Week 11 Offensive Preview: All About The Fatties

 Posted by at 3:00 PM  1 Response »
Nov 182011
 

The Raiders success on offense this Sunday in Minnesota relies on the massive shoulders of the offensive line.  The big boys up front dominated the Chargers defensive line last Thursday night, providing big holes for Michael Bush and a solid pocket for Carson Palmer.  But it’s a horse of a different color waiting for them in Minnesota: a big purple horse wearing number 69.

 

Match-ups To Watch

LT Jared Veldheer vs.  DE Jared Allen

Jared Allen leads the Vikings front seven.  He is a tenacious, relentless pass rusher, and leads the NFL with 13.5 sacks.  His motor never stops, he has a wide range of pass rush moves and has embarrassed even the league’s best tackles.  He can electrify the loud raucous crowd in Minnesota with one play, and it’ll be up to 6’8” left tackle Jared Veldheer to slow him down.  Don’t expect him to shoulder the burden alone, Hue Jackson will have tight ends Kevin Boss or Brandon Myers stay in and pass block on some plays, and he may also chip Allen with a back.  The other way to slow Allen down is to attack him directly in the run game.

RB Michael Bush vs. Vikings’ Front Seven

The Raiders will go with Michael Bush again this week, and he should be running behind that left side right at Jared Allen.  Defensive tackle Kyle Williams is a load up front, so expect him to draw a lot of double teams from Cooper Carlisle and Samson Satele. The Vikings are excellent against the run, allowing only 93 yards a game, so it’ll be strength versus strength on Sunday.  However, this is the first time this year Vikings unit has faced a rushing team in the top seven.

QB Carson Palmer vs. Vikings’ Secondary

Carson Palmer torched the Chargers secondary with the deep ball.  The Vikings are 30th in the NFL against the pass, and will be without veteran CB Antoine Winfield.  Minnesota used a lot of 2-deep zone against GB on Monday Night, and expect to see some of that early to try to neutralize the Raiders speed.  Palmer needs to be patient, go through his reads and has to be okay with hitting some of the underneath routes.  If he gets enough time, he should be able to pick apart this Vikings defense, even without Jacoby Ford and Darren McFadden.

 

X-FACTOR

Darrius Heyward-Bey

With Jacoby Ford out Sunday Heyward-Bey will need to step up.  He has only one catch since Carson Palmer became the starting quarterback.  Heyward-Bey will be matched up against Vikings corner Cedric Griffin, a favorable match-up even with the poor production the last two games.  Look for a big bounce back game from Heyward-Bey on Sunday.

 

PREDICTION

Raiders 30, Vikings 20

I think the Raiders defense slows down Adrian Peterson and the offensive line keeps Carson Palmer’s jersey clean enough to attack that Vikings secondary.


Seven Things From Thursday Night

 Posted by at 8:00 AM  No Responses »
Nov 142011
 

1. TAG! YOU’RE IT. – Michael Bush proved once again just how productive he can be as a starter in this league.  His 242 yards from scrimmage were the most by a Raider since the merger.  The Raiders need to use the franchise tag on him in the off-season, as its clear he is worth it.  It’s a steep price to pay for a backup runningback, but as this league continues to remind us, you cannot just rely on one.

2. PLAYING FAVORITES - Looks like Carson Palmer found his go-to guy in rookie wide out Denarius Moore.  Moore has come on strong the last two weeks and is finding his groove with Palmer.  Moore brought in 5 receptions for 123 yards and 2 TDs, including one of the best catches you’ll see all season.  The sky’s the limit for this kid, as he continues to wow the Raider Nation and develop a rapport with the Raiders new signal caller.

3. WIMBLEY IS BACK - Hue Jackson said Kamerion Wimbley would get his sacks in bunches, but who could predict he’d grab four against the Chargers, doubling his season total in 60 minutes of inspired football?  Wimbley took advantage of the injured Chargers offensive line with great pass rush moves.  Wimbley really focused on ripping the inside arm and dropping that inside shoulder on the edge, giving him a quicker more direct route to the quarterback.  We’ll see if we have to wait another eight games for this Wimbley to re-surface, or if this game was the catalyst to a big second half.

4. GOING VERTICAL -  Carson Palmer completed 14 of 20 passes for 299 yards and 2 scores.  He did throw one interception, but that was due to a missed cut-block by Bush, leading to Palmer getting hit as he threw.  What was most impressive was that those 14 completions were for an average of 15 yards a pop.  Not only is the strength there, the 2006-2008 strength, but the accuracy throwing the ball down the field is there as well.  You know Al was watching that game up there with a big smile on his face, the old man loved the vertical passing game.  Looks like the Raiders finally have one.

