Five Postgame Takes
1. Hey, nice defense! Too bad we lost because we couldn’t score a touchdown. Paging Art Shell.
2. Give me one good reason why a Lane Kiffin-coached team can only score a total of two offensive touchdowns over the last 12 quarters of football? Think about it. Right when we should have been hitting our stride, on the heels of two victories, we’ve gone straight down the offensive toilet. Different coaches, different quarterbacks, different wide receivers. But still the same old story. This is getting spooky. Halloween is nigh, my friends. Halloween is nigh.
3. I keep hearing that this is a rebuilding year. With the possible exception of Zach Miller, name me one player who played on offense against the Titans around whom we are rebuilding. How do you rebuild without promising new materials? Don’t give me JaMarcus Russell, Michael Bush and other holdouts, IR “stars” or benchwarmers. If we’re rebuilding, around whom are we rebuilding? You might say we will be rebuilding, but how can you say we are rebuilding? And if we’re not rebuilding right now, what are we doing?
4. I guess we’re finding out the hard way why Daunte Culpepper and Mike Williams were cast off by two of last year’s worst teams in the NFL. Remember, my job isn’t NFL talent evaluator. It’s not my fault. But I can assure you that it’s somebody’s fault that we’re in this perpetual personnel predicament, now spanning five years and four coaching regimes.
5. Fourteen penalties for 100 yards and 27 rushes for 92 yards. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.
posted by Raider Take at 10:08 PM
232 Comments:
Not "Rebuilding" but...."In Transition"
When you buy an older home do you move in and gut it (throw away everything good and bad)? or move in and fix it up as you can afford to ( polishing,repairing and repalacing only the worn or ruined)? Thats transition.
As I stated before, for two weeks now the defense has put us in a position to win. The offense has failed to step up. Kiffin’s decision to keep going to Jordan when Fargas was clearly being more productive boggles my mind. Couldn’t Knapp, Rathman or someone just say, “Look Kiff, we are running the ball better with Fargas. Why don’t you give that a try for a quarter or two? If it doesn’t work out, we’re no worse off.”
Why did we spend our number two pick on a tight end, and not throw to him? I honesty believe the key to our pass offense is the tight end. We start completing 5 to 7 passes to Miller/Masden over the middle you would probably see the protection improve since the linebackers and safeties now have something else to think about.
The last two games reminded me way too much of last year. Boring and predictable on offense and silly play calls at the wrong time.
H
Quick note:
For those who might think I was hallucinating about Fargas, he had 12 carries for 61 yards (5.1 per) while our starter had 12 carries for 16 yards (1.33333333333 per).
After that performance and the Fish game, I say give him 20-25 carries a game. Plus Fargas may not get the defensive end or the blitzer everytime, but he sure as hell won't shy away from hitting them.
H
RT- to answer your question (take #2), I guess we're just hanging out, waiting for JaMarcus Russell et al. At whatever time JR enters the picture, then perhaps we will start rebuilding.
Or, maybe we're rebuilding the coaching staff first. They're at a point in their maturation when they feel the need to try the Shell/Walsh method... just to make sure.
I will say, Kiffin was clearly pissed after the game, and placed the blame on himself for fielding such a pathetic offensive line.
rhodes did not have a carry? wow! why did we sign him again? culpepper has fumblitis, our receivers have hands of stone, and our o-line has a fear of blocking; but hey, at least they're pretty damn good at false starting! oh wait.
are we sure that schweigert should be on defense? the way he has a fear of tackling, he should be playing on offense.
h, i agree about passing more to the tight end, but our o-line needs to get a grip on blocking first; and that is where they are saving our us. they are suppose to be chip-blocking, and then running a route, but how can that happen when our tackles are pushing them off on the tight end?
i would like to see mario henderson out there at right tackle. i would like to see sims out, gallery moved back to tackle, and mcquistan replacing gallery at guard. i know, i'm going to get crucified for that last line, but i'd rather see gallery at tackle than sims. i think gallery's problem is that he is overthinking things. much like chuck knoblauch when he played with the yankees, and he was consistently throwing the ball into the stands. his problem isn't fundamentals, it's overthinking what he needs to do. quit thinking so hard, and do what is natural.
again, how can kiffin move on to a more complex offensive strategy, if we cannot execute a simple one? i hope michael bush is activated this week, and i hope rhodes and fargas get the bulk of carries against houston. i hope j-russ is about to start, and most importantly, i hope we get a win.
RT--
You said the key words--
NFL TALENT EVALUATOR.
That is what we are lacking, that is what is going to have to change to turn this thing around. The Raiders need someone who can identify and develop talent.
JF
Jordan is averaging 2 yards per carry since he re-injured his back in Miami. H is right, Fargas is clearly the better RB right now and should be getting 20+ carries, starting. Hell, if you're not going to use Rhodes then what's the excuse for not doing it?
And get used to Daunte fumbling. He now has 91 fumbles in 90 games. He has stubby little fingers and probably a lack of concentration, which nobody has ever been able to fix.
Psycho
The problem with the term "transition" is that we've been in "transition" with other teams' failed quarterbacks (Collins, Brooks, Culpepper) and our own chosen "talent" for years now. Mike Williams is the new Alvis Whitted, just slower with worse hands.
Our biggest pickups at the offensive skill positions since last year were a guy who was suspended for the first four games (Rhodes), a questionable reclamation project (Williams), a guy who couldn't claim the starting QB job in Detroit (McCown), a running back who is still on IR (Bush), and a QB whom we failed to sign until after the season started (Russell). Culpepper fell in our lap, and we are finding out why the hard way. We put our receiving corps in the hands of a guy with a chronic injury record (Curry) and a guy with a chronic character problem (Porter) who was benched most of last year for insubordination. I'll give you Miller, though. Meanwhile, no updgrades were pursued on the left side of our offensive line, which was one of the worst lines in the history of the NFL last year.
If you're looking for confidence, chemistry and a winning attitude, this is a curious way to go about it from a personnel perspective.
I chose to believe that the organization knew what it was doing when it made these decisions. Now I'm choosing to believe my eyes.
There's options here folks, you might want to keep critizising what is going on with my team, at the end of the day it is what it is, yes we are not good! I don't need anybody to tell me that, I know but I don't care! next week the patsies and the colts are playing against each other, again there are options, if it's too frustating for you to watch "MY BELOVED RAIDERS" don't do so, become a patsie fan, I don't care, the Raider's are what they are and I much rather see them loose 1000 games than be talking shit about them.
raiderdecoachella
Raiderdecoachella, you know I respect you, and we're tight regardless of any disagreements about our team.
I don't see this as talking s*** about the Raiders.
I see it as riding the ups and downs with our team, and guarding the standard of excellence that Raiders organization has set for itself over the decades.
If Warren Sapp and Lane Kiffin can shake their heads in frustration, why can't I? The cure for all of this is to score touchdowns and win, which really isn't too much to ask. As soon as there are more positives to focus on, I'll be right there with you.
My takes. We have an answer to why we don't throw deep more often. No protection. No excuses! This off season we need two NFL caliber STARTING OTs. These must be brought in via free agency, because we don't have time to develop them.
Right now we can only throw deep off of play action passes, and we can only run play action passes when we are able to run. We can no longer run with Jordan, because he has gone back to his earlier problem of running up to the line, waiting for a hole, and then falling down.
H, is right. Fargas is the best running back I've see work for the Raiders this season. Over the last two years, while buried at the bottom of the depth chart (think Tui here), he has slowly worked his way out. He hits the hole quicker than anyone else, and fights for every yard. He needs to be the starter, release Rhodes, and give Bush some work. If there's some leadership in Fargas, so much the better. It wouldn't hurt to have someone with the character to have dug himself out of the cellar leading the unit.
The OL is currently the biggest issue on this team. Just like last year, and that's why it seems like last year. That's where most of the penalties are coming from, that's where the passing game breaks down, and that's where the running game fails to get on track. I think we're basically alright between the guard and center positions, but HAVE TO GET NFL STARTERS AS OFFENSIVE TACKLES.
Take, I know your attitude is "who's fault is that?" but the fact is there weren't any quality free agent tackles in the off season. The one we drafted is still being developed. Rebuilding is a multi-year project. The team has identified who they are "rebuilding around." That man is JRuss. He's not yet ready. I'm sure the team is mortified that they haven't kept your schedule.
H, I think I'm passing a stone.
Add Fargas...
When Jordan hits the line when there's nothing there, he loses one or two yards. What I'm seeing from Fargas is that he never accepts negative yards. Whenever he hits a stacked line, he always gains one or two yards.
After first and second down, running into a stacked line, Jordan leaves us faced with 3rd and 13, and no pass protection. After first and second down, running into a stacked line, Fargas leaves us with 3rd and 7. On third down, that 6 yard difference his huge, especially when you can't protect a pocket.
We need to start Fargas as "Lightning," and prepare Bush as "Thunder."
Al Davis does not rebuild....he only reloads...
My reason for asking "whose fault is that?" is because we're quick to give credit to the organization for finding gems such as Rich Gannon but press our hands over our ears when it comes to our recent streak of talent evaluation woes.
It's time to start facing facts instead of making excuses. No more scholarships, and that includes whatever executives who are responsible for yet another year of Sims, Gallery and company. We were told they'd be good enough under Cable, etc. Well, they're not. And that's somebody's miscalculation, and that somebody, or the organization, needs to step up and make decisive moves in a new direction. Not today. Yesterday.
To say we had no other choice than to field these guys is a very questionable position. What was our weakest link last year? O-line. What's our weakest link this year? Same. What makes you think the magical free agents are going to materialize next year, if they supposedly weren't available this year? What is our plan for protecting Russell next year?
Our biggest o-line picks over the past two drafts, Henderson and McQuistan, can't even rise to the level of starter on a line this bad?
Why? Because either (1) they were poor selections or (2) somebody refuses to move on from Sims and Gallery. It's literally down to one of those two scenarios. Which do you think it is?
I forgot QB. Kiffin was right. Since we still down't have a decent offensive line, McCown is the better option. (Take has forgotten that we acquired McCown as a one year "transition" to Russell.) We can't throw deep anyway unless the play action is working, and McCown presents the possibility of taking it to the house if he escapes (don't forget he was the the Lions' #4 receiver last season).
Take has also apparently forgotten that we didn't get Bush for this season. We got him so that we could manage his rehab and have him ready for next season. In fact, if you really examine the actions taken during the past off season, it becomes apparent that Kiff took a lot of actions that would pay off in year two. I suspect that might have been intentional, knowing the options weren't available for an OL rebuild last off season. But I expect to see that as PRIORITY ONE in the coming off season.
Blanda - Agreed 100%, but lets just hope the OT prices are not so rediculously high like last year in FA. I'd be OK with one rookie and one FA, as long as we get two or more guys to compete.
I wonder what Gannon was thinking, watching Sims commit penalty after penalty to screw up drive after drive. He was quiet in the booth regarding Sims. But if he were on the field he would've been cussing his head off trying to get guys focused. Sims and others made the same mistakes in Gannon's day and he 'willed' that team into respectability. If we insist on making the same mistakes then we all better hope Russell is a Gannon-like leader in his own right.
Psycho
Take, if you'll take a moment to recollect (as you commented yourself at the time), there wasn't any offensive line talent available during free agency last year.
Now if you really take a few moments to think about it, you might just come up with a reason why the Raiders might have said that this OL will be okay, rather than saying, "You know, these five guys are the worst! I'm embarrassed to go on the field with them, but what choice do I have?"
Agreed 100% on the need for two OT's I meant. -Psycho
No, I haven't forgotten that Bush was injured. I also haven't forgotten that Rhodes was suspended for the first four games. And I haven't forgotten that that Jordan's tenure with the Raiders has been, and continues to be, rather mediocre.
I have forgotten, however, that our battle cry going into training camp this year was "Wait 'til next year!"
That part I forgot.
Thank God for the Dolphins and Rams, two teams that look much worse than we do.
Depending too much on free agent OT signings may cause salary cap concerns when combined with our other needs, particularly skill positions (namely WR - two at a minimum).
Gallery looks lost at guard, and I don't think moving him back to tackle will help. He is consistently getting out-smarted and out-muscled by interior lineline and DEs. Has he learned nothing from Warren Sapp?
As well as our D played for most of the game, they should not get a pass for the 4-play, TD fiasco. It seems our D is good for at least one major meltdown per game. Was Tommy Kelly that much of a factor, because I think it was when he came out?
I made the point on the last board (after seeing the game) that Fargas is clearly better than Jordan right now... running and blocking. It's not even a close call. It seemed that Fargas did get more carries as the game progressed, but every time Jordan game in, the gameplan went south. He was dropped for a loss on as many or more plays than he gained positive yards. That's not all on the O-line.
I could keep going, but I'll spare you guys. One consolation, however, is that we may see Russell sooner than later. The sooner he sees action, the quicker he'll mature into the QB we need.
Al Davis does not rebuild....he only reloads...
THE ONLY THING I'D LIKE TO RELOAD IS A SHOTGUN AND PUT IT TO HIS HEAD. I'M SO SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING THIS BULLSHIT IT MAKES ME GD SICK!
LOOK - we ARE REBUILDING and until kiffin gets his type of player in here we won't do anything CLOSE to winning anytime soon. PLAIN AND SIMPLE! once we clear out all these stiffs and get the right personnel who can play we might win a few games.
I don't recall saying that about o-line free agents (one of the things I don't do here is scout the NFL for free agent o-line talent, I don't have the time, I can barely keep up with highly publicized skill positions like quarterback; just because I write a blog doesn't mean my day job is NFL general manager).
