Raiders To Renew Mile-High Membership

 Posted by at 5:02 PM  No Responses »
Oct 222010
 

Last season, the Raiders went into Denver and got a win on the back of JaMarcus Russell. Charlie Frye started the game and Russell came in when Frye was injured to lead the Raiders to victory.

Michael Bush had 144 total yards and a touchdown. Darren McFadden had 74 yards rushing. Chaz Schilens made the game-winning catch. Brandon Marshall had seven receptions and a touchdown and Kyle Orton went 19/34 for 278 yards.

The Broncos couldn’t run the ball that day and haven’t been able to run the ball much this season. The worst rushing offense in the league happens to be doing very well passing. The addition of receiver Brandon Lloyd and subtraction of Brandon Marshall has the Broncos ranked third, behind San Diego and Indianapolis in the NFL.

Offense

The Raiders may not be able to run the ball on Denver like they did last season. The Broncos added nose tackle Jamal Williams to help with their woes stopping the run and have held five of six opposing rushers under 100 yards.

Maurice Jones-Drew was held to 98 yards, Joseph Addai to 29 yards, Chris Johnson to 53 yards, Justin Forsett to 44 and LaDainian Tomlinson to 55 yards. Only Ray Rice was able to break the 100-yard threshold with 133 yards in week five.

The Broncos still have a dangerous secondary and have only allowed one receiver to eclipse 100 yards. Austin Collie had a monster game against the Broncos, but the Raiders don’t have anything approaching Peyton Manning.

It could be a tough game for the Raiders offensively if they can’t get the run going. At this point, Kyle Boller looks like the starter for the Raiders. He played well during the preseason and has plenty of experience. He has the ability to make plays, but his problem had always been making good decisions with the football. If he can avoid the interception he is more than capable starter.

Matchup to Watch:

Samson Satele vs. Jamal Williams

If the Raiders get their running game going they will have a chance to win. It hinges on Satele, who must do a good job against Williams. Satele must keep Williams from eating up multiple blockers and make sure he has to work.

If Satele can contain Williams and Darren McFadden returns to action, the Raiders will be able to employ a two-headed rushing attack to chew up yards. Many coaches will preach wearing down and wearing out the big boys up front. Expect the backs to see plenty of action up the middle if Satele does his job.

Advantage: Broncos

Defense

In many ways the Broncos passing attack is overrated, but that doesn’t mean they should be taken lightly. The Ravens and Colts have decently rated pass defenses and beat the Broncos easily. The other four teams are all among the league’s worst against the pass. The Jaguars (28), Seahawks(30), Titans (23), and Jets (22).

Despite the Chargers outburst, the Raiders are ranked eighth against the pass. The Raiders poor rush defense might yield yards to Denver, but the matchup couldn’t be better for the Raiders. The Raiders rush defense seems to be close, having held rushers in check besides a couple long runs. It depends on if the Raiders can prevent those long rush plays.

Matchup to Watch:

Nnamdi Asomugha vs. Brandon Lloyd

Will the Raiders treat Lloyd like a top receiver or allow Stanford Routt and Chris Johnson to cover him? My bet is the Raiders will shadow Brandon Lloyd most of the time with Asomugha. Stanford Routt and Chris Johnson will draw matchups with the other receivers.

Advantage: Raiders

Special Teams

Broncos have a 27.1 yard kick return average and 10.1 yard punt return average, both rank top ten. On the other side, they have allowed 27.4 yards per kick return and one touchdown and average just 63 yards per kickoff, both rank bottom ten. Considering the altitude of their home stadium, this is extremely poor.

The Broncos have made 11 of 12 field goals including two from more than 50. The Raiders have made the most field goals, but also missed the most. Maybe we will see the 63-yard record broken on Sunday by Sebastian Janikowski. He can probably hit from 70 in Denver.

The Raiders dominate all the punting categories thanks to Shane Lechler and the coverage units. The Broncos have punted decently well, but haven’t done a good job containing the returns ranking near the bottom in punting net and near the top in gross.

Advantage: Raiders

Other Notes:

Quentin Groves gets his job back at weak-side outside linebacker. Trevor Scott moves back to defensive end. Interesting to note that Scott will likely now be a nickel rusher, with Lamarr Houston and Matt Shaughnessy the first down ends.

