MMQB: Raiders

[mexican_texan]

First off, it’s the Raiders. They’re led by a QB who is really just Jeff George with a nice earring instead of a kickass mullet.

But give the defense some credit.

Sure, the Raiders are horrible, but they had their worst game of the year offensively, converting 13% or so of their 3rd downs against a defense that has struggled to stop the powerful Jets and Titans attack. Eeek.

There were a couple changes this week: Bernard Pollard started at SS, a tactical move that looks to be temporarily permanent. Glover Quin started over Fred Bennett, both for his physicality and the plain simple truth that Bennett was playing poorly. I’m starting to wonder how good he really was his rookie year, maybe he was just good relative to Lewis Sanders and Earthwin Moreland. Unfortunately, the best safety in Texans history succumbed to the flu, though Barber stepped up his game in place of the reportedly immobile Eugene Wilson. He played well, albeit against a pretty lethargic offense. I’ve been a fan of his since Week 17 last season against the Bears.

If only Antonio Smith were just a smidge faster. Just a tiny bit. He’s certainly no Anthony Weaver, he’s been wreaking havoc opposite Mario this season. There have been times where he seemingly disappears, but he makes sure the QB knows of his presence. If he was just a little bit faster, he’d easily have 4 sacks by now. He and Mario have been just inches or feet away from turning a QB pressure into a sack.
While Cushing and his Napoleon Dynamite karate skills has gotten most of the attention for the safety, that was Antonio Smith’s play. Fargas ran into his own man, who was pushed back a few yards by the former Cardinal.


What really impressed me on Sunday was the run defense. I, like most of you fantasy football players out there, searched the waiver wire for any Raider running back, anticipating a big day. There were tens of thousands of people at Reliant Stadium last Sunday, and all of them had more rushing yards than Darren McFadden. (On that note, I think David Carr’s infamous negative passing yard game was against the Raiders.) Glover Quin made his presence felt, at one point flipping McFadden face first into the ground. We’re still missing a healthy DelJuan Robinson, but Shaun Cody and Amobi played a pretty good game against a no-name Raiders O-line.
It’s hard to judge the passing defense with JaMarcus Russell leading the Raiders. Dunta’s almost in form, but I still don’t think he’s worth anything near $10 million a year. A better receiver than Louis Murphy could have burned him for a TD or two.


Now the offense. Schaub wasn’t his best, he’s been having an up and down season so far. Sure, he threw for nearly 300 yards again and threw 2 TDs against a pretty good defense. I thought he held the ball too long on some plays, I thought he read the defense brilliantly at times. It’s hard to judge him, but he’s no Drew Brees obviously…though he did have a better game than Brees this week.
Consider me a fan of Jacoby Jones. I called for Darnell Jenkins to take his spot in the offseason, but JJ is starting to show why Kubiak was so excited about the receiver from Lane College. It’s pretty clear to me he’s been working his buns off to make sure he can run to momma some more.
Slaton is starting to look like the 2008 Slaton, and Moats is ready to step in if he doesn’t. Ideally, we’d want a big back to complement Slaton, but Slaton-Moats is good enough for me. If Kubiak can work a Slaton-Brown-Moats rotation, I’d be more than happy.


Random thoughts:
1. Now, I lost my grandmother to breast cancer and I hope a cure is found before I can risk losing my mother to it…but the refs wore pink wristbands. That’s a bit much, isn’t it?

2. Turk is slightly more athletic than a pear. I bet a pear wouldn’t wear pants that high.

3. Louis Murphy must kill kittens in his free time. He has horrible luck.

4. Tom Cable is a pretty good coach. I hope he can get a job somewhere he can succeed.

5. I love being at the games in person, but it’s nice to hear something other than Clay Walker after a score.

6. The Raiders’ O-line coach, or one of the many, Dan Morgan is a Houston product; he may not have done a good job with the Raiders, but he taught kids at Westfield High School how to run a Zone Blocking Scheme very well.

[Norg]

i bet the raiders are wishing they had jeff garcia right about now

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Norg

i bet the raiders are wishing they had jeff garcia right about now

Apparently not since he is sitting on his couch with the phone cuddled up nearby and it's silent.

[texanhead08]

Jamarcus makes VY look like an accurate passer and I never thought I would say that. It takes a special kind of suck to be less accurate than a guy who throws like Uncle Rico.

