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Look at it like this, the replacement refs were untrained lingerie football league and Division III officials. The regular "real" refs, while I understand are human, and make errors, this is outrageous. In one game they don't blow a whistle when a player is obviously down, and a few days later, in another, they blow a live ball dead. And then screw up the call on the next play. I am betting the NFL could have come up with other officials from the USFL, AFL or even the CFL, but they chose not to do that. They expected fans to settle for the mediocrity of these "real" officials. BTW, their approal rating was a mere 55%, where as the replacements had a 45% approval rating. Both failed, but that 10% difference is not so huge considering one group was not used to NFL speed and didn't know the rules.

Now we are stuck with this poor officiating. It was supposed to improve with the new contract, but it didn't. Basically the NFL needs to scrap everything in place now, get new scouts, new trainers and a new system on which to judge officiating, and a repercussion system with some teeth. I believe that will happen when pigs fly.

I digress. After the last TD scored, the Bengals ended up with another field goal, which gave us the final score of 34-10. Again, how easily correct calls by the officials could have changed that.

This isn't to even try to say the Raiders would have won, but the 3rd quarter, which has been their worst quarter, was actually one of their best this game. They had momentum, despite the early turnover of the 4th quarter, because of the moral victory of the field goal. The officials killed it.

Now I am going to talk about our head coach, Dennis Allen.

One of the things the booth guys mentioned is how Dennis Allen stated that the Raiders players do not have confidence. Usually I am not so sure about that. Matt Giordano, though a lot of people tend to not think highly of him, managed to stop 2 touchdowns today. Our running game seemed to come alive, and the blocking up front offensively looked different to me. Dare I think we were power blocking this game some?

Marcel Reece plays with confidence. I think Carson Palmer does, too. I have no problem with the confidence the players have in themselves. This also just smacks of when Bill Callahan called the Raiders the stupidest team.

I will again state I think the players are not buying what the coordinators are selling. I think Dennis Allen needs to have a chit chat with EVERY starter, then the back ups, to figure out what is working and not working, because he doesn't seem to have a clue just by watching games and film.

I will also say again, it looked like we were practiced to play, but not to play a specific opponent.

It just gets me angry.

I will agree with the belief that this wasn't a Super Bowl calibre team, but I think we have talent to have a better record than we do.

I don't necessarily want to see McKenzie or Allen go, but those two need to have a talk with the young Mr. Davis about where this team is headed before the end of the season. (Subtle hint: There is no time like the present!)

It doesn't look like players are on the same page, or even running the same plays at times. This is much too late in the season for some of the errors we see, game after game.

This season truly can not be salvaged. I know we are trying to build something, and well, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither can a productive football team. I still expected more than what I am seeing.

All the team has left is playing for pride, and the fans. They get their paychecks either way.

Hopefully they will remember that, and play their hearts out for the remaining game.

All I can say now is that I am still going to root for my team and hope for the best. I love the Raiders.

As ever,

Win, lose or tie, RAIDERS til I DIE!

BlitzChick

The entire first half of the game, when the Oakland Raiders traveled to Cincinnati to face off against the Bengals, it looked like the Bengals were shooting fish in a barrel. Everything the Bengals did worked. Just about everything the Raiders did failed. The final score showed it.

Just a quickie stat comparison: Bengals had over 200 more net yards than we did. They were 3-3 in the red zone, plus had a field goal, for a total of 24 points. We never hit the red zone, let alone had a shot to score. We had 6 first downs,compared to their 13 first downs. Our longest rushing play? 8 yards. They had 3 of 20 or more yards. Carson Palmer's longest pass? 12 yards. Andrew Dalton's longest pass? 44 yards. Palmer had one pass intercepted when Marcel Reece tipped the ball up in the air. Palmer was sacked twice, for a total of 13 yards.

Defensively, they had 2 tackles for a loss, two quarterback hits, the two sacks, and one pass defended. We had one quarterback hit. Basically, it appeared that the Raiders defense didn't even show up.

It was horrible watching it. I am glad I was seeing it on television, rather than being in Cincy in the 41 degree weather, with the wind chill making it feel like 35 degrees. BenJarvus Green-Ellis is a decent running back. He did have a 1000 yard season a couple of years ago. That is the last time he had a run for over 30 yards, too. Basically , we allowed career runs for Green-Ellis. Just wonderful, right?
Again, this was all in the FIRST HALF. The worst part about it, they didn't have the ball for much longer than we did, but led 24 -0.

