BlitzChick

I was hopeful that my Raiders would make it to the play offs. I knew it was a long shot. Kansas City did their part for us by beating the Denver Broncos. All we needed to do was win this one game. We went down 38-26. Not even in flames. We went down choking.

I knew early on this was not going to be a good game , though, because I saw signs.

The first sign was when with all kinds of movement on their offense, and our defense reacting to it, we got called for off sides. My stomach turned when I witnessed one of the cleanest players in the league, Matt Giordano, get flagged for unnecessary roughness, hitting a defenseless receiver. And that with less than 2 minutes played!

Then I thought, hmm, maybe it WILL be okay when Matt picked off Phillip Rivers on the very next play.

We followed that by going down the field 95 yards, and scoring a touchdown. That renewed my hope. But I still had that
feeling nagging at me. For good reason.

San Diego went right down field and scored. How? Mike Mitchell lost his balance and fell, covering Antonio Gates. Our best ball hawking safety was busy blitzing.

In what world is blitzing the team leader in interceptions a GOOD thing? Only in the mind of Chuck Breshnahan. Of course, Chuckie B seemingly thinks it is a good idea to have defensive lineman LaMar Houston cover the same player. He only has a career average of 13.1 yards per reception. Who says a line man can't cover him successfully? I am thinking anyone with any actual football sense. But football sense does not seem to be high on that particular defensive coordinator's list. He had Rolando McClain, again, covering a top rated wide receiver. Is it any surprise the pass play, a third and 7, play, resulted in a touchdown? Now keep in mind, we had 6 defensive backs on the field, and yet our middle linebacker was covering wide receiver Vincent Jackson.

The problem with this particular defensive coordinator is he is back asswards. He develops a scheme, then plugs players into it, never giving a second thought to the fact that the players he is plugging in do not have the

skill set necessary to fit. One thing Coach Davis preached was use one's players to their strengths. That is not what has been done with the defense. For instance, Kamerion Wimbley has had 7 sacks this season, but time after time, he was dropped into coverage. I know I questioned why the leader in interceptions, Matt Giordano, was running outside trying to get to the quarterback while Kamerion Wimbley was in coverage - with his entire 2 CAREER interceptions, and the guy with 5 interceptions and zero sacks is going after the quarterback. Yeah, that makes PERFECT sense. Only in the mind of hopefully our soon to be former defensive coordinator. For the record, in this game, Matt was the only player with a a recorded pass defended.

Then there is Lito Sheppard. His tendency is to allow the catch, but not allow YAC, and sometimes he can make a play on the ball. Normally not a bad thing. However, he is only 5'10" tall and 194 lbs. , not big at all for a corner. he seemed to draw man a lot agianst Malcolm Floyd. Floyd is 6'5". That is a classic mismatch. On one play, a 3rd and 4, Lito played several yards off the line scrimmage. He made the tackle pretty much right after the catch was made, but it was a 4 yard reception. There was no push on the receiver at the line of scrimmage, no contact within the first 5 yards to slow the receiver down. And no way Lito could do ANYTHING but attempt to make the tackle. Which he did well.

San Diego had possession of the ball 9 times. Their first possession ended in an interception. They missed one field goal. With less than a minute left , they turned the ball over on downs. They scored 6 times. Their punter took the field only to be the holder on 2 field goal attempts.

The defensive line, allegedly anchored by Richard Seymour, has struggled mightily since Matt Shaughnessy was hurt. With John Henderson missing this game, there were fewer guys to rotate in to relieve these guys.

I have to also look at what I know our offense could be. The one that Hue Jackson calls the plays for.

The one that ran Michael Bush 15 times on first downs. That includes 12 out of 15 times , before our last possession of the half. I shake my head at an offense that had 3rd and 9 and threw the ball 5 yards, forcing us to punt. The one that threw for 6 yards on a 3rd and 13 play, forcing us to settle for a field goal.

The one that did not employ no huddle until there was less than 1/2 a quarter left in the game.

The no huddle has always worked for our offense, and Carson Palmer does run it ...

My beloved Oakland Raiders blew a silver and black opportunity as they blew a 13 point lead late in the 4th quarter, and took their 3rd loss in a row , this time to the Detroit Lions , 28-27.

