truly hate journalism. I am surprised the rest of the usual suspects have not piled on.
SD will concentrate on stopping the run next Sunday. I expect we will still run but that we will come out and let Daunte air it up, especially if JP and Curry are seeing alot of single coverage...then we'll run. This is a game Michael Huff was drafted for--taking away the likes of Gates and Gonzalez--and he did well last year. I see a conference road victory in the immediate future....
A ballanced attack is pretty much the way to go this week. I say play-action early, keep testing that weak secondary and hopefully we can rack up some points and sit on it with the run. I'm pretty sure we can stop Norv's high powered offensive scoring machine. We'll walk away with a "W" and plenty of confidence in being able to beat the Chefs and take a commanding AFC West lead. Hopefully anyway.
Did everyone hear we waived "Joe" Echemandu?? That sucks, I hope he doesn't end up in our division. Best of luck, now make way for Rhodes and Bush!
Psycho
I read that article also. I think he wrote the article last June and was too lazy to make the proper corrections.
I missed the part where he blamed Al for global warming. I thought it was all the CO2 emissions from brewing beer. I better not say that too loud they'll raise taxes on beer.
As far as Echemandu goes, with Rhodes coming off suspension someone had to go. After Fargas' performance it wasn't going to be him. It'll be a real quandry if Bush comes off the PUP.
Also, Routt is tied with the likes of Roy Williams for 8th in the league in interceptions.
Amazing how some people only see the negative.
H
I quit (almost) reading that article when he said Jolly was drafted with one of the picks we got for Gruden.
-BamaRaider
We are only 6 days away from showing the nfl who the Raiders are, we will win this game by a big margin suddenly we are the saints of last year
Don't compare us with the ain'ts. When we get back, we aren't going to dissappear the next year. Not this time.
Actually the last time we had a good solid three year run before the meltdown.
Living in Atlanta I always say to my Falcon friends, "Thank you for Tom Cable." I'm sure Knapp has a hand in designing the offense, but who knew someone could turn around an offensive line that quick.
I know Blandarocked isn't much on stats since the only stat that counts is W's. And I am in 100% agreement with him, but I have to put this one out for general consumption.
To those haters who say we've run up our rushing yardage on the Little Sisters of the Poor teams in the NFL I give you this.
The Fish held the Texans to 74 yards rushing and a 2.9 yards per rush average. It was their second lowest total in five games.
I don't care what anyone says. You put up 299 on any NFL team, you've done something right.
We need a game so I can get that glass past 85.7% full.
H
H: Should we beat the dolts (I have to let that game sink in for the remainder to the week before I feel I can call it), the media monkeys will be saying, "yeah, but look how bad the dolts are this year." While some will give us credit for winning in our division after several years, they'll be more inclined to throw the entire division into the dumpster.
In fact I've seen that already, with one article talking about (can you believe it?) how "woefull" the AFC West is in the NFL.
The Raiders will be given no credit until we beat one of the current media darlings. That means beating GB or NE. I'm absolutely certain that as things stand now we could beat GB because they have no running game to speak of. The Raiders would put up a hell of a fight against NE, but they are not on our schedule.
They'd honor a victory against the Colts as well. Interesting that these two games are back to back. Considering that both the Colts and GB are undefeated (at least right now) we shouldn't expect a victory in both games. But if we split them, the media will call winning one of them an upset and leave it that.
So, for this team to get the credit it currently deserves, we are going to have to beat both GB and the Colts in adjoining weeks. If we cross that speed bump, the Raiders (and the Raider Nation) ain't turning back.
Blandarocked,
You must have gone to bed early. The Pack lost to DA Bears. 27-20
But, you are right, they have no running game and the Colts are susceptible to the run.
H
It's an easy column to cherry pick nearly ANY teams draft picks over the last six years... and even easier to cherry pick the Raiders because so many people buy it.
With the possible exceptions of NE and SD, there are prolly 30 teams that have made as many mistakes as Al did the last six years, and prolly half of them have made MORE mistakes.
But the way I figure it... it only adds one to two points to the Raider opponents point spread every week.
I think Vegas knows that people listen to these morons.
