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It is easy enough to blame Chuck Bresnahan for the Raiders second half collapses this season. He was never Hue Jackson's guy and his performance this season means there will likely be turnover in that area unless the Raiders defense turns into the 1985 Bears the last two weeks and the team squeaks into the playoffs and continues to dominate defensively. That's not going to happen. Jackson will likely get a pass for his rookie season. Dealing with the loss of legendary owner Al Davis and assuming the General Manager duties, losing his starting quarterback, his star running back, and having some of his best players miss time will all be excuses to give Hue Jackson another chance. That's probably how it should be, that's a lot to bite off for any first time head coach. Add to it the Jackson-created hype and expectations and you have a dangerous mix that has a segment of the Raider Nation upset. Playing the blame game Let's take a look at the two phases of the game. Let...

The Raidersblog team gives their grades at the midway point of the season. Quarterback Chris Hansen: B Brandon Dwonch: C - (Incomplete) Nick Silverman: B- Natalie Saar: C - (Boller D) Bram Makonda: C+ Jeff Fagen: B Overall GPA: 2.5 Jason Campbell played his game and did it well enough until he got injured. Carson Palmer, given ample time to learn the offense, tossed three touchdowns and had such command of the offense he was audibling at the line. The grade can be considered incomplete for now, but with significant room to grow. Runningback/Fullback Chris Hansen: A- Brandon Dwonch: A- Nick Silverman: B+ Natalie Saar: A Bram Makonda: A- Jeff Fagen: A Overall GPA: 3.8 Darren McFadden held the league lead in rushing until his injury against Kansas City. Michael Bush is a great replacement back and can consistently put up 100-yard days. Marcel Reece injury really hurt the offense, but he's as good as they come at the position. Richard Gordon and Manase Tonga have done a good job as blo...

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...

Hue Jackson said it right when discussing the Patriot game, “We got beat by a team and an organization that’s a little bit better than us at this point.” For the Raiders to beat a team like the Patriots they need to be near perfect and they weren’t, so they lost. The Raiders played undisciplined and made “bonehead” mistakes. The Raiders did not beat themselves or give the Patriots the game, the Patriots took it right from the Raiders open hand. The Patriots played a better game. Anytime Jason Campbell throws for over 300 yards it’s a clear sign that the Raiders defense to being taken school. It was also evident in the Buffalo game two weeks ago. It is clear that the Raiders need to play their style of football to win. That is a physical running, smash mouth type of game. Campbell, as consistent as he has been this year, is not a quarterback the Raiders can relay on to win in a shoot out. The Raiders will win with a creative and balanced offensive attack not one averaging 300 passing ya...

The Patriots coordinated and proven method of attack were too much for unorganized and mistake-prone Raiders on Sunday. The two teams did battle, but the well-coached Patriots had far more weapons in their arsenal and the rowdy Raiders put themselves into difficult positions all day. By the end of the day, the Patriots were burning the Jolly Roger and sending the Raiders to the gallows. Mistakes How big was the Jason Campbell interception in the red zone? With time ticking down in the first half and the Raiders offense marching down field Campbell threw the ball to a wide open Patrick Chung in the end zone. There wasn't a receiver within ten yards. Did the ball slip or did Campbell just have a mental lapse? Campbell said he was going to throw the ball away, but at the last second saw Darrius Heyward-Bey get open in the back of the end zone. His body responded to his brain and tried ended up catastrophically merging the two thoughts. It was like that time when I put hazelnut creamer...

It's all about the defense this Sunday. The performance of the defense will either cement the Raiders as one of the elite teams in the NFL or it will push the Raiders back into mediocrity.   Richard Seymour vs Patriots Offensive line If the success of the defense relays on the play of the defensive line, then everything starts with Richard Seymour. Seymour has been one the most dominant defensive linemen in football for the past decade and is the defensive captain. If Seymour gets penetration early, look for the doors to open up for other linemen. The Patriots offensive line features all-pro Matt Light and Logan Mankins but will be without starting right tackle Sebastian Vollmer. Containing the Patriots passing game starts with Seymour up the middle.   Chuck Bresnahan vs Tom Brady Every defensive scheme has a weakness and Tom Brady will find it if given enough time. The question is can Bresnahan keep Brady guessing? The Raiders must mix up and disguise their coverage well. Bre...

Quarterback In one of the toughest match-ups, and one of the most historical, on the Raiders' schedule, Jason Campbell has a lot on his shoulders. The vast majority of the sports world has Brady in the top NFL quarterbacks of all-time, let alone this season. However, their D was shown up by the Bills' offense, and they're on the road. Campbell has been steadily improving, but when it comes to Fantasy numbers, this won't be his best week. The Raiders like to run the ball, which they will do a lot, but this means most of Campbell's passes will be short tosses to McFadden. He'll put up standard numbers (150-200 yards) in a fairly low scoring game. Look for some consistent points from him this week, but nothing earth shattering. Belichick has said they studied the Raiders very hard since the teams haven't met in four years, which means Campbell may need a few tricks up his sleeve. Running Backs Play Darren McFadden! Unless you've been living under a rock, th...

So maybe stopping Tom Brady is impossible without resorting to tactics used by Robert De Niro's character in The Fan. Maybe this is more of a how to limit Tom Brady and beat the Patriots, but I'd argue it is nearly impossible to win a game against the Patriots without stopping Tom Brady at least a few times. This is the definitive how to guide on stopping Tom Brady. Okay, it isn't definitive, but it is a guide and you didn't write it.   Disguise the coverage If Tom Brady knows the coverage, there is a good change he knows exactly how to exploit it. The Raiders need to completely change the way they disguise their coverages and force Brady to read and react to the coverage post snap. For the Raiders this also means more mixed coverages. Strict man-to-man will be hard to accomplish without Michael Huff and Chris Johnson who did not participate in practice on Thursday so the Raiders need to explore zone coverages in addition to man.   Get pressure Blitzing good quarterback...