Maybe the reason for Scott’s move to end wasn’t Groves rise or Shaughnessy’s regression, but actually Trevor Scott’s inability to solidify himself at a position.

Jared Veldheer may have won the starting left tackle position. Tom Cable still insists it is a rotation, but Veldheer got all the first-team snaps during practice this week.

Rebound: Texans @ Raiders Preview

 Posted by at 3:37 AM  No Responses »
Oct 032010
 

The Raiders wasted an opportunity an opportunity to get to 2-1 last week, while the Houston Texans fell to 2-1 after a loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Both teams will try to rebound in week four and put tough losses behind them on the 100% grass surface at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum this Sunday.

These teams are familiar foes, having traded blows each of the past four seasons. The Texans defeated the Raiders 29-6 almost exactly one year ago in Houston. The previous three games were in Oakland with the Raiders winning 27-16 in 2008 and the Texans defeated the Raiders in 2007 and 2006.

Offense


The Texans pass defense has surrendered 369 yards per game through the air in the first three weeks, having played Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo. Bruce Gradkowski has the opportunity to expose the Texans young secondary with a big day. The Texans have surrendered pass plays of 60 yards or more in each game this season.

It is possible the quality of quarterbacks had something to do with exposing the Texans young secondary meaning Gradkowski will not be able to match the same level of production. However, the Texans corners still have limited experience and Gradkowski has mobility that could get the Raiders young receivers open deep. The Cowboys were able to set up their passing game behind a solid running game early, look for the Raiders to do the same.

The Texans have surrendered just 54 yards per game on the ground, but surrendered 101 yards last week against Dallas. Stopping Indianapolis and Washington on the ground isn’t much of a task and the Raiders run offense will be their biggest test of the season.

Look for the Raiders to run around the edges and throw screen passes with McFadden to tire the pass rush of Mario Williams. Michael Bush could see more action running the ball at the untested heart of the Texans defense.

If the Raiders don’t fall behind early, the Raiders ground game must be a priority. If the ground game doesn’t get going, there will be nothing to keep the Texans pass rush from spending their day in Gradkowski’s lap. A good running game will really put the pressure on the young secondary to deal with the added dimension of play action and open up the passing game.

Match-ups To Watch:

Young Receivers vs Young Secondary

If Louis Murphy is healthy enough to go, he should be able to do damage against the rookie Kareem Jackson. Darrius Heyward-Bey had a few good moments last week and has been Gradkowski’s favorite target. The banged-up receivers have drawn soft match-ups and need to step up and perform against a bad one.

Wario Henderson vs Mario Williams

Sometimes Wario does get the best of Mario and the Raiders need that to happen this Sunday. Mario Henderson had his best game of the season in week three, but that isn’t saying much. His finest game as a professional may have been against Williams two season ago. If Henderson is effective, the Texans may flip Williams to the left side to go against Langston Walker. Close your eyes if it gets bad.

Defense


The Texans 146 yards per game ranks just one yard behind the Raiders. This Texans team is much more difficult to stop offensively with a solid running game. Arian Foster leads the league in rushing yards with 406 through three games, but has only mustered 170 the last two weeks. Foster was held to just 69 yards against Washington in week two.

The Texans deploy a zone-blocking system not too dissimilar to the one Tom Cable knows and loves, so it should be no secret to the Raiders how to stop it. The Texans will get the entire offensive line moving one direction and use it to seal off defenders so Foster can cut back up the middle. The linebackers will have added pressure to maintain their gaps.

The secondary may have to come up and support the run when the Texans try to get Foster around the edge. Tyvon Branch and Michael Huff’s tackling will be tested by Foster’s size when he slips past the linebackers.

The Raiders should have Richard Seymour and John Henderson to deploy up the middle with Tommy Kelly, something they haven’t had since week one.

If Andre Johnson plays, Nnamdi Asomugha should be able to limit him. Kevin Walter has the ability to shred a secondary when the opposition can’t focus on him, meaing this could either be a breakout game for Stanford Routt or one that exposes him. Jacoby Jones can be dynamic and the Raiders will need the nickel corner to handle his speed.