Perhaps I did say that, but I doubt it.
But if ever said we couldn't do better than Barry Sims, via free agency or draft, then shoot me, because I've apparently come down with the same disease as the organization.
Not that our battle cry was "Wait 'til next year," but it wasn't "The Playoffs or Bust" either.
Most of us went into this season expecting no better than six wins. At various points our hopes have been raised, but that, if you think about it, is a positive, not a negative. That those hopes get dashed to the reality we expected in the first place shouldn't be devistating. I'm still intending to hold Kiffin to those six wins.
Take, back when Walter signed as a free agent for, like 10 billion dollars, you complimented the Raiders for not biting on the rediculously priced OL talent available. Perhaps that was Calico. I remember agreeing with the statement at the time.
You mean Langston Walker, right?
How's he doing at Buffalo, by the way?
Bama7
There is nothing wrong with being angry and demanding change. We have been straddled with crap for so long. We had one of the best teams in football under Gruden, but Al had to run him off. Now look at us. Look at us.
I think the D is okay, but you can bet if we were scoring more points suddenly the D would have trouble getting off the field. And fargas is not a featured back. I don't care what kind of success he's had lately. he's not a featured NFL back.
One thing to note is that Gruden's scheme didn't fare well in tampa without a good Qb that could run his system- (and running game) It took him awhile to learn oaktown too (remember Donald Hollis and the pre garner years?) Gruden has finally learned and now has garcia and the system is now working again (but now he has no RB). Kiffen's scheme surely requires a Qb capable of handling it. The verdict is in on McCown, culpepper, collins, etc. These guys are not good nfl qb's. With Culpepper we had hope because he was pretty good years ago, but That looks due to having had good wheels at th etime and a WR like Moss tormenting the D. without good wheels and a Randy Moss, Culpepper is not very good. And stop it with McCown. This guy couldn't stick with the Cardinals of Lions. He's not the answer.
As for Russell, the only fear with getting him in now is that if he truly isn't ready (having missed so much of training camp and pe-season), what happens if he comes in and gets killed? Then he has no confidence and neither do the fans. He'd be ruined. Then we're back to square 1 in our QB search. Might have to ease him in, late in ball games that are over... minimize the pressure on him this year.
Sorry, yeah, Walker. Don't know about Walker, but Buffalo's about the same.
It may not be as bad as we're all making it out to be. Myself included. At some point this year we've gotten outstanding play out of every position group on our entire team.
Right now Jano and Shane are beasts. Our D has seemingly 'come around' the last few weeks even if our run D is still questionable. Our LBs & DBs are strong points. Our DL has had it's moments, fighting injury, and stopping the run is always a team effort.
Our O-line was the strength of the team for the first few weeks oddly enough. Whatever Cable was feeding them he just has to put on the menu again and we can at least be effective with these guys.
Daunte has shown flashes of greatness when he had time. Our TEs are solid. Curry is the freakin' MAN, if we can only get him the ball more. RB & FB have had numerous GREAT games.
I'm going to repeat what I've been preaching for weeks. CONSISTENCY & TOUGHNESS.
We have yet to put together a complete game where everyone plays relatively well at the same time. We're stuck with who we have for the rest of the year and this needs to be the theme. Whoever can't prove to be both Consistent & Tough needs to be phased out, either this off-season or the next. We'll get this thing back on track once we weed out the problems. It will take a while before we even resemble the Patsies or Colts for a game or two, much less consistently.
Psycho
Here is what I want to see next week.
- The same defensive effort that was there the last two games.
- The same special teams effort that was there Sunday.
- An offensive line that plays with anger over their performance the last three weeks. (I know, fat chance but at least they could pay attention to the snap, that would help)
- A passing game in rhythm. Shorter routes, more tight end and when you do get open, hold on and fight for extra yards.
- When something is working e.g. Fargas. Stay with it for a while. I don't mean run him ten times in a row, but leave him in there if he has the hot hand. If Miller catches a seven yarder, go back to him on first or second down.
- Maybe find out what Mario Henderson is capable of.
- Someone block DeMarco Ryans.
- Try passing with the two tight end formation (to a tight end).
Go all out. What the hell do they have to loose.
H
Bama, Psycho:
I hear what you guys are saying and I agree 100%, I know that Fargas is not a featured back but he is the best we have today! I know that once Bush joins the team it will be a great compliment, also I strongly believe that the line has to go back and watch film at what we were doing good the first 4 weeks of the season and try to go back to that.
I would personally like to watch Russell start the next time we are at home (not this coming Sunday), I know that he missed training camp but he has been witht the team for over 4 weeks already and he was also at the voluntary minicamps, the problem with Pepper is that he can't move therefore he can not create any type of defessive awareness.
raiderdecoachella
decoachell:
Russell is moving up. He dressed for the first time this Sunday, and was the #3 option behind McCown. No need to play him until after 7 losses, unless he shows he's better than McCown or Culpepper in practice. Kiffin can't give up on the season yet, and I think that if he inserted Russell before Russell proved he was ready would indicate to the players that Kiffin had written the season off. Right now, it could be fairly asked that if the players have given up on the season, why shouldn't Kiffin? But it's bad form on the part of the coach to give into that.
McCown is simply the better option for us right now because of what he can bring to the table with his legs. He can buy extra time and make something happen. While the offense isn't designed that way, at least it gives us an intangible to play with.
I also disagree that Fargas hasn't the ability to be an every down back. He hasn't showed it before this season, but this season he has. If he can't carry the load, let's at least find out. He does appear to be our best option at the moment. He is the only one who has completely adapted to the cut block scheme.
If it makes you Raider fans feel any better, I have you guys pegged to beat Houston on Sunday. If you still cannot beat the lowly Texans at home and lose to them for the third straight time (two straight years at your place) then I would put in Russell since by all means the season will be over for you guys.
Sorry my post is so short, but after witnessing my Patriots thrash Washington yesterday and then partying all night after the Red Sox won the Series, I am a little spent. Thank God I took the day off from work today. It is nap time for these old bones, all this celebrating wears you out as you get older.
Again, add Fargas...
It should not be lost on anyone that Fargas appeared to effective running the ball yesterday. This was the league's strongest rush defense. Fargas averaged 5.1 yards, and it approaches his season average of 5.6 which is highest on the team.
Fargas has earned the starting spot. Give him a shot.
WHEN ARE WE GOING TO UNDERSTAND, IT IS NOT A COACH FAULT EVEYTHING START WITH AL DAVIS AND END WITH AL DAVIS, YOU WANT THIS PROBLEM SOLVE GET THE OWNER OUT.
Yeah! Al Davis did a horrible job of blocking in the LAST TWO games! And when is that SOB going to learn how to not turn the ball over in crucial situations? And the way he's been trying to pick his holes when running into the line is pathetic.
Blandarocked,
We are 100% in sync on Fargas. Also, he has caught some third down passes when we needed them.
After the Fish game here is what he did:
SD - 2 carries 10 yards (Why only 2 carries.
KC - 1 carry 1 yard (Once again, why only 1 carry)
TN - 12 carries 61 yards.
Thus far he is the one taking advantage of his limited opportunities. We won't know if he can carry the load until we try.
He was the major positive on offense. And, as I stated before, he might not pick up the blitz every time, but when he does he won't be shy about hitting someone.
He had been injury prone in the past. So far this year, like Curry he is holding up.
I believe in stretching the field, but that is not how our starting receivers are built. They are taller and stronger than most cornerbacks and don't have the breakaway speed. Stretch the field horizontally and rely on yards after the catch.
There are multiple ways of slowing down the rush. Kiffin didn't have these types of problems at USC so he needs to make better adjustments.
I see the cross desser is back.
H
Bama,
We make it though Birmingham usually once a season on our way to Tuscaloosa to catch a game.
It'll be next season before our next sojourn, maybe we can hook up on the next trip. Put a face to the handle.
H
Bama7
H... would love to meet you. Just let me know.
As for Fargas, I'm all for giving him a shot and then letting him prove me wrong. Jordan's back is obvioulsy done and for some reason we're not going to run RHodes (?) so I say let Fargas run it at least 20 times next week. Let's use the rest of this season to see if we have any keepers.
While we're at it, let's let Henderson and McQuistan have a shot at LT, they're natural positions... a couple of games each. Can they be any worse than Simms or gallery?
Blanda,
I agree with you in regards to Fargas, he is by far our best back, we have some prospects for the future but as of today he is the guy.
In regards to the qb position, if you remember a few weeks back I had mentioned that we had to be careful on what we wished for in regards to Pepper, I had nightmares with the idea of getting Pepper in because everytime that we get the back up in it always happens that the first game they play they play real good and after that they suck, I also belive that Mccown is right now our best option and I also believe that no matter what we need to get Russell in this season, I say after week 12.
Bama, McQuistan subbed for Green almost the entire game. He was worse than Sims. It turns out that Green has been slow on coverage lately because of a pulled leg muscel which they've been nursing along, trying to keep him in the game. Now we know why. McQuistan is a good back up at the OG position.
Fargas was regarded with a lot of potential when he came out of SC. At the time we felt we had a possible steal. We recognized that he had some fumbling problems and that he ran too upright through the line which made him injury prone.
Fargas has been a shining example of listening to the coaches and doing what they tell him to do. He has lowered his running style, and he has learned to hold on to the ball. He never stops fighting until his knee has hit the ground. When there is no hole at the line, he finds a crease and blasts through it for as much as he can get. He has shown that this hands are reliable as a receiver.
Jordan, on the other hand, learned briefly how to adjust his running style to accomodate the cut block system. It is possible that that running style creates too much of a strain on his back, so he's gone back to shuffling in front of the line, waiting on hole to open before he charges through.
Fargas has broken his bad habits, and Jordan can't get rid of his.
I still ask the question why we signed Rhodes, if we aren't going to use him?
Rhodes is hands down the most talented running back on our team, and he is being overlooked. Fargas has been on fire of late, yes; and keep giving him the ball; but outside of him, I'd rather see Rhodes on the field other than LaMont. He knows how to block, catch, and hit the holes with speed. Oh yeah, he doesn't fall, or hesitate. Those are pluses in my book
Looks like I've got a pair of tix available for the Texans game. Good seats, affordable, too.
Email me at raidertake@yahoo.com if you're interested in learning more.
Fargas had 97 total yards of offense (12 caries for 61 yards, and 3 receptions for 36 yards). If Fargas had all of Jordan's carries, at the same average, he'd have had 122 yards on 24 carries against the leagues #1 run defense.
Kiffin promised Fargas a chance. Fargas has earned that chance. It's time for Kiffin to step up here and keep his word.
Regarding Rhodes...
Don't know what the issue is with Rhodes, but I have to believe that he's fallen into Kiffin's doghouse for some reason. There were the reports that the Raiders were looking to trade him, and then some others that they were simply ready to release him outright.
Since he got no carries yesterday, I have to believe that Kiffin's plans are to activate Bush and release Rhodes. I have a feeling we may see a huge shakeup before next week's game.
RELEASING RHODES? WHAT? how about we release dancing machine jordan instead? i think a combo of bush/rhodes with fargas as a backup would be great!
russell dressing for the first time? i keep reading that, in an AP story, elsewhere on the 'net, and now here. i could have sworn that Russell was our #3 QB when McCown was out, and that he had been on the sidelines dressed for several weeks. So why do people keep saying that the Titans game was the first time that Russell had dressed for a game? Am I missing something?
"Im In" hahahaaaaahahaaaa wait hahahahahahaaaaaaaaahaha ahhh man what a joke.... I Checked out long time ago fellas since before the talks of Mc Clown being starting QB, C Pete fight for starting job and Walters being dumped because are future now is in future overated, not proven rookie Ja mark us Ruse.... Heres a raider take on that ... what black QB will win a super bowl anytime soon? C Pete, Vickless, Mc Nappy, Vince Immature Young, Mc Airless, Left which town, Jason Campbell Broth, Tarvaris no action Jackson, David Glass Garrad, Quinn very Gray, Oh yeah dont forget the washed up has been and shattered dreams of Akili Smith, Rodney Pete, Randle Cunningham, Cordel "Slash" Stwart, Aaron Error Brooks, Shawn King...list goes on with but with the only two exceptions i give to these guys Warren tough luck Moon, and the only black Qb from the south of all places, but all the more intelligent black Super Bowl MVP QB Doug Williams. both of these guys read defense, can operate the coachs offense system not the other way around, pocket QB first, not flashy persona on and off the field, a leader and respectful classy professionals. All of which lacks in todays Black QB. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning,Ben Roethlisberger, Carson Palmar, Eli Manning,Drew Brees, Jay Cutler, Philip Rivers, Jon Kitna, Jeff Gracia, Jack Delhome, Marc Bulger, Brett Favre, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Joe Montana, Jim Plunkett...see where im going...start Andrew Walters already give him a real chance. Cut are loses with Jamarcus Russell now or believe that we are all "IN" the adept Commitment to Helplessness.
I recall a comment from Peyton Manning about his rookie season, when the Colts finished last in the NFL. He said he learned a lot in some pretty horrible games. Although J.Russell missed training camp, our offensive playbook is pretty simple, according to Rich Gannon. If Russell's confidence is ruined because the O-line is leaky this year, he won't be the long term answer for us. I'd like to see him get some real playing time. Houston's defense is not particularly scary; this coming weekend might be a good time to let him get some experience.
kew
Rhodes easly could of fallen in Kiffins doghouse simply like Randy Moss did before even allowing him to prove himself in training camp. what a great preemptive move because he might clash with him or team players like jerry porter....hahahahaaaaa kiffin sucks balls. dude looks like dude in knocked up...anyone notice that?
