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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 mentio...

The Raiders took the field for the first time in 2011. Missing were key free agents Nnamdi Asomugha, Zach Miller and Michael Huff and restricted free agents Michael Bush and Marcel Reece. Missing also were the slow tempo learning-intensive practices deployed by Hue Jackson's predecessor Tom Cable. Training Camp Report Hue Jackson is taking a different approach. Jackson's practice was high tempo and he wants it even faster. With practices shortened an an abbreviated offseason, Jackson must install the playbook in significantly less time. Higher tempo means more learning in less amount of time. It's simple, the Raiders should have high tempo practices to get as much done as possible before the season. Stefen Wisniewski probably had the most interesting media session when he mentioned the new playbook. He mentioned how the Raiders are going to use a lot of misdirection and motion to utilize the Raiders excellent offensive speed. It's something worth keeping your eye on. -...

By Rick Drummond, Profootballfocus.com It would be hard to argue that this wasn’t the most outstanding position group for the 2010 Oakland Raiders (though the running backs could make a case for themselves.) With impact performances coming from all spots along this 4-man front, a foundation was established for an improved defense and some enthusiasm about the future. In a 4-3 defense, there is typically a pass-rushing force coming off one edge or the other and some combo of blocker-eating big bodies in the middle. Interestingly, the final version of the Raider D-line boasted two pass-rushing beasts inside and two run-stuffing edge players. For veterans Tommy Kelly and Richard Seymour, the battle cry clearly was not “Let’s keep Rolando clean!” The two did not spend much time occupying blockers as they fully embraced the “cut it loose” mentality and spent the season slicing through gaps. As a result, both ranked among the top four pass-rushing DT's in the league as rated by profootba...

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 Jo...

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 ...

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 liv...

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 ...