Guided By The Ground Game

 Posted by at 4:57 PM  No Responses »
Dec 122010
 

No one runs the ball better than the Raiders, except the Chiefs. Remember that line from week nine?

In week 14, it could be rephrased. No one runs the ball better than the Raiders, except the Chiefs and Jaguars.

The Raiders and Jaguars are surprisingly in the thick of the playoff run. Both teams are largely reliant on the running game to generate offensive production. The two ground games will battle at EverBank Field today, looking to make a statement about their playoffs chances.

Maurice Jones-Drew is rolling and the Raiders front seven must do what it takes to keep him contained.

On offense, the Raiders must get their own ground game going as the entire offense flows from a healthy running game,

The run game aspect of this match up has been publicized, but how hard is it to stop Jones-Drew and how hard is it to run on the Jaguars?

During Jones-Drew’s streak, five 100-yard games, he’s faced the Cowboys, Texans, Browns, Giants and Titans.

Team Run Defense vs, Jones-Drew
Dallas Cowboys 107.8 yards per game (14) vs. Jones-Drew 135 yards (5.0 avg)
Houston Texans 101.4 ypg (10) vs. Jones-Drew 100 yards (4.2 avg)
Cleveland Browns 119.1 (20) vs Jones-Drew 133 yards (5.8)
New York Giants 98.0 ypg (7) vs. Jones Drew 113 (5.4)
Tennessee Titans 120.6 (21) vs. Jones-Drew 186 yards (6.0)
Oakland Raiders 124.3 (23) vs Jones-Drew

Based upon Jones-Drew’s last five games, you would expect 148 rushing yards against the Raiders. He is tough and he has been particularly tough on teams with unfavorable statistics against the run. The Raiders are the worst run defense the Jaguars will have played during Jones-Drew’s streak.

It’s a tall order for the Raiders, but can they rise to the occasion? In week nine, the Raiders held the Chiefs to 104 rushing yards, limiting Jamaal Charles to 53 yards and Thomas Jones to 32 yards. The Raiders are capable, but this is a cross country road game against on the premier running backs in the NFL. This could be the biggest test for the run defense this season.

The other question is: Can the Raiders run it against the Jaguars?

The Jaguars run defense has surrendered 109.5 yards per game (17). While this is par for the course, the Jaguars have been stopping the run much better in the second half.

Arian Foster, 56 yards. Peyton Hillis 48 yards, Chris Johnson, 53 yards. Their only hiccup against the run came against the Giants with Brandon Jacobs 87 yards and Ahmad Bradshaw 49 yards totaling 136 yards in their only loss since week seven in Kansas City.

What about Kansas City, could the Jaguars stop the Chiefs ground game? Not exactly. Thomas Jones went for 125 and a touchdown, Jamaal Charles added 71 a touchdown and Dexter McCluster and Jackie Battle added 40 more and a touchdown. The Jaguars allowed 236 yards and three touchdowns that day.

If you examine the rest if the Jaguars schedule, you will see plenty of sub-par run offenses.

Denver in week one, San Diego in week two, Indianapolis in week four, Buffalo in week five, and Dallas in week eight.

Oddly, the Jaguars recent surge against the run has come against teams much higher up the list.

Theory is Jaguars can key on one runner, but have trouble with two-back systems. With the exception of Dallas in the final days of the Wade Phillips era, this holds true.

New York Giants have a two-back system. Kansas City has a two-back system. Philadelphia has McCoy and Vick and rushed for a 5.0 yard average.

Tennessee, Cleveland, Houston? All one lead runner.

Add Peyton Hillis. 95 yards receiving against the Jaguars and the shine comes off this defense a little. Could it be the Jaguars might be allowing fewer yards because teams game plan to pass the ball on the 27th ranked pass defense?

The Raiders have chance for another good game on the ground and it’s vitally important for the Raiders to run. The Raiders have won only two games without a 100 yard rusher, last week in San Diego was one example, but Darren McFadden had 97 yards and Michael Bush had 95 yards. The only other example was against Kansas City, but McFadden and Bush combined for 106 yards and the game required some late heroics in the passing game by rookie Jacoby Ford.

Jacksonville is basically the same team on the ground. During the first half, Jones-Drew struggled to get going. Not coincidentally when he did rush for more than 100 yards, the Jaguars won. The only loss in a game where Jones-Drew went for over 100 yards was against the Giants in New York.