Match-ups To Watch

Nnamdi Asomugha vs Andre Johnson

Larry Fitzgerald received the Nnamdi Asomugha treatment last week and only caught one pass against him. It was the first game the Raiders have allowed Asomugha to shadow the opposing team’s number one receiver. When the Raiders played zone, Derek Anderson immediately threw to Fitzgerald for a touchdown.

Andre Johnson hasn’t had much success against the Raiders and it isn’t hard to figure out why.

Stanford Routt vs Kevin Walter

Routt will have his hands full with Walter. Walter shredded the Redskins in week two and is a weapon Matt Schaub will look to when Andre Johnson is covered. Routt will either continue his solid play and establish himself as a starting corner in this league or be exposed by one of the best offenses in the NFL.

Owen Daniels vs The Coverage

Daniels has killed the Raiders in the past, but was limited in the previous match up. Thomas Howard may get more playing time if Quentin Groves or Kamerion Wimbley struggle to stay with Daniels.

The Raiders may also commit a safety to Daniels, at the expense of deep help. This would apply added pressure to the Raiders corners and potentially open up short routes.

Special Teams


The Raiders allowed the opening kick off to be returned for a touchdown last week and last season against the Texans. Jacoby Jones did the damage last season and is just as dangerous this season to take one to the house.

Sebastian Janikowski will rebound from a terrible day and put a few through the uprights. The Raiders would prefer Seabass be limited to extra points considering their struggles in the red zone.

Prediction


Raiders eek out a close one at home and Janikowski gets sweet redemption by hitting a field goal to win it, 27-24.

Studs and Duds From Week 1

 Posted by at 3:43 AM  1 Response »
Sep 152010
 

Duds

Jason Campbell
(+6/-7)
Overall -1

Old habits may die hard for Campbell. The Titans found and used a tell in Campbell’s game. He tips pass plays by sinking and sliding away from center just before he snaps the ball. This was the case in Tennessee and at various points last year. This puts the offensive line at an disadvantage, as they begin their rush as soon as Campbell sinks. The offensive line is put as a disadvantage and this group of offensive lineman aren’t very good to begin with. Correctable, but a very poor habit.

Cooper Carlisle
(+0/-8)
Overall -8

Carlisle was the worst of the offensive lineman. Even Mario Henderson held his ground in pass protection better. He was blown into the backfield by the bull rush, blitzers just went around him and on more than one occasion Carlisle just blocked the wrong player. In some cases Carlisle would disengage his blocker to help out Langston Walker, leaving his man to pressure Campbell. It would be hard to imagine Daniel Loper or rookie Bruce Campbell doing worse.

Tyvon Branch
(+3/-5)
Overall -2

Tyvon was directly responsible for 21 of the 38 points the Raiders surrendered Sunday. He bit on the play action pass leaving Nate Washington open for the long touchdown. He also missed a tackle in the hole on Chris Johnson on the 76-yard touchdown run and was fooled on play action again and lost track of the tight end for an easy flip pass touchdown from Vince Young. He happened to make a few plays as well, but it was a horrible game for Branch. One he wishes to soon forget.

Mario Henderson
(+0/-3)
Overall -3

Most fans were irate when Mario Henderson allowed a strip sack of Jason Campbell in the first quarter. Jacob Ford blew by Henderson who was slow to get off the line of scrimmage. Henderson was lucky to touch the defender down while he complained to officials that Ford was offsides. Reality was Henderson got off the ball slow and the defender got an excellent jump thanks to Campbell’s subtle tell.

In the end, Mario struggled with the speed rush most of the game and didn’t make any good plays to redeem himself. It wasn’t nearly as bad as previously suspected and he improved significantly later in the game.

Langston Walker
(+1, -4)
Overall -3

He had trouble with speed, was pushed around by the bull rush and consistently allowed the Titans into the backfield. He had one excellent run block that sprung McFadden for a few extra yards, but one decent play is not enough to forgive his transgressions.