When the game resumed after half time, I expected more of the same.

With the Bengals came out with the ball as they deferred after winning the coin toss. I figured I'd be looking at 31-0 in less than 5 minutes. But that isn't what happened. The Bengals changed up, or we changed up, or maybe it was a little bit of both. Regardless, the Bengals went 3 and out. We didn't get the red zone, but Sebastian Janikowski made his 55 yard field goal look like an extra point. We were on the board, at least.

The next 2 possessions for the Bengals were both 3 and outs. The Raiders had a 3 and out and scored a touchdown on a Palmer to Denarius Moore pass play. It was now an almost manageable 2 score game.

However, early in the 4th quarter, protection broke down again for Palmer, he got hit and lost the ball. The Bengals recovered and ended up with a field goal. This was a bit if a defensive victory for the team. Not only did the Bengals have a shortened field , they had 1st and goal at the 1 yard line. The defense stopped them from getting in the end zone. But now it was a 3 score game at 27-10. Even 2 pointers could only get us within 1 point.

Then the officiating, which already was not the best, went to hell in a handbasket.

My beloved team was moving the ball when Mike Brisiel was called for clipping. Now this is the exact rule from NFL dot com rulebook.

"Rule 3, Section 5 Clipping: Clippping is throwing the body across the back of the leg of an eligible receiver or charging or falling into the back of an opponent beow the waist after approaching him from behind, provided the opponent is not a runner." brisiel was running, and he did fall, but that's it. It all ends there. There was no clip. But we got backed up nonetheless. Instead of 1-10 from the 22, we had 1st and 20 from the 49. Reece was allowed to keep the 5 yard reception, and that negated 5 yards of the penalty. we ended up losing another 4 yards on an attempted screen, and had to punt. That drive would have at least ended in field goal, so we were jobbed out of 3 points minimum on the bad call. It was so bad even the guys in the booth said it was bad. That makes the call damned near egregious. We ended up punting.

On the next possession for the Bengals, we controlled them pretty much on 1st and 2nd down. Then came the 3rd down play. Or should I say their FIRST 3rd down play? This is what happened.(Like you don't already know.) Mohamed Sanu caught the pass from Dalton. he was a yard short of the marker, when Joselio Hanson forced a fumble. While the ball was still in the air, we batted it back in bounds. We picked it up and had a clear field to the end zone, Touchdown for the Raiders , right? Except one minor little issue. There was an inadvertent whistle. Before the ball went out of bounds. This means, somehow, the BENGALS have a chance to repkay their screwed up 3rd down, which didn't give them enough yards for the conversion. How they get this option is beyond any reasonable thought. It is there, though, in the rule book. Rule 7, Section 2, Subsection (2), Part (n), section (ii) , paraphrasing, that ...

After the Oakland Raiders suffered their third straight drubbing, meaning a loss by double digit points, this one 38-17 to the NFC comeback darlings, New Orleans Saints, I can say that I am not happy.

Neither is the guy ultimately in charge of the Oakland Raiders, Mark Davis, and he had no issues saying as much.

Does that mean the 2 hour talk the young Mr. Davis had with former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden means changes are on the horizon? I guess that depends on what Mr. Davis meant by he isn't cutting Reggie McKenzie or Dennis Allen slack, but they do have contracts. It could be I am inferring too much here, but I am taking that to mean that he is going to give them enough rope to fully hang themselves, in his comment about being "patient", and that will probably extend beyond this season. Looking back to everything I could find regarding OC Greg Knapp's hiring, I could not find the length of his contract, though I did find it extremely interesting that despite Knapp's hiring, Al Saunders, former OC, had his contract extended through the 2013 season. I imagine there are void clauses in Knapp's, DC Jason Tarver's and Special Teams Coordinator Steve Hoffman's contracts. Knowing those terms should would be nice, but regardless, coordinators might be replaced easier than a GM or HC, especially considering the problems the Raiders had.