He’s come close to or had over 100 yards in the Jaguars seven wins. The exception might be the game against Buffalo, Jones-Drew rushed for 84 yards, but Deji Karim added 70 and receiver Mike Thomas added 53.

The Jaguars are a running team. The Raiders are certainly capable of stopping the run, but it requires the big boys up front to do the dirty work.

John Henderson, Quentin Groves and Khalif Barnes are ready to square off against Kirk Morrison and Slade Norris.

Both teams will be guided to a win by the running game, it’s just a matter of which run defense shows up.

Studs and Duds From Week 3

 Posted by at 1:00 PM  No Responses »
Sep 302010
 
Studs

Richard Seymour (+8/-1)

His hamstring didn’t seem to bother his play. He was applying pressure consistently and was a force stopping the run. The Raiders are paying Seymour elite money this season and can’t be disappointed with his play. Seymour and Henderson have both missed a game this season and have really stepped up in each others absence against the run. Seymour missed practice Wednesday, but if he can stay healthy he will have a chance to make this list weekly.

Marcel Reece (+8/-0)

It isn’t often a fullback will make a list of studs, but Reece had an amazing game last Sunday in Phoenix. He did an excellent job picking up blitzes and finding players to block in the run game. He became a receiver on multiple occasions and looked more like a running back catching the ball and running with it. He has come a long way and deserves some recognition for his efforts.

Rolando McClain (+7/-1)

McPain has game. He still learning things in coverage, but is beginning to trust his instincts more and play faster. We know he has a mean streak after body slamming Danny Amendola in week two. He tipped a pass, was in position and is showing up around the ball. McClain’s efforts may have gone unnoticed during the game, but watching film it was clear McClain had a game worthy of this list.

Lamarr Houtson (+5/-1)

Another good game by a rookie. Houston repeatedly sealed the edge in the run game and was applying pressure repeatedly in the first half. He didn’t have as strong of a second half. Chalk this up to endurance. The Raiders only have three true defensive ends and Houston wasn’t getting many plays off.

Nnamdi Asomugha (+4/-3) and Stanford Routt (+5/-1)

Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston can be formidable pair of receivers that are difficult for opposing cornerbacks. Both receivers scored a touchdown on the day and it is no coincidence the touchdowns were not scored on the Raiders starting cornerbacks. The Raiders starting duo was so good the Cardinals were running plays to specifically target the safeties and linebackers in coverage. This was a wise strategy as the Cardinals were able to score two touchdowns.

Asomugha proved why many consider him the best corner in the league. Fitzgerald was physically frustrated with the match up. Asomugha had two negative plays in run support, with a habit of lowering his head and lunging for the tackle becoming a reoccurring theme. Routt has turned in a few solid games in a row and could be finally turning the corner. You haven’t seen many people calling for Chris Johnson and that’s a testament to Routt’s solid play.

Duds

Cooper Carlisle (-6/+1)

What can you say when one lineman keeps showing up on a duds list and yet there has been no discussion of replacing him? He is better in the running game, but hardly special. He was tossed aside like a rag doll by Darnell Dockett on multiple occasions including what could have been touchdown pass if Gradkowski was given enough time to find the open receiver. His play makes me cringe just thinking about it.

Khalif Barnes (-3/+0)

He comes in for a few plays and looks horrible. So much for the theory that Barnes was a better option than Walker. Last season he was going to press for the left tackle position, this season he is the backup right tackle, that should tell you everything you need to know.

Langston Walker (-3/+0)

Oh, a third offensive lineman makes the duds list? Walker was injured and out of the game and still couldn’t keep from making a handful of bad plays. His pass protection is embarrassing, but he can be a decent run blocker on occasion, so I guess he has that going for him.

Johnnie Lee-Higgins (-3/+0)

How did he even make the list having played so few snaps on offense? Horrible punt returning, that’s how. Just catching the ball and running straight forward was better than what Higgins was doing out there. It seems Nick Miller or Jacoby Ford could be given the shot to return punts sooner rather than later.

Sebastian Janikowski (-3)

He missed three kicks including the game winner, but he is still a weapon. He will bounce back as he has before and I’m predicting a game winner this week for redemption.

Notables:

Bruce Gradkowski (-11/+9)

It would be interesting to see what a Raiders quarterback could do with a little pass protection. Gradkowski had at least three passes go off the hands of defenders that are normally easy interceptions. He made some plays, but missed far too many open throws. One thing is clear, the Raiders quarterbacks can only go as far as the protection goes.