Blanda, I agree about a shakeup before next game. Kiffin was pissed off, as he should be.
Tokai, it's true. The original plan when Culpepper began starting was that Russell would take the #3 spot. But Kiffin determined that Russell was not yet ready for #3, and McCown was functional enough to bring up the rear. So Russell is making progress. He's officially taken Walter's job.
To answer your question Take, I'd keep our Wr's and TE's (no drops yesterday that I recall... something that everyone was bitching about last week) I'd keep Fargas, and prolly keep Gallery to see if he can learn the guard position. The rest of the o's jobs should be on the line next year.
That was one of the worst o-line performances I've seen EVER (last year included.) Not only were they turnstyles, but they kept giving us long yardage situations with penalties, THE DOUBLE WHAMMY.
The Titans have a strong run defense, so I figured we would have problems running anyway, but to continually put a QB that NEEDS time, in long yardage situations for no reason at all was a killer. Mental penalties are inexcusable... physical penalties I can live with.
Still, if the defense hadn't fallen asleep for one series we mighta won... this team isn't horrible.
The offense needs a spark-plug (cough RUSSELL cough)
Manning and Aikman started 27 games their rookie years and they won a whopping four games between them.
It's JR TIME!
Why Rhodes? Fargas has performed much better than Rhodes. If Kiffin is not giving Rhodes playing time, there's a reason. I think Kiffin has proven that in regards to the Culpepper issue. It should not be lost on anyone that Fargas got as many carries as Jordan in the last game, and Rhodes got none. Fargas also was thrown 3 out of the 4 passes to RBs.
Fargas and Bush are on their way up, Rhodes and Jordan are on their way down.
My pissoffitude these past three weeks is shared by Kiffin, so I'm not going to feel too bad about ripping my team these past three weeks.
I saw smoke in San Diego, then a brush fire against the Chiefs, and now a grease fire against the Titans. Two offensive touchdowns in 12 quarters. Pitiful.
I agree about a huge shakeup. Needs to happen. Yesterday.
Looks like ano 3:08 is the most precious kind of moron - a biggot.
Ano, there are far worse things than not being white. Being you, for instance.
After the end of last season at one time i thought before the raiders draft started and Lane Kiffen our young, brilliant mind, savior, heres a real chance for the raiders to shake up things. Keep Randy Moss, Jerry Porter, Ronald Curry, Doug Gabriel, Start Andrew Walters, or get a Vet like Jeff Garcia, Dump dancing machine Lamont Jordan, Good pickup Domonic Rhodes, keep Fargas, Oh hey we have the number one pick lets do what the patriots or broncos would do trade it away and pick up lower draft picks, no namers or damaged goods willis mcghee, Andrean Peterson, and get him at a cheaper cost for an unproven rookie, along with picking for a real free saftey, unlike Stewy Shwagwithered. And Kiffins new offensive line coach can change the blocking schemes from last year and salvage our ok offensive line. Along with run attack first, spread the field long or short calls. blah im ranting but yes like many die hard raider fans these days are dejected and broken.....
By the way blanda im a black brotha born and raised in oakland. just keeping it real, just keeping it real brotha
Gary,
Williams had a major drop cost a first down late and stopped the potential winning drive.
After what Fargas has done, why even suggest he stay the back up. Kiffin stated all jobs were open. If that's true Fargas has earned his shot. If it doesn't work, so be it. But, with him in the game, there will be no lack of effort or emotion. He is a total team player.
Besides, with his speed if he gets pass the line he's a threat to take it all the way whereas Jordan is not.
Blandarocked,
Usually I just skip over pansie ass women's underware wearing anon. But, your remark about the 3:08 post caught my attention.
I lived in New England for three years. Not too far from Bean Town. I ran into more bigots and racist there than I ever did in the south. And, believe me, I know 'em when I see or hear 'em. And that was racist comment in near pure form.
Just think, there are young black men and women putting their lives on the line in Iraq and Afghanistan so he can make imbecilic comments like that.
That kind of crap goes beyond the pale. I could only come from the small mind of a true idiot.
Plus, his response is a total lie.
H
News flash, Ano. Even black people can be biggots. It is, as they say, an equal opportunity affliction.
We were the worst team in football last year by far. We had one of the worst offenses in the history of the game last year. I know we are all getting impatient with the losing but realistically this thing was not gonna turn around that fast. If we can find some sought of stride going into the back eight games we will have something real to build on going forward. Keep the faith Raider faithful. I know this sucks but you gotta crawl before you can walk. Remember Al told Shell he set the franchise back five years and now it has to be fixed. For a change Al is being more realistic than we are.
RaiderMike
H, agreed. And I also agree that there's a lot of racism in the north that has always trumped the south. Folks in Dixie grew up with the civil rights movement right in their faces. There's some in the north that have never had the opportunity to learn the lesson.
As for last week's session, when you paid tribute to Southern women, I'm there with ya. I fondly remember my interaction with Georgia Peaches.
Blandarocked,
I'm with ya. As I have stated before I spent a little time in the military.
There's an old saying, "There are no atheist in a foxhole." Well, there are no racist either, if there are, you're both dead.
H
Does ricky the dud dudly ring a bell? williams is built and handles the ball just like ricky did, good luck faidas, you all raved that "culpumper" was the answer and now you have lackys at your 2 most important positions.....Earth to big al (MR.) davis aka "genius" hello ...is anybody in there???? "08" is a new season, maybe you can think about putting a team together then. Just listen to me babies, I know what I'm talking about, oh yes defend the "nation" 2-14, I changed my mind, the faidas WILL LOSE to the Houston Texans, is the game gonna be televised?
I cannot believe it either, however I highly suggest that you make people who comment publish using their username. It might take out a few people who are disrepectful.
As for my take what else can I saw. Losing is a habit and so is winning. The Raiders have a losing habit. Two straight loses by a total of six points. Im not an expert but in the NFL today (Ive been watching the NFL sinc 1985) you have to win the close games. You have to play complete games and you have to play four quarters. A patriots fan left a comment to you blog and he said that his patroits won again. The patriots have a winning habit. That is what it is all about.
Bama7
Blanda: McQuistan was a four year starter at LEFT TACKLE in college. As is the norm with us, we have him, like so many others, out of his natural position. There's a big differenc in manning the left and right side of the line, footwork-wise.
Raiderdecoachella,
you would rather watch raiders lose 1000 games then talk sh*t about them ? ....be careful what you wish for....because....have you seen our offensive line ?
Rt is right. there may not have been many good free agent 0-linemen, but why did we all but ignore the position in the draft ??
the addition of mario henderson was suppose to fix the line ?
and he doesn't even play.
we threw a 4th rounder away on mccown, & stiff williams, and a 3rd rounder away on moses.
also wasted pick on frampton, and though he's looked pretty good so far, did we really need Te miller more then we needed 0-line help.
sure doesn't look like it.
and make no mistake, it's the 0-line that's killing us again.
can't block, can't run, can't pass, can't score, can't win.
end of story until heads are out of sand, bust players like gallery are gone, washed up players like sims is gone, and line across the board is upgraded.
RT-
In your original vision of this forum, it was one of open discussion about our Raiders at the local foot rail. As in many past takes that discussion has been passionate and welcomed as such.
But as in real life there is always some idiot that will enter a discussion in midstream blathering about HIS team, or try to intentionally provoke something more than just talk.
Again in real life there would actually be someone I could punch out or throw a drink on. But because these schmucks are too cowardly to present themselves as anything but anonymous, is there a way to lose these them on RT?
>>>>
Remember Al told Shell he set the franchise back five years and now it has to be fixed. For a change Al is being more realistic than we are.
RaiderMike
>>>>
Applause! Plus... There were no quality free agents last year, so what were we supposed to do? Hell, turnstyle Lagston frigging Walker hit paydirt last year as a FA... who were we supposed to pick up to fix our main problems?
I was as optimistic as anyone this year and hoped for 8 realistic wins ... now it looks more like 5-6 wins.
If we draft o-line number one, and hopefully pick up another FA o-line help, maybe with a healthy Bush and JR with 7 games under his belt (crossing fingers) we can make a decent run next year. We aren't getting blown out... thats kinda a good thing, right?
Memdf, I feel your intellectual pain.
There is no way to lose these clowns unless I force everyone to create a Blogger account prior to commenting (including yourself - those with Blogger accounts appear in blue). This is not an extra step that I want to enforce, as I think it will limit the free exchange of ideas.
These individuals have special needs. We should simply pity and ignore them.
P.S. I will try to step up my violator deletion frequency as well.
RT:
Please do as you see fit but I would highly recommend you just delete comments from anonymous posters who post for the sake of provoking and/or spewing hateful vile venom.
It is quite a simple litmus test. If the post is a football based opinon, keep it. If it is an unintelligent, spiteful comment without any redeeming merit whatsoever, delete it.
Unfortunately, Faida Boy & Patsie Boy are spoiling a wonderful platform to discuss Raider football. Your call. I'm 100% certain that your loyal readers will appreciate you wielding the axe with discretion to eliminate the small minded nonsense for the sake of the collective good.
RT: Sure enough. We can choose to ignore these morons comments but it begs the question: Why give them a platform at all in the 1st place? Cut these bastards off at the knees so we can truly concentrate on the subject that we all are interested in sharing and debating ... Raider football.
One of the problems with Anon is he has such a low opinion of himself because no one he actually knows will waste time talking to him.
He also doesn't like other people having fun since he can't. He's lonely to the point he has developed this pathology of hate for himself and anyone who has fun like we do here.
Only someone filled with this kind of hate and low self esteem would write something as incoherent and biggoted as his 3:08 post.
What I usually do is recognize within the first sentence it is one of his post, then move to the next one. It's a complete waste of time to read his stuff. Though I am glad Blandarocked pointed that post out to me.
Now I know what kind of low life bigot moron he really is.
H
I am living vicariously through Bret Favre and the Pack, who let Denver back in the game last night only to take it all away on the first play of OT. If the Raiders can’t keep Denver and ShannaRat down, at least the rest of the NFL can.
So it looks like we're signing Tim Dwight today.
Interesting implications. Does this mean Williams will be gone after that last 4th & 14 drop? Or does it mean the Rhodes rumors are true and Dwight will be on kick returns in a few weeks? Or both?
Bush needs a roster spot too. My guess is they'll let go of Williams soon, and Walter whenever they activate Bush. I guess that last one would really piss off the Anon Biggot, who is not really a black guy from Oakland and only said that to cover his ass. Hey guy, my wife & kids are black, and they read this site sometimes, A-hole.
Psycho
>>>
It is quite a simple litmus test. If the post is a football based opinon, keep it. If it is an unintelligent, spiteful comment without any redeeming merit whatsoever, delete it.
>>>
I'd vote for this... this would add to the experience here, not detract.
The trolls would have to look for unmoderated forums elsewhere to act like 13 year olds. This blog is becoming too popular to wade through three troll posts (and responses to trolls) to find one Raider related content.
You guys may not believe me, but I really do try to keep up with comment deletions. It's not always as easy as it sounds. I'll enroll Patriots fan in violator program unless he returns to legitimate commentary. You guys all need to meet me halfway, please. If you react and reply, I'm hesitant to delete the initial offending comment, as they we then have a comment that refers to something that's not there.
Bama7
The Dwight signing is good. Very good. Here's a football player first, athlete second. This guy doesn't mind getting his uniform dirty and will get in the mix. This is a sign that Kiffen wants tough players. I also think M Bush is coming soon. Hopefully he can spark some things. Now go find someone that can get after the passer... trade Porter & a #2 for Jason Taylor.
Bama7
meant to add trade Porter after season when we can.
Psycho:
See my posts from yesterday. I don't think Williams, because Dwight isn't a very good receiver, just a fine return specialist. That's one of the reasons he's so well traveled.
My guess is it's going to be Rhodes. Rhodes has been rumored to be gone for a couple of weeks, and Sunday he was only involved in returns. The Raiders have already announced that Fargas will be getting an increased work load, although they haven't named him "the starter."
By the end of the week I expect that they'll put Bush on the playing roster, and then release someone else such as Walter.
If that is not what happens, I think it will mean that they've decided to hang on to Walter and Rhodes (come what may) in order to trade them in the off season. That, I think, would be a waste of time and resources, because I think the rest of the league will have figured out that the Raiders need to unload the two anyway, and the other teams will simply wait for their release.
RT - Not your fault the world is full of idiots. Usually I'd ignore it but he was just so idiotic I couldn't resist chipping in to whatever was said last night. Maybe instead of deleting it, you could highlight it in red so everyone can see what an idiot he is.
Bama - Yeah man, good signing. Looks like Kif is with me on my whole "Tough & Consistent" obsession. Looks like we're dropping inconsistent Williams for a proven, reliable, tough guy. Let this be a red flag to Sims, Gallery, and whoever else gets pushed around and/or does not always show up on Sunday. You want to make game costing mistakes and there is someone around who can replace you? GONE!
Psycho
Good guess Blanda. It may not be Williams. Personally I hope it is though because he's let me down too many times. Besides the drop, he was one of the two guys out of position on that costly penalty. WRs should never get penalties before the snap. Dwight isn't a great WR but as a #3 behind Curry & Porter he's probably better than Williams. Fast too, which we need.
Psycho
Annon is a jerk!
Personally I don't care if he comes in here and spreads his poison, I didn't like his racist comment for sure but as far as I am concerned I don't mind him or anybody come in here and express their love or hate for my Raiders, it is the nature of the beast, let them talk and say what they need to say.