What the Raiders were not struggling with was moving the ball , especially towards the end of the season. Carson Palmer started to get a grip on the offense, after being traded for while sitting on his couch , after Jason Campbell went down to injury. The power blocking scheme worked well with the running backs we had, Carson isn't really a West Coast Offense kind of guy. Upon Greg Knapp coming in, he instituted the Zone Blocking Scheme and gave indications we were going to go with a more "up-tempo" offense, which is more reminiscent of a WCO than what we were running in 2011.

Now the offense was not perfect by a long shot. Carson Palmer had to work with some very young receivers, Darren McFadden got hurt (again), but Michael Bush shouldered the load, even without DMCs elusiveness. Again, the offense is without McFadden, due to injury (again), but his production was way down from the 2011 season. One half earlier this season. McFadden was averaging only 1.3 yards a carry. In losses, his runs were meager, to say the best. Mike Goodson performed better, and our big back conversion, Marcel Reece played very well in his second game as featured RB in this loss. In my mind, this shows the error the Raiders made back in the off season, letting Michael Bush go, and keeping the oft injured McFadden.

I have to believe given yet again McFadden's inability to suit up and complete a season, his over all lack of production, that continuing in this system will force us to either eat his contract if we keep him, keep him despite these facts or try to trade him at a severely diminished value. This does not make me happy.

Considering we were already going through a major upheaval, I think that all the changes and efforts to have is own guys in positions of power, I think Reggie McKenzie erred.

All this being said, the offense is still an issue.

Let us start with the offensive line. Mixed signals are being sent to individual players. As a coach, I would not state that my starting center works better in one phase of the game and the back up in the other phase, (pass/run), to the press. To me this undermines the confidence a player may need to really excel. Despite the fact that these guys are professionals, they have egos, they need to be reassured, and wondering about their jobs isn't all that great of a thing in my book. We have players that are put in a system that does not suit them, and then are told it is a matter of execution. Now let's follow that line of reasoning just for a minute. Do you see pitchers in baseball playing any other position? While a guy that plays catcher, might be able to play first base, he is better at one than the other, generally speaking. The reason that so many beautiful women do not become fashion models? They can't do everything. Maybe they just can't walk in those ankle breaking 5 inch heels. Not all volley ball players go into beach volley ball. Playing with 5 team mates is vastly different than having only one team mate. Not all tennis players can play doubles well. It is not just the skill set the position requires. It is the scheme and whether or not the player can do as well in one scheme versus another. This makes it not just a matter of execution.It is a matter of coaching. We have one guy on the offensive line that had a positive experience in the ZBS, and he is the newest member to the line, Mike ...

Well there isn't much I can say about the 55-20 drubbing the Oakland Raiders took today in Baltimore.

So instead, I am making today about what it should be about, veterans of the United States military services.

To start off with, I would like to thank my father, Phil, who served in the Air Force during the forgotten Korean conflict. He was in the Air Force and worked on the planes in England to keep them air bound. Next, I'd like to thank my Godfather, my Uncle Mario, who almost lost his life on the USS Bismarck Sea went she went down. I'd like to thank my Uncle Richard, a man I never got to know. Another man I never got to meet, Charles, a man that earned the Purple Heart, taking sniper fire. He was a Marine, and the grandfather my children never got to meet. For that matter, I never had the pleasure either. From all I have heard about him, I feel like I missed out. I can't go long without mentioning Frank Z., my best friend's father. One of the few people who could get away with calling me a nickname I despise, but from him , it was acceptable. He spent a lot of time in the Navy. The same bestie's husband, who is now suffering from an injury he sustained when jumping of a helicopter into the cold ocean. My Godson , Corey, whom I am very proud of, also put time in the Navy. The people I have listed here, if not related, may as well be.

I'd like to thank Curt, who I have known for over 27 years, also from the Navy. One of my very best friends, Joe, is next. He served over seas in the Navy. He has suffered from his time, the threats and danger he was put in, yet still has time to help his friends out that are going thorugh some of the same things, but for different reasons. Joe's sister Karen, a woman I have never met, but has done her tours over seas , also. Thank you Karen.

Curt's son, Matt, is currently serving in the Navy. Thank you, Matt.

I know many of the people I have meet as Raiders fans either in perosn, on line , or both, have served. Willie, Colin, Laszlo, Jody, aka Jay, Efton, and host of others whose names I can't recall at this second, so please forgive me.