Jared Veldheer
(+1/-4)
Overall -3

When four of the duds are on the offensive line things aren’t going well. A bad snap, two penalties are enough to doom any center. Since Veldheer was playing his first game at center in a long time and it was his first NFL game, he gets a pass. He did do some solid run blocking which was a significant improvement over Samson Satele.

Studs

Richard Seymour
(+8/-1)
Overall +7

At least the Raiders are getting great play out of their 2011 first-round pick. Seymour was absolutely mashing the excellent Titans offensive line. Seymour was a big reason why the Raiders contained Chris Johnson well early. It come as no surprise that Seymour was  held on Chris Johnson’s 76-yard touchdown run. His lone poor play coming when he was blocked out of the hole on Javon Ringer’s 15-yard touchdown.

Darren McFadden
(+10/-1)
Overall +9

What a great day for Darren McFadden. He use his speed, he stiff armed defenders and made them miss. McFadden even ran over smaller defenders in route to 150 total yards. He dropped an easy dump off pass for Campbell, but had a great day. This is the player the Raiders thought they drafted three years ago.

John Henderson
(+4/-1)
Overall +3

It gets harder to find studs after the first two, but Henderson was clogging up running lanes on just about every snap he played. A great addition to the Raiders defense should pay dividends as the season progresses.

Stanford Routt
(+4/-1)
Overall +3

Routt had tight coverage and came up in run support the entire game. He played to expectations for once. The Raiders will be looking for Routt to continue his solid play.

Complete Grades

Cartwright (+1/-0)
Houston (+1/-0)
Scott (+2/-2)
Gallery (+1/-2)
Murphy (+1/-1)
Eugene (+1/-3)
Z. Miller (+1/-1)
Kelly (+1/-1)
C. Johnson (+0/-1)
Shaughnessy (+2/-1)
Alford (+1/-1)
Asomugha (+1/-0)
Loper (+1/-0)
Heyward-Bey (+1/-0)
Huff (+2/-4)
Wimbley (+1/-1)
Barnes (+0/-1)
Groves (+2/-3)
McClain (+5/-5)

Overall Team (+61/-59)

*Each grade is based not upon offense or defensive failure, but upon above or below average plays. Good examples would be a running back breaking a tackle, a lineman getting a big block to spring a player free, a tackle for a loss, missed tackles, poor coverage, bad reads, etc.

The Henderson Hangover (and How to Fix It)

 Posted by at 2:51 PM  No Responses »
Sep 132010
 

If the Raiders expect to win more than five games behind the current offensive line, they are mistaken.

There were silver linings in the loss, but there are no moral victories. The Raiders stunk up LP Field in Nashville. A rotting corpse may smell better than the Raiders did during a 38-13 spanking.

The Raiders didn’t just get beat by a better team. If they did, you wouldn’t have received so many postgame apologies.

Richard Seymour and Nnamdi Asomugha weren’t apologizing. Tyvon Branch did and Quentin Groves followed that up.

Branch made multiple mistakes. At least one of them resulted in a touchdown. It could be that 14 points are on the hands of Branch alone. How different would the game have been in the first half without the Nate Washington catch for a touchdown and Javon Ringer 15-yard rush for a touchdown?

The key to beating the Titans was always to grab a lead and force Vince Young to beat you. The Raiders were doomed if Chris Johnson received 20 or more carries. Johnson received 27.

Vince Young looked good, and many quarterbacks do when the defense must respect play action.

Asomugha asked this simple question postgame, why couldn’t the Raiders claw back into the game like they had before?

“It snowballed on us,” said Richard Seymour.

Of course it did, the game plan relied upon an early lead the Raiders never had. They couldn’t claw back into the game, because this team was never good to come back on an elite rushing team like the Titans.

The biggest reason for the early struggles was the offensive line. Everyone could see it. Mario Henderson, Robert Gallery, Jared Veldheer, Cooper Carlisle and Langston Walker those are the whipping boys.

The Raiders will watch the game video today. The initial impression was that Henderson and Walker were utter almost total failures.

Was the defense lining up illegally? Maybe, but not matter where the lineman are, the offensive lineman needs to block them. Teams would rather have Alex Barron ripping off Brian Orakpo’s head than Orakpo ripping off their quarterback’s head.