[TimeKiller]

Originally Posted by mexican_texan

Random thoughts:
1. Now, I lost my grandmother to breast cancer and I hope a cure is found before I can risk losing my mother to it…but the refs wore pink wristbands. That’s a bit much, isn’t it?

I'm so sorry about that but this is for real. C'mon anyone can appreciate the cause but now it's time to enjoy some football!

2. Turk is slightly more athletic than a pear. I bet a pear wouldn’t wear pants that high.

No but a pear's grandpa might...

5. I love being at the games in person, but it’s nice to hear something other than Clay Walker after a score.

Also no phony baloney high school drumline bull****. That was LAME, especially if you've ever been on or heard a REAL drumline. The absence of Clay Walker definitely brightens any atmosphere

[eriadoc]

Originally Posted by mexican_texan

Glover Quin started over Fred Bennett, both for his physicality and the plain simple truth that Bennett was playing poorly. I’m starting to wonder how good he really was his rookie year, maybe he was just good relative to Lewis Sanders and Earthwin Moreland.

.....

It’s hard to judge the passing defense with JaMarcus Russell leading the Raiders. Dunta’s almost in form, but I still don’t think he’s worth anything near $10 million a year. A better receiver than Louis Murphy could have burned him for a TD or two.

.....

4. Tom Cable is a pretty good coach. I hope he can get a job somewhere he can succeed.

1. Prior to his injury, Dunta was a better cover corner than many posters here give him credit for. He had the really nice rookie season, which was analogous to Bennett's rookie year, in that he benefitted from AG opposite him. Dunta had something of a sophomore slump in '05, coupled with a terrible team full of bad attitudes. But by the second half of '06 and through '07 until his injury, Dunta was back to being a good cover corner. Bennett does not have the same physical skills or instincts that Dunta had at that time.

2. Actually, Louis Murphy could have burned Dunta Robinson, if only he'd held onto the ball. Dunta did not have a good day. His only real victory was that Murphy dropped several passes.

4. Yeah, like the CA Penal System.

[DocBar]

I know everyone is basking in this great defensive effort, but our secondary is still a train wreck. We were very lucky that Russell can't see a receiver coming open. He's always just a tad late on the pass. Having said that, there were still several catchable balls that were dropped. Catch those balls and maybe we're singing a different tune. I think the front 7 are really getting it figured out, but I'm really worried about what Warner might do this weekend.

[Vinny]

Everyone is bagging on Russell but I saw a guy without a line and without a back and without wr's. He put plenty of passes on the numbers, showed good escapability and threw some really good passes out there...he didn't get any help.

[TimeKiller]

Originally Posted by DocBar

I know everyone is basking in this great defensive effort, but our secondary is still a train wreck. We were very lucky that Russell can't see a receiver coming open. He's always just a tad late on the pass. Having said that, there were still several catchable balls that were dropped. Catch those balls and maybe we're singing a different tune. I think the front 7 are really getting it figured out, but I'm really worried about what Warner might do this weekend.

Maybe but 1 thing you can't deny is the tackling was far, far better than anything prior this season. Pollard looked like a good tackling safety with the added presence of a being a big hitter, Quin was like fly paper, Dunta actually put that "biggest little hitter" reputation back on the field for the first time in 2 years and most of all Bennett was never counted on for a tackle. Hell even Barber looked competent. Maybe they can't cover but I'll take improvement every time.

Originally Posted by Vinny

Everyone is bagging on Russell but I saw a guy without a line and without a back and without wr's. He put plenty of passes on the numbers, showed good escapability and threw some really good passes out there...he didn't get any help.

ah, the David Carr defense. Classic.

[DocBar]

Originally Posted by Vinny

Everyone is bagging on Russell but I saw a guy without a line and without a back and without wr's. He put plenty of passes on the numbers, showed good escapability and threw some really good passes out there...he didn't get any help.

I'm a pretty big LSU fan and followed Russell closely. I thought he was a great college QB, but I also noticed his inability to see receivers coming open. A QB can get away with that on a good college team, but "open" is a far different and relative concept in the NFL. Russell tries to make up for it by gunning the ball in, but often as not, the pass is incomplete. You are absolutely correct that he had no help. Receivers have to catch those balls. They can't expect every pass to be laid in there perfectly for them. I'm not sure how much effort Russell is really willing to put in. He wasn't a hard worker at LSU and doesn't seem to be in the NFL. He's always been a man among boys at the lower levels because of his size and strength. That won't cut it at this level. He needs to get the smirk off of his face and his head out of his butt if he's going to make to the level of a serviceable NFL QB.