Most common fans would prolly STILL say the Raiders are one of the worst teams in the NFL.
we should win this sunday. i said it once already, but it's worth repeating. i don't understand why our run defense is questionable. with the defense we have, we should be able to stack the box with 8, letting the linebackers and safeties play a read-n-react blitzing zone; while our corners play man. our corners are good enough to stop the pass, but stacking 8 would stop the run, and a blitzing zone would put pressure on the qb.
the next 2 weeks, we should implement this style of defense if we want a shot at beating green bay, tennessee, indianapolis, minnesota, and jacksonville. but it starts with our own division, san diego and kc.
Green Bay will be tough to defeat at home in December. The Raiders pass defense is atrocious and Brett Favre should be able to carve them up the way Jon Kitna did if they don't have it fixed by then. Detroit has absolutely no running game either, and they had no problems putting 36 up on the board against Oakland. Indy will have no problems with you guys a week later. Peyton Manning will take your DB's to school and when he goes over the middle to Dallas Clark, then what are Huff and Schwiegert going to do? Miss tackles and not create turnovers is what. This coming Sunday against San Diego should be a good game. We will see just how far the Raiders have come along. Being the Browns and a winless Dolphins is one thing, but will they be able to go on the road and win within their division for the first time in almost three years? This coming Sunday we will see if the "real" Oakland Raiders stand up or not.
Gee, look at this. A Jim Rome type drive by analysis. Well, Jim Rome is an idiot who's only real claim to fame is provoking Jim Everett to kick the snot out of him on national TV.
Put a signature on comments like that, AH.
Oh, and you might have added, "I'm out!"
Dante officially named starter against San Diego.
Nice of Kiff to come right out and say it instead of making us sweat.
info per Jerry Mac's blog
ekgraider
Great news. If Cole Pepper rides again there should be no question who the starter will be against the Chefs.
H
Just my own theory, but I think it was Kiff's plan all along to hold back Cole until the dolts game. Their pass defense is their weak link. Still, I think Kiff will stay with the run early - then he'll unload the air attack in the 2nd half.
The tough part for us is getting our run defense up to the task. I think something we might see is our safeties coming up to play the run, and dropping Howard and Morrison into coverage when SD audiblizes.
Bama7
RT, I do agree that Kiffen is doing his thing and we're looking much better, but let's just hope Al stays out of the way. The underlying take-away from the article for me is that Al deserves the lionshare of the blame for the lean years, and let's please don't repeat it. Ever. I never want to be the laughingstock again. When I was little all you ever read about us was that we were mean, nasty, the winningest sport franchise, never bet against it etc, etc. In short, it was all good... except the Pittsburgh papers maybe! To the victors the spoils the loser the jokes. The Walsh/Shell fiasco has made things even worse. Time to win and do it on the field and quit blaming officials and the media. Let 'em talk and just concentrate on winning. But I don't think we're going to extract as much revenge as we want with two safeties that don't hit and only two LB's. Here's hoping we do though.
to the above poster, I think you are right about Kiffin being given alot of leeway by Al Davis, and that is just the way I like it. I hope Al lets the man do his job and if he sucks, then he sucks, but at least let the man coach the way he sees fit. I for one am happy beyond belief that Kiffin is here. Remember when Art Shell described last year's offense as "The Al Davis System"? Well I never want to see the "Al Davis System" again!!
The key matchup for Sunday that will get little attention but will impact the game mightily is Center Jeremy Newberry vs. Nose Tackle Jamal Williams. To maintain the integrity of the pocket on passing downs and run between the tackles, Newberry will need to play stout against Williams. This game will also be determined by Zach Miller's ability to help out on Merriman.
I expect the opposite of what you predicted BR. I think the Raides will open things up in the 1st half with the passing game, get the lead, and then run, run, and run some more in the 2nd half. We shall see. There will be plenty of opportunities to isolate Curry & Porter in single coverage for some deep strikes.
With the additional week provided by the bye, I get the feeling that Kiffin will unleash some of his creative playcalling & the Raiders will be very well prepared. Bar none, this game vs. San Diego will be the true measuring stick for how far the Raiders have progressed.
A road game vs. a hated rival for 1st place in our division ... YES, this is a VERY meaningful game.