Quentin Groves (-7/+6)

He is always around the ball and seems to be making plays every couple minutes. His problem is mostly in coverage, but will also miss the occasional tackle. If he can eliminate the poor plays he would be a pretty good linebacker. The Raiders are clearly hoping addition playing time at linebacker will help him. He is certainly making an impact, I graded him on 13 plays second only to Gradkowski’s 20.

Training Camp, ESPN, Local Beat Writers

 Posted by at 2:48 AM  No Responses »
Aug 052009
 

ESPN is at it again. People who work for ESPN can’t do anything on Twitter. They can tell you they are going to the bathroom or waking up in the morning, but anything sports related will have to go through ESPN approval process. Basically, all the ESPN peoples twitter feeds are nothing more than either A) Boring or B) tools of the empire.

Twelve NFL teams also ban Twitter among players and beat writers during camp. For most teams with open training camp, that means the fans can better use Twitter to communicate things than can the beat writer. The beat writer would have to sacrifice his access to players and coaches to tweet. Now fans will tweet incorrect information that the beat writer would otherwise would have cleared up before tweeting it. Such as why a player sat out a practice, etc.

Thankfully, our beat writers have kept the tweets rolling in from the “private” training camp in Napa. I won’t be too hard on these guys, but there seems to be a disproportionate amount of coverage on Heyward-Bey. Mitchell has probably gotten about much coverage as JaMarcus Russell.

Where are the updates about the defensive line? Where are the updates about the running backs. They seem to be few and far between. Aside from a few WR lower on the depth chart, what other players are on the bubble? This stuff better be forthcoming guys.

Now on the the updates they did provide.

DHB had hands of glue in the evening practice. For the first time he caught the ball consistently. Russell also was looking sharp. Unfortunately, both McFadden and Thomas Howard felt the practice was sub par. Interesting that the beat writers had a different take than those two. What are the coaches saying?

You have to feel good about Tyvon Branch and Mike Mitchell. Our prospects at Safety couldn’t be better.

Mario can separate himself from Barnes if Barnes misses a few practices with a sore knee and ankle. Gallery looks to be fine after his surgery and holding him out is precautionary. Center remains fluid it seems. RT could be Green’s to lose especially if Barnes isn’t receptive to a move to that side.

Thomas Howard admits he put on a couple pounds. Take that for what it is worth.

Kirk Morrison and Fabo (Ravens CB Fabian Washington) like Shark Week on Discovery channel.

I’ll have more…stay tuned.

Kahlif Barnes Signs

 Posted by at 2:56 AM  No Responses »
Mar 152009
 

Not long after I touted the old gimpy guy Orlando Pace, the Raiders quickly moved to strike a deal with young healthy guy Khalif Barnes. He has signed a one year deal.

Khalif brings a level of unknown. He was a huge underachiever in Jacksonville. My Jags fan friend called him a turnstile. He certainly isn’t the man I’d trust with the LT spot so it will be interesting to see if he wins the job. It appears that Cable and Davis are going to give him that chance. I have severe reservations about Barnes at LT. I would be comfortable with Barnes on the right ride. Barnes also brings off the field baggage and hopefully he can clean up, but that is far from a guarantee.

A one year deal is ideal. Barnes is playing for much more money next offseason when he will be just 27. He needs to prove his worth to the team and in the NFL both on and off the field.

Here is the quote from John Clayton’s article.

“I think this is a great opportunity and place for me to start fresh,” Barnes said. “I’m excited to be part of helping this franchise get back on top and I will have a shot to be the starter at left tackle and that’s all I can ask for. I have a lot to prove and I’m betting on myself by agreeing to a one-year contract. [Raiders owner] Mr. [Al] Davis has a track record of taking care of his own guys and he promised me the same, if I take care of my business on and off the field.”

Barnes is young and talented, with concerns. I guess he brings the same level of unknown to the table as any draft pick would. Also, the offensive line is slowly coming together.

LT: Barnes, Pears
LG: Gallery, McQuistan
OC: Wade, Morris
RG: Carlisle, Morris
RT: Henderson, Green

Backups: Marten, Wilson

This makes it far less likely the Raiders draft a LT in April’s draft. I don’t blame them, Jason Smith and Eugene Monroe are likely going to be taken before the Raiders pick.

So what now? A guess a new needs index is due.

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