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.

Step Up Your Game: Thomas Howard

 Posted by at 6:51 PM  1 Response »
Jul 262010
 

Third in a series analyzing players on the 2010 Raiders that need to step up their game for the Raiders to become a playoff team.

Who Will Cover?

The strength of the starting linebackers in 2009 was certainly their ability to play the pass. Thomas Howard, Kirk Morrison and Ricky Brown were all more adept at playing the pass than they were at playing the run.

(Photo Credit: Jeffrey Beall)

Flash-forward to 2010 and the starting linebackers are Trevor Scott, Rolando McClain and Kamerion Wimbley. Three new linebackers, two pass rushers and one rookie.

The drastic change comes on the heels of yet another poor year stopping the run. While some of that can certainly be placed upon the interior line play, the one constant had been Morrison and Howard. Morrison was shipped out of town, but Howard remains with an uncertain roll.

The Raiders have a totally different question surrounding the linebackers in 2010. Can they cover?

Scott, a converted defensive end, was effective rushing the passer and stopping the run last season, but still has a ways to go in coverage. Wimbley is also playing a new position. The college defensive end turned 3-4 outside linebacker will play the strong-side linebacker position for the Raiders. Coupled with the fact that McClain’s only perceived weakness was playing the pass and the Raiders have completely flipped the position upside down.

Howard finds himself competing for the job as a nickel linebacker. Ricky Brown and Quentin Groves will also figure in, although Groves has similar issues covering the pass. Howard’s struggles were not apparent last season, but the coaches saw enough on film to move him from the weak-side to the strong-side and basically replace him in the offseason.

With the stated liabilities of the other linebackers against the pass, Howard will need to embrace his new role and thrive covering the pass when spelling Scott and Wimbley.

The revamped core of linebackers will need to prove they can cover to stay on the field, while Howard will get on the field for his coverage abilities.

Howard is the rare physical specimen that could force his way into a starter roll if he can stop the run. He will be relied upon to play the pass well.

If Howard steps up his game, he has the potential to make this core of linebackers special. If he doesn’t, there is the potential for the linebackers to be a pass coverage liability.

Step up your game Thomas Howard, the Raiders defense needs you to cover up their liabilities, as they will yours.

The Raiders’ Ferocious Front Four

 Posted by at 9:05 PM  No Responses »
Jun 082010
 

If football games are won in the trenches, it only seems appropriate to take a closer look at the Raiders’ defensive line.

The Raiders released Gerard Warren this winter and drafted Lamarr Houston from the University of Texas to solidify the defensive line.

Warren was inconsistent, showing flashes the past couple seasons. The former first-round selection has never played to his talent level. The Raiders were the third team to give up on him. Of course, he was also due a sizable salary in 2010 and that money can be put to better use.

The Raiders have surprising decided to put Houston at defensive end, instead of his college position of defensive tackle. What on the surface seems like an odd move is actually a very logical one.

Houston’s talents would be wasted playing the one-technique tackle position and the three-technique tackle position is still being occupied by Tommy Kelly.

Kelly has been much criticized due to the large contract he received in 2007. While Kelly may never live up to the money he was paid, he hasn’t been a horrible player.

In 2009, Kelly totaled 14 quarterback pressures and five quarterback hits, with one sack. He was routinely good in pass rush. Obviously his weakness is still defending the run, but the Raiders have never asked the three-technique tackle to support the run on a regular basis.

The job of supporting the run has been placed in the lap of the other defensive tackle. The Raiders hope Desmond Bryant, the second year player out of Harvard, is ready succeed where Warren failed.

Tom Cable has routinely talked about Bryant as a player the Raiders are excited about. One quarterback pressure and one forced fumble in 2009 is enough to get excited about? It is, because Bryant is the primary run defender on the defensive line. He will need to improve upon his solid rookie campaign and keep bodies off of rookie middle linebacker Rolando McClain.

What about the ends? How do the Raiders plan to use Houston, Seymour and Matt Shaughnessy?

Seymour is unique; he is able to play tackle in obvious passing situations and end. This will allow the Raiders to keep Kelly, Houston and Shaughnessy on the field. There is no need to worry about Richard Seymour, unless he holds out of training camp.

This pass rush centric grouping should be able to bring a solid pass rush from just the front four, but would expose the Raiders up the middle to the run. The Raiders drafted McClain to solve this obvious problem. Don’t expect McClain to come off the field in anything but third and very long situations.

In down and short situations, Houston, Seymour, Kelly and Bryant would be the run stopping group. It isn’t that Shaughnessy is bad at defending the run, but Houston should be more effective clogging gaps.

The Raiders have bet heavily that McClain is going to be able to deter teams from running up the gut, forcing ball carriers outside where the line can be more effective.

The Raiders will not have a ton of speed along the defensive line, but all the players are quick, agile and strong with a good first step.

The logical conclusion, however hard to believe, is that the Raiders will blitz outside linebackers more frequently in 2010 when extra pressure is needed.

Kamerion Wimbley has never played the SAM linebacker position. He has played as a rush end and rush linebacker. He knows how to rush the passer. The Raiders would be unwise to waste his best attribute.

Trevor Scott’s best attribute as a WILL linebacker is also pass rushing. Thomas Howard would be the primary coverage linebacker.

Quentin Groves is also seen as a pass rushing type linebacker. All signs point to the Raiders bringing a fifth or sixth guy to put pressure on the quarterback.

The Raiders have logically built the defensive line to be both improved against the run and pass.