All hands on deck. Pull up the anchors, load the cannons, and raise that Black Flag proudly gentlemen.
Hey guys, has Al Davis done anything right in the last fifty years. You can't write anything without taking a shot at him.
It's getting a bit old. If the Raiders win it's the coach. If they lose it's Al. You're beginning to sound like John Czarnecki the guy this Take was written about.
Remember, we got Porter, Morrison, Howard, Kelly, Fargas, Curry, Jordan, Masden and a few others before Kiffin even got here.
Is there still work to do. Yes, but like it or not, the core of players that are making a difference on this team came through Al Davis.
His biggest mistake I can see over the last four years was listening to other people in his coaching search. He went with his own instincts this time and took Kiffin. We are seeing the results.
Couldn't we have just one week without hearing what a senile old goat he is.
When Al Davis says "Just Win Baby" he means it. If a coach wins he pretty much gives them what they ask for. But, they have to earn it. Mike White didn't, Joe Bugle didn't, Norv Turner didn't and Art Shell didn't in his last run.
In the second half of the Fish game when the offense totally dominated, 7 of the players on the field were origianl Raiders. Grove, Gallery, Sims, Fargas, Curry, Porter and Masden/Miller.
In case you haven't noticed I like Al Davis. But, I'm not an apologist. There are a lot of things he has done I dissagree with. But over all, I think he has done one hell of a lot better job than any of us could have done over the years.
It could be the Atlanta Falcons. They have never had two winning seasons in a row in the entire histroy of their franchise. When they harass me about the last few years I just hold up three fingers.
H
The San Diego Chargers WILL drub the faidas back into obscurity, Merriman will deliver the season ending injury that "culpumper" is so famous for, why do you DIMWITS think the Dolphins were so ready to get rid of the "great Waldow" "culpumper", Where's Waldo? Oh he's on the PUP list huh? You MAROONS willo see the old Boltz Kicking ass on their favorite whipping boys...Just cringe baby, we'll all get to watch the game cause it's in San Diego!!!! 2-14 here you go faidas, no more freebe games....Oh don't forget to keep defending the "nation" fanatics.
I'm with Calico Jack about a pass-first game plan vs the Dolts.
We only passed 12 times and ran for 299 yards against the fish, so the Dolts have to respect (and expect) the run. They’ll have eight in the box on the first play.
Consequently, their D will not likely commit to blitzing early for fear of getting burned by a big run. It should play right into a quick-strike passing attack early.
Then, go right back to pounding the pumpkin. If successful, the Dolts’ D will be off-balance the whole game.
....Did anyone see the end of Cowgirls/Jills game? De je vu, squared.
DJV #1 -- Dallas just outside FG range, 13 seconds, no timeouts... Bills drop into soft coverage and give up a short sideline pass.
DJV #2 -- Dallas nails a 52-yard FG, but timeout is called nullifying the kick. (Raiders were referenced by announcers as having been involved in a similar play twice this year.)
DJV #3 - NOT.... Cowboys PK nails the second 52-yard attempt.
Bama7
My keys to winning the game:
1. Do not turn the ball over. Do not give them cheap points and cheap opportunities. Cannot turn the ball over.
2. Run the football.
3. Stop the run.
4. Score first and then blitz Rivers. This guy is no Peyton, where he'll eat you alive if you blitz. This guy CAN be rattled with the blitz and he plays better with a lead, when in a comfort zone. Make him play from behind and then make him beat you by beating the blitz. make him uncomfortable. Blitz his ass hard. make him deal with what we have to deal with when they blitz.
5. Assign Thomas Howard as spy on LT coming out of backfield. Gone are the days of brayton trying to tackle LT in space (thankfully).