To all of you, both mentioned by name and not mentioned, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are all deserving of love and respect for all you gave or are giving. Somehow, I think all your sacrifices have been over looked by those playing on a field earning money that you can never hope to earn, though you all put your lives on the line to protect us. My thanks isn't near enough, but it is all I have to give.


That's all I have for now.

As ever,

Win, lose or tie, Raiders til I DIE!

BlitzChick

The Oakland Raiders, in a game that was considered a "must win" for both them and the young Jacksonville Jaguars, were the ones that sealed a win with a Sebastian Janikowski field goal in overtime, putting them one game behind the first place team in the AFC West.

This was one of the ugliest games I have ever witnessed. There was no way it should have come down to over-time, but it did.

The Jaguars have had an abysmal rushing defense, yet Darren McFadden didn't even manage a 3 yard average per carry this game, though he more than doubled his first half average per carry by the end of the game. He ended the game with a 2.8 yard average, after poor 1.3 yard average the first half.

Then of course, after looking away from the zone blocking scheme last week against the Falcons with some success, for the first time ALL SEASON, Greg Knapp and Dennis Allen decided to go back to that same ZBS. (YWHY????)

The ZBS saw Carson Palmer with the longest rush of the first half , with a whopping 9 yards. I know, those kind of yards just make our hearts flutter with excitement , don't they? The Raiders didn't even try to give RB Mike Goodson the ball on the ground. Yet he is the one that had far more success last week. That 1.3 average was so great, they couldn't try Goodson once in the first half?

Other issues with the ZBS? The Raiders gave up 2 sacks, 6 quarterback hurries, with 6 passes defended. The lack of production on offense had Carson Palmer trying to make something out of nothing. He made one foolish play, trying to avoid a loss of yards on what would have been a sack as he flipped the ball forward, and that ended up to be an interception. It appeared Carson Palmer was trying to get the ball to either Mike Goodson or Denarius Moore. Both had Jaguars right next to them, hence the interception. It not only killed a drive in our own territory when we were down by 11, they ended up putting another 3 points on the board, even though our defense held them to only a 4 yard gain. But this meant we needed 2 scores just to TIE, instead of to take the lead. It is not a play I expect from Carson, but I also understand that if it had worked to our advantage, then the booth monkeys and fans would be lauding him, instead of knocking him. Yes, this includes me. I also should mention that on one of those pressures, Carson Palmer was hit and the ball came loose. It was laying on the
turf and about to be grabbed by C.J. Mosley of the Jags before anyone from the Raiders even noticed the ball was loose.

Now, throw a monkey wrench into the works for the struggling Jags, after only 2 plays, Maurice Jones-Drew ended up leaving the field of play to be tended to by the medical staff on the sideline. He ended up leaving the sideline on a cart. He returned to the side line in street clothes and crutches. Rashad Jennings, who didn't even play last season due to injury, had to fill in for Maurice Jones-Drew. This isn't like Goodson or Bush running for McFadden. Not even close. Jennings actually had more yards in the air than he did on the ground.

Then the Raiders made it worse for Jacksonville. On a play that was not whistled dead for unabated to the QB, but only drew a flag for off sides by Tommy Kelly, Kelly absolutely crushed Blaine Gabbert in what would have been a huge sack. Except for that little yellow hankie. That is what made it so bad, the injury to the shoulder came on a play that netted the Jags 5 yards, but lost them a QB for an entire half. Henne has had 4 years of experience, Gabbert is in his 2nd year. Neither have had great numbers so far in their young careers.

It shouldn't have been tough to stop either one of them.

However, as we tended to give them shortened fields, it sure as heck helped them out. They got the ball as I mentioned earlier, via interception. That was around our 36 yard line. The fumble? Our 24 yard line. Fortunately, the defense was able to stand tall again, and they settled for yet another field goal. The worst turnover, though, had to be after the series where Gabbert was hurt. Phillip Adams muffed a punt that he had perfect position on, a punt where there was no pressure right on him when he muffed it. They go t the ball at our 16 yard line line. This time, they got a touchdown. That is 13 points directly due to our turnovers. Subtract 13 from their point total,
even if you don't add any to ours? yeah, they have 10 points. We helped them get more points than they actually earned.

In other words, they gained a total of 20 yards in those 3 possessions.

Now let's talk about our penalties. we racked up 9 penalties. I think the call on Matt Shaughnessy was not the greatest, because I swear I saw ...