5. THE SURE THING – When the Raiders predictably drafted Penn State offensive lineman Stefan Wisniewski, the pundits claimed that he would fit perfectly with the Raiders, as his uncle did.  But I don’t thing anyone thought he’d do it so quickly.  Wisniewski filled in for injured Samson Satele at center and had an excellent game.  Calling out blitzes, controlling the line, making adjustments.  He plays the position like a grizzled veteran, and the Silver and Black will have a leader on that line for years to come.

6. DEUCES – The Raiders continue to have success against opposing team’s top wide receiver.  They held Vincent Jackson to one catch for 22 yards (targeted 7 times).  The Raiders are 10th in the NFL in yards allowed to primary targets, but are 28th in yards allowed to the number two wide out.  The trend continued Thursday night as Charger rookie Vincent Brown had 5 catches for 97 yards, including an incredible touchdown grab in double coverage. Brown’s second long touchdown catch was overturned upon review.

7. DEFENSIVE REBOUND -  After getting torched by Tebow and the Broncos for 300 yards on the ground, the Raiders defense rebounded big time, allowing only 75 yards on Thursday night.  They still gave up an average of 5 yards a rush, but they prevented the big play.  They contained the ground game and routinely forced San Diego into tough third downs, which they were 5 of 16 converting on the night.  Rivers never got going, and was 23-47 on the night.  He missed a lot of easy throws and was out of sync with his receivers all evening.

Studs and Duds From Week 7

 Posted by at 12:32 PM  No Responses »
Oct 252011
 

Studs

Michael Bush

While he was stone-walled at the goal line by Derrick Johnson three times he still managed to put up a very respectable game with 99 rushing yards on 17 carries. That’s a very healthy 5.8 yards per carry. He managed a respectable game despite little to no threat passing and an early two score deficit. He wasn’t amazing, but no one was on Sunday.

Darrius Heyward-Bey

He snarred another 5 balls for 89 yards and he’s the Raiders leading receiver and it isn’t close. Heyward-Bey is on pace for over 1100 yards receiving on 72 receptions. Over the past four games Heyward-Bey is averaging 96 yards and 6 receptions. If that trend continues he’ll finish the season with 82 receptions for nearly 1400 yards. It probably will not continue at the same level, but it is worth noting. Ten receivers finished the 2010 season with more than 1100 yards and only Brandon Lloyd finished 2010 with more than 1400 yards. The sample is still relatively small, but Heyward-Bey may have finally arrived. 

Aaron Curry

Flying around and consistently around the ball. He hasn’t looked as lost in coverage as he did in Seattle. The Raiders turned in another solid performance against the run and Curry was a big part of it. The Raiders have been playing a lot of big nickel and Curry isn’t a part of it, but what the Raiders have asked him to do he has done well. Let’s hope it continues as he gets more and more comfortable in the defense.

Demarcus Van Dyke

 He did allow a few receptions, but he was targeted a lot and had pretty solid coverage most of the game. Obviously he is a rookie so he is still learning things. He showed more willingness to tackle and use his body on Sunday. He’s thinly built, but he’ll get bigger and can’t shy away from contact. Rod Woodson and Kevin Ross have done a good job with the Raiders young corners. It wasn’t a great game for him, but it was a good game and worthy of recognition.

Honorable Mentions: Tyvon Branch, Stanford Routt, Lamarr Houston

 

Duds

Kyle Boller

It would be easy to write and entire post here about how poor Boller played. He locked onto receivers, he made bad decisions. There just isn’t a lot to say. If the Raiders have their way he wont start again and he shouldn’t.

Hue Jackson

Just for talking large and then letting his team put up a goose egg is enough for dud status this week for the Raiders leader. He’s wearing a lot of hats now and made a spectacle of the Raiders acquisition of Carson Palmer. Then there was a decision on who to start at quarterback and some shoddy playcalling. Hue did just about everything wrong last week, but those same moves are genius if the Raiders win. That’s just life as a coach that talks a big game. He’s only seven games into his head coaching career and will rebound from the loss and learn from some of his mistakes.

Denarius Moore

Four of the six interceptions were in the direction of Denarius Moore including one that bounced off his chest. Perhaps the quarterbacks placed a little too much confidence that Moore would “make a play” and it seems like there was a communication issue and a poorly run route among the interceptions. Boller has to make the right decisions, but Moore wasn’t helping on Sunday.

Jared Veldheer

At least one of the interceptions was the result of pressure from Tamba Hali. Hali bull rushed Veldheer and blew through him giving Boller less than two seconds to make his read. He was blown into the backfield numerous times and failed to get enough of a push at the goaline to open up things for Bush on the wildcat run that would have made it 14-7. He’s had a very good season, but he struggled with Hali.