I wouldn't want this site to become one dimensional, can you imagine everybody agreeing on everything!
raiderdecoachella
I agree with whatever coachella says. And anyone else for that matter. :) -Psycho
****I agree with whatever coachella says. And anyone else for that matter. :) -Psycho****
Gee, Psycho... Is everything all right? Ya feelin' okay?
I usually skip over anon posts. There are enough informed posters on this board that I respect their opinions (and quick access to all information that is Raiders)... so I don't feel the need to relate or understand someone who wishes to remain anonymous (the occassional part-time "true" Raider fan anon post aside, of course).
I don't even find the troll annoying, and only discovered his stupidity because some of you other guys pointed it out. Nuf said about that.
Anyway, forget about Williams as a slot receiver. Why don't we see more of Madsen in the slot? The dude has great hands and almost certainly doesn't drop that first-down play that ended the game Sunday.
Otherwise, we need to get the ball to our TE more, as many of you have already pointed out.
One rumor on Rhodes is the Raiders don’t want him winding up with the Mules. With the possibility of Travis Henry being suspended they don’t want them to pick up a quality player off the open market.
Tim Dwight may get some receiving time, however I think he is mainly being brought in to bolster our punt returns. Johnnie Lee Higgins may wind up being the casualty. Dwight is tough and fast. He’s not shifty and tends to get his yardage by blowing past people as opposed to making them miss. Also, on coverage he will get there quick and he’s not afraid to hit someone.
Special teams has improved except in the return area. What you will see is Dwight will back up much further than he needs to. What he likes to do is get a running start and catch the punt on the fly so he is close to full speed immediately. Problem is he takes a lot of hits, but he is fearless.
I also read where Fargas is going to get more carries.
H
More information added in regards to an impending shakeup. The following is from Jason Jones with the Sac Bee.
"Notes from Kiffin's recap
ALAMEDA – In case you weren’t glued to your television for Lane Kiffin’s Monday press conference, here are the keys I took from it.
"*There was some credence to Rich Gannon’s comments during the CBS telecast that Daunte Culpepper can’t get from under center as quickly as Josh McCown, which is why the Raiders are in shotgun a lot with Culpepper.
"Culpepper said there’s no physical problem. Kiffin said McCown’s feet are quicker
"Kiffin said shotgun limits the run plays he can call, but added Culpepper plays well in shotgun, which is why they use the formation.
"*Defensive lineman Tommy Kelly’s knee injury is serious. Kiffin said he’d have more details on Wednesday.
"*Roster changes are looming. To what degree isn’t known, but another receiver wouldn’t hurt.
"*Justin Fargas will see more time at tailback and Oren O’Neal will play more at fullback. More Fargas looks like a good idea right now. Since his back injury, LaMont Jordan has 41 carries for only 87 yards.
"*Rookie running back Michael Bush could start practicing in the next week or two.
"Right tackle Cornell Green was in the locker room this morning with a sleeve on his left knee.
"He instructed media to ask trainer H. Rod Martin about the injury that knocked him out of the game before saying he’d be fine."
That was really bad news on Kelly. We are a different team without him. Hopefully we'll at least get Warren back soon. -Psycho
williams - as much as i liked his skills coming out of usc and he being one of the youngsters i hoped to make this team, is on the bubble. he's had all season to prove his skeptics wrong but if dwight's imminent signing isn't the end of mike williams, then is he on a lane kiffin scholarship? being that he's known and worked with him since high school?
i just don't understand the rumors of rhodes' release. it would make more sense to release dancing machine jordan. activate bush and run him with rhodes for a 1-2 punch, with fargas coming off the bench.
know what guys? as much as we don't appreciate other teams fans coming in here slamming us the reality of the situation is we're 2-5. patsie boy us most likely gonna go undefeated and with randy moss. hell, they're a city of champions and they deserve all the attention they're getting right now. as long as they don't get personal and talk about yo mama - hey, i say suck it up man. we suck for a reason and until we start winning after the rebuild, we'll continue to get slammed by the media and patsie boy. that's the only time we have a right to slam them back.
Suggestion re ano posters...
RT, I think it's unfair to ask you to constantly police your sight looking for the these losers to delete them. So far they are not a huge problem, and they sometimes provide good fodder. I actually enjoyed riffing Patsie on the comparison between California and New England.
The racism was over the top, and I'd encourage you to delete crap like that. The reason being that all Raider fans are welcome here, and you don't want newbies to come here, see that, get the wrong idea and never come back.
One thing you can't have on this sight is a thin skin, and some of these posters tend to toughen ours up a bit.
No room for Ano 3:08. He just doesn't fit in with my Westerns, unless I change them to be more like Mel Brooks', "Blazing Sadles."
Brokeback Mountain is more like it.
Psycho
regarding rhodes being cut, kiffin pretty much blew that out of the water on monday, by saying he approached rhodes, and spoke with him that there was no truth to what was being reported. rhodes is not going anywhere, so we need to utilize him more.
i agree with blanda though, rt. do us all a favor and cut the bigotry out. i'm all for other teams coming in here and running their smack, because it shows me that they are really bandwagoners with nothing better to do, and probably at one time were raider fans, when they were doing well (under gruden, or before).
faida boy is the exception to the above statement though. he really has nothing to say, and when i see "faida" in the comment, i skip over the waste of space. feel free to delete every one of his posts.
moving on to football. i think walter, williams, and chris carr's time with the raiders is about up. with the signing of dwight, i think chris carr will be cut.
Scorpio!
I wish I would have typed what you just typed with the exception of Williams, I don't think that Kiffin even likes him personally, I have not herd Kiffin talk worst about any other player than Williams.
Blanda!
Man you have more info than the mediots, it's great to come in here and read everybody's takes (even the haters) I am with you on the racist shit, but other than that bring it on ladies 'cause in a couple of years I will be going to your sites and give you the due crap that you ladies deserve.
raiderdecoachella
All this commotion made me realize something. Where the hell is Pantyraider? Did he run off to Cambodia (or whatever) already?
Psycho
Psycho, I've been wondering that myself. We haven't heard from Panty since before the Miami game.
I always love trying to decipher his posts.
Blanda-
You scooped me on the Jason Jones info. I think he does a good job. Nice to hear there will be some changes.....
I'm with you guys. Where is Pantyraider? Should we form a search party?
If Kelly is out for an extended time, has Grady Jackson been signed yet?
At this point in the season when it "looks bad" it generally means IR.
I think the release would probably be Walter. If McCowan is close, we don't need 4 QB's.
Does anyone know the current status on Warren? I know it was a quad injury. Hopefully only a pull and not a tear.
I don't mind others coming in either, but they should not treat this as their own personal blog as Anon was. Hell, we don't need an outsider telling us what is wrong with the team, we point it out hourly. But, if they do come in here, at least be something approaching intelligent.
H
Gary-
What ever happens here in terms of monitoring I'll go along with. If nothing is put in place I promise not to take up valuable space here with responses to these trolls.
In a twist of amazing good fortune and really dumb luck I headed stadium security for Northwestern University during their glory years in 96-98. I remember the Iowa NU game pretty clearly. It was really cold but also misty and damp as it tends to somethimes get in Chicago in November.
Tim Dwight did not come off the field at any time during the game. He played every snap. He played safety on D and wr on O and returned every kick. Not only played but was the go to guy on O. I think he also returned a kick for a td that game. Fast as s@#t too.
What's more he had short sleeves on. No arm pads, no sticky patches on his elbows, nothing.
If he has anything left the Nation is going to love him.
No. Don't delete it RT. Highlight it in RED. If this idiot wants to drop his zipper and display his shortcomings, who are we to stop him? Let the world see and take note.
Good sense from Kiffin.
"A quarterback who can't make the right adjustments in the huddle, for instance, to call for extra pass protection would be vulnerable to even more sacks than Culpepper endured in Nashville (five), or he might be prone to interceptions, Kiffin said.
"Now all of a sudden, you've got to go rebuild him from a guy who has been successful his whole career. ... You've got to rebuild him from him doubting himself. It's a lot more valuable to play a guy when he's ready to play as opposed to just throwing a guy in and letting him make mistakes."
Bama7
I just want to see us start showing improvement through separating the men from the boys, as psycho says, choosing "tough & consistent" players over poetnetial/speed guys. Don't LOOK the part, PLAY the part. Don't show us at the combine or on the track, show us on the field during a game.
We need tough men to turn this thing around. Like Dwight... a great start. If I was coach I'd have him start in front of Porter, just to make a statement as to what I want. Not that Dwight is a great receiver, but I bet he'll fight for the ball if thrown his way.
We're not going to the playoffs. The rest of the year should be an audition for those who wants to be on this team next year. Either you line up and bust the guy in front of you or you find a new home next year. That's why I'd like to see if we have a LT now on our roster. Let Henderson and McQuistan (and maybe Gallery) have a shot at some games at LT, THEIR NATURAL POSITIONS. I think we can safely say that Simms is not the answer. We need to go ahead and be sure we have no LT becasue that will be a priority next year.
So far i think we need: LT, C, RT, RB, WR, 2 DE's, OLB & SS. Wow... need a lot.
I will say now that Darren McFadden will by 2009, Darren Mcfadden will be the best RB in the NFL. Would love to have him for about 7 years toting the rock in S&B... worth another 60 mil.
I hear what you're saying Bama7. I remember when the 49ers were getting started, finally, with Bill Walsh. One of the old players that he kept around was a RB name Paul Hofer. Hofer had never developed the skills to do it on talent. He did it all on pure desire. Frequently they'd bring in Hofer when they were one yard out from the goal line.
Hofer would hit line with his legs churning, using his arms to push off of people, digging and clawing his way into the end zone. He inspired his teammates just on his will to get the job done, if nothing else.
We need people like that.
The "Mike Williams will be dumped first" people win the pool!
The Raiders just released him.
I wonder if Higgins will move to #3. Since they only have had four WRs on the roster, I didn't think they'd do something like this. There is no way Dwight is ready to play WR for the Raiders on Sunday. KR yes, WR no. That means that the Raiders will essentially be playing with only 3 WRs this week. You think that might restrict the formations much? What if somebody gets hurt? There has got to be something else in the works here. Maybe somebody is coming back. Maybe Madsen will play some WR. I've also heard that Rhodes might shift out wide on occasion.
ok ok ok I am fully recovered from the partying all weekend from my Red Sox winning the World Series. Anyone catch the 52-7 shellacking of the Redskins on Sunday afternoon? Can you say WOW?????? haha
Anyway, I want to know how you all think Oakland will fare against Houston on Sunday. I was talking to my cousin this afternoon and he and the fellow Raider fans around here are using this game for the measuring stick of Oakland's progress. Houston has Sage Rosenfels starting, their defense is atrocious, and they even have that guy running (i forget his name) that the Raiders cut just a few weeks ago. So how about it Raider fans? You already exorcised the Cleveland Browns demon earlier this season, can you finally get the Houston Texans monkey off your back as well? Will you take out your revenge after losing to Houston last year while holding David Carr to negative passing yards? Will anyone even show up to McAfee Coliseum to watch this game?
Oakland 17
Houston 10
But for some real action, tune in to CBS on Sunday to watch my Patriots dismantle the defending Super Bowl Champions.
blanda - that is truly too bad. mike williams never realized the awesome second chance he got that he failed to capitalize on. BUT i also know he'll catch on elsewhere. i hope he doesn't come back to haunt us if he does find his hands.
Scorpio:
Williams has the same problem a lot of the Raiders seem to have. It's just the ability to concentrate on the task right in front of you.
That dropped pass at the end of the game on Sunday, Williams lobbied Kiff the whole game to run that play. Then, when all eyes are on him, he touches the ball while turning to run up field and blows the catch. Sims - after one false start, how can you fail to knuckle down and determine not to jump before the snap.
And this all appears to be predominate on the offense. The defense has shown the ability to get down to business over the last two games, but the offensive players are still contemplating their navels.
A coaching staff should not have to concern themselves with teaching their players how to concentrate. That was supposed to happen in elementary school.
Man I was pulling for Williams to make it. I agree that he will catch on, no pun intended, somewhere else. It had to be hard for Kiffin as he recruited him from HS.
Jeff George is looking for work. Anybody interested?
(sound of crickets)
I didn't think so.
Good news about Williams. That would have never happened in previous years (see Courtney Anderson dropping ball after ball after ball...). I hope that Kiffin continues to serve notice. I'll bet our practice squad could score two touchdowns in 12 quarters, so it's not like it can get worse.
Are we acknowledging the anon a/k/a Patsie Boy? He brought up a horrible memory (for which I’m still in denial) about the game we lost last year despite holding Carr to negative yards. Yikes!
Mike Williams is a real shame, but his commitment was less than stellar. I like Kiffin’s decisiveness in waiving him. Reminds me of Belicheat’s quick trigger on Doug Gabriel last year, which had us all scratching our heads (but was the right move). At the very least, it sends a message to the rest of the team.
Higgins isn’t exactly the best option at slot receiver and Kiffin is left a little thin at #3, which leads me to my previous comment... why not play Madsen in the slot?
Okay, obvious options include playing Porter or Curry in the slot when Higgins comes in. However, I firmly believe Madsen is prime time, while Higgins needs work.
Conversely, if we show only two-receiver sets, we’re just asking for teams to stack players in the box.
From this moment forward I will not read, respond, or acknowledge any posts from Faida Boy or Patsie Boy.
Madsen is the prime candidate to be used as a 3 WR for a number of reasons. He is a terrific all around athlete who was a WR in college. Madsen's body type is perfect to play slot WR where his size creates mismatches with mini nickel backs. But above all, Madsen does 1 thing really, really well ... he catches the ball with his sure hands. Also, I would not discount Tim Dwight's ability to get up to speed and be used similar to the way the Patsies use Wes Welker on across the field drag routes. Dwight's toughness and YAC abilities will come in handy to move the chains.