I would love to say it was just one thing, but each time I look back and reflect on the game, I see things that could have changed the outcome.

The first one, of course, was coming away with NO points, on a 4th and 1 from the Detroit 24, when a pass to Denarius Moore fell incomplete. I question whether or not there was some illegal contact, but regardless, we needed a first down. Another play, maybe a Michael Bush run, a pitch out, something, would have given us the first down. Maybe led to a touchdown. However, a field goal, 3 points, would have given us 30 points - and the victory. All I know is that it is not the only time we went deep on a pass play when we needed short yardage and came away with an incomplete pass. Late in the game, Chaz Schilens was unable to haul in a pass from Carson Palmer on a 3rd and 3 play. we needed that first down. That first down would have brought us to the the 2 minute warning. Detroit was working with NO time outs. There was 2:32 left on the clock.

I have been complaining about how conservative the Raiders offensive game calling was in the last 2 games, yet when we NEEDED to go conservative in this game, we didn't.

Then there is Carson Palmer. The guy we sold the house for... and the reason why we probably won't be re-signing Jason Campbell, considering Palmer's contract. Taking that last sack killed us. It wasn't the 3 yard loss. It was the wasted play and that we had to use our final time out. It wasn't necessary.

Defensively, I don't know if the late 13 point lead made some of the players cocky, or what they were thinking.

On a 4th and 2 deep in our territory, all we needed to do was STOP the first down. We rush three, leaving no one in the middle gap, and gave Matt Stafford the room to run for the first down. Tom Flores was calling for the run. I was thinking the run because the middle of the field was wide open. And that is exactly what what happened. I found the empty backfield a little suspect.

I love Stanford Routt. I am one of his biggest fans. I was talking him up all off season. But I have to wonder WHAT he was thinking with the pass interference late in the game that gave Detroit the ball on our 6 yard line. It was so blatant. He impeded the progress of Calvin Johnson. That is textbook. He could have had position. He could have made a play on the ball. Instead he back-peddled and didn't allow the receiver to run his route. Routt is so much better than that! I was so disappointed. Other than that, even with the holding penalty I think he had a good game.

But it was two plays before that one that left me shaking my head. Rolando McClain and Jerome Boyd covering Calvin Johnson over the middle. I do not know what was worse, that McClain probably had better position than Boyd, who is supposed to be adept at covering, or that Boyd actually did NOTHING on the play. He was basically standing there as he watched Calvin Johnson slow down and adjust to the ball to make the completion.

The defense allowed 6 plays over 20 yards, two were touchdown receptions.

I know Calvin Johnson is a good receiver. But how could we have given up 214 yards on 9 receptions to him? This was his best game of the season. In a game where we were fighting for play off hopes, and having the added bonus of getting the updates of Denver losing, we should have done something to have him covered better.

I look at the defense overall and wonder if we actually have designed a game plan for the offense we are facing.

Then there is our lack of a return game on both kick offs and punt returns. Nothing we have tried since Jacoby Ford's injury has worked for us. Watching punts roll to inside our 10 yard line has become the norm and I am tired of it.

Seeing Tyvon Branch's HUGE return coming back because of a flag.

Watching Sebastian Janikoswksi's record setting field goal attempt get blocked.

This late in the season with a 13 point lead with only half the the 4th quarter? It should have been enough. we should have been able to control the ball... and the team's destiny.
The team did not.

There were some men that were actually balling today.

Darrius Heyward-Bey, despite the fumble, was 8-9 for 155 yards. Michael bush caught 7 ofr 7 passes. T.J. Houshmandzadeh was 6 for 6. Kevin Boss was 3 for 3. Marcel Reece was 3 for 3. Chaz Schilens only missed one of the balls that went his way, unfortunately, it was a drive killer. i still think it was not the best ...

As the Oakland Raiders faced off against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau field, I was trepidatious at best. Given
the fact the final score was 46-16, it is understandable.

I was not thrilled that we decided to start off on offense. We won the toss. Considering all aspects of the game have been less than perfect, I would have liked to see us start off on defense.

Before I get into the game, just a few comments on the ever present, league pervasive crappy officiating that the NFL encourages and does nothing about.