It seems there could be a player surprisingly available that could help solidify the Raiders offensive line. Jake Grove.

Jake Grove was a very productive player when healthy last season. He had a good year in 2008 for the Raiders also.

The Raiders definitely wanted Jake Grove back last offseason, but with his injury history, weren’t willing to pay him the kind of money Miami did.

Miami cut Grove due to his bloated contract and injury history. He still performed well.

With the first game over veteran contracts are not guaranteed. Grove is healthy now, but would be of very little risk.

Grove is still good friends with Robert Gallery. The best case scenario is sign Groves and move Veldheer back to left tackle and let him take a few lumps as the starter. He couldn’t be as bad as Henderson and the overall net gain for the line should be positive.

Tom Cable treats Henderson like a son. As parents often do, Cable makes excuses for Henderson’s poor play; time and time again. Cable promises the public Henderson’s flaws can be fixed, but everyone but Cable are having serious doubts.

Mario Henderson may have better luck on the right side and he can compete with Khalif Barnes and Langston Walker for the right tackle position on a week-to-week basis once he get used to doing everything the opposite way.

Mario Henderson seems like a good guy and it isn’t personal. Henderson just no longer merits a starting job on the Raiders offensive line.

If Cable doesn’t do something quick to solidify the area in which he has so much expertise, he could be handed walking papers in just a few short weeks.

Al Davis wasn’t pleased in Nashville and judging from his face, his fuse is short. He just ordered a new overhead projector bulb. Delivery time is 3-6 weeks.

Titans Smash Raiders 38-13

 Posted by at 9:35 PM  1 Response »
Sep 122010
 

What went wrong?

An offseason of hope turned to misery when the Raiders were punished in Nashville, Tennessee. The Raiders were beat in just about every facet of football.

The most glaring weakness was obvious. The Raiders offensive line could not give Jason Campbell any time.

Mario Henderson was the worst offender. Excuses could be made for him, such as how defenders were lining up in the neutral zone or even offsides. Still, Henderson must block the defenders and he simply was doing a terrible job at even getting in front of them.

You might also point to rookie center Jared Veldheer, who at times was slow to snap the ball. Langston Walker had a false start and Cooper Carlisle was beat more than once. Even Khalif Barnes when given time at left tackle picked up the wrong man and it resulted in sack of Campbell.

Robert Gallery played decent enough, but was hurt in the second half and replaced by Daniel Loper.

When the offensive line managed to block for Campbell, the receivers were not open. Campbell was forced to then run for minimal yardage.

Darrius Heyward-Bey and Louis Murphy were basically no-shows. Zach Miller piled up a few yards in garbage time. Figurs and Higgins caught a few underneath passes that were basically check-down passes.

Jason Campbell didn’t make any plays, fumbled, was intercepted. The interception was nearly returned for a touchdown. He played scared, but who can blame him? The defensive line was in the offensive backfield all day.

The lone bright spot? Darren McFadden rushed for 95 yards and had 55 yards through the air with a touchdown. 150 total yards and a touchdown is a vast improvement for McFadden. He did much of his work after being hit, on draws and on short check-down passes from Jason Campbell.

The defense appeared to contain Chris Johnson early, until surrendering a 76-yard run while trailing 17-3 in the second quarter. That run basically sealed the game in the first half as the Raiders went down 24-3.

Rookie Rolando McClain played pretty well, although he did have lapses. Tyvon Branch had a tough day all around, biting on play action and getting blocked out of plays.

Michael Huff appeared to be benched in favor of Hiram Eugene in the second half.

The defensive line failed to apply much pressure on Vince Young besides a sack fumble by linebacker Kamerion Wimbley.

The performance had @TyvonBranch @QuentinGroves52 @Solo_Dolo_99s and @murph918 apologizing to fans after the game on Twitter and pledging to work harder.

Nnamdi Asomugha had this to say, “It is good for us. We’ll see how we respond to this.”

Not what the Raider Nation was hoping for to start off the year. The silver lining could be that only one team in the AFC west will enter week two with a winning record. A bad loss is still just one loss in the loss column.

Next week the Raiders draw a favorable matchup against the Rams at home and will need to bounce back to get what was slated to be a promising season back on track.

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