I realize it has been a tough past 3 weeks BUT ... after reading numerous articles, quotes, and viewing Kiffin's press conference, I have been reinvigorated to move forward with this team. Why? Unlike last year, the attitude & team chemistry is MUCH improved. I sincerely believe that this team has the competitive desire to turn the corner. BMW getting his walking papers and Huggy Bear getting more carries is a step in the right direction.
ok let's review this.....
mccown and williams for a 4th round pick - williams gone, mccown gone by season's end.
moses and a 3rd - gone
moss for the pats 4th - pick hasn't even suited up yet
warren and we give up a 5th to the broncos - hasn't played in a month
1st overall pick signs so late he might not even play this year. and we get to start all over again with a new QB with a toned down scheme while he learns.
we have an O-line that can't block and receivers that can't get open.
did i miss anything?
we still have sims, gallery, jordan. wow. great personnel decisions team! way to rebuild al!
DANG there goes that itch again!
Where did my post go??? All I am doing is asking how the Raiders rush defense is going to cope because Tommy Kelly is out for the season, and my post gets deleted? I didn't ask the question in a snide or condescending manner, yet my post gets deleted? meanwhile, the racist post gets to stay??? What is going on around here??? You Raider fans can sure dish it out, but you sure cannot take it!!
Jags signed Grady Jackson. With Warren injured and Kelly out, we look pretty thin on the D line. Does this mean that Brayton gets more snaps?
Does Brayton even have a sack in his career?
Dude, if I wanted to turn this place into a Patriots ass-kissing fest, I'd call it ESPN, not Raider Take.
I decide what stays and what goes. If I think your interest in Tommy Kelly is just cover for more Red Sox talk, then you will be run.
For a guy whose teams are supposedly on top of the world, you sure seem unfulfilled, concerning yourself with Tommy Kelly and a 2-5 team.
When Jim Plunkett was winning Super Bowls, the last person on my mind was Steve Grogan.
This isn't Dr. Phil. It's Raider Take, and you can take your personal issues elsewhere until the Patriots actually play the Raiders.
I found the answer to my question.
Tyler Brayton: 6.0 sacks in his 5-year pro career. Pretty sad considering he was a starting DE last year with zero sacks.
So RT, what you are telling me is that racist posts and personal insults towards board posters are tolerated here, but an honest question about Tommy Kelly and the state of the Raiders rush defense is not? I think 5 losing seasons have begun to erode on your senses.
I'm telling you that I don't think your question is honest, and that patterns of behavior will be factored into what stays and what goes.
5.6 magnitude earthquake just shook the Raider Nation, centered near Alum Rock about 40 miles southeast of Oakland. Halloween! The Autumn Wind is a Raider! The earth speaks, victory is nigh!
"Dude, if I wanted to turn this place into a Patriots ass-kissing fest, I'd call it ESPN, not Raider Take."
Hilarious if it wasn't so pathetically true. I can't watch those guys on ESPN....heck any of those idiots on any network anymore. It's a patsy-cowboy love fest every week. What I want for Christmas is a first round playoff loss for both of them.
I don't care if the patsies win the rest of their games 52-0, their history is tainted by their cheating and the Tuck Rule gift. I don't get the mediot's theory that they're "proving" to us that they don't need to cheat. Fact is, their team this year is a lot different than the cheatin' teams and they won a lot of close games (2 Super Bowls by a total of 6 points - I'm not gonna count the Snow Job year because they shouldn't have been there). Close games that a bit of cheating could have tilted in their favor.
Can big red asterisks be painted on their Super Bowl trophies like the Barry Bonds home run ball?
Oh, and I see how the officials decided to stop calling Randy Moss for offensive pass interference now that he's wearing an ugly-ass patsy uniform. Hmmmm, I recall them calling quite a few of those on him as a Raider and it wasn't as obvious.
I agree with Calico, by the way. Madsen will probably be number 3 WR until Dwight gets a couple of weeks under his belt.
Brayton's 6 sacks in 5 years is embarrassing, but more embarrassing is the fact that he rarely puts pressure on the passer and any average OT can handle him with ease. Kiffin should finally just cut the guy so he can go on to his second career driving funny cars or whatever it is he does in his free time.....it's obviously not spent honing his speed rush.
Get well soon, Gerard Warren.
KRON 4 reported that Tom Brady was at his parents house in San Mateo, when the earthquake hit and two of the lombardi trophies hit him on the head and soon after he said "My Raider Nation is about to shake up things under my wing" Then the third one hit his head and snap back too and regained conscience saying "man the Raiders suck this year but thanks for Randy Moss, lets get that fourth trophy."
RT.....It's my fault:
Hi from Thailand...I just returned from Cambodia...having too much fun with my young wife and all her girl friends...but life really sucks when the wife talks to me about having a second and tries to push her girl friend off on me....What can I do....she's cute...
I will take the blame for Culpepper....I campayned for him last year and this year and I have been wrong it appears....he has flashes like in the Maimi game but he does not hold up to consistancy...fortunately we only gave him a one year deal so we aren't stuck with his money...let's just hope the hell I was not also wrong about JRus....
As for Mike Williams everyone has been wrong about the guy but he was cheap...he and McClown gave us an out for "NoMoss" so for that I am gratfull but the pick was a waist....Just another NFL "Crap Shoot" where we failed to come out winners....So who picks him up now....If Kiff could not make him work he is done in the NFL...
2-5...That sucks but we have had it worst...at least we are having close games and we have some improvements week by week...and the Donko's are not much better....The Jolts-n-KC are not that much better so we have hope for the future....but it's not looking good for this season...so at what point do we start to see JRus in the game....2-7...2-8...
When will M Bush start playing...
PantyRaider....DreamLand!!!!
The Williams reclamation is over. Oh well, it was worth a shot.
Calico has the best idea.
Take is correct about ESPN. I only watch the college show there. On Sundays they should rename the NFL shows "The Brady Bunch." I actually haven't watched a pregame show on the NFL in over ten years. I get what I need to know over the internet. I prefer reading.
Point on our last week posts. On the radio driving in one of the program host was talking about how ugly the Boston and Northeast women are when compared to Southern and California women. This from a guy who's from the Northeast.
To be honest, I was overly optomistic at the beginning of the season. But, I always am. It's just me. However, each Sunday is another week to win.
You should hear the local radio shows talk about the Falcons. You think we get rough on our guys. That franchise and their fan base (all 12 of them) has never, I repeat, never had consecutive winning seasons.
H
Panty in Dreamland... sorry to hear about all your problems. Taking on a second "cute" wife/girlfriend sounds like a real burden.
Quick thought about our D: Stating the obvious, we have to play better run D.
To put that into perspective, we have given up 100-yard games to five different RBs this year.
By contrast, the Steelers haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher in like 27 or 28 straight games.
Unfortunately, losing Kelly for the season isn't exactly moving us in the right direction.
How is it that we can play run D so well for 95% of our D plays, then implode for 5% and give up a key a score?
Maybe the tools are there, but players get anxious after the half, or after a Raiders' score, and lose focus to stay in their lanes. Against the Titans, four plays and six points, just like that.
Bama7
The saddest part about Brayton's sorry sack total is the fact that he was sometimes playing opposite Burgess who was probably getting double teamed. Brayton = no production.
With Kelly gone, now what at DE?
Maybe Moses and Huntley weren't the answers, but I'd sure rather have them right now than Brayton, Bowie, Eugene... blah blah blah.
We have virtually nothing at DE.
Jay Richardson couldn't get sacks at OSU, does anyone really think he's gonna start piling up sacks in the nfl?
Does anyone have a list of out-of-work DE's, just so we can discuss the possibilities out there?
Here's a list of Free Agents still available that we can pick up:
Corey Bradford (WR)
Antonio Bryant (WR)
Tyoka Jackson (DT)
Marcellus Wiley (DE)
Wil Buchanon (WR)
Raider Nate, talent wise, out of that group, I'd go for Bryant, but he's got some attitude problems and might not fit in well.
NYRaider, when the defense has problems it's because, believe it or not, they get too aggressive. By that, I mean they leave their assignments in an attempt to make a play in another player's zone. By leaving their zone, if they are cut off from making the play they are attempting, the ball carrier can cut back through the uncovered territory for big yardage.
According to Kiffin, this is aggravated when the offense is doing poorly, because the defensive players get more aggressive in order to make a play and start abandoning their assignments. Even though the defense played well the last two games, for one drive in each game the Raiders fell back into the old habit, attempting to make something happen.
As complicated as that sounds, it makes perfect sense to me. If we can get our offense cranked up, we might start seeing shut outs.
bama7,
your list of raider needs says it all...lt, c, rt, rb, wr, 2 de's, olb, and ss....as you said, wow.
trouble is, we could of made this exact same list this past off season.
i feel as if we wasted the whole time believing the "players" were held back by shell, & walsh.
but now we know the truth. the players are held back by their own limitations.
they are what they are, which, with only a few exceptions, and they are SOFT, UNINSPIRED, and, DISAPPEAR, in the 4th quarter as a rule.
bama7, you have led the way on this blog.
your call for real football players in place of track star/athletetic types is exactly what the raiders need.
you were able to diagnose the problem early on, and brother, you were right.
lets just hope the raiders organization is listening to your message.
one more point regarding your list of needs.
can you imagine if jruss, and bush don't pan out ?
i really don't want to go there, but what if ?
where will we be then ??
even cleveland found a qb out of nowhere, dallas finds an undrafted qb, and patsies find qb in 6th round.
we better have struck real gold with jruss, or else, well, i don't even want to think about it.
blandarocked,
if we can get the offense going, we might see shutouts ??
man, do watch the same games as i do ?
if we score 30 points a game, our defense will give up 38.
that's just how it is with this team.
they do whatever it takes to lose.
haven't you noticed ?
we need to get over these players real fast and move on.
we need, as bama7 keeps reminding us, some tough, hard nosed, real football players out there on sundays.
that's what's going to turn this thing around. not the basketcases which currently fill our roster.
there are exceptions, of course. morrison, howard, curry, miller, and i always believe in giving the young players a real chance.
but other then that, what have we got going ??
even if we shut the other team out, the most we can get is a tie.
it's sad, but it is the truth.
I don't agree with all of Bama's list. First off, I think it needs to be said again, we didn't get much in terms of replacements for OL because it was an extraordinarily dry year for OL help. We all recognized that at the time, and felt that we were better off pursuing help elsewhere, and keeping our money to sign Russell.
Only Russell's holdout has given us any reason for buyer's remorse, and we really didn't expect to see him on the field this year anyway, unless we were out of the running (which may be soon). Other than that, the reports are that Russell is doing well, and all that is asked of him. He's now surpassed Walter on the depth chart, which is the first rung on the ladder.
I agree with Kiffin that you can do damage by bringing a kid in too soon. We commented on Leinart's success in becoming a starter, but this season he began to lose his job to the ancient Warner before he was injured for the remainder of the season. Cutler is still up and down, and Vince Young is still going through some growing pains. Young maintains he could have never become a starter last season if he'd missed training camp.
I don't think we need a center. We've had no significant problems from that position this season. I think we're okay at guard. I do believe we need two quality tackles.
I've always felt that all of our receivers (with the exception of Curry) are a little over rated (at least within the organization). With this offense, we need at least one speed burner, and we don't have one. I say the standard line up currently should put Madsen in the slot, but when we want to threaten deep, we need to bring Higgins into one of the wide spots, and move either Curry or Porter into the slot. In the off season we need to look for speed with hands.
I have a really positive feeling about Bush. I also have a really positive feeling about Fargas. I really think we might have some diamonds in the rough here, with Fargas already showing some polish.
I'm expecting Russell to step in as the starter from day one of 2008. Still, we're going to need to find some veteran backup help, which may wind up being McCown again.
I think we can look for one true pass rushing DE. I'd like to be able to pressure QBs from both sides. And Schweigert seems have taken some of our comments to heart. He's played much better the last two games. Still, I think we should convert Washington to FS, and leave Rout as starting CB.
I think when you look at it in this light, the task ahead is not so daunting. I think it's doable. I think, however, realistically speaking, Kiffin has been handed a three year project, of which we are in the middle of the first year.
Davis maintained that Shell set the organization back five years. If so, Kiffin is working fast.
The basic problem with Bama's list is you will not be able to bring in that many players in a single off season.
We don't know about the RB's and won't know until the offensive line starts performing better. They've shown signs of improvement but have back slid a bit.
I would keep Galley at guard. Reason being, has shown better play there. If he continues to improve he may finally be a keeper. Left tackle is definitely a problem at the moment.
Grove may actually be better at guard also. He played fairly well there his rookie year.
I would, right this minute move Masden in as the third receiver. He has lined up there before and he will fight for the ball.
Also, give Fargas 20-30 touches and see what happens.
H
Blanda,
Are you sure we arent' related somehow. We keep agreeing in a lot of things.
I think with the way Routt is playing Washington makes sense at free safety. Plus it sounds like Huff is tired of covering the tight end and wants to hit someone.
H
Fargas and Bush...
Fargas is lightning quick at taking the hand off and hitting the hole (or the crease if no hole exists). Sometimes he gets there so fast, I don't understand where he actually took possession of the ball.
Bush was a battering ram in college who could wear down the defensive line during the course of a game. He is reported to have excellent hands as a receiver and is also a decent blocker in pass protection. There was a good reason many thought he would become the prize of the 2007 draft before he was injured.