[BigBull17]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

ah, the David Carr defense. Classic.

No, people dropped balls. I don't think Russel is that good, but they didn't help him out too much.

Originally Posted by DocBar

I'm a pretty big LSU fan and followed Russell closely. I thought he was a great college QB, but I also noticed his inability to see receivers coming open. A QB can get away with that on a good college team, but "open" is a far different and relative concept in the NFL. Russell tries to make up for it by gunning the ball in, but often as not, the pass is incomplete. You are absolutely correct that he had no help. Receivers have to catch those balls. They can't expect every pass to be laid in there perfectly for them. I'm not sure how much effort Russell is really willing to put in. He wasn't a hard worker at LSU and doesn't seem to be in the NFL. He's always been a man among boys at the lower levels because of his size and strength. That won't cut it at this level. He needs to get the smirk off of his face and his head out of his butt if he's going to make to the level of a serviceable NFL QB.

Thats what hurts him. He seems kinda lazy. Thats why I thought they made a huge mistake taking him, but Al Davis will be Al Davis.

[DocBar]

Originally Posted by BigBull17

No, people dropped balls. I don't think Russel is that good, but they didn't help him out too much.

I would hate to catch his balls. He throws a rocket at you a half second before a DB nails you. Double your pain for no gain.
EDIT: He kinda reminds me of Charlie Sheen in Major League before he got glasses. He might just kill someone (on either team) with a fastball.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

ah, the David Carr defense. Classic.

well, I watch the game closely and if you think I don't know what I'm talking about then fine. Rock on pards.

[DocBar]

Originally Posted by Vinny

well, I watch the game closely and if you think I don't know what I'm talking about then fine. Rock on pards.

I think any defense of a QB who isn't doing well will automatically invoke a response similar to that. It's part of the DNA of Texans fans.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by DocBar

I think any defense of a QB who isn't doing well will automatically invoke a response similar to that. It's part of the DNA of Texans fans.

yeah, but to me it was pretty obvious that Russell escaped a bunch of sacks and hit guys in the hands and hit players down field....all stuff Carr couldn't do. If that was Carr he would have been sacked 6 times and every pass would have been to a back except for a couple of jump balls downfield.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by DocBar

I know everyone is basking in this great defensive effort, but our secondary is still a train wreck. We were very lucky that Russell can't see a receiver coming open. He's always just a tad late on the pass. Having said that, there were still several catchable balls that were dropped. Catch those balls and maybe we're singing a different tune. I think the front 7 are really getting it figured out, but I'm really worried about what Warner might do this weekend.

I think our secondary is going to be exposed for what it is agains the Cards next weekend. Hopefully our offense can keep up, or it might end up a blowout.

[DocBar]

Originally Posted by Vinny

yeah, but to me it was pretty obvious that Russell escaped a bunch of sacks and hit guys in the hands and hit players down field....all stuff Carr couldn't do. If that was Carr he would have been sacked 6 times and every pass would have been to a back except for a couple of jump balls downfield.

That's what worries me about the next game. Kurt Warner is no DC or JR. He can flat carve up a porous secondary, and ours looks like a sponge. I DID like the fact that we were hitting hard and tackling better. That is a sign of hope. If we can't cover them, we can at least slobberknocker them and make them flinch the next time a ball comes their way.

[TimeKiller]

Originally Posted by Vinny

well, I watch the game closely and if you think I don't know what I'm talking about then fine. Rock on pards.

Hahaha no, actually I think you're one of the few who do. Just making a joke!

C'mon it does sound a little like David Carr Fan doesn't it?

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

C'mon it does sound a little like David Carr Fan doesn't it?

Some of it with one glaring exception: "He put plenty of passes on the numbers, showed good escapability and threw some really good passes out there"

I think even HWSNBN-homers were never that delusional (except his brother, of course). Dude was not known for accuracy and good passes, and his sack record speaks for itself with regards to good escapability (dude was no Vick).

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

Hahaha no, actually I think you're one of the few who do. Just making a joke!

C'mon it does sound a little like David Carr Fan doesn't it?

you know how to make a guy feel dirty