Bama7
And to H... Another example of Al taking crap over real football players in the draft:
If RT checks posts from days past he'll see that I talked up Brandon Siler as a very physical LB that could have been had late in the draft. The chargers took him in the 7th but we were too interested in track guys like Bowie and Holland. Siler's out there hitting people on special teams and will eventually see more time at LB... he looks the part... a tough hard-nosed footabll player that we could have used on our pitiful special teams loaded with speedy unphysical players. Siler also scored a fumble recovery TD against Denver.
here are my keys to winning sunday:
punch the dolts in the face with hard nose defensive football. stack 8, have them read-n-react to the play. let the corners play man against this weak receiver corp. if it is a pass, zone blitz with the safeties and linebackers, and drop a few into coverage. if it is a running play, shoot the gaps and put lt on his rear.
i say put howard and huff as a spy on gates. if one of these two guys blitzes, gates becomes the other's responsibility.
have morrison, richardson, and stu (in that order) spy on lt. or bring in washington and run the nickel, and put him man against lt the whole game.
establish the running game with fargas and rhodes. we have to do this before we come out gunning. they have pretty decent db's in san diego, and we cannot afford to have a shoot out with san diego. that plays right into their defensive game plan. look at the patriots playoff game last year. even though san diego lost, the patriots kept them in the game by not running hard. then in week 2 this season, they run downhill on this defense and rack up 144 yards (with maroney and morris), and blow them out (the same with the kc game).
expose their weakness, we can run downhill on them, especially with rhodes. then establish the pass with screen, slants, posts, and the big bomb.
the real key to this game is going to be janikowski, and i have a noose ready in case he chokes it away.
"EMBRACE THE HATE!", with open arms. That's how I have lived as a
RaiderFan for the last 40 yrs. If
a fish wrap writer, spews out garbage & B.S. about the Raiders. I just email him & thank him for his article & encourage him to continue with his Hate. WHY? Because that's all those kind of writers have in their pathetic lives. Just like BSpn, who only has
anything good to say, when they are forced to. So I say let them write their less than informed crap & news from the past. It just makes the Winning that much Sweeter.
UBM
Tangent, Orygun
RT, here is some more news we can't use.
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/knapp/
I think this lady must be filling in for Nancy Gay while she's getting that infection checked out. Any time this article is in danger of being the least bit positive, you can almost tell there was an unresistable urge by the author to blurt out some cheap shot she must've read in a Nancy Gay article somewhere. Well, at least we're not cutting Warren Sapp again.
Psycho
Yeah I remember seeing that article. These are the same guys that 5 years ago were talking about what a genius Mr. Davis is. He had the right mix of youth with talent at skill positions filled with free agent veterans. Rod Woodson, Romo, Jerry Rice, Gannon, Charlie Garner.....Now 4 years later because Callahan dug us a hole that Art Shell continued to entrench himself in Mr. Davis has let the game pass him by. These guys are idiots. They just do not understand football. They must have spent to much time in chess club and missed the high school football games. They are a waste of time and should not be allowed to write for any media outlet. Raider Freak, Freaking out.
Nate,
I agree on the passing with with quick slants and screens to slow down the rush. I also see Miller helping to pick up Merriman in both the running and passing game.
One thing I would like to see that we haven't thus far is a tight end screen. Miller has been blocking so well just have him pick up the block and then release. He has the hands.
On defense, Burgess is currently scheduled to start and he's hungry for some sacks.
As for special teams, we are getting three of our best players back this week. Ekejiuba, O'Neal and Thomas have all been out for two games.
As for drafting and Al, I keep reiterating. It's a crap shoot. All the talk was "we should have taken Leinhart or Cuttler", Leinhart's passer rating was below McCowan's. Cuttler has a loosing record thus far as a starter and two seconds and a timeout from being 0-5 this year.
One correction Freak, that was all Gruden. Mr. Davis was comatose during those years. According to the media he awoke just in time to run Grudden out of town and ruin everything Chucky had done.
For two years I heard Asomugha was a wasted draft choice. People scratched their heads over Routt, he has two interceptions so far.
Anyone can say a draft pick was lousy after the fact. My point is if you are going to talk about someone, at least talk about the good along with the bad. And, there is plenty good on this team that arrived BK (Before Kiffin).
Hell, I made a public apology to Justin Fargas on this very site last week. Sure it was only one game. But it was a hell of a game and it came when we needed it.
I think Collins was a lousy choice and said so at the time. I thought Norv was the wrong coaching choice. But, the man has made some good ones and I give him credit for those also.
