And it all came crashing back down. The Raiders turned in a performance on Sunday against the New York Jets that was in perfect alignment with the Raiders extended stretch of ineptitude. They were unable to make plays when it counted on either side of the ball, posting a lopsided 38-0 loss. This comes down to one thing, the Raiders are who we thought they were.
I(AP Photo/Ben Margot)
In a portent of things to come, the Raiders took possession at their own six yardline after a lousy return by Johnathan Holland was pushed further back by a holding penalty on Brandon Myers. With the first snap, JaMarcus Russell fumbled the ball, the Jets recovered at the Raiders' four. That resulted in two plays that were complete breakdowns in execution, which would be a recurring theme for the Silver and Black throughout the afternoon.
The defense appeared to take a heroic stand following the initial turnover as the Jets could not punch the ball in on the ground in three tries. However, on fourth and goal from inside the one, Rex Ryan eschewed the safe chip-shot field goal and opted to take one more shot at pushing it into the end zone. From that moment the rout was on.
The Raiders forced a three and out, one of only three punts for the Jets. On the ensuing possession, it appeared the Raiders were about to jump right back in the game. Russell put together a methodical drive that got the Raiders out near midfield. Russell hit Darrius Heyward-Bey for 24 yards, and the Raiders appeared to have some rhythm going on offense. On the second play after the DHB's reception, the wheels fell off as JaMarcus Russell, under pressure and off-balance put up a duck that Justin (?) Leonherd of the Jets caught on the run and returned 44 yards to the Raiders four. This time there was little drama as Mark Sanchez ran it in himself from three yards out on second down.
In less than eleven minutes, the Raiders had given the Jets a 14 point lead. This takes the Raiders out of their element. Coach Tom Cable followed up on that thought, “
The next possession, once again the Raiders drove the ball well. This drive was powered by the rushing success of Justin Fargas. The Raiders drove down to the Jets 33 yard line, and JaMarcus Russell threw towards a well covered Todd Watkins in the end zone, and Darrlle (sp?) Revis caught it for the interception and touchback. JaMarcus Russell would not see the field again after that play.
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The Raiders seem to be a Jeckyll and Hyde type team. They should have had the wind at their back after their upset win over the Eagles and facing a team that was on the ropes. Instead of taking advantage of the situation, the Raiders spotted the Jets 14 points. They needed to put pressure on the Jets rookie signal caller, but instead they made things easy by spotting his a 14 point lead, and by not scoring made Sanchez not have to make plays. Sanchez's life was made even easier as the Jets were able to post 300 yards on the ground.
The second half was yet another Raider implosion. Despite Leon Washington going down to injury in the first quarter, the Jets were able to have two backs with over 100 yards each. Thomas Jones ran for 126 yards and Shonne Greene added 144. That harkens back to the preseason where the Raiders were repeatedly shredded by multiple backs in the same game. It was the normal combination of missed tackles, botched assignments, and mental errors. Greg Ellis's recipe to fix the run defense is much the same, “obviously guys gotta' fit right. I mean you just gotta' tackle, you know. You just gotta' tackle. You're gonna' make a mistake here and there, but you gotta' allow the good plays to outweigh your mistakes and obviously tonight that didn't happen. We had too many mistakes, we just sometimes fit wrong, and they capitalized on it.”
After this game, it is conclusive that the Raiders are who we thought they were. The games against San Diego and Philadelphia were mirages. Coach Cable even concluded following the Eagle game that their win that day would not mean a thing if they could not follow it up with a win against the Jets. Not only could the not win, they were not even competitive.
You can also find Patrick Patterson on Thoughts from the Dark Side.