Mike Mitchell was called for pass interference that gave them first and goal. The Packers would have had 4th and 16 from the 31 which would have left them with a 49 or so yard field goal, INTO the wind. They ended up with a rushing touchdown. How can that kind of call NOT help a team? Down by 24 with the ball is much better than being down 31.

When Aaron Rodgers' fumble was ruled an incomplete pass? I was not surprised. I have to admit I was a little bit
shocked when somehow a post change of possession infraction still counted and gave Green Bay a first and goal. how can a penalty be enforced when it essentially did not happen? I am sure it has something to do with it being a 15 yard penalty, but even our radio announcers were confused by this.

When I saw the holding Green Bay was getting away with offensively I was shrugging my shoulders. Nothing new that
big plays kept being allowed when the offensive line was holding. I just dislike when the booth guys call a
defensive back being held a good block as the running back gets the sideline on a big run play.

Then a 50 yard that should have been over turned that wasn't because of a malfunction on replay equipment???
Mighty convenient timing.

The official sounded almost disappointed that he had to rule the interception for Mike Mitchell in the end zone.

I am not convinced that it was roughing the passer on Quentin Groves. He hit the quarterback withing half a step after the ball was released. What is he supposed to do with the kind of momentum he had? That turned an incomplete 3rd and 5 from the 36, so a 4th and 5, what would have been a roughly 53 yard field goal attempt, into a first and 10 from the 21. Again, a miraculous questionable penalty, but it only lead to a field goal. we were down by so much by that time it was ridiculous anyway, but still, I question the call.

I am very curious what hitting a defenseless receiver is. Seems like Louis Murphy was pretty defenseless when he took a hard hit. More so than than the receiver Aaron Curry hit a couple of weeks back.

Why? I don't know, but all the announcers kept talking about was Aaron Rodgers being able to break a Brett Favre
record. Green Bay wants to forget Favre and move on, and even though Rodgers has brought them that Super Bowl
trophy, Favre is still associated with GB. Rodgers breaking Favre's season record with a few games left, makes him better, right?


But that does not explain what in the heck Carson Palmer was doing throwing into double or more coverage multiple
times. Yeah the ball was dropped quite a few times. My boy Darrius Heyward-Bey had his share, and I am
disappointed in him. he should have pushed through Charles Woodson, better an offensive PI call, than an INT.

It does not explain why on a 3rd and long we stopped pressuring Rodgers.

It does not explain the lack of tackling.

This defense is down right disappointing, It is more than the scheme. Stanford Routt missed a tackle and 12 more
yards were allowed. The dbs as a whole were not giving a push at the line and were allowing receivers to go by them
untouched. They played too far off the line. The defense over pursued, again. They bit on fakes, STILL. They didn't
maintain their gaps. They didn't maintain their lanes.

Richard Seymour, for the second week, did not record a single statistic. At least he didn't get ejected this game.

For the 3rd time, I think we had only 10 men on the field defensively, and this was the 2nd time the opposition
scored.

It does not explain the predictable play calling by Hue Jackson. I am thinking maybe he should hand that over to
Al Saunders. It sure as hell can't get worse.

This offense is damn near unstoppable using the no huddle. Why are we not using more??? We are using the same wide
receivers, because so many are hurt. We are utilizing Michael Bush and Marcel Reece a lot, and mixing up plays,
They can stay in the game.

How is it we can block a PAT, but not ...

Chaz Schilens who has shown what we had hoped he would show us all along.

John Henderson for playing hurt.

Rolando McClain for not allowing anything to distract HIM.

Chris Johnson for shaking off the rust and making at least one play that should have been a reception an incomplete pass.

We are not out of the play off hunt, but I consider this game taking the rope and tying the hang man's knot. It is not around our necks yet, but it is close.

Another game like this, and I know this team does not belong in the play offs.

I understand another couple of players got dinged up, including John Henderson.

Let's hope we get some of our offensive walking wounded back, and that our defensive guys can heal up, because we are dangerously thin in several areas.

Regardless, if the team, and I use that term loosely at this time, plays like it did against the Dolphins, we will not win any more games. All the hard work will have been for naught, and it will be another meaningless, empty season. Which means we will lose some of our key soon to be free agents, which is more bad news.