Gallery may turn from bust to Pro Bowl guard the way he's playing so far. Zero sacks have been charged to him for the year and the guard, in my humble opinion, may be more important in the running game than the tackle.
Gerard Warren who Al picked up from the Mules has three sacks, one tackle for a loss and a forced fumble. Wait a minute. That's a good thing so Al must have been takeing his nap when that transaction took place.
H
Bama7, this should interest you:
http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/19767.html
It backs up everything I've been saying about Williams.
As for the reason I believe that Kiffin will run first - Kiffin will want the team to prove that it doesn't matter if the opposition has a stout run defense, because we'll run on anybody, any time, anywhere. That will draw the dolts into the line, at which point Kiffin will go over their heads. If we pass early, we may have to keep passing the whole game. We may throw a deep pass early to establish the threat and stretch them out, but by and large will go heavy run in the first half.
That strategy will probably produce a low, tight score at half time. We'll go for two touchdowns in the 3rd quarter on play action deep strikes, then we'll batter them with runs between the tackles in the fourth quarter.
The key to this game, using this strategy is defense. We won't have to completely stop them, but we will have to make them work for every first down, and keep each gain under 10 yards. The LBs and the Safeties will have to step up their game.
By the way, I stand with H on Al Davis. Every time Davis has found a coach who doesn't measure up, he's gotten rid of that coach - FAST!
How many owners would have given White, Bugel, Callahan, Turner, and Shell II more time? Probably at least 28 of 'em. And H is right that with White, Bugel, Callahan and Turner, Davis listened to somebody else instead of going with his own instincts. Davis' instincts have brought us Rouch, Madden, Flores, Shanahan, Gruden, and now Kiffin. Every one of these guys coached a Super Bowl team.
Shell I and Shell II were different stories. With Shell I, Shell was named interim coach and the players liked him so much that he stayed. Shell II, I think, was an experiment that didn't work out.
I will accept no other owner than Al Davis.
Correction:
Kiffin has not yet coached a Super Bowl team. Not yet....
Check this out from the denverpost
"If you're going to be a Broncos fan, be a Broncos fan. Don't boo us when we're down. That's bandwagon. When we start winning, then what?" receiver Brandon Marshall said Sunday, sounding like a knucklehead for ripping spectators who bolted the stadium in disgust as San Diego made Denver quit.
What a clown!
raiderdecoachella
Bama7
Blanda, read the article on Williams. Still wish we heard his name more and will concede this one to you if our defensive stats go up (ranked higher) and he is a part of that. When i think LB's I think of Millen, hendicks, Martin and NYG boys like carson & taylor. In short, I guess if i saw Williams take someone's head off in a game I'd be more in his corner. Just one time de-cleat someone. You know what I mean?
I hate the Chargers and I can't wait to see the looks on their fans' faces Sunday. Betting $5 with a Charger fan at my job. But more importantly, pride and bragging rights. Man, I really hate the Chargers.
Psycho
"This is going to be a huge game. It's probably been awhile since our game has meant something. Now it's back to the old rivalry. (The Raiders) probably are going to have a lot of fans there. It's going to be a hostile environment. It will be fun." — Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson on Sunday's game.
I hope our intensity level matches the Chargers' Sunday. To me that is one of the keys for this week. For all the positives in the Raiders' favor with the Chargers' win last week, the one big negative is that they might be pretty fired up.
Not that Kiffin doesn't run a tight ship, but much of our problems over recent years have been related to a lack of focused intensity towards the bastards we play against. I want to see some emotion out there Sunday.
Psycho
Last night on MNF, Ron Jaworski compared Tony Romo to Ken Stabler. Funny, Romo didn't look hungover.
I think Sunday's game is a good time for classic Raider football, set up the run with the pass.
I wish it was time for kickoff! This is turning into a long wait.
yeah, that al davis boy, what a dirtbag! the criminal element of the nfl. sheesh!
i have gaurded optimism folks. we're in 1st place yes, but its wayyyyy too early to celebrate. every team in our division is down. we're playing a team that's eager to prove everyone wrong this week and its a big test not just for culpepper but for the entire team, esp. on D. specifically the run d. but i'm confident we'll pull this one off!
