BlitzChick

I think there are more than a few football talking heads left scratching their heads as they watched a beat down and ailing Oakland Raiders team put up over 400 yards and 24 points, enough for the victory, on the San Diego Chargers 7th ranked defense in the NFL. Both teams had key players out on both sides of the ball. But somehow, the "experts" expected us to lose.

Personally, I have been smiling at the thought.

My beloved Raiders lost to an inferior Denver Broncos team last game, and the game before that, they lost to a just as inferior, and highly over-rated, Kansas City Chiefs team. Both games at home. Both games should have been wins, and both games we gave away. I think with these games, it was obvious that Hue Jackson missed HIS coach.(RIP Mr. Davis)

This could have been a third divisional loss. This could have put us in the cellar.

Instead we ruled Qualcomm Stadium.

What was the difference?

Our pro-bowl kicker was still very obviously hampered.

So what? His kick offs were walking up to the ball and half swinging his kicking leg. He still beat the heck out out of anything most of us could do, and even managed a touch back! I do not know if we tried calling one of the 2 guys we had allegedly had on speed dial, or if SeaBass said, "I can get us through the night." My guess, the latter. Even injured, the ball went through the uprights on his one field goal attempt. He seemed disgusted with his knuckle ball. He has nothing to be disgusted about. Their kicker

We still were facing an offense sans Darren McFadden.

SO WHAT? Michael Bush is a force to be reckoned with. One of the booth monkeys said last night something about Bush getting tackled from behind because he didn't have the break away speed of McFadden. Well right now, even Run DMC doesn't have his break away speed. Part of being a team is getting the next guy to do what he can and working him to his strengths. Time of possession helped us WIN last night. And the biggest part of that was Michael Bush and his 157 yards on the ground. That's more than double what the entire Chargers team put up combined.

Carson Palmer - well name your poison with this one. he has has been throwing interceptions, isn't all that mobile, hasn't been with the team long,is rusty, has no chemistry with the guys on the field, blah, blah, blah.

SO WHAT? This guy is in the pros for a reason, and that reason is he can throw the damned ball, and for the most part, he does a good job. His 125 qb rating from this game shows that. Even last game with his 3 interceptions, (not all on him), he threw for over 300 yards. The interception last night? Well, he is going to need to feel that backside pressure a little better, but I think he did a good job. I understand some people thinking it is "Jason's" team, but he can't be on the field, and in this game, Carson commanded the huddle.

Philip Rivers, on the other hand, completed less than 50% of his pass attempts.

The entire team had the same second half struggles they have been exhibiting the last couple of games.

The difference? The frustration the players felt did not come out in the form of dumb penalties. No facemasks this game. No running into the kicker. The penalties on Darrius Heyward-Bey and Jerome Boyd? Ticky tacky compared to the blatant offensive holding the Charger offensive line got away with!

But the officiating crew, led by the guy that obviously wishes he was in a striped shirt for the WWE, Ed Hoculi, had their work cut out for them.

First there was the reason there was no pass interference on the fake punt. Well, it's a fake punt. The team is in punt formation. Apparently a defender can do anything to a guy out on a route when it is a fake punt. I have a funny feeling when the wrong team, oh like the Patriots, are on the wrong end of that rule , it will be re-examined. Like it should be now.
Then there was the very favorable ruling the Raiders got. In STRICT adherence to the rules. I am , of course, referring to the incomplete pass, that if had not been for Lito Shepherd trying to get the ball and being out of bounds, would have been a score. You could have knocked me over with a feather when that call went our way. One ruling against us, but the more important ruling for us.

In the battle of rookie receivers? Yeah, we ruled there, too.

Their rookie, Vincent Brown, was targeted 9 times, caught the ball 5 times, with a long of 30 yards, a total of 97 yards and one touchdown. Our rookie, Denarius Moore, had a much better showing than last game. Targeted 7 times, he also had 5 receptions, with the longest being 46 yards, for 123 yards and TWO touchdowns.

Brown beat out Stanford Routt and Matt Giordano for that one score, and Moore, well he made a Tim Brown-esque reception, catching a ball with only the back one third, somehow bringing it in.

When it came time to make plays, the guys made the plays. Michael Bush not only had all those yards on the ground, he had another 85 in the air, including a huge 55 yard play when we needed it.

The defense - what can I say? Aside from when the Chargers were permitted to hold at will, they were amazing. Kamerion Wimbley had 4 sacks on his own. Add the one by Tommy Kelly and Desmond Bryant, and that totals 6 times Rivers went down, With the ball.he hit the turf plenty of other times after letting go or right as he was letting go of the ball I saw Lamar Houston employing the overhead swim move, except with him it looked more like a windmill they way he had his arms moving to avoid the holds and apply pressure. The team had a total of 10 passes defended, which could explain why Vincent Jackson had only one reception for 22 yards. Matt Giordano- somehow got a ball n the end zone, and this "slow safety" returned it, from the end zone to the 26 yard line. And he was a couple of yards deep, too. It isn't like he was on the end zone line. he focused on the ball, which is more than Vincent Jackson did. I have no clue what happened with Jackson other than he choked big time, in the end zone. That interception and return gave us the game.

Players went down and were out for both teams.

Both teams had issues.

Denarius Moore fielded a punt at the one yard line, then almost lost a touch back on the re-punt. Jerome Boyd was called for holding prior to the punt, and gave Sandy Eggo new life in a 4th quarter drive. We had lapses in coverage, including only 10 men on the field on one of their scores. How NO official failed to see Matt Giordano signalling for the time out is beyond me.

They lost Marcus McNeill, their left tackle, and we lost Jacoby Ford, who has scored all by himself on returns, and has done well as a speedy wide receiver. (Though he needs to learn to protect the ball better!)

They adjusted, as did we.

Both teams had 60 or more offensive plays. They ran 68, we ran 60. They netted 314 yards, we netted 489 yards.

They held us to one score the second half, and we allowed only two.

Each team had 20 first downs. We converted 4 of 10 third down attempts, they converted only 5 of 16 third down attempts.

But it was the discipline that helped us the most. 7 penalties for 45 yards, including an uncharacteristic holding call on Cooper Carlisle.

That being said, Lito Shepherd needs to settle down. we were lucky he didn't get a flag for throwing a weak punch, holding and a block to the back.

OK, how else did we rule? I had difficulty telling where the Raiders were playing because I heard cheers when we scored and made great plays defensively. Qualcomm was rocking with Raiders fans. It seemed kind of close to a home game, hearing that crowd.

But I have to keep going back to one thing. The guys that took the field this game, did not let their mistakes rule them. They ruled themselves. They took control. They won.

Time to move on and keep the control and keep on winning. we are in first place, and we need to act like a first place team.

We have 10 days to lick our wounds and prepare for another game. Let's be ready to win.



As ever,

Win Lose or Tie, RAIDERS til I DIE!

BlitzChick