These guys could develop into the RB tandem we've dreamed of since trying to pair Wheatley and Kauffman.
blandarocked, & h,
it will take a ton of bricks to fall on you before you finally see the light.
we can agree that the raiders almost win a lot of games, but what does this mean really ?
go back to last year. we almost beat the donks twice. almost beat the dolts on the road.
almost beat a few other teams too.
almost, almost, almost.
can say the same thing this year.
do you guys notice a trend here ?
we need sweeping roster changes.
the sooner, the better.
what's more, we need different type of players.
tough, hard nosed, will to win types.
the kind bama7 has been calling for, and rightly so.
H, I think it's likely true. My family goes way back with participants in both sides of the Civil War. My family name is much more common in the south (some towns and regions in the south bear the name) and it, coincidently, begins with H. My part of the family migrated from the south to New York, eventually to Kansas City, then to California. I'm the first generation to be born in California.
I've been thinking about some of RT's organizational challenges. Food for thought. I'll discuss in a post later today.
Oh, hell, I'll do it now since it has to do, also, with what Bama and Raider00 are talking about.
For long term organizational success, it appears to me that it requires the same philosophy to dominate, even over changes in coaching. Every head coach should subscribe to the philosophy of the organization. This is what insures consistancy in player signings and drafts.
If you think about the Raiders early long run of success, through the Flores era, all Raider head coaches, Rouch, Madden, and Flores, subscribed to the same offensive and defensive philosophy which was shared by Al Davis. Understand that the owner is always the constant. The owner should then endevour to maintain the consistant philosophy as long as he runs the team.
When the Raiders started no doing as well was with and after Mike Shanahan. Shanahan completely changed the philosophy and brought in new players to help change it to a West Coast system. This includes the QB, the OL, and the WRs. Then Shell was installed and attempted to go back to the old philosophy, using a mismatch of players. Shell was only reasonably successful, and never fully realized the importance of dumping the players Shanahan brought in for players who were vertically oriented.
Then, from that time until now, we have repeatedly crossed back and forth between philosophies.
While some here believe Al never changes (or he just gets more out of it), he has given voice this past off season to what I'm talking about here. Al used to publicly believe that who the HC was didn't matter. It was the players who won championships. But Al seems to have changed his thinking to the degree where he recognizes that an HC's philosophy and the types of tools he's given to implement it are both important. That is why he has brought in an HC with full knowledge of scouting and recruiting talent to go along with a modern philosophy. In short, part of the reason Kiffin is here is to rebuild this team from the ground up, under one overriding philosophy.
If you look at the size of that daunting task, you understand why it is certainly going to take far more than one season. It's going to take some experimentation, and picking and chosing between the better of two or more evils.
So Bama and Raider00, what you wish for is currently underway. I think where you missunderstand H and I is that we make suggestions toward the next logical step. We don't account for every problem like the two of you, but take it one step at a time.
What I want to know is what makes some of you think that the Raiders really wanted to make deep personnel changes last offseason, but just couldn't either because of money or lack of available talent. Where did you hear that? From the Raiders?
What makes you think that the Raiders are really going to change their approach to evaluating talent, so that our few major offseason pickups don't turn out to be duds like Williams (cut) and Rhodes (suspended, now hardly plays), or last year Brooks, or the year before Moss and Jordan. Has the organization announced any new approaches to its executive philosophy and/or structure? Is there going to be a renewed emphasis on chemistry and toughness over speed and brand names? Has the organization announced anything like this?
What makes you confident that the team is dead serious about fixing the offensive line? Where have you heard that Sims or Gallery are truly on the bubble? What makes you confident that they won't be starting next year, too?
We've had two huge issues for years now: protecting the QB and stopping the run, the latter being particularly crucial in our division because of the presence of L.T., Holmes then Johnson, and the always strong Denver running attack. Why, after all these years, are we still so thin at these points of battle?
Failure must eventually be faced, not excused, and corrective measures must be implemented for change to occur.
Besides changing coaching staffs, what other changes are we committed to? Based on what information?
I see nothing wrong with asking tough questions right now. Doesn't mean I don't love my team, but this team needs some tough love right now.
RT, I think we witnessed a lot of organization changes this past off season. You have stated, yourself, that Kiffin seems to have been given unprecedented control. But Kiffin is in his first year, and you have to expect that every time you install a new HC, you're starting over, especially if there has been no consistency before. No problem with asking tough questions, but I think some of your questions have already been answered.
No HC, new or otherwise, is going to start the season by calling names out and saying they're crap. Sims will be replaced, but this last off season, who were we going to replace him with. Kiffin place both Gallery and Sims in the positions he thought they'd do best. Gallery is now showing some progress, and he'll likely stick. Sims is showing the limitations he's always had, and will likely be replaced. For that, you have to have a certain amount of faith.
The reason H and I probably approach this differently is because we're old farts. When you're five years old, one year is a fifth of your life. When you're fifty it's only a fiftieth. To H and I, a decade goes by with the wink of an eye. By necessity, we've developed... patience.
However, some things require the urgency of youth. This is, I think, why Davis generally prefers young coaches. Still, you have to maintain some perspective. You can't solve all of your problems in a day, and Kiffin has said himself that it's going to take is whole first year to simply evaluate what he has.
Re Kiffin taking his whole first year to evaluate the talent level.
When you consider it, we've been arguing about the level of talent on this core of players since Calahan's second year. I said, in the middle of last season, that our #1 problem was with the talent, but nobody agreed with me at the time. Shell is out, and Kiffin is in, and that requires another level of talent evaluation.
Still, I think replacing Shell with Kiffin was a good call. I think that Kiffin will do it faster than Shell would have, and I think they are farther along now than they would be if Shell had stayed.
I question the notion of expecting change to be solely orchestrated by a 32-year-old rookie head coach.
Kiffin needs help from the organization, and that help needs to come in the form of talent evaluation and organizational philosophy, and I'm wondering what has or will change on either of these fronts.
It was only after winning the Super Bowl and building one hell of a resume that Mike Holmgren was given full control in Seattle. No way Kiffin has full control in Oakland, not even close.
RT, perhaps it would help if you told me what organizational changes you expect. Have you joined the "it's time to lynch Al Davis" crowd? Because Al's going to be there as long as he can wheel his ass to work.
Or, conversely, is it your objection that they've failed to provide you personally with daily updates of what every member of the organization is doing at the moment? Personally, I don't think there is any organization that provides that information. The courts have said that corporations are "people" which have the same right to privacy (with the exception of basic financial information) as you.
It's not my job to fix the problems, it's their job.
I've clearly delineated the problems, how they go about solving them is their responsibility.
But solve them they must, and they're not going to solve them by doing what they've been doing, because what they've been doing hasn't worked for years.
And yes, as a paying customer, I would invite the organization to tell me what they are doing to solve these problems.
When Apple screwed up with its iPhone pricing, they went straight to their customers and told them what they were doing to fix the problem. That's just one of countless examples in the business world.
This is standard operating procedure for companies that have failed their customers. Companies that don't can expect their customers to fail them.
Lucky for the Raiders, the Raider Nation is more committed than the average customer.
Certainly, the organization can opt not to communicate to its customers. There's now law against that.
And that wasn't my question, anyway. My question was: in the absence of such communication, what makes you sure that organizational and philosophical changes are being implemented? And if changes aren't being implemented, how are we going to change?
Also, back to my other question, what makes you think that Kiffin has such immense control over these things? I have no evidence that he has control over these things.
Blandarocked,
I'm with you even though I have been very critical of the play calling lately.
I must add, the organizational changes that take place will only be known via rumor and innuendo through the media. There will not be a press release stating who is responsible for what, nor will there ever be anything close to an organizational chart.
Kiffin, most likely, carries a lot of sway. However, he does not and will not have total control. Holmgren got his control in Seattle and it was a near disaster. Part of building the proper organizational team is getting good people and trusting them. If Kiffin is smart, that is what he will insist on.
Until the offensive line starts playing better as a unit, we will not know how much more is needed in the other areas of the offense. We may have the solution at running back on the team. Until a fully functioning line is in place we won’t know. So, that is number 1 priority.
Remember, when Gallery and Grove were drafted they were both the number one rated players at their respective positions coming out of college. Grove was especially cited for his toughness. Mario Henderson might be part of the answer, but until he gets his shot, we won’t know.
The organization must remain stable for a period of time to see if it is going to work.
H
RT, you're about as clear as mud. Al Davis is going to run his team the way he runs his team. He's not going to consult with the fans to see what they would prefer him to do.
No team, to my knowledge, has ever issued a report to fans saying who is responsible for what, and who will be held accountable accordingly. What fantasy land have you moved to? If you have an example, anywhere in the league, or anywhere in professional sports, show me. You don't compare a football franchise with an iPhone. They are not the same. There is only ONE proven marketing ploy in professional sports - winning.
What guarantees do I have. My guarantee is that unless the Raiders start winning at some point soon, fans will no longer buy merchandise nor buy tickets. That will either lead to the eventual collapse of the franchise, or force their sale.
The Raiders have always been, as an organization, more secretive than others, so they're not going to give out much information on things they are doing affecting business or on field strategies.
I expect no mea culpa moment from Al Davis, saying "I've seen the light after all of my mistakes over all these years."
At some point you're just going to have to ask yourself, "is it worth it to be a Raider fan anymore?" That's the toughest question you can ask the organization, and the only one you can expect them to respond to, and the only positive response is winning.
With that said, we are, in my humble opinion, right where our REASONABLE expectations for this season have brought. We are significantly short of our best hopes. A large part of those HOPES developed because of the rapid response in the off season to our reasonable expectations.
I still think that we are right where we should be (in view of the more recent historical events), but we are far short of where we want to wind up.
You brought up Holmgren. Interesting thing about Holmgren. When he was brought in he was given complete power over the team. Then fielded really bad teams for several years before he gave up that power, became "just a Head Coach," and then went to a Super Bowl.
I didn't ask Al Davis to consult with me.
I simply invited the organization to tell us what they are doing to right the situation. Very reasonable, considering they product they've sold me for the past four years.
No sports teams communicate their philosophy and executive structure? All day long I hear about the New England Patriots, how Pioli and Belichick have instituted specific methods, protocols and expectations for building a winner out of a loser. They make it abundantly clear, to their fans and their players, what they're doing, and who's responsible.
The Bengals have very publicly stated that they made serious mistakes drafting and signing questionable characters, and have told their fans that they are taking specific steps to address the problem.
Right below Al Davis's skybox is a dugout, which is used by the Oakland Athletics. There was a whole book written about their organizational philosophy and the person responsible for it, Billy Beane. The A's were mired in or near last place for years before the organization took a new and very public stance toward operating their team.
What on earth are you talking about when you say "no team, to my knowledge, has ever issued a report to fans saying who is responsible for what, and who will be held accountable accordingly."
And I'm the one living in fantasy land? Good grief.
Let me approach this from a slightly different angle, RT. You seem to be of the impression that what the Raiders have going through the past four years is unprecedented and requires an entirely new approach. That impression would be inaccurate.
The 49ers were crap through most of the 1970s. The response was to bring in a coaching innovator who knew college talent to rebuild the team's foundation and direction, Bill Walsh. Bill Walsh continued losing for two years before he turned the team around and went to the Super Bowl. It took him two years, the first being a two win season. For a few years prior to Walsh, everyone was saying that the 49ers had the talent, just not the coaching. Walsh ended up replacing half the talent on the team.
In the 1980s the most pathetic team was the Dallas Cowboys. They had back to back 2 win seasons and losing seasons in general through a 10 year span. Jones addressed that by finding an innovator coach with a good eye for college talent to rebuild the team's foundation and direction, Jimmy Johnson. Johnson continued losing for two years before he turned the team around and went to the Super Bowl. It took him two years, the first being a two win season. For a few years prior to Johnson, everyone was saying that the Cowboys had the talent, just not the coaching. Johnson ended up replacing half the talent on the team.
We have two prior examples of this approach, and both have been successful. In both cases, I can't remember a single moment when the owner went to plead with the fans that he was going to promise to make changes and issue a report on who was responsible for certain things, and who would be accountable.
I'm not going to answer for Bilicheat, whatever he does he does. Just as Al Davis does what he does.
As for Cincy, they did what they did because an extraordinarily large number of players were committing CRIMES during their off hours. I would expect Al Davis to make some sort of statement if his players were regularly holding up my local 7 Eleven.
As for the A's, they were crap for years because Finley sold off the entire farm system before selling the team. The A's were fine once they rebuilt their farm system. Unfortunately, we don't have farm systems in football.
Our offensive line is a crime.
Yeah, but so far they aren't hurting their fans yet, just annoying them.
Add to earlier, their is no doubt in my mind that the reason Kiffin wanted to go out to lunch with Davis and Walsh was because he wanted to grill them both for answers. Where do you start to rebuild a franchise, what should you concern yourself with initially, what you should forget about until later?
Charlie Finley sold the A's in 1981, 16 years before Billy Beane became GM.
I didn't know that Kiffin was being given Walsh-type latitude and control. Who told you that? Al Davis?
As for you saying that I expect the Raiders to plead with their fans and reveal their darkest secrets, come on, do we need to resort to that?
I'm talking about some very basic stuff that would send a message of change. Such as hiring a new, experienced GM to take the lead on personnel matters. Or letting it be known that Kiffin now has widespread latitude in choosing and drafting personnel (which he doesn't, right?).
This stuff is standard operating procedure across the NFL, knowing who's responsible for what, and when changes are being made, and for what reason. We've tried changing coaches. You don't think it's time to try changing anything else?