If the Raiders win this one big, that will start a downward spiral for the dolts which they will not recover from this season. It will also boost our boys' confidence to where they should put KC away the following week. I think we've all figured out that the donkeys are not as good as they were advertised at the beginning of the season. With victories in the next two weeks, we'll put ourselves more than one win ahead of the rest of the pack.
At that point the division title will be ours to lose. We should also brace ourselves for the onslaught of complaints against our cut blocking system and calls to ban it. The reaction of the NFL will not be to agree (the NFL likes offense), but to figure out a way to punish the Raiders without making cut blocking illegal. That will lead to a gerth of phantom flags for clipping, blocking below the knees, etc., etc.
This is not a conspiracy theory but an historical trend. Nobody concerned themselves with stickum until Lester Hayes picked off 13 balls in one season.
Blandarocked,
Thanks for the backup. I've got your back on this one. Besides the stickum rule.
Advancing a fumble (Holy Roller). The Raiders won a game with this one. It became illegal and is refered to as a Raider Rule.
Head Slap. The defensive linemen slap the side of the offensive linemans helment then push him backwards. The Raiders didn't start it. The Rams did with their "Fearsom Foresome", but the Raiders elevated it to an art form. Thus a Raider Rule.
Bump and Run defense. Once again the Raiders take it to new heights. So, now you can't engage the receiver after five yards. Raider Rule once again.
These are just the ones I can pull off the top of my frontal lobe.
H
Quick hit:
I was looking for Raiders stuff on the internet and stumbled across a Whiners blog. They are jumping ship already. One even said he was going to start watching the Colts, Patsies or the Packers.
Talk about your bandwagoners.
H
H must stand for History. You're the man!
When I was growing up in these parts, I used to root for both the 49ers and the Raiders. Of the two, the Raiders were my favorites (after all I was born in Oakland), but I supported them both.
Back in those days, the Raiders were in the playoffs every year, the Niners only once in awhile. By '76, the Raiders were back in the Super Bowl and the Niners hadn't been there yet.
After the Niners went to their first Super Bowl, I was ecstatic. And for four of the next five years I was in heaven because those four years one of my two favorite teams were in the soup.
But then something happened. As the average income in SF began to rise, season tickets were bought out by the wealthy Stanford crowd. Carmen Policy began delivering suitcases full of money to football players at airports to cheat on the salary cap, (while I never dissed a Niner fan) Niner fans were going out of their way to insult Raider fans, and they were talking about the Niners going to five Super Bowls per decade for centuries to come. In short, they became absolutely insufferable.
The average Forty Niner fan, these days, is a corporate hack with too much money to spend, who uses his luxury box seats to impress other corporate hacks. But a team that isn't winning doesn't impress other corporate hacks so they stop going. They don't really know what to complain about because they really don't know anything about football, but all the same, they complain very loudly. That's what corporate hacks do, however. They complain very loudly about things they don't know much about.
After a couple more decades like this, real fans will start returning to the Niners, and they'll begin to rebuild.
Amen on your Niners comment Blandarocked.
I do love history, but my wife says my brain is just filled with useless information.
H
Bama7, you bring up Ted Hendricks. The closest LB we've had to Hendricks since Hendricks seems to be Howard. But Howard is likely a season or two away from that prowess.
The Mad Stork was given free reign over the defensive playing field. His ability to analyse what the offense was doing was stellar. Madden simply told him, "just go to where the play is going to go." He'd drop into coverage, he'd line up as a DE in a five man line, and he would freely shift between strong and weak sides. This is the kind of potential that Howard has, and what he's being trained to do.
This is prolly the Raiders most meaningful game in four years. This is our first top-notch quality opponent of the season, and they are playing with newly found momentum and a sense of desperation... not a good
combination.
They won 14 games last year with nearly the same players, and have
dominated the Raiders lately.
OTOH, we have an extra week for our new QB to work with the ones in the
new system... Kiffin for the first time gets two weeks to game plan for an opponent (remember how well Gruden did coming off of the bye weeks??) we have a running game that is number one in the NFL, and a QB with an arm that can exploit SD's biggest weakness, their crappy secondary.
I kinda like our chances!
I hope Kiffin has some new plays to pull out to try and exploit their
weaknesses... I'll be kinda pissed if he "pulls a Gruden" and simply
mindlessly tries to pound the run against their biggest strength... their run defense. I don't think the "hybrid" offense that we heard about is handing the ball of every play. We need more balance vs the better teams in the league.
LETS LIGHT THIS CANDLE!!!
As far as the other teams....I grew up in Seattle...(Tacoma)....so I never had a conection to the the "49"ers....I got the conection in "71" when I was stationed at "TI" in the navy....I had been a Raider fan already for 9 years and saw the "49"ers for what they were....loosers....
The next time I had a conection was the Bugal Year when I sailed back from Hawaii to Berkeley...
All I heard from the 9er fans was total crap...in my face bull shit about how we sucked and they were so supperior...so the hatered began...and by 2000 when we were winning and they were falling off into the dumper I was stomping on their dying asses....and I continue to do so because they earned it and I have absolutly NO respect for their organization....
End of story....they were nothing and became totally errogant....and they were band-wagoners who swithcd over from other teams to follow them....some claiming to be X-Raider Fans which I really find disgusting....I could not imagine loving a team as a fan and then turning on them because I replaced them in my heart with another....
I was a Raider-Vikeings fan because I loved the Pirate and they were both of the sea....The Vikes have fallen on very bad times but I would never turn on them with hatred like these so called X-Raider fans....and besides....I campayned hevely to get Culpepper and now I am happy because he is again with a team I love....
PantyRaider....Raider Luv!!!!
Great perspective on Stork.
Howard is one of the faster guys on the defense. And Morrison has great cover skills for a middle linebacker.
I think Kiffin and Ryan understand this and they also understand to win the division you have to beat the division. (Stay with me on this one.)
With the Chefs you have Johnson/Gonzalez and with the Dolts you have Tomlinson/Gates.
By allowing Morrison and Thomas more coverage responsibilities early in the season they are ready for these next two games.
Logically it makes sense and fits into the four mini seasons concept. You never look past your next opponent, but you can add wrinkles that can help you down the road.
We must contain Tomlinson and Turner depending on who is in the game and Gates. Morrison on the back Howard on the tight end.
Protect the ball. We had 7 turnovers in the first 2 games, both losses. Only 3 in games 3 and 4. Plus penalties have steadily gone down (please no Ed Hocuhli).
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if we went play action on our frist offensive play. Just to start 'em thinking. I just hope it's complete.
Oakland Raider Fans,
Come to San Diego for the big game. Let's turn Qualcomm Stadium into The Sea of Black.
Ok, NFL Network is at it again. I just watched a list of greatest Monday Night Comebacks.
Guess which one was off the list. You got it. Stabler leading our boys back from a 35-14 deficit to win 42-35.
Oh well.
H
Charles,
I did see where Tomlinson said it would be a hostile environment.
I thought he was playing at home.
H
for all the bad wrap that davis gets for his "lack of drafting" skills; he sure did establish this defense with the linebackers and corners we needed to beat teams in our division like san diego (which still means "whale's vagina") and kc. he's left the running of the defense to a guy who is capable of doing what needs to be done in rob ryan.
but not only does these anchor positions put us in a position to win in our division; if you look at the teams who have been winning (exception of indy), the patriots, panthers, seahags, steelers, eagles, cowboys, packers, bears, saints, ravens, titans, jaguars, and giants; all base their offensive attacks on hard running games, and then gain big yardage on their passing game to their tight ends. the patriots have utilized moss a lot, but are using brady and watson to set up moss.
i think we have a base defense that can dominate any of these teams in the nfl, ryan just has to find the formula to be successful.
i think the formula for any week is going to be letting our corners play man, the linebackers and safeties in a zone to play read-n-react; with zone blitzing.
this style of defense is similar to what andy reid, bellychick, wade phillips, jack del rio, lovie smith, and jeff fisher runs. it's successful.
Nate,
One correction. You misspelled Belicheat.
H
Re: Whiner fans. I know of only one cool 9er fan who remains dedicated. Oddly enough I sometimes think to myself what a great Raider fan he would make.