Comments
Bill Callahan getting water dumped on him.... what else can happen
'THE SILVER LINING' - Russell is benched, now we can move foward. We should build off of Barnes and Gradkowski. Both are upgrades. Let Grad work with the ones. I don't know all that much about Grad but he is an NFL QB (unlike Russell) and we will be to do alot more on offence with him. The game was over in the first five minutes but at least Cable made the move and now will not lose his team. Hey, every team picking with that spot would have drafted him but there comes a time when you cut your loses and move on. Grad may not be the long tearm answer but he gives us a realistic chance of winning. DHB needs to take a seat for now and complaining to the refs was just embarassing. Bench him and let Grad build some chemistry with Murphy and sombody else. Very happy to see Barnes make the move. It may give him a future with Oakland. It's a little late to address the center position but with Barnes, Gallery and Henderson it's looking better. The game was ugly but we can now move on.
.........
Thank Goodness Russell was finally taken out. He continuously killed us time after time. Gradkowski at least has the touch to make all the easy passes that Russell couldn't. He will be much better than Russell if given a chance to practice with the first team. Now we might at least be competitive. Is he the answer for the Raiders? Maybe...maybe not. But at least we are trying to get better now.
The next time any Oakland Raider fan even consider bragging on or think about whispering praise for the Raiders I will personally drive to their house and pistol whip the hell out of them. “OR fans” [oakland raider] of today are pitifully docile and gullible to accept the fact that just because a stupid NFL owner is paying overgrown boys millions of dollars to put on a uniform does not constitute, does not equate a person of professional expertise and caliber. Such is the case with the entire “OR” [oakland raider] team. The individuals dressed in silver and black with bold raised letters on their back are not worth the pay they’re getting. Paying these guys millions of dollars is about as retarded as me paying a bear to make a berry pie. The caliber of players on the “OR” team is just not worth the financing, and for that matter a majority of other NFL players rot in the same pot of being paid millions to show off their inabilities. It’s all becoming a hoax.
I'm sorry but we needed that game to get Russell the heck out of there. If Gradkowski doesn't start on Sunday, I'll check back with you in April.
turn the light`s out the party`s over, bring back gru if he`ll come back.
Cable already said that Russell is starting next week. If the benching didn't wake him up and he comes out to suck it up again, takes away our chances in the 1st 5 min then we have the bye week to get a different QB ready. Although he was quoted saying that he was shocked at 1st but when Bruce got in there he became a cheerleader. And he didn't have a problem with that.
Doesn't sound like the benching is gonna bother him. Then he made excuses about every play Cable called him out for. That alone would be enough for me to want to bench him. The pick to Leonard he said a defender got in his way and messed up his vision of the field....what dude?
The fumble, he said he had no time to check down. Probably
true. At least put the friggin ball away so you don't cough it up on your own 5.
The pick in the end zone, he said he was givin his receiver a chance to make a play. Essentially blaming Watkins.
Word is that he is losing alot of his teammates support... I wonder why?
Chargers will have a cake walk, its a culture of losing...
Diamond Jim,
Thanks for that optimism man.... I think Russell has already been named the starter though for the Chargers game. dude that was just pathetic... the lowest turnout for a Raiders game since '68 and then we crash like this.
We have talent on this team but I just dont know what we need now. Davis just seems like the natural scapegoat.
I'm still trying to recover from that Jets loss. I have not drank that much in a long, long, time. When a rookie Quarterback comes to Oakland and eats a hot dog on the sidelines, I'm speechless. When assistant head coach, Bill Callahan gets splashed with gatorade, I'm speechless. When and where is the pride and passion the Raidernation was promised this coming year? 38-0 to the N.Y.Jets, one of the Raiders original rivals, was and is the new low. Once again, this team and organization getting laughed at on the national stage. Is there a positive solution folks? The Raider fans here on the east coast want a solution. The team is heading into week 8 now, giving up 300 yards rushing is inexcusable. Right now, I'm going to try to eat some food. Peace!
Hopefully next game will start of better with a better return from Holland and that Myers kid won't get any penalties - or better yet hopefully doesn't play. I know we were all hoping Russell wouldn't start, but it looks like he's going to be. This team makes it tough to be a raiders fan.
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