You say that Holmgren didn't win at first, but was it any secret about who was responsible for what, and what the Seahawks were doing to try to right their ship, and who they were putting in charge? It could have blown up in their faces, in which case they would have had to make more changes. So what's your point?
The funniest part to me is that the people who are most convinced that the necessary philosophical and organizational changes are taking place are the same people who say that the Raiders haven't, and won't, reveal anything about such changes.
Apparently, the less you hear the more you know?
Come on Guys!
I have been coming to this blog since year 2 of the Turner era. I have seen RT try to keep a positive spin on all things Silver and Black, alas nothing has materialized in the victory or improvement columns.
I have to defend him here when I say I think his patience is finally exhausted in painting the roses red--with good reason.
We do not have a good team right now, and have not since the Super Bowl team. Period.
Sure, we have guys who are serviciable like Curry and Fargas. But look at Curry against KC. Look at Fargas over his career. Are they "stars"? No way. We are "excited" when Gallery doesn't false start, or Fargas picks up a first down, or Curry catches a third down pass. Remember when it was exciting because Gannon would pick apart a defense for 400 yards? or Garner would catch a shovel pass for 30+? Sure there were penalties, but not like this. We had the right personnel, the right system, and the right leadership/chemistry for a solid 4 years.
Even in our lean years we had guys like Wiz, and Timmy to point to and say are legitimate threats as players.
Our team does not scare anyone, and with good reason, we are either too young, too old, or too bad to be a starting caliber player(i.e. Schwiegert and Gallery)
I do think Kiffin has us on the right track. However, a personnel purge has to be the first order of business.
I think RT is merely trying to say, if we don't have the right horses, who is going to go get them and for the love of God, when?!
Precisely. Thank you.
What makes you think Walsh had any extraordinary powers prior to winning a Super Bowl? I don't remember Walsh ever carrying an HC/GM title. Johnson? Johnson only asked for extra power after going to the Super Bowl. Twice in a row. Then he got fired for asking.
Take, I've been watching the Raiders opperate since 1968. Are you really going to sit there and tell me I couldn't have gleaned anything in that time about the way the Raiders run their organization? Really? 40 years and you tell me I haven't figured anything out in that period of time? Don't be insulting.
It is clear to me that the Raiders have made changes just by watching them. When was the last time you saw an HC for the Raiders come in and clean house of offensive coaches and hire all new ones? Answer, never.
If Kiffin is taking personal responsibility in press conferences in a way that no Raider coach has done in the past, I'd suggest to you that he feels the reponsibility is his because he's the one in charge of the changes.
I don't understand your point about Bean buying the A's 16 years after Finley sold them. My point was that between the time that Finley sold them and the time Bean bought the team they had the worst farm system in baseball, and that's the primary thing that Bean addressed.
Are you looking for a time table? I have seen teams offer time tables before. Two "five year" plans for the 49ers in the 70s. The Cards have done it, and so have the Rams when they were in LA. Seems like teams that offer them never meet them, so I'd just as soon they weren't offered.
Are you looking for some assurance that things are on their way to turning around. I'm sure all teams will offer that, but they won't provide much in terms of "proof." If you want to know exactly what power Kiffin has, write him a letter and ask him.
Personally, I'm certain that Kiffin has more power than prior HCs for the Raiders because he treats this team like it belongs to him. I've seen some previous successful Raider coaches behave like they were a part of the team, but never like the team belonged to them.
I'd also suggest one other thing that should be known, but doesn't seem to be here. Most teams subscribe to scouting combines and take personnel suggestions from them based on need. The Raiders have always been very proud of not belonging to any combine because of the bias that can develop in the combine for one team over another (depending on who they take the most money from).
Our personnel problem is largely not an issue of Kiffin or Davis, but those trusted scouts who don't seem to be doing their jobs quite as well as they did in the old days. Davis made a very big point to tell us that he selected Kiffin based largely on Kiffin's knowledge of the young personnel coming into the league.
Folks seem to be repeatedly forgetting that I come down on the "not enough talent" side of things. I said that last year, and I have no problem saying it again. But you can't replace all of the klinkers in a single off season. I had hopes for the OL because Knapp came in and said he could work with these guys. They worked extra hard for awhile, and now they've fallen back into their old habits. That means they can't be broken of the bad habits and have to be replaced. Kiffin, nor Davis, is going to be able to do that until the off season at least.
Didn't I mention something about some problems with scouting last week?
I seem to remember you did, realist. I was going to back you up at the time, but didn't have the time to completely dominate this board like today. (Sorry about that.)
But I do want to add one thing more. Personnel issues have been addressed publicly, but it seems not memorably. Aside from Davis asserting that he selected Kiffin based on his knowledge of personnel, Kiffin addressed the issue, at least twice to my knowledge, in the off season and in camp. In off season he talked about the OL and said he wasn't really sure what they had there until he had the chance to work with them, but cautioned there wasn't much currently available to replace them. Toward the end of camp Kiffin said that the talent on the team was so shallow he didn't feel that anybody he released would be picked up by another team. He was very surprised when teams snatched up the first three. However it appears that Kiffin was right, because those players were subsequently released by their new teams.
For backup today, I'm going to have to rely on Jason Jones.
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/raiders/
Scroll down to "You ask, I respond."
PEOPLE!
Come on. There's no 'great disturbance in the force'.
With a little different luck we could easily be at 4and3, and everything would be all 'MINTY FRESH'.
"is it worth it to be a Raider's fan?".....
Hell yea!!!
Got get you a Tom Brady jersey, and enjoy the snowjob replays when you see them.
One more thing...
Kiffin also made a very public promise to the OL when he came in. YOU WILL NOT BE JUDGED ON ANYTHING PRIOR TO THIS SEASON!
So we can sit here and gripe about the last four all we want. Kiffin is only concerned with what is happening, and what he can do about it right now and in the future.
Alas, when you've scored a total of two offensive touchdowns in three games, your problem isn't bad luck, it's scoring touchdowns.
I remember when two offensive touchdowns in a single game was practically a failure.
Today, two offensive touchdowns in three games is something to be excused.
Lets all listen to BlandaRocked, the football genius!!! He knows all!!!! RT, me and you don't see eye to eye on things, but I definitely see where you are coming from, I had the same feelings when my team struggled in the 80's and 90's. But hey, Blandarocked is the damn Stephen Hawking of Raider football fans and we should all bow before his presence. Whats your prediction for the Raiders/Texans score this week, you ol football genius?
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Raider Take said...
You guys may not believe me, but I really do try to keep up with comment deletions. It's not always as easy as it sounds.
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Thats cool man... it's your website (thanx for everything btw, something that prolly doesn't get said enough) I don't think there will be too many Raider fans bitching that you deleted too many of the troll posts though. My suggestion would be that if the post gives you a funny taste in your mouth, just go ahead and delete it.
Raider fans or people that want to SERIOUSLY discuss Raider football here... what are the rest going to do?
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Blanda:
NYRaider, when the defense has problems it's because, believe it or not, they get too aggressive. By that, I mean they leave their assignments in an attempt to make a play in another player's zone. By leaving their zone, if they are cut off from making the play they are attempting, the ball carrier can cut back through the uncovered territory for big yardage.
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EXACTLY! And this is something that CAN BE FIXED! Why hasn't it? This isn't a talent issue (that the Al-haters all are so fond of making this here) this is something that has been the same for four years... over pursuit! This is a COACHING problem. SOB does not know what he is doing IMO. I told my Viking buddies tonight they can mark one win on their schedule right now. Adrian Peterson will have 400 yards and 7 TD's against our over pursuit defense.
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BlandaRocked said...
Re Kiffin taking his whole first year to evaluate the talent level.
When you consider it, we've been arguing about the level of talent on this core of players since Calahan's second year. I said, in the middle of last season, that our #1 problem was with the talent, but nobody agreed with me at the time. Shell is out, and Kiffin is in, and that requires another level of talent evaluation.
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I'd assert that offensively it is about 80% a talent problem. We have a horrible o-line and no QB... what are you supposed to do?
The defense is a different story. We have talent all over the place... and they are still consistently underachieving. Can I say it again?
SOB DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HE IS DOING.
This team does not move forward until we get an occasionally aggressive DC that knows how to disguise and be unpredictable, along with TEACH patience. He teaches them to KILL KILL KILL (but not blitz) and thats it... you can see it it in his mannerisms.
The defense knows he wont blitz so they try and make up for it by being overaggressive. It's frigging killing us.
This would be one of the best defenses in the NFL with capable coaching IMO.
As "paying customers" what we see is the finished product. The finished product as it relates to hiring decisions, draft selections, free agent signings, and most importantly, the performance on the field.
We are not privy to all of the behind the scenes activities that lead up to and influence the finished product.
Al Davis is the final decision maker. It is his choice to run the organization as he sees fit. It is his ultimate responsibility to make changes to impact and improve the franchise's bottom line ... wins & losses. As the final decision maker he delegates responsibilities to achieve the targeted goals.
The discussion about organizational & philosophical changes is interesting and fairly complex IMO.
I would agree with BR in terms of Kiffin being given more authority than most (if not all) Raider Head Coaches in the past.
I would argue that Kiffin's authority has lead (and will continue to lead) to some organizational & philosophical changes.
Some of these changes are still a work in progress like adding his type of players. Some changes might be fairly subtle or unknown to the fans such as Kiffin using his network of football contacts. Kiffin is more than likely using these contacts to evaluate talent. It could also mean Kiffin has hired a few people for the scouting department.
What is frustrating to many Raider fans is that we are left in the dark about many of these organizational changes. We are left in the dark because that is the way the organization operates. Another area of frustration to many Raider fans is the lack of a clearly defined GM. Is it Tom Jackson? It it more of a committee GM approach of Jackson, Kiffin, the scouting department, and Davis all rolled into one where Davis makes the final decision?
I would love to see a competent GM hired who has an established track record in the NFL. If we don't hire a traditional GM, all of us we have to put our trust in Kiffin to identify the players that will upgrade the talent level and best fit his overall system.
A very reliable source on Raiderfans.net said the following:
"Hey all,
Josh McCown will be the starting QB vs. Houston on Sunday.
Justin Fargas will be the starting RB vs. Houston on Sunday.
Either on Thursday (tomorrow) or Monday (after the game) Lamont Jordan will be cut by the Raiders. If he is kept around for the weekend, he won't be playing.
They will stick with Rhodes, Fargas, and Bush.
Enjoy the news!"
Take it for what it is worth but this guy more times than not has been 100% on the money.
Very interesting development ...
Calico,
great news on the roster changes. i hope it is true, and is only the beginning.
also, you are correct about fans being left in the dark as to how the raiders "organization" operates.
all we know is, when things go very wrong, the head coach gets fired, the players remain, and we just move on, or should i say, move down.
something's gotta give sooner or later.
Al Davis...the Field Castro to the Raider Nation...
Well, I see you guys have been busy. Too much to digest and comment fully on.
However, if it's true that Fargas is starting and McCowan is back, I like the former and am somewhat ambivalent about the latter. My hope is I am wrong about McCowan.
Matt Schaub is out for the Texans according to latest reports.
Once again, this game is winnable. It is even more winnable that the last one. I expect to see Kiffin pull out all the stops to win. Use what is working and don't go back to the crap that isn't.
Early prediction 27-10.
H
Psycho, Tuesday, on Dwight -
"Yeah man, good signing. Looks like Kif is with me on my whole "Tough & Consistent" obsession. Looks like we're dropping inconsistent Williams for a proven, reliable, tough guy. Let this be a red flag to Sims, Gallery, and whoever else gets pushed around and/or does not always show up on Sunday. You want to make game costing mistakes and there is someone around who can replace you? GONE!"
I come in this morning after being gone a day and read that Williams was waived and Dwight has been given #17. Wow, even the number was replaced. Way to send a message on the #17 thing, Kiffin. If anyone here were on a scholarship it was Williams. Kiffin is true to his word. What was that scene from "Tombstone"? I think Doc Holiday said "Wyatt, you are an Oak".
Psycho
I agree Psycho, the old Raiders were off the wall characters. But they were tough and consistent.
Since we are quoting Tombstone, Jack Tatum would say after the took down a receiver or back, "Are you going to do something, or just sit there and bleed."
H
H - Shanahan can play the leader of the "Cowboys" gang. Hopefully he gets shot in the chest, true to form.
I know there was a town drunk or two in there we could play.
Anyway. We better win Sunday, because the schedule gets a whole lot tougher from here on out. In our current form I don't think we're technically better than 80% of our remaining opponents and another 3 or 4 win season does not sound fun.
Psycho
CJ said, "Either on Thursday (tomorrow) or Monday (after the game) Lamont Jordan will be cut by the Raiders. If he is kept around for the weekend, he won't be playing."
My concern is that if we cut him, then he would be claimed off waivers by the Doncos. The other team that would make a run for him would be Tampa, but I think the Doncos have priority waiver claims over Tampa. So if we do cut him, and he lands with Denver; then he is on a rival team, with a vendetta against the Raiders.
We shouldn't cut Jordan. He's no L.T., but he's not Mike Williams, either.
We don't have any depth at that position, where injuries are frequent.
Why not just demote him? What, we start him one week, at the questionable expense of reps for Fargas and Rhodes, then cut him the next?
Did we just discover something we already didn't know about him?
Excellent point, Calico. Another way you could look at the corporate analogy is the consumer buys Coca-Cola, but how Coke is made is the most guarded secret in commercial enterprise.
After forty years of watching the Raiders, and listening to the words of departing, successful participants, I can tell you that virtually 90% of what you read about Al Davis and the way the Raiders are run is crap.
