Droppin

Well, I didn’t expect Art to make this move at this point in the season.  Especially making a change involving his good friend Tom Walsh.  Art has defended him since bringing him out of retirement and I thought they would stick it out together but it seems that the losing is getting to Shell.  I don’t know much about the new offensive coordinator, John Shoop (other than he is the tight ends coach), but I don’t think the offense will get worse so let’s hope for the best.  I was kind of hoping that Shell would make some other changes like bench Moss or take away his Captain status.  I do have one other question though, is Whitted actually better than Curry?  Why isn’t he more involved?

 Oakland Raiders

Kawakami: Raiders got it right — they were wronged By Tim Kawakami 

Mercury News Staff Columnist  SAN DIEGO – Brace yourself. I know this is weird for you to read, because it’s staggeringly weird for me to type:  The Raiders got robbed Sunday in their 21-14 loss to the Chargers, got robbed in as remarkable and ridiculous a manner as any un-indicted co-conspirator could’ve imagined. 

They played well against a very good San Diego squad, they were ahead, and they got robbed, plain and tall. Robbed in clear daylight. Robbed, and they’re not allowed to press charges. Robbed, and they’re still not really sure how it happened and what rules determined it, if any. 

Everybody who saw Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson’s fourth-quarter celebratory fool’s flip — he assumed he was down, but he wasn’t — knows it was a fumble, had to be a fumble, definitely should’ve been ruled a fummm-ble! 

The Raiders’ Fabian Washington recovered. They were going to win this game, they were really going to win. But . . . 

After at least two announced reversals, referee Mike Carey finally ruled that Jackson‘s apparent fumble was actually an illegal forward pass (while 8 yards downfield!) and therefore it was a penalty but not a fumble. San Diego retained possession, first down. 

A little while later, LaDainian Tomlinson threw a 19-yard option touchdown pass to Antonio Gates, tying the score 14-14, revving the home crowd and signaling the Raiders’ inevitable fall to 2-9. 

That’s when I feared Raiders chief executive Amy Trask’s head might have exploded while she verbally jousted with NFL observer Jerry Seaman in the press box about 20 feet from me. Turns out it was only the cannon blast the Chargers use to celebrate scores. But you never know.  “A forward pass? That was bull,” defensive back Jarrod Cooper said later. “I mean, they changed the call, what, four times? That means somebody didn’t know what they were talking about, just flat out.  “I don’t think anybody that’s ever watched a football game has any idea how they could call that a pass.”  Ka-blam! The Raiders losing to the Chargers does not affect the playoff picture, of course. They always lose to the Chargers. And it does not mean that the NFL officials are conspiring against them.  But this decision was wrong in the same general, logical way that the Tuck Rule game in January 2002 was wrong. It was wrong because Jackson was flipping the ball away, not passing it, and any interpretation other than a fumble is egregiously foolish. 

“They went `first down San Diego,’ then our ball, then San Diