Venom, Hope and Evidence
One of the things I'm going to love most about today’s victory is the Raider Haters trying to cope with the fact that the Raiders aren’t a total disaster, a position that is essential to their worldview.
The national media has been literally freaking out about the Raiders, saying they’re the worst this, the worst that, etc. All the while, they have been hedging their bets, moving the Raiders up in their “power rankings,” just in case.
Some will say that Raider Take has been freaking out, too. I have, and with good reason. Over the past five (now six) seasons, I believe the Raiders have lost full a year (and probably two) of relative progress for inexcusable reasons I don’t need to belabor (and for me, that’s a year or two of competitive football inexcusably stolen from my life on this earth, which is not something I take lightly, especially when my team’s motto is Commitment to Excellence).
However, I shall remind folks—I am a Raiders blogger. I cover one team, not 32 teams. By definition and vocation, I have tunnel vision.
The national media have no such excuse. They bash the Raiders as a blood sport, by choice, and completely out of context. Just consider the ratio of Chiefs bashing to Raiders bashing in the national media. It’s not even close. When is the last time you read a “I hate the Chiefs” article in a national media outlet? How about never. Yet the Chiefs are clearly the worst team in our division (forget the league), were no better than us last year, and don’t even have a history of success to buy them a little benefit of the doubt. They have nothing. But all you hear about is the Raiders are the worst this, and the worst that. This is 2008, not 2006. Yet you would never know it.
I’m not saying that the Raiders don’t have tons of work to do, nor that I’m content with a 2-4 record after five years of record-tying misery.
I’m just taking this opportunity to point out that, after putting serious scares into the Bills and the Chargers, and now after shutting down the Jets for their second victory in six games, the Raiders aren’t the “worst” anything. That doesn’t make them great, or even good. But it does shine a spotlight on the irrational venom that is directed at the Raiders with maniacal frequency and editorial impunity.
Are the Raiders poised to finally take things to the next level? I hope so, but I’m done with getting my hopes up. Hope used to be one of my currencies, but hope has become fool’s gold in the Raider Nation. We need evidence, not hope. If we win at least two out of the next four (Ravens, Falcons, Panthers, Dolphins), which is an entirely reasonable expectation, then I will consider that evidence.
In the meantime, I will enjoy this victory, praise our defense for stopping an opponent when it counts (finally), and congratulate Tom Cable on his being .500 as a head coach in the NFL.
posted by Raider Take at 7:40 PM
97 Comments:
Thats kind of a GREAT point... the Chiefs haven't even won a playoff game in like a century and always seem to underachieve and yet are always under the radar in mediocrity amongst the press.
The difference? The Raiders and Al Davis are STILL one of the top 5 in love/hate relationships in the NFL. People love to kick the Raiders when they are down, and root against them when they dominate. It's the same reason we are all such passionate fans after 5 years of suckage.
Agreed!!!!!
Mr. Duva
we are not that bad. just need russell to get some more experience, and a few more playmakers on both sides.
oh, and a left tackle for heaven sakes.
At least Harris isn't giving up sacks along with his false starts, which is what we had in Simms and Gallery. I am not ready to throw him under the bus yet because of one embarrassing game. I am not noticing anyone wheeling around our LT much this year.. much better than 5 yard penalties.
I liked what I saw, the team had a spark, they were enjoying themselves. Now, why hasn't there been more of the blitzing, like say against N.O.? Then today we blitz like maddogs. So hard to get a read on what motivates the gameplans. Russell needs to find out for himself what he is capable of, he can be good, he just needs to know it inside his own mind. Defense is MUCH BETTER when ATTACKING. Harris did the same routine in S.F., nothing new with his dumbass penalties. Special teams looked good, Lechler is a beast, one of the best EVER. Question is, what will the next gameplan be, sit back on defense? Seems to be the main concern at this point, Attack or Passive, we saw today what is needed.
JONES
The media bash on the Raiders should become less worthy of a nuisance, once the Raiders establish desperately needed stability and show improvements on scoreboards. As long as there is lack of stability and lack of production, there are so many chaffs littered all over the Raiderland for media pundits to spin-off.
Other teams like the Chiefs: None of them have achieved anything like the Raiders' 'team of the decade' glories of the past. Therefore, there are much less expectation nor outstanding contrasts to judge them with. (Having glorious past can be pain in the rear-end.)
I guess I will wait and see in regards to the Raiders going to the 'next level'. Once they establish semblance of stability and consistency, then they will reach that 'next level'.
Ballsy move by the coaching staff with the fake punt.
Take, I too am low on hope as a currency. Both games post Kiffin have been painful for me to watch. why? Because at this point, and into the foreseeable future, contrary to any other time in my life, I operate under the default position that the Raiders will lose, hoping that they prove me wrong.
So, Raiders, show me what you got.
The coaches and the QB have got to loosen up at the end of games. Until Russell threw those two bullets at the end of OT the offense looked like a kid on his 1st day of Kindergarten. Relax already! Play to win! Coach to win! Until we see a little "cowboy" in Russell it's gonna be very tough to win alot of these games. I will say that if the last drive of yesterdays game is used as a blueprint for 4th qtr play going forward-watch out. Things could turn around in a hurry. Koudos to Rob Ryan also. He basically told the Jets to go ahead and beat us with Thomas Jones but we're not givin you sh%t in the passing game. If Ryan calls more games like that the D will be OK, but he still doesn't have my trust.
RaiderMike
Forget the Chiefs Gary. The Jets have 5 playoff victories since 1970
THAT'S FIVE in almost 40 years! But I have to listen to NY media constantly trash the Raiders.
RaiderMike
I love the effort by our D, and the added QB pressure, but it also pisses me off because I feel like we could have won at least two more games (Buffalo and SD) if we simply used a similar (yet obvious) plan late in those games.
We've gone through this cycle before with the D under Rob Ryan. Like other solid game-planning through these cycles, this game proves he is capable, but will he come back with a passive D next week?
I liked our D all the way up to the 4th Quarter. Again, with a small lead, playing pu$$yfooted defense that allowed the Jets to tie the game. No blitzing, just dropping everyone back; not even showing blitz at the line.
I seriously thought we were going to lose this game because of that. Yes, the fake salvaged some momentum, but letting the Jets go "pass happy" on a soft D at the end of the game, took that momentum back.
We got lucky on this one. A "W" is a "W", and I'll take it; don't get me wrong. But this game should not have gone into overtime.
We should seriously be 4-2 (tied with the Doncos), but the one thing this team needs that we don't have, is aggressiveness for 4 Quarters; regardless of the score.
We Rack-a-dis-a-prin!!!
Psycho
I have been saying the same thing for quite some time. I realize we aren't very good right now, and of course I have faith, but how can we keep being considered the worst team in the NFL? Just look around.As stated here,Oakland isn't even the worst in their own division. KC is without question.But come on. take the Detroit Lions for example. And is it me or have the sports media, especially nationally, missed the fact that the Cincinnati Bengals are 0-6 ? Worst? And they pile on Al Davis' coaching situation, yet the Brown family has vowed that Marvin Lewis has the HC job as long as he wants it. That is insane. And Al Davis has lost it ?They bash his decision making and the teams losing record for the past several seasons.Yet the Bengals lived in that cellar for something like 15 years, came back for a coupe and now are back there. The Raiders are the worst team in the NFL? The Bengals own that title.Again.The Raiders are not the worst.
Yes, the Bengals, Chiefs, and Lions are almost always a trainwreck, have never accomplished anything in the playoffs, and it's always the Raiders that is pointed to as the dysfunctional model of the NFL. Like I said... the bookies pay more attention than the media does. If the media set the line the Raiders would have been a two TD underdog yesterday to Brett Farve. It was 3.
My simple take on this game...
Cable taught them that it's on them. The team refused to be controlled by theri mistakes, and they made plenty. But the team never allowed a mistake to be the final statement in the gamee.
The final mistake was from Cable himself. He shouldn't have called that time out, and if he hadn't, the Raiders would have won the game in regulation. So the team had to go on the field in overtime and solve Cable's mistake.
And, by the way, I wonder if we can stop bashing Jano now.
IMO, the excessive penalties were as much or more to do about the officiating as the Raiders (and the Jets got called too). Some of the neutral zone stuff and calling Walker for lining up too far from the LOS was way overkill. That said, the Raiders showed little discipline in correcting those issues.
Huff did nothing to get his job back. He dropped an easy interception and stood almost motionless in the end zone when Washington ran right at him for a Jets TD. Meanwhile, Eugene made the open-field tackles he had to.
Ahhh, the joy of posting again...! I've been reluctant to publicize an opinion lest I be viewed as a blithering, senseless lamb being led to the slaughter.
Gotta give it to Cable's Cajones, particularly on the fake punt. How can he even walk??? lol... And that allowed Alston his chance of redemption for lining up in the neutral zone on the Jets' punt.
In giving Kwame and the D-line some wiggle-room, Cable, post-game, took responsibility for the team's 1st quarter false starts and offsides, inspiring them to be "juiced" and "wanting to rip their lips off"! Preaching accountability - then practicing it himself. Prior to this revelation, however, I chanted to myself all game long, "No mistakes big 'O', discipline 'D'!", cautiously optimistic yet fearful of shooting ourselves in the foot yet again.
Not this time, though.
Thankfully. And kudos, SeaBass. An overtime distance record!
Ok, this is not a comment on the officiating, but it is a comment on something Randy Cross said in the booth.
On all of Harris’ false starts they showed one of them in “super slow motion.” Now, I will have to paraphrase him, but Cross said he realized it was in super slow motion and it was barely perceptible. He further explained that if the official feels something is wrong he will throw the flag.
Say what?????? If I heard him correctly he is saying they are officiating on feeling. In other words “reputation.” Ok, it is a comment on officiating.
Look, I’m not going to say I’m interpreting what Cross meant correctly. But, a penalty either is or isn’t, there is no “feeling” involved.
It’s just like an announcer saying when it comes to post season the officials tend to let them play and call fewer penalties. To which I say, “If it’s a penalty in regular season it’s a penalty in post season and if it’s not a penalty in post season it’s not one in regular season.”
Also, I heard they have been working on the fake punt play for two weeks. But, I also heard Al doesn't like fake punting so I guess it's time to start the Cable Watch.
Now for the media. I watched two highlight shows, BSPN's The Blitz, and NFL Network's Gameday. The Raiders win, and whose portion of the post game news conferences do they show? Brett Favre. They couldn't show Cable winning his first game as an NFL head coach.
And, that is why I almost never watch highlight shows.
H
The difference in the defense for this game was caused by the offense. While the offense is still light on 3rd down conversions, the team threw the ball on 1st and 2nd downs, moving the chains without relying on 3rd down conversions. That gave the defense considerable more time to rest than they are used to, and that allowed the defense to shut the Jets down in overtime.
In particular, I remember Randy Cross during the overtime saying that "there won't be much of a pass rush because the Raiders defensive line is completely gassed." On the very next snap, Scott sacked Favre on 3rd down.
Seems to me it was a good game plan. I can't really see how anyone can criticize the Raiders defense on this game. We gave up 13 points through nearly five quarters. A game like that, if you lose it, it's on the offense.
Because they won it, I also give the offense credit. It's hard to run against the Jets. We ran just enough to be able to throw effectively, and JaMarcus played smart football all day.
Take,
While I have the utmost respect for you opinion and insight into the Raiders (not to mention that of all of the commenter's). However, I am sort of mystified on this post. The media should be our last concern. It sounds like your new battle cry is "We're not the worst." Uh, OK. And then you begin bashing the media, the media has done nothing to put us into this position that we are stuck in.
And let's face it the Raiders are a lot more interesting than the Chiefs. Nobody gives a rats ass about the Chiefs, therefore they right about the interesting team with the interesting owner. It is the same reason the Cowboys get so much pub.
My point is, we have a lot bigger issues than the media. Let's put a respectable season together before we focus on the haters, because right now, the haters can hate. Beating the Jets proves nothing. As you said, let's win 2 out of the next four, hell lets win 4-6 more games this season then we can begin worrying about the media.
Roy
Blanda - I completely disagree with your regular assessment that our O problems are causing our D problems.
You said, "the difference in the defense for this game was caused by the offense. While the offense is still light on 3rd down conversions, the team threw the ball on 1st and 2nd downs, moving the chains without relying on 3rd down conversions. That gave the defense considerable more time to rest than they are used to, and that allowed the defense to shut the Jets down in overtime.
Our offense went 3-and-out twice in OT, giving the D virtually no time to rest.
The fact is, Ryan changed his game plan to a more aggressive one, including 3 incredible stops in OT... and that had nothing to do with the offense... which the fans were booing in OT until the 3rd possession.
Another consideration is it seems to have taken the D players 7 weeks after preseason to get into "game shape," meaning they can actually play 4 qtrs at or near full strength.
Bottom line is that our D is not on the field any longer than other teams. They're on the field about 30 minutes, just like everyone else.
H said, "Also, I heard they have been working on the fake punt play for two weeks. But, I also heard Al doesn't like fake punting so I guess it's time to start the Cable Watch."
Now that's funny!
blanda said: "I wonder if we can stop bashing Jano now.
i'll stop bashing him when he starts making those 76 yarders!
just kidding bud.
NYRaider, check the stats our for yourself between this week and last week.
Against New Orleans I think NO had possession for two thirds of the clock. This week we had a large edge in time of possession. I don't have time to look up the exact numbers, but I'm pretty confident that's accurate.
The reason our defense sucks in the fourth quarter is because we don't have the depth to get us to the fourth quarter without being gassed. We went into these last two games with essentially the same personnel. Ryan didn't suddenly get smart this week. He played a similar game that he always does, but this time his players got some time to rest.
You mention two three and outs in overtime. That's fine if you're holding the Jets to 3 and outs as well. But if you've just given up a 13 play drive, and then your offense goes 3 and out, you're toast.
Other than having the offense hold on to the ball to give the defense a breather, the only other solution is frequent substitutions, which we can't do for lack of depth.
For me, it isn't Ryan's defense that is the problem (as though giving up 13 points through 5 quarters is a problem), the problem is a lack of depth to make sufficient substitutions to rest your players. That puts an added burden on the offense.
Great Read I agree with everything you said. RAIDER NATION TIL I DIE!!!
Blanda- you're watching the same games I'm watching. In the NO game our D was a disaster from the beginning. There's no comparison.
Both of the previous games were ours for the taking, but Ryan's prevent defense gave both away. We should be 4-2.
And there's no reason to believe Ryan suddenly got smarter. The Jets left Favre alone in an empty backfield. That's Ryan's MO. He will blitz when the other team shows minimum protection packages, but avoids blitzing when they show what he calls max protection.
We've all seen this cycle before from Ryan. Personally, I'm scared he will revert back to his preferred read and react vanilla defense for the more conventional offense of the Ravens.
The one encouraging thing is that Cable emphasized after this game how important it is to disrupt the opposing QB. Bless his soul.
How about 3 cheers for Trevor Scott the kid from SUNY Buffalo!! This guy looks like the real deal.
RaiderMike
FYI Blanda- we did not have a large edge in time of possession yesterday. Check the stats.
We had the majority of the clock on the last game, and that's the point.
I know how simple it is to blame a single person, whether it's the owner, a coach or a player. But it is NEVER one person.
And our defense against NO din't suck from the beginning. We only allowed 10 points in the first half which is completely reasonable. But they were gassed by the end of the half because ever drive by NO was 7 or more plays while our offense kept going 3 and out. I think against NO, they beat us in the first half time of possession by more than 2-1.
Roy, good points. There's a reason I haven't done much "News You Can't Use" lately, and it's the reason you cite.
Still, I think it's good to push back on occasion, to turn on the light in the kitchen, so to speak, and see what scurries toward the cabinets and under the floorboards.
There's plenty of negative stuff to write about the Raiders over the past few years without going completely berserk. By going completely berserk, the media reveals its bias, and that bias is something that shouldn't go unchecked just because we're in a funk. Hate deserves a response. It doesn't mean that it's priority number one or our main concern. I'm just multitasking here.
Also, like you, I basically said this is just one game. I'm not going to get too excited until, and if, I see a positive pattern emerging, as opposed to a positive incident.
The 9ers fired Nolan today. They promoted Mike Singletary.
The Niners don't change coaches as fast as the Raiders. They haven't really won many more games, but I guess they have more "stability."
There are some places where stability is not a good thing. Like in that place where you are 4-12.
Blanda,
Time of possession was virtually the same. The Biplanes had about a minute more.
H
I am rewatching the game and noticed Phil Villapiano on the sideline!
A real difference in the D intensity jets vs. saints games.
Noted G. Warren dropping back into coverage several times during the first jets possesions.
Trevor Scott is everywhere on D & STs.
No blitz vs max protection shows
SOB is a moron. Plus why would you announce it to the whole league?
That means every back that stays in to block, will. Because SOB can't disguise a blitz it will always get picked up so why try?
brees lit up his guys with the Raider D not putting up a fight.
At least go down swinging. The disruption aspect of qb pressure is obvious but which hit might be the one to shake the starter up or even take him out?
The way the D played vs. jets should be the rule.
BTW if Knapp doesn't run that fake sweep pitch at least once a game he is on my S list with SOB....
Blanda - I do blame one person for the losses we suffered in Buffalo and against SD. Rob Ryan. It's called accountability, and it always rises to the top. (Can't blame the big guy for single game losses, only epic failures, like 6 years.)
Look, it's no mystery to anyone that our D was going to have to stand on its own while the O got its game legs under a rookie QB with a patchwork line and ghost WR corp.
In the two aforementioned games, I saw Rob Ryan go to a prevent defense with the Raiders leading by 2 scores late in each game, only to watch the other team score at will. Against the Jets I saw no such defense. Therein, my friend, lies the problem and the solution. To me, it's as plain as day.
Against the Saints, are you trying to tell me the 11-minute drive that Drew Brees and his O (on their second drive) surgically dissected the Raiders was because the Raiders’ O couldn’t stay on the field in their first drive? Come on, man. That drive set the tone for the rest of the game (and by itself skewed the time of possession). It was Drew Brees all day long, yet we barely blitzed, if at all... It was poor game-planning from the start of that game to the finish. No adjustments, no mas.
Blanda, coaching stability is not a goal unto itself, it's a result.
Stability is the result of making smart hirings, and of having the patience to build upon a sound plan with the right people. In other words, exactly what's been missing from Alameda for six years.
Just because the Yorks have mismanaged their organization, hired the wrong coaches and stuck with the latest coach too long doesn't suddenly make instability a good business model.
One guy who has been picked on both literally and figuratively who deserves a ton of credit is DeAngelo Hall.
Favre targeted Hall all day long but achieved minimal production. Hall consistenly played tight coverage, was consistently in position to make a play, and didn't get burned one single time. Sure he gave up some underneath receptions but on the vast majority of snaps he played sticky man to man coverage.
The one thing that makes me sick to my stomach is the fact that by the end of tonight, the Donkeys will have 4 wins, Bolts 3 wins, Raiders 2 wins, and Condiments 1 win. Those 2 games vs. Buff & SD with 9+ 2nd half leads should be "Ws" in the win column.
Learning to win the close games and the games with big 2nd half leads is the next BIG step for this team to finally gain traction.
By the by anyone who wanted to annoint Drew Brees the next Joe Montana and/or give Ryan a pass for the New orleans debacle need just look at the Carolina-Saints highlights from Sun. Pressure up the middle (like I previously stated) totally took Brees out of his game. So how come a scmuck like me can figure this out but an NFL d-coordinator can't? Anyway Ryan's D plan was solid Sun so I'm hoping he's got his crap together.
RaiderMike
Unfortunately, the only way we will learn to regularly close games when we have solid leads is to take the prevent D out of Ryan's playbook... including the most ridiculous play in which he drops 11 into coverage.
We thought perhaps Kiffin would change this 5-year pattern with Ryan, but now it's up to the Cable Guy.
I question Tim Brown's motivation for creating the story that Gannon was a Raider-Hater.
This from Jerry McDonald:
"Adam Treu could barely conceal his sarcasm with regard to the claim by Tim Brown that he had to intervene on behalf of Rich Gannon to prevent teammates from giving their quarterback a beatdown."
"Treu’s most telling line: 'Brown was right about one thing, Rich did come in with a hatred, but not for the Raiders. His hatred was for the overall lack of discipline that had come to define the organization.'"
Wow! That makes more sense.
The Defense did play much better overall, but Rob went back to prevent in the 4th on the last 2 drives (only up by 3), and that gave them the opportunity to tie.
But let me make a correction to most on this site, blaming Rob Ryan for this. Prevent-you-from-winning defense was designed by no other than Al Davis; which is why it will never be removed from the playbook until Al is removed from his spot.
This defensive scheme is not Rob Ryan's, it was here before Rob Ryan (just ask Mike White, and Bresnahan). It is an Al Davis Scheme. It's been a scheme that the Raiders have anchored their Defense on. Our "good" defenses that we had relied on pressure from the front 4. The year Madden went to a 3-4 defense, was out of necessity because we lost one of our DT's to an injury (funny how some forget that on this site). It forced the Raiders to play in a different scheme that they weren't used to, and for the first couple games, they were blown apart by it. It took them time to learn something new; but in the end, they came together and it flowed. The next year they went back to 4-3 scheme.
This defensive scheme has been a problem for "decades", and has worked very minimal. Again, it goes back to one of the core problems with play-calling....BALANCE. The scheme of relying on the front 4 to get pressure CAN work; but it becomes more effective with effective blitzing. Timing is everything in this game, when you rely on the front 4 for pressure; the way you gain better confidence with that pressure is using the delayed blitz on occasion. It has to be enough to keep the offensive line off balance, but not overused. This is what made our defense effective against Favre on Sunday, and it is what we should have done to Brees.
We almost lost the game because Rob went away with that to the favored "Prevent" that Al likes and prefers. When we went back to it in OT; we stop them HUGE, and end it by winning.
I think I'm going to change my monicker to "Raider Historian 75"
I should say, when we went back to the balance of pressure by strategic blitzing in OT, we stopped them HUGE.
Here is proof of our resurgence:
http://www.livescience.com/history/
081021-modern-pirates.html
Psycho
Speaking of Defense, this weekend will pit Ryan vs Ryan for family bragging rights. As usual, the Ravens D looks tough.
Hey Raider Mike,
Are you the Raider Mike from Long Island who knows me, Raider Pete from Queens?
Kinda fun listening to the ESPNers talk about the Niners firing their coach as if it was a brilliant move "that had to be done."
Talk about another franchise that gets a free pass from the media... what the hell has the Niners done since they stopped cheating? Seems to me they keep going through coaches also... weird how nobody blasts the Niner front office.
The national media have no such excuse. They bash the Raiders as a blood sport, by choice, and completely out of context. Just consider the ratio of Chiefs bashing to Raiders bashing in the national media. It’s not even close. When is the last time you read a “I hate the Chiefs” article in a national media outlet? How about never. Yet the Chiefs are clearly the worst team in our division (forget the league), were no better than us last year, and don’t even have a history of success to buy them a little benefit of the doubt
Two words....Al Davis
More on the Niners:
They have fired three coaches since 2002 (Raiders 4) have 27 wins since 2003 (Raiders 21).
In case anyone is counting, thats 6 more wins and just one less coach fired and nobody sez a word about how horrible their owner and front office is.
Meanwhile, they haven't won a playoff game since 1998, while the Raiders have won 4 playoff games since 2000, and played in a SB.
You tell me which team is dysfunctional right now. I wouldn't ask the press though...
Gary - Sirius NFL was bashing the 49ers for firing Nolan, saying they are steeped in a dysfunctional mess, and that Nolan was sure to find employment... and quickly if he wants.
They said that Singletary faces the same problems Nolan faced, and until something is corrected at the upper level, nothing was going to change.
Sound familiar?
Besides, wasn't Nolan in his 4th season? When was the last time our head coach had 3+ seasons?
Any time you grossly underperform parity and are among the dregs of the NFL for more than two or three consecutive years in the NFL, your organizational dysfunctional. That's just a fact. That would include the Raiders and Niners.
Well functioning teams may have ups and downs, but they don't become the dregs for five straight years.
The truth hurts.
couple of things. first, i really like tom cable. i'm not saying this just because we won sunday. there something about him. he has the guts to try a fake punt, and he's into the game on the sidelines.
he has already shown that he will protect his players, like taking blame for all the penalties, but he will also bench players that aren't cutting it, like curry, & huff.
he also bounced back from a terrible start in N.O.
plus when he comments on the defense, he uses words like "attack", and "aggressive".
maybe this cable guy is the one to bring us back to winning.
i hope he at least gets a fair chance.
oh, i forgot. second thing was, i think jruss will be fine. he is playing in only his 7th pro game, without key weapons around him.
we need to build around him, not wait around for him to "make everyone better".
it doesn't work that way in football.
Gary, you must not have watched Monday Night Countdown last night when the ESPN crew first announced that Nolan was fired. Berman and Ditka kept going on about how wrong it was for Nolan to be treated like that. Chris Berman called it disgusting and Ditka said the problem lies in one place: ownership. Carter, Johnson and Jackson all agreed. What were you watching?
Psycho-
You truely are psycho. Gotta love it.
RaiderMike (no racka-dishaprin here)
Mike,
Keep hope arrive! Senk u vedy much.
Psycho
I keep hearing that Tom Cable invited a lot of those old irrelevant guys to the locker room to talk to the team.
They talked about team toughness, they talked about what it means to be a Raider, they talked about why it is that you are a Raider for life (once a Raider, always a Raider).
And apparently, while the team should have just said, "get out of our way, you old bastard Davis enablers!" they, according to reports, listened. Then they went out and did something they have almost never done in five years. They PLAYED the game until the final whistle blew.
Why, it's almost enough to make you believe that history CAN teach you something.
Nate,
The year we went to 3-4 was '76, if memory serves. And you are correct, it was because of injuries.
We used it first against the Patsies and got our hat handed to us. Turned out to be the only loss of the season. That's the way I remember it.
But, in our history we do blitz. Maybe not as often as some others, but we do. The infamous snowjob was a corner blitz/mike blitz.
And, most teams rely on the front four for pressure. Normally the leader in sacks for the season is a DE. Historically speaking, e.g. Reggie White, Michael Strahan, Derick Burgess.
An interesting quote from Jay Richardson:
-----------
“In previous times, if we had been in this situation, guys would have been pointing fingers, or saying why did this happen, what’s going on, or here we go again,” second-year defensive end Jay Richardson told the Sacramento Bee. “But no one had that attitude this time.”
“Everyone was together. I think it’s the first time since I’ve been here that I’ve seen the whole team have the same feel about something like that.”
-------------------
Richardson only knew Kiffin as head coach, and isn't the whole team pulling together part of the head coach's responsibility?
Not drawing any conslusions from it, just found it interesting to ponder.
H
Blanda,
I think that quote from Richardson goes well with your post on the old Raiders speaking to the team.
H
>>>
Chris Berman called it disgusting and Ditka said the problem lies in one place: ownership. Carter, Johnson and Jackson all agreed. What were you watching?
>>>
"Watching" is all I do for MNF because I am always bowling at the time, and they have the sound turned off.
Listen... if anyone thinks that the sports media treats SF's problems the same as they do the Raiders, they are either delusional, or they simply don't pay much attention to sports media. Like I said, SF has won a whopping one game a year more than the Raiders since our slide began and hasn't even sniffed the SB in over a decade, and I don't hear nearly the talk of dysfunction that I do the Raiders.
.. oh, and the Niners last SB appearance? 1994. Eight years prior to the Raiders last appearance.
Another interesting thing I've read is that the only people who are willing to step up and defend Al Davis are people who work for the Raiders or people who want to work for the Raiders.
Interesting that they should say that, because these are the same people who keep telling me that NOBODY WANTS TO WORK FOR AL DAVIS!
Gary all I am saying is that you should have heard the guys on Monday Night Countdown talking about Nolan. You would have think someone pushed Berman's grandmother down a flight of stairs, because he was acting so disgusted over Nolan's firing (he even used that word). Ditka was all offended too, and Carter, Johnson and Jackson just nodded in agreement. Carter even threw in the comment, "how can anyone work for the York Family?"
The effort, execution, and gameplan vs. the Jets was leaps and bounds better than vs. NO.
The key to this season, and any season for that matter, is the level of consistency in the 3 areas mentioned above.
There are so many steps that this team still needs to make to climb the ranks of competitive football teams.
It will be very interesting to see how the team responds to the win vs. NYJ when they face off with Baltimore on the road. Some of the areas that I will be focusing on for the remaining 10 games;
* How does the team respond in a game where they fall behind early?
* Is the team able to close out games with leads going into the 4th quarter?
* Is the team able to win their fair share of close games where the outcome is hanging in the balance the last 15:00 minutes in the game?
* How many road wins will this team produce in the remaining 5 games?
* The development of JaMarcus Russell and the Raiders passing attack.
* Cable/Knapp + Ryan's ability to gameplan & adjust the gameplan depending on opponent & situation of the game.
* Just how many back to back wins will this team come up with?
The remaining 10 games of this season is the opportunity to gain traction, build positive momentum towards 2009, develop key players, and lay a foundation for future success. It also will dictate whether or not Cable has the "interim" tag removed.
The best thing, IMO, about the victory vs. the NYJ is that it reinforces the attitude and mindset of continuing to fight, scrap, and claw as a TEAM for an entire game.
The payoff, besides the win, is that the team realizes that the one thing they can ALWAYS control is the effort and spirit of play.
Calico-
All good points and valid questions.
Until this team has 7 loses I'm not talking about 2009. How can you write off a season when we are 1 win away from being 1 game out of 1st place?
RaiderMike
Rob Ryan Quote: “Sometimes, people think, well, we play prevent. We don’t have prevent, so I wish people would stop saying that (bleep).”
Call it what you want Rob. Whatever it is, it sucks! Stick with a 4-man front. If that starts to fail, bring more pressure, not less. Is there nothing to be learned from the Buffalo and SD games, and about 30 other games in which this model failed.
Ryan: “For some reasons, usually teams max protect against us, and it drives us crazy.”
Yeah, because, they know how to beat you, Rob. They watched the tapes. They know how to get you into your coverage packages and beat you.
Ryan: “Everybody says, ‘Well, blitz them.’ Well, (bleep), you can’t get there when they got a million people blocking.”
Stop right there. See, there’s the problem. He thinks he sees a million blockers. No wonder he doesn’t bother blitzing.
His funniest quote was about his brother Rex, "I keep quiet and like to be a professional, he's an arrogant a$$." Hilarious!
In defense of Ryan.
Have you ever seen a football game end with the final score 2-0? The answer is a resounding no. In order to win football games, your offense needs to put points on the board.
While Kiffin spent 1+ season trying to intimate that that problem was Ryan, in spite of other statistics, Ryan has basically held opposing points to somewhere in the middle of the NFL pack. And those point totals would be lower if our offense had more sustained drives.
Historically the Raiders never gave a damn about game statistics. As Ryan once famously said, "statistics are for losers." A defense's job is to keep as many points off the board as possible. That's it. Bottom line. An offense's job is to put as many points on the board as possible. That's it. Bottom line.
Since Ryan came aboard, in Turner's first year, the Raiders have rarely, very rarely, put up more than 21 points on the board. Most often, it has been under 20 points. Go back and look at each loss, over the last two years, and tell me how many of those losses involved the offense scoring less than 20 points.
Against Denver, the defense played like crap. But so did the offense. Kiffin failed to get any part of the team ready to play its opening day game.
It is true that against Buffalo and SD, the Raiders had the lead going into the 4th quarter, when the losing team will generally put it all on the line to catch up. How many points did the Raiders score in the fourth quarter of those two games? Don't you just think that if the offense even moved the ball and sustained drives in those quarters, the defense's stats for those quarters would look considerably better?
Go ahead, bring up New Orleans. But don't rewrite the history of that game. In spite of the fact that the Raider defense was giving up STATISTICS, they held NO to 10 points in the first half. The second half didn't fall apart because of the defense. The second half fell apart because of multiple turn overs by the offense, and a complete inability to move the football. I'm not the only one who has pointed this out. Jerry McDonald spent two days of blogs saying the same thing.
I suggest that this is the reason that Cable decided it's time to take the bubble wrap off of JaMarcus Russell. But then, Cable wants to work with Ryan and isn't looking forward to bringing in his dad at the end of the season.
The more I examine the Kiffin tenure, the more I think he was a bad HC. I like what I see from Cable, and I like the way Ryan responds to Cable. Together they are improving this football team.
bama7
Blanda, Blanda, Blanda. When will you see the light? Go ahead and hitch your wagon to Ryan (read as AL) after we beat a very unimpressive jets team. Ryan is a terrible DC and he will, unfortunately, show you that again before the season is over.
Bama, change your handle to Doom & Gloom.
I understand how you feel. As long as the Raiders give up any points, they'll lose. It has long been said that a "winning" defense give up no more than an average of 17 points a game. But that assumes an offense that doesn't go 3 and out on every drive. If you have one of those, relinquishing 17 points a game means you lose every game 17 to nothing. It also means that your defense is very good, they just get no offensive support - so as a team, you lose.
But there is no team in the Doom & Gloom world. There are only individuals. Rob Ryan, Al Davis, etc.... Open your eyes Bama, there's a larger world out there.
Bama,
Wasn't it you saying we had to get Darren McFadden so we could control the clock more and give the defense a rest? He would immediately upgrade our offense to a point of at least one TD per game and push us to #1 in rushing was the line coming from the draft McFadden movement.
Since that hasn't happened, you are now back to blaming Al. He did what you and others wanted, didn't he?
By the way, whats up with the site?
H
Ryan's comments just confirm that the media was right all along about the Ryan-Kiffin feud. Of course, it was obvious to most of us just reading between the passive-aggressive lines of their own comments, despite the fact that the wouldn't actually admit to a problem.
I have re-established the comments page. For some reason, the setting got changed on its own.
Those damn computers.
H
RaiderMike:
I'm not writing off this season in any shape or form ... far from it.
This season is VERY important for many reasons. Playoffs? Unlikely but remotely possible.
From a realistic standpoint, I recognize this season as a vital bridge year.
As a team, the Raiders have been saying all of the right things after the victory over NY. But as we all know, talking the talk isn't walking the walk.
What must be acknowledged is that the Raiders have provided themselves with a good example of what happens when you refuse to put the game away until the final second disappears from the clock.
Somewhere along the line, this team was taught that simply by eliminating the mistakes victory will come. This has never been really true. The world is full of examples of perfect losers.
Football is an emotional game, and to achieve victory a team must play with emotion. That, in itself, is a far cry from Kiffin's assertion that one game is the same as any other.
Against NY, the Raiders ran up an inexcusable 14 penalties. In prior games they would have quelled their emotion in an effort to reduce the mistakes. This time, each mistake made them realize that they only had to put in more determination and more emotion. The key is to make detail part of the team's natural approach, while keeping their heads firmly in the circumstances of the game and their hearts focused on winning.
That is the tough job which Cable has taken on. If he can build on what was uncovered last weekend, he can turn this team's fortune around and eliminate the word "interim" from his title.
Blanda - you keep finding different ways to say the same thing. You should have been a politician.
Face the simple facts. In our four losses, we gave up an average 31.75 ppg. In our two wins, we gave up 10.5 ppg. It’s not rocket science. And I’ve already shown there’s no huge disparity in time of possession (except the ridiculous 11-minute drive we gave NO on their second possession).
The two 4th quarter defensive collapses were real.
Do you really want the answer to your question regarding 4th quarter scoring? Against Buffalo we scored a TD in the 4th qtr... one of the few 4th qtr TDs we've had all year. Against SD we scored a FG, but gave up a whopping 25 points in the 4th qtr.
How does this make your point? Against the Jets, we scored a FG in the 4th qtr.
Whenever Ryan goes into a soft coverage defense, we get burned. Is that only obvious to some of us? Even Ryan can’t figure it out.
Let's not go giving the Raider D too much credit here. Here's the scoring ranking each year Ryan has been here.
2002 6
2003 25
---------Ryan arrives
2004 31
2005 25
2006 18
2007 26
2008 18
That almost rises to middle of the pack twice (almost). One of those almost years was 2006 when 12 points beat us week in and week out. The other is this year with 6 games.
So if you look at that string of misery, do you conclude that our coaching bad or that our personnel is bad? There's not much else it could be. We've brought in a lot of different guys on D. The secondary, the linebackers and the D-line have almost completely turned over from 2004 to now. Nothing has changed in the rankings. There isn't even a clear trend. So if it's not the players, it must be the coaching.
Alternately, if it is the players, then our front office sucks rocks.
Now, our scoring offense has sucked during that time as well.
2002 2
2003 26
2004 18
2005 23
2006 32
2007 23
2008 28
Add those rankings together:
2002 8
2003 51
2004 49
2005 48
2006 50
2007 48
2008 46
There's a tiny glimmer of a trend during the Kiffin years, but man! those are some bad numbers. Our team needs a lot of work.
Storminator
Storminator, if you continue to add other factors in, it begins to show a picture. Callahan's first year was the last year that we had the Gruden team intact. After that year we lost a boatload of older established players and what remained was a few poorly picked draft choices. That is, with the exception of the great Randy Moss.
If you remember Callahan's last year, we had no QB (Gannon was injured and no RB). When Turner got here, they were replaced by Collins and Jordan. Enough has been said about KFC. Jordan was a damned good runner except that he was never mentally in the game. He never even bothered to learn the blocking schemes.
That right there put us on the bottom tier in terms of personnel. After Turner's second year we were woefully inadequate.
It was at that point that Davis said that he had taken his eye off the ball and he wanted to build back what was lost. We started to slowly improve our personnel even in Shell's year. What Kiffin brought to the table was an eye for college talent that had been lacking since the early 90s. It is that aspect of Kiffin that I will miss.
However Kiffin also began the process of making the players accountable. Or, at least, the players who he wanted to be held accountable. And, I think, Kiffin's ultimate approach was beginning to have the effect of turning players against players and staff against staff.
Cable's approach is slightly different. He's making the players accountable to each other. "Look at that man standing next to you. You won't succeed without his best effort, and he won't succeed without yours."
The legends, when they stopped by for their chat with the players, told them the same thing.
I've prolly bashed SOB as much as anyone here, but I do think I see something here that might be serviceable since Kiffin left. Maybe for whatever reason we ran into a perfect storm where things just weren't going to click with Kiffin and SOB? Now that Kiffin is gone, things might start working better?
You can say what you like about the defense last Sun, but I guarantee you Farve is still feeling it... we were laying some PIPE on him early! And the defense DID hold the Jets three times in OT, regardless of the schemes.. when was the last time we have seen that?
This team seems to be coming together guys... I also don't get the gloom and doom.
I know, I know... we always lose, so we will always continue to lose.
First off, I don't believe in absolutes. I have both criticized and complimented Ryan. There are times when he seems like a genius and there are times he looks like a blithering moron.
I criticized Ryan most strongly in his first season. The idea of turning our defensive linemen into linebackers, while releasing such LBs as Barton, made my teeth ache. That wasn't done by Davis, unless you can point to a time when Davis attempted to change the position of about four players in a single season. It was pure Ryan because he wanted to change the scheme to 3-4. The ultimate result was that we had some pretty good D-linemen who had their careers ruined, and we are still suffering from the lack of decent LBs.
But I have seen other times when Ryan's defenders seem to come in waves and there appear to be no openings for the opposing offense. The perfect example is last Sunday.
I don't care if it was the Jets. The Jets have a pretty good offense, and you never discount Brett Favre. After Sunday, Farve knew he had just been in a game - and lost it.
And the fact remains - you don't have a good defense without a good offense and you don't have a good offense without a good defense.
It just may be that SOB must be "IN" as well, or his primary focus is only on limiting points. Ryan seems to have a great relationship with Cable, and the two seem to communicate very well. That showed in the difference between the NO game and the NY game.
I'm with Calico here, and very curious to see how this all plays out. As I said a few weeks ago, we may have accidentally fallen into the right formula.
The bottom line on Ryan is that he has been a bust.
Since the day he arrived in 2004, his units have consistently "performed" in the bottom 1/3 in the major defensive statistical categories. Unfortunately, this year is no exception.
Although we are all very happy with the defensive performance vs. NYJ, it is hard to get too carried away with this being a positive "trend".
The reality is that it is 1 game. If you look at the 4 losses this season, the Raiders D has given up an average of 31.7 points. 31.7 points per game ... are you kidding me? That is totally unacceptable with the talent we have on D.
Like most of you, I want the Cable/Ryan marriage to work. I want Ryan to call an aggressive brand of football for 4 quarters. I like our defensive personnel.
However, anyone who thinks that Ryan now suddenly has all the answers and is the right guy for the job is only kidding themselves.
4+ seasons is a solid body of work to farily judge and properly evaluate Ryan as a DC. You can make all the excuses you want for Ryan but it serves no purpose.
Blanda,
As for Ryan, I have a slight dissagreement. Overall your points are good, however if Ryan is focused on limiting points, that is only half the picture.
A defense makes the offense better by creating opportunities for the offense. They do this primarily in two ways, creating turnovers and limiting first downs (lots of three and outs).
This results in better field position and shorter scoring drives for the offense, putting more pressure on the opposition defense. Winning the field position battle.
Now, I don't know who it was, but someone missed an assignment on the Biplanes last scoring drive. Favre got off a dumpoff pass under pressure. The guy who was supposed to be covering the back was at least five yards off and wiffed the tackle.
As far as field position goes, even when we started near the 50 under Kiffin, the play book seemed to remain closed. That's precisely when you should give the rookie his shots. But, for whatever reason, Russell was always on a short leash.
Sunday will be interesting. Basically there will be two rookie QB's and two DC's looking to outdo each other.
I think it will come down to turnovers.
H
moshbucket said...
tempered optimism.
It was a great win. Favre's first loss against the Raiders. He even said it felt like the worst loss in his career.
Everyone keep in mind if that reciever had not fallen down they would have been on our 20 yrd line (at least) in overtime (I think that was thier second or third possession?). Game over at that point.
On the lighter side. I threw my fantasy team on the sword by not playing Thomas Jones in the slot this weekend. Real life is MUCH more important to me than the fantasy team.
H - forcing turnovers is what Kiffin preached as a key to winning.
Blanda, what about the axiom, ...defense wins championships? 31.7 ppg isn’t gonna get it done.
As many here have pointed out, Ryan had his foot on the collective throats of Buf and SD and simply let them go. He softened the defense when we went up by two scores and that cost us both games. That’s a fact. IMO, it should be a capital offense.
Maybe Kiffin deserved to get fired, but Ryan should have followed him out the door.
The meaning of the words "double bind:"
I am hoping for the Cable/SOB honeymoon to benefit the Raiders enough to bring us 6 more wins and still a possible longshot playoff appearance (the AFCW STINKS this year).
OTOH, if that happens, Al will prolly give SOB a new contract.
Ouch.
I just had a LOL moment... catch this line from an article about the Rex/Rob rivalry game this weekend:
"Rex Ryan probably calls more blitzes, but both are known for having aggressive defenses that make few mistakes and tackle with authority."
...end quote...
If ONLY that were true over the years!!
Blanda - don't plan on our offense helping out our D too much this week. The Ravens give up less than 70 ypg on the ground and have the #1 rated rush D, and #3 D overall.
If the Raiders win this game, it will probably look like a baseball score:
Raiders 3 Ravens 2
Blanda said:
"And the fact remains - you don't have a good defense without a good offense and you don't have a good offense without a good defense."
That's just not true. Look at the team we face this week:
Offense 26
Defense 3
In 2000 Baltimore won 5 games without scoring a TD. It is certainly possible to have one strong squad. If your defense is ranked 18th, like ours is, that goes on the defense. Nowhere else -- the defense.
Not that our O is anything to sing about.
Storminator
So I even lose H on this one, eh. Well, I still have backup.
http://www.realfootball365.com/articles/raiders/13056
Blanda,
Don't take it too hard. It was just a minor point of disagreement. Actually if you go back and read both post, it could be considered an addendum to yours.
H
And as for Kiffin, here's another reason I'm glad he's been replaced by Cable. This from David White:
"His latest retro move: pregame walk-throughs at the site of the next road game, including Saturday in advance of their game in Baltimore.
"That's important because the Raiders had trouble adjusting to unfamiliar playing surfaces several times under former coach Lane Kiffin , who preferred his walk-throughs at local high schools or junior colleges. That's important because the Raiders had trouble adjusting to unfamiliar playing surfaces several times under former coach Lane Kiffin, who preferred his walk-throughs at local high schools or junior colleges.
"When they played at Buffalo in Week 3, running back Darren McFadden slipped several times and kept changing cleats. Other players have also had cleat issues on the road. When they played at Buffalo in Week 3, running back Darren McFadden slipped several times and kept changing cleats. Other players have also had cleat issues on the road."
A little history lesson - Back in the ancient times that H and I remember, the Raiders used to not only do walk throughs on fields they were visiting, they used to do an on field walk through for every home game. Back in those days the field at the HOT had drainage problems and the players wanted to get familiar with the slippery spots before the game. Every player knew where those spots were and how to use them to their advantage.
Opposing teams, back in those days, used to accuse the Raiders of watering down their field the night before games to create a hazard for the opposing team. It wasn't true, it was just that the Raiders were VERY familiar with their home turf.
Yep, I remember. And, the primary reason for the drainage problem was water dosen't run uphill. The playing surface is 3-6 feet below sea level. The drainage system backed up quickly.
H
I remember there used to be a pair of swinging saloon doors over at Amy Trask's Last Chance Saloon that were named Gallery and Sims.
We got rid of the Sims door and replaced it with the Harris door. The Harris door is a little squeaky, and difficult to open. The Gallery door is still there, but it seems to have frozen shut. Sometimes the only way to get into Amy's place is to crawl under the doors.
Wasn't there once talk of lynching Gallery and Janokowski? I wonder what happened to that.
Gallery moved to G, which is hardly worth a number 2 pick in the draft for a ZBS. And Jano hitting one fantastic kick doesn't exactly make him a 1st round bargain. Hero for a week, maybe.
I'm just saying...
Read Jason Jones. There's something interesting happening that I haven't seen from the Raiders in some time. PERSONALITIES are developing.
That's a sign that this team is beginning to relax and to show themselves. When they do that, they expose themselves to each other, and they begin to form team attitudes.
H, think back to the day. Think of the personalities - like the Mad Stork. This can only be a good sign.
Ideally you would like to see the Raiders D take a lead role while the offense continues to develop.
If the D can establish a level of consistency ... quarter to quarter and game to game, the Raiders as a team will have opportunities to win their fair share of games.
It is obvious that the offense is struggling and is a work in progress. By taking a lead role, the D can set the table for the offense to have more short field scoring opportunities.
With the current offensive personnel, I think it is safe to say that the best chance for victories will come in relatively low scoring, close games. I just don't see this team, with a limited passing attack, winning "shoot outs".
Looking at the scoring output from both sides of the ball, 16 points scored and 24 points allowed ... I would love to see 4 point improvements from both sides of the ball. This improvement would lead to sustained competitiveness.
I believe the D is more than capable of holding opponents down to 20 or less points. With improved red zone efficiency, the offense should be able to score 20 points per game.
>>>>
Gallery moved to G, which is hardly worth a number 2 pick in the draft for a ZBS. And Jano hitting one fantastic kick doesn't exactly make him a 1st round bargain. Hero for a week, maybe.
>>>>
They are both playing at pro-bowl caliber this year, which is worthy of a pick ANYWHERE in the draft, IMO.
I know this will drive you crazy, but actually think about it before your knee jerks... How many first rounders does any team pick that ends up being a bust? I think I remember the research... it's around 40%. I'd put the pro-bowlers at maybe 15%??
Don't believe me? Click on:
http://tinyurl.com/5zbadk
and choose any year. Look at the top ten choices and name the pro-bowlers.
You might see 3 in a few years, but the busts are usually three to one.
Blanda,
That was a good one on Green. It sounds like the locker room is loosening up a bit.
H
Gary - that link just reminds me we went from the 31st pick in 2003 to the 2nd overall pick in 2004, and it's been that way ever since.
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