While the media portrays Al as the evil puppet master, pulling every string throughout the organization, Al is, in fact, a delegator. He does not distribute titles unless it more convenient for the organization or required by rule, such as naming a "Head Coach." Since Al retains for himself some of the normal duties of a "General Manager," he doesn't give anybody that title. The duty to sign players to a contract belongs to Mark Jackson. It doesn't matter that Jackson has a boxing background, because contracts are contracts. From what I've seen of the JRuss contract, he's pretty damn good even if JRuss did take a long time to get to the practice field.
As for finding players for the team, Davis employs a number of trusted scouts. When Davis advocates to Kiffin that they pick up a certain player, Davis is relying on a report and film provided to him by one or more scouts. It amazes me that people feel Davis actually scouts players himself. In this decade, the scouts have obviously made some grave mistakes, which is one of the reasons that Davis hired Kiffin. Kiffin has his finger on the pulse of the youngest talent coming into the league, and a network of people he's acquire through USC to alert him to talent around the country. This network of people, whoever they are, know what Kiffin likes.
This change, essentially marrying Kiffin's network with Davis', is the biggest change I've seen from this organization in forty years. While he's done it with an air of pride, Davis has admitted that what he's done for years needed a big infusion of youthful energy and insight. He went out and found the same type of thing that Davis brought to the team 45 years ago.
Davis involves his opinion in every major decision, which he feels is his right as a football knowledgeable owner. But the notion that he seeks out yes men who won't argue with him is ridiculous and debunked by every successful Raider Head Coach. Davis seeks to employ people who have diversity and strong opinions. He wants a lot of vegetables in his stew. Whenever there is a Raider coach who only lasts one or two years (with the exception of Shanahan and Callahan) it is because that coach refuses to confront Al with his own opinions and just goes along to get along (read Mike White, Joe Bugel, Norv Turner, and Shell II). Shanahan's problem was that he was attempting to pull strings behind Davis' back, and Callahan's problem was that he was a psychotic head case who created a Grand Canyon between the coaching staff and the players.
We won't know fully how much power Kiffin has until this off season when he's prepared to adjust the personnel on this team. Kiffin announced to the team that he wasn't interested in the past, but only in what occured this season, and that everything a player does this season (good or bad) counts. Kiff will have to weed the players who have let him down. He won't be able to weed out every one, because the problems are vast.
Psycho,
Shannahan would be a good Curly Bill. Cutler could be Johnny Ringo with Thomas Howard as Doc Holiday when they turn him loose when the Mules come to town.
I think everyone in that movie was drunk at one time or another, except the Earps.
As for Jordan, unless they need an additional roster spot he probably won't go anywhere for 21 days. That's how long they have to make a decision on Bush. His first practice was Wednesday. They have 21 days to put him on the roster, release him or, if not healed, place him on IR. But, I've been wrong before.
H
RT, from the way I've heard Kiffin talking about Bush, I wouldn't be surprised to see Jordan waived. It could be that the Titans game was Jordan's one last shot at showing that he was locking on to this running system. He did at first, and was very successful. Then, suddenly, he has reverted back to his old habits, just like the OL. If there were any depth on the OL, Kiffin would likely waive a couple of those as well.
blandarocked...are you on Al Davis pay roll by any chance?
Blanda,
Back in the day, Al did do some of his own scouting. In John Madden's book he talked about Davis finding one of his players at a workout inside a gym where the player was wearing basketball shoes, shorts and a tee shirt.
That player was Mark van Eeghen.
I do agree scouting has let us down lately. Perhaps that should be part of the organizational changes.
Jordan might be waived, I just don't think it will be before this weekend. Bush needs some practice time.
H
Ano, no, I just don't buy BS when I know it's BS. It's the reason I don't spend much time watching ESPN.
H, ah, Mark van Eagan. I'm remembering that Mark overlapped Marv Hubbard. They brought in Mark to eventually replace Hubbard. Mark and Marv were both graduates of Colgate. And for the first couple of years, while Marv was still there, they thought Mark was going to be a complete bust. But then they released Marv and van Eagan's career took off. It turned out that Marv was his hero and didn't want to show him up. With Marv out of the picture, no problem.
Jordan was a beast before he hurt his back again. He was on pace for 1,800yds and I think was 3rd in the league at the time.
This guy doesn't deserve to be waived. We should sit him as a #2 or #3 until healthy instead of making it worse. If it's THAT bad, then we need to IR him, not cut him. Too big a cap hit on top of everything else.
The only way I see him released is if we do sit him and he gets pissed off because he thinks he's OK to play. Well, he's not.
Psycho
No black-outs in my area anon, you're out of luck. Nope, I can ignore everything else and I'm guaranteed a Raider game on Sunday. Go Colts though!
Psycho
Psycho:
During practice last week, Jordan reported that he'd never felt better and that his back had completely healed. He said it felt better than at any time during the year so far.
But he fell back into those habits of running up to the line, then studdering around looking for a hole, then getting himself tackled for the loss of a yard or two. Fargas, on the other hand, hit either a hole or a crease like a bullet, and was never stopped for a loss.
Fargas getting the start has nothing to do with Jordan's back. It has to do with Kiffin's promise, "if you perform, you play."
Didn't know he felt better, Blanda. If that's the case and he continues to get 2 ypc then yeah, he's dead weight. Either way I'm on the Fargas bandwagon for now.
I still think waiving him is not the answer yet. He's done good for us and we should first see if we can get him back to what he was doing.
Just remember this. Jordan has said himself in the past that he needs to work on "being honest" when it comes to injuries & getting playing time. The back is something he can hide if he plays it off like he's fine just to get carries and keep his job. I doubt he is close to 100%. His "heart" is his gift & his curse.
Psycho
I figure that H is correct and that Jordan is at least safe until they see how Bush performs in pads. Then, if it looks like Bush was the steal of the draft, it will be a choice of either cutting Jordan or Rhodes. In that case, I would expect the winner will be the one who is the cheapest to keep.
Psycho,
If Jordan can fake being 100% with a back injury he's one hell of a man. Every move, every turn, every step, every hit involves the back.
Back injuries and kidney stones will make real men cry and beg for their mama. Back injuries are also slow to heal. It's hard for me to understand how he got back into the lineup in two weeks after being on crutches.
I know the medical personnel cleared him, but 100%, I just don't buy it.
Having said all that, if he is 100% his style indicates to me he is running to protect his back, which equates to not being 100% because he has a mental block.
That, in and of itself, can make things worse.
H
Exactly H. He's a tough guy and I wouldn't put it past him to play when he shouldn't. Kif needs to just put his foot down and bench him for a while. Which, with Fargas starting, I guess he finally figured it out.
Kidney stones, ouch. I was about 22 or 23 when I passed like 3 of them. I was able to drive 2 hours home, but play football, no way.
Psycho
I don't think that Fargas can carry the team for long periods of time, I know that the yards he has been gaining is only because the other teams prepare for Jordan, I know that once he becomes the featured back he is going to have problems getting those yards.
I believe that Jordan is a liavility, he has been injured every year that he's played for us, except the first year, we should use Rhodes as much as we can and get Bush ready for play, once Bush becomes available let go of Jordan and depending on Bush let go of Rhodes as well.
I don't think that Kiffin is as patient as other coaches have been for us, a great example is Mike Williams, (his own blood) gave him a few oportunities, he didn't take advantage of them and he let him go, the same thing holds true for Washington at corner, I think that the next people in his scope are Stu and Brayton, the line like BR and H suggest will be dealt with next year.
raiderdecoachella
Psycho,
I only had one kidney stone, which was more than enough. My wife was a virtual stone factory for about five years until they discovered the root cause. I have been fighting chronic back problems for over twenty years. I have literally crawled to the bathroom and I hadn't had anything containing alcohol.
Which takes me back to my point, if he is even close to 100% as he says, he's currently running to not hurt his back again, which is hurting the team.
raiderdecoachella,
I have a somewhat different take on other teams preparing for Fargas.
If his running style is suited to the zone blocking scheme, as was Terrell Davis, he could have some major success the rest of the season. The caveat to that is the talent on the offensive line. It's still a mystery there.
I don't recall Davis doing a lot of dancing around. The patience required seems to be allowing the hole to develop and take advantage of what space is there.
When the hole/seame was there against the Fish and the Thumbtacks
Fargas did not hesitate. Jordan, on the other hand, seemed hesitant.
H
In view of the fact that this offensive offensive line will not break their bad habits until they go through rehab, I figure a low score even against the Texans. If the defense shows that they've got it now, like the last two weeks, and since the Texans will be starting an unproven QB, it's fortunate that they won't score a lot either, even giving up a defensive score.
My call for the game:
Raiders 13
Texans 6
I am way behind on takes the last two days but Calico is correct. McCown will start as per Jason Jones Sac Bee.
Wow... First two things I wrote here on Monday I said to start Fargas and McCown. Anything else you guys want me to pass on. I seem to have Kiff's ear... eh, eye.
Then again, if those two screw up, I know who's gonna be hammered around here on Monday.
I hope Mc Clown starts and finish this Sunday with us. He will show his erratic way of playing and play making mistakes. When his on the move away from the pocket, he tends to carry the ball too high or to low from his chest, allowing for the ball to be swatted and jarred loose easily once hit from the blind side or even up front creating a fumble. He also has QB mechanics all wrong when he is getting pressured in the pocket with his pivotal stance, instead of sliding left to right, stepping up or back, he positions himself awkwardly where his foot motion almost seems that he is crossing his feet, making difficult for him (although at times he does manage to scramble way from the collapsed pocket) he stumbles out of it with his head down, then looks up for a split second to find his receivers where they're suppose to be, throws the ball whether he got a good look in tight coverage or not and not really seeing the whole field because of his poor QB mechanics, thus throwing the ball way too short, too long, or even worse out of place for an interception. Again to his foot work, he never seems consistently to be planted to the ground when he throws the ball. And the only time he is, is when the pressure at the line is being held long enough (which in this year has been very limited, but has given the chance to both QB's C Pete and Mc Clown) he holds the ball way too long, making for bad passing decisions or scrambles for a few yards, or he runs a loopy direction for a sack and a lost of major yards. Either his vision is not so well or he cant read well defenses he totally misses, miss-matches overlooking open players whether it was designed to go to them primarily or not, he doesn't see the whole field well enough to make quick adjustments. and i don't think he over think things here, he just doesn't see it all. complete garbage.
Wow! That’s a lot to digest. The way I look at it, we are starting over (at square one), fourth year in a row. If that doesn’t reek of poor personnel decisions, I don’t know what does.
IMO, Al’s deficience to hire a valid GM is more related to ego, and his belief he can still perform that function. Has he ever actually given the title of GM? At least, not that I recall.
Yeah, Kiffin appears to have more control than previous coaches, which I attribute to sustained and successive coaching failures as well as Al’s advancing years.
For right now, I can only hope that the present “starting over” regime is the right one, and that Kiffin will hold true to his word and create absolute competition throughout the team, while bringing in new talent. I believe he is a talented coach, who will learn and get better on the fly.
As far as waiving Jordan, that seems ridiculous. What would be the point? Jordan has demonstrated he can run behind effective blocking. So, waiving him is like putting a bandage on a broken leg. Besides, neither Jordan nor Fargas are durable, and neither could last an entire season as the featured back, IMO. As I see it, our only play at RB is by committee.
I want to see Bush as much as the next guy, but without an effective O-line, maybe we should IR the guy until next year and let the NFL beat up on Jordan, Fargas and Rhodes for now.
The real mystery for me is, why is Andrew Walter still a Raider? The only thing I can think is that we anticipate keeping him next year as a backup, after we allow Culpepper and possibly McCown to walk.
mccown's problem is inexperience as a nfl starter. sure he started about 3 years ago in arizona, but hasn't started another game until coming to the raiders. you can't sit on a bench that long, and come out expecting to be decent. you have to get used to the speed of the nfl, the different coverages, the ability to recognize and adjust.
that comes from the experience of playing. sure you can recognize things from the sideline, but it's a different look when you're behind the center. this comes from a few things, and experience is the bulk of it.
other contributors is understanding the defensive formation, and what could be done from that initial formation. you have to remember, the play called in the huddle is just the formation, the routes, blocking scheme, etc are called at the line. when the defense lines up, it is in the basic formation, and as the play is called at the line, they set their defensive scheme according to that formation. as the qb is calling the play, if he sees something developing, he has to audible to attack that scheme.
example, say you come out offensively in a basic i-formation. the defense sets in a 4-3 defense. as the qb is calling his play, for a run to the leftside, he notices the middle linebacker sneaking up for the blitz; which could disrupt the running play. he sends the te in motion to the center and back to his spot on the right side, and sees the outside linebacker and safety in a zone to guard against the te. he then calls the te to run a chip block, slant pattern to where the middle linebacker is (to draw the safety); and right side receiver to run a deep post open where the safety should be, and changes the blocking scheme and play to pick up the blitz, and attack the weakness in what is read.
this is something that mccown is not good at, and kiffin said it yesterday too; even saying that is where culpepper beats him. this is what we've lacked at qb the last 4 years since gannon went down.
for mccown to get better at this, he has to commit to watching film during the season, and offseason on how nfl defenses scheme to help develop his recognition skills. the team has to practice these schemes against one another, and record adjustments that work for game time; so they can get a feel for how to recognize it on the field. it's all about film, practice, and experience. this is what made gannon so great. he spent hours in the film room in the offseason. he would show up to the facility with the coaches to watch film, and help develop plans to attack those schemes. which is why i think he'd make a great offensive coordinator.
this is what the raiders have to get back to doing. this is what is going to "rehab" our offensive unit from their mistake/losing mentality.
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