Dishonorable mention: Carson Palmer, Samson Satele

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Studs and Duds From Week 6

 Posted by at 7:30 AM  No Responses »
Oct 192011
 

The Raiders dominated the Browns yet only squeezed out the victory. What players stood out on Sunday and which went unnoticed in the victory?

Studs

Jacoby Ford – A 101-yard kick return gets you into studs about 99 times out of 100. He broke another long return and almost busted out on an offensive play. Ford isn’t getting the snaps he is used to getting, but that could change this week.

Kamerion Wimbley – Sure his sack numbers aren’t adding up just yet, but he spent the afternoon in Colt McCoy’s face. He’s drawing a ton of attention and that is freeing up the defensive tackles to wreak havoc up the middle.

Richard Seymour – Double teams are no match for Mr. Seymour. The man sure loved to push around the Browns interior lineman and was drawing holds and double teams just about every play. Superior game by the Raiders defensive captain.

Michael Huff – No one was better than Huff in coverage on Sunday. He played mostly cornerback and Matt Giordano gets an honorable mention for holding it down and having a darn good day at free safety.

Honorable Mentions

Demarcus Van Dyke (might have made the studs list if he was willing and able to make a tackle) & Darrius Heyward-Bey (Pats self on back)

Duds

Rolando McClain – I realize by putting McClain here I put myself at risk of “hating” on McClain or people thinking I have some unnatural bias against McClain. In fact, I thought McClain had a very good game when I watched the game live, but after watching the game again I realized McClain’s game was average. Better than he has been and he did make a few impact plays so maybe McClain is coming on. He missed two tackles and made six. That 1:3 ratio needs to improve. Unfortunately average puts you on the duds list if you are both the middle linebacker, a first-round pick and there aren’t many options for duds that week. That’s this week.

Jerome Boyd – One snap. One touchdown. Released. After leaving the field only for the ghost of Al Davis to save the Raiders the week prior in Houston, Boyd only played one defensive snap and promptly allowed a touchdown. He allowed 12 receptions for 236 yards and two touchdowns while only being thrown at 16 times on the season according to profootballfocus.com stats. That’s a staggering 156.3 QB rating against. Just not good enough when the Raiders have plenty of safeties.

Samson Satele – Tough way to get on the duds list. Satele was bothered with an injury and still played 70 snaps. He wasn’t himself on the afternoon and now has had two games in a row that he hasn’t looked as good as he did for the first four games. Chalk this one up to the injury and the bye week coming up after this week could be a welcome sign for the Raiders center.

Dishonorable Mentions

Michael Bush, Trevor Scott, Jarvis Moss – Step up your game fellas.

[table “1” not found /]

Studs and Duds From Week 4

 Posted by at 11:24 PM  No Responses »
Oct 052011
 

This a little late this week as it took an extra night to watch the game for the second time.

Studs

Darrius Heyward-Bey 

He made a great hands catch and already has nine receptions for 164 yards in three games which surpasses his entire rookie season.

Kevin Boss

4 catches for 78 yards. He’s proving to be every bit the weapon Miller was in the passing game and he blocks well also.

The Offensive Line

Without singling out a single player, these guys have been the surprise of the season. Campbell has all day to throw and they are opening holes for the backs as well. Jared Veldheer, Stefen Wisniewski, Samson Satele, Cooper Carlisle, and even Khalif Barnes. Sprinkle in a little Joe Barksdale. No stars here, this group is getting it done together.

 

Duds

Richard Seymour

Penalties, penalties, penalties. Complain if you want, but the penalties can’t happen. Giving free yards to Tom Brady is a recipe for disaster. To cap it off, Seymour didn’t have a very good day putting pressure on Brady. It’s Seymour’s defense and they got waxed on Sunday through the air and on the ground.

Joe Porter

I’m not sure who thought it would be wise to put Joe Porter on Wes Welker for most of the afternoon. That didn’t work out. I feel bad for putting Porter here because he was put in an impossible situation, but he still played poorly.

Rolando McClain

The Patriots ran all over the Raiders. Rolando McClain needs to be responsible for the running game as it is his primary job. There are many factors that go into stopping the run, but McClain is not getting it done. McClain has his own issues as a player and he can’t make up for others deficiencies. He doesn’t get much help and he’s not capable of overcoming others mistakes. He must play better for the Raiders to have a chance.

Tyvon Branch

A few rather poor angles and tackles in the game Sunday. Pretty uncharacteristic day for Branch. He’s always putting in the effort and that is admirable, but he didn’t play well last Sunday.

Jason Campbell

The first interception was killer and the second the final nail in the Raiders coffin. If the Raiders score a touchdown on that drive things could have gone very differently than they did.

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