So there it is, the bad, the worse and the worst.

If there is anything to take from this game, it is that Mr. Davis knew a talented player when he saw one. Now we just need to use them properly, and at this moment, I do not know if the coaching staff knows how to do that.

Shape it up gentlemen, while there is still time, and we can make the play offs.

That's all I have.

As ever,

Win, lose or tie, RAIDERS til I DIE!

BlitzChick

All I can say about the physical 34-14 beating the Oakland Raiders took at the hand of the home team Miami Dolphins is that we played like we were a team that had lost the first 7 games of the season, and nothing to hope or fight for.

The truth is , we were fighting to stay in first place in our division and the loss today handed it to the Denver Broncos. That is the worst.

But let's talk about the game.

I know Miami has actually a pretty good defense. Their offense is coming along. However, there is no way that we should have been beat at the line of scrimmage like we were play after play on both sides of the ball.

The blitzing and stunts we tried failed all but once.

We could not give Carson Palmer, for the second week in a row, time to throw.

And the game plan? I am trying to think if there was one.

Somehow running Michael Bush up the middle time and time again did not make sense to me. We did run 2 reverses, I think we had one pitch out, but that was it. A conservative game plan again, just like against the Bears. I do
not think we used a no huddle offense until late in the game. And where was Marcel Reece all game? We waited way too long to use him.

Instead we kept throwing to Kevin Boss, who not only had a case of the dropsies today, but seemingly was the one that tipped Carson Palmer's pass away for a pick 6 at a time when the Raiders still had a chance.

That score pulled the little wind created by a random hand fan right out of the Raiders' sails.

But it isn't like the offense did anything memorable anyway. Our first six possessions ended in punts. Our seventh drive ended in that interception I mentioned. We had another two drives ending in punts. Then finally we
scored on our last two drives. With quick passes, not throwing to Kevin Boss, utilizing Marcel Reece, and employing the no huddle offense. Kind of like how we beat the Bears. I question the strategy of waiting until the
fourth quarter to do most of that.

We didn't get beyond the 50 yard line until our fourth possession. And no, that was not hampered by penalties.

The longest drive of the day time - wise? It took us 10 plays to go a net 22 yards, (yes we took a 15 yard hit on that drive), and we took only 4:27 off the clock.Then we had that wonderful twenty second possession with the aforementioned interception. But we had 2 other possessions that lasted less than a minute , also. It was that bad.

What was worse? The defense seemed to simply give up.

Richard Seymour got himself ejected from the game, again. I still did not see anything that constituted a "punch", but that does not really matter. He did at least give an extra shove, and again, as I mentioned after a previous loss, he is a team leader and this is inexcusable on his part. It is almost as if he did what he had to do to get off the field because he did not want to play. Maybe next time he can just fake an injury. The way he was getting beat at the line, he had every reason to be embarrassed. I wonder if he was in the locker room talking about being disappointed again? Just to make sure the record is complete here, Seymour did not record a single stat worth mentioning. Not even a single QB hurry.

That isn't to say there wasn't plenty of uncalled holding by the Dolphins offensive line, because there was. But that doesn't mean the defense can give up, not play, have no energy... and all the bad and worse things that they did. Including just playing flat.

I guess I could go into the "distraction" of the Rolando McClain mess, but with seven solo tackles, an assist and one tackle for a loss, that is one defensive player that seemed on his game. Too bad he was only one of a less than handful that was doing their job steadily and seemingly with some effort.

Of course, being tired didn't help. The Raiders defensive players were on the field for 38:20. But then again, if they had actually tackled, not over-pursued, stayed in their gaps, perhaps they would have made more than a few plays that counted, covered a tight end on a pass play or 4, perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad. The Dolphins punted on less than half their possessions, and only once in the first half. They scored on half of
their possessions, and had moved the ball for at least one first down on the 2 possessions that ended the half and the game.

Some of this falls on the shoulders of the coaching staff. I do not know what team Chuck Breshnahan designed the defense for, but it sure as heck was not this Dolphin team. They had 209 yards on the ground. If they had 21 more ...