Other than that, nothing but a bunch of sh*t talking, bandwagoning, Nancy Gay admiring ass clowns. In a wierd way I'm greatful that I live in Charger country rather than the bay where I'd see more of these people. Well, at least they disappear when the 9ers suck, otherwise they'd drive us nutts, errrr, psycho,
Psycho
Psycho, you'd be amazed. Right now, nobody is fessing up to being a 9er fan. They come out of the woodwork when the Raiders are doing poorly, like last year, but when the Raiders are working and the 9ers suck, just try and find a 9er fan.
H, more grist:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/raiders/ci_7135570?nclick_check=1
Kickers have been iced for years, but as soon as the Raiders are successful at doing it, time for a meeting of the Rules Committee. The jackass who wrote the article thinks that the only reason it works now is that the coach can call the the time out from the sideline. He doesn't stop to consider that a player can do the same timing on the field. He actually does a better job arguing against his case than for it.
H, Thomlinson did say it would be a hostile environment and, yes, they are playing in SD. When the Raiders were playing in LA they acquired a very large fan base there - from Bakersfield to San Diego. In years when the dolts suck, far more Raider fans show up for dolts home games against the Raiders than dolts fans. It's gotten so bad that SD has even adjusted their ticket sale policies to discourage Raider fans from showing up.
In cities around the country, there are often more Raider fans than fans of the "home" team. This is why we have so many haters. They can't stand the fact that fans prefer the Raiders over whomever their favorite happens to be. That's why the local mediots hate the Raiders, because more people in the Bay Area will say they are fans of the Raiders and not the 9ers.
Now days, the 9er fans will say, "Yeah, but Al Davis moved the team to LA." The typical Raider fan response? "You mean like the 9ers are about to do."
H, I meant to add this link:
http://www.raiders.com/Common/Article.aspx?id=17482
Schweigert talking about Raider fans taking over Dolphin stadium by the 4th quarter.
Blanda,
Even someone on ESPN made a comment before the game Monday about "You bet this calling a timeout before a kick thing will be looked at after the season", referring to it as a "new fad". It's amazing. This goes on for as long as I can remember, and yet nobody ever so much as bats an eyelash at it until the Raiders do it. And when Shinyhand did it the week before, it was "genious".
Now the cut blocking thing is really beginning to scare me. We won't be able to run it for long. At least not to the extent that others have been able to get away with for centuries.
Psycho
For years the Raiders complained about cut blocking, and the league was completely disinterested in their complaints. But now that the Raiders are using it, and being successful at it, it's going to have to go.
If Russell's arm is all that it's advertised to be, I wouldn't be surprised if at some point in the distant future, the league considers outlawing the forward pass.
Blandarocked, Psycho, et al,
The first link requires a login, which I shy away from. But, I believe I saw the article on another site. I get news alerts for the Raiders emailed to my home mailbox.
In any event there is now great furor across the country about icing the kicker. It even extends to the college ranks. But, it didn't blow up until the week after the Brownies game. Some timeing huh.
As for Raider Fans taking over. I've been to a couple of Raider Games in Atlanta. It was like one of those neutral site games. Half of the stadium was Silver and Black.
The Schweigert thing was interesting. I actually really like the guy. I just wish he could tackle better. He has a great team first attitude.
By the way, there are teams out there needing QB and RB help. Something we have a glut of at the moment. Man, that Al Davis can't do anything right.
The complaints that were registered about the cut blocking go back to the Howie Long days. He was primarily refering to when they were playing the Whiners. Guess who was the offensive coordinator then?
Dramatic pause (waiting for answer)...............
You are exactly correct, Shanarat.
H
H:
I sincerely admire Stu's team first attitude. He seems like a high quality guy with good character. Stu is a media friendly, Raider blogging, autography signing, all around Raider representative. However, at some point, (read now) it is very important to separate the person (good guy Stu) with the player (poor performing Stu).
The position Stu plays (FS) requires good football instincts, playmaking skills, and text book tackling technique. He fails on all 3 counts. I look forward (hopefully in the very near future) when Stu is phased out or replaced. In the short term, I want to see BJ Ward be given a fair opportunity to see what he can do. In the long term, I want Huff moved to FS.
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