Raidinator
Administrator

Things that were known:
1) We were getting organized by a GM who had never been a GM before.
2) We were opening a season with a head caoch that had never been a head coach before.
3) We were changing blocking to zone. Again.
4) We were starting with a rookie undrafted wide receiver
5) The OC was a familiar face

Things that were surprising:
1) Breaking the Raider record for most RB receptions in a game.
2) Why Lechler kept getting in the way while the Goethal were trying to bowl.

I've been saying it to anyone i could find within earshot that the season is 16 games. If you expected them to come out of the gate with a blaze, then you set yourself up. Take away the rookie that tried to do too much and got the ball popped from him, the punting funhouse and Tommy "Let me help you march up the field" Kelly, we actually didn't play too poorly for the first time out:

• The raiders had more rushing, passing and total yards throughout the game. Yes, even before the garbage time.
• The Sparklers had 5 friggin punts after getting extreme field position many times.
• The Raider rushing defense made the stops that were missing in previous seasons, and they did it throughout the entire game this time. None of that, "we stop them for ten running plays in a row and then let them cruise out a 90 yarder".

Check out the stats on the "Analyze" tab of the gamecenter page for this gae- http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/201209...ts&tab=analyze and take a look at how close all of the statistics are.
My opinion - Minus the special teams circus, they could have been in this game. Let's make some adjustments, find a friggin long snapper and head to fishville. This game is toast.

Mission acomplished then.

Just some quick notes from a fresh post game fuzzy melon:
• Heard people saying that the game was handed to us. There were definitely were some “gimme” plays (thanks Kyle), but we missed several opportunities that were set up by great play-- Two guys hitting each other as they were both in position for the int; the ball that was ripped from the Donk receiver and squeaked between two Raider defenders, finding its way to an orange jersey; the huff int that would be except for the rain. Did they lose more breaks than they got? I think so.
• The D was hit through the air for 304. Even so, it still appeared to me that the secondary played fairly well. Didn’t add up, until I realized that the Donk run game was held to 38 total yards, thus Dungver calling 50+ pass out of 64 total plays. Outstanding run D put pressure on the secondary, and they were better than I expected, other opinions may vary.
• Kicking is a weapon? Seriously? Tonight, definitely. Caught the post Jano interview, and he spread the love to everyone on the Raider side of the field. Very nice Jano, congrats.
• Ok, the little cheesy penalties have to go, but I liked the fire in the others. They wanted to win, and I like when they show it. Oh yeah, and overcome it.
• Offensive line. The number one scare this offseason. 190 total rushing yards, one sack.
• Think about how bad the Donks wanted this win. They really really wanted it, I mean badly. And the Raiders walked out with the win. Damn that musta been tough, and the Raider players answered the bell.

Enjoy the week!

Ok, so I am gonna try to write some junk in here whenever I have a fleeting Silver and Black moment. Dunno how much time I will have to ooze crud from the keyboard to the screen but what the hell, no deadlines, no readers, no big whoop.

9/1/11 - The real (first string) Raiders looked rusty. Lack of training time? New schemes? New player adjustments? New coaching and language? What made it worse though was that we are all trained to take in the whole game, so we sat in disgust through the last 2 quarters and tried to make sense of it. Just nasty I tell ya, even after repeating again and again, "They're just scrubs! it doesn't mean anything! They're just scrubs!"

Have read several opinons on the matter that go all over the place, but what's new. Everybody claims to be Lobardi every now and then, as everyone has the right to. Keep on rolling, fellow amateur analysts.

Me? I am not one that likes to be the first member of the pessimists' club, so I am waiting it out. I see it as -- There's no problem until there's a problem. Simply put, it doesn't count yet so I am not gonna trip. Yet.

As I look at the depth chart of our current 53 man roster, I feel quite a bit better anyway. Many of the players that gave me ulcers over the last weeks are now "turked". The names remaining on the list are familiar and a lot more worthy of optimism.

Regardless, here we go. Your Oakland Raider are 9 days away from pile high and we'll get to see what we start the season with. By no means will I base the rest of the season on the opener, but it should be interesting, eh?
I truly have no idea what to expect. There's my educated and insightful prognostication. What did you expect from a fuzzy melon? Wicker?

PS- props to Mars and gang for all the video analysis work they put in. Really enjoy the insight, and I learn something new every day. .