If the Raiders defensive line can improve along with the linebackers, the Raiders have the potential to be one of the better defensive teams in the league.

A Look At The Raiders Revamped Core of Linebackers

 Posted by at 8:04 PM  No Responses »
May 262010
 

Did the Raiders fix the run defense with the revamping of the linebackers?

It is one of the biggest questions the Raiders will need to answer this offseason.

If so, can the linebackers Trevor Scott, Rolando McClain, and Kamerion Wimbley also cover running backs out of the backfield and tight ends on passing downs?

The Raiders started 2009 with Thomas Howard, Kirk Morrison, and Ricky Brown as the starters. By the end of the year Scott had supplanted Howard on the weak-side and Howard had moved to the strong-side for the injured Ricky Brown.
When Sam Williams and a rookie fifth-round draft pick get meaningful snaps, it is time for an overhaul.
So the Raiders started the overhaul, traded for Wimbley, drafted McClain, and finally traded for Quentin Groves and shipped out Kirk Morrison.

Trevor Scott

Scott developed into a nice linebacker last season, but wasn’t asked to drop into coverage very often. In five games as a linebacker, Scott dropped into pass coverage 65 times. This amounted to about 50 percent of the snaps in which a pass was thrown.

Scott fared pretty well in coverage and earned an overall neutral pass defense grade from profootballfocus.com , but he will need to continue to develop his pass coverage ability if asked to drop into coverage more often.

As a linebacker, Scott had two poor games defending the run, both against prolific rushing teams in Baltimore and Dallas. He will need to show improvement against the elite rushing teams to be anything more than a rush linebacker.

Most of the hope for Scott is pinned on his pass rushing ability. As a linebacker, he recorded four sacks, one quarterback hit, and three quarterback pressures in just five games.

Kamerion Wimbley

Trying to breakdown Wimbley as a strong-side outside linebacker in the 4-3 defense is somewhat difficult. Wimbley played outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense with the Browns.

One area of Wimbley’s game that is better than advertised is his pass coverage. Although Wimbley wasn’t asked to drop into coverage often, he did perform pretty well in coverage with one good game against Chicago and one bad game against Detroit. Wimbley received a neutral grade in the other 14 games.

Pass rush is probably Wimbley’s best attribute, but some statistical oddities popped up in 2009. Wimbley recorded four of his seven sacks on the road to go along with 18 of his 24 quarterback pressures. All of his good performances rushing the passer came on the road and all but one of his bad games came at home.

Wimbley must not like home cooking.

Wimbley will probably rush the passer less in the 4-3 defense and his run defense will be more closely scrutinized.
Examining his run defense grades will reveal five poor performances and three good performances. If this doesn’t get better, the Raiders’ run defense may not be much improved, if at all.
These stats were accumulated in the 3-4 defense so they may mean nothing, but at least it may reveal areas to watch. They come back into play if the Raiders experiment with the 3-4 scheme.

Rolando McClain

All indications point to Rolando McClain being the most premiere middle linebacker to come out of college since Patrick Willis. Willis may have been the slightly higher rated prospect because of his speed, but McClain is no slouch.

McClain’s instincts, leadership, tackling, and knowledge are at an elite level. The only question was his coverage ability.

He proved in college he could cover pretty well in the zone, but struggled at times with speedy man coverage match-ups.

The good news is that it isn’t likely the Raiders will ask McClain to cover man-to-man even on third downs, and his instincts and knowledge should help him to avoid getting beat badly.

Quentin Groves

A disappointment in Jacksonville not because he was horrible, but because he didn’t perform like the player the Jaguars expected after drafting him in the second round of 2008.

He played defensive end for all of 2008 and was moved to linebacker to start 2009, but he was moved back to defensive end halfway through the 2009 season. He may be raw in pass coverage as a linebacker because of his limited experience in that role.

His pass rush skills weren’t up to par in Jacksonville and he didn’t record a sack in 2009. He recorded three in 2008. He did have 13 quarterback pressures in 197 snaps.

Groves has shown potential, having a monster game in 2009 against the Texans at home as a defensive end.

He also isn’t prone to having horrible games, but he isn’t a guy that will make impact plays at this point.

Young enough to still develop; it will be interesting to see how the Raiders decide to use Groves.

Thomas Howard

The question with his game has been run defense, but he was surprisingly decent against the run in 2009 earning a neutral grade by profootballfocus.com . This aligns with most observations. Not good, but not horrible defending the run.

Howard will be used most likely in pass coverage in 2010. Expect Howard to be the primary third-down linebacker in passing situations.

His biggest weakness in 2009 was covering backs as receivers coming out of the backfield and it earned him poor grades in coverage. Darren Sproles, Marion Barber, and Larry Johnson victimized him in the receiving game.
Two of his three bad games against the pass came in the first two weeks, the other coming against Dallas on Thanksgiving.

Removing those three games and Howard had a neutral grade against the pass. He will need to maintain or improve his coverage ability in order to earn defensive snaps.

The Raiders obviously wanted to keep Howard around, having offered him a high tender and opting not to trade him like Morrison.

He will likely battle with Brown for snaps as a situational linebacker.

Ricky Brown

Started 2009 as the starting strong-side linebacker and competing for the middle linebacker position with Morrison in camp. Brown actually showed signs of being a decent linebacker early. An injury derailed his season in Week 5, but for four healthy weeks he had good games against both the run and pass.

He may find himself as the odd man out of the rotation, but he is good enough to stick around and contribute on special teams if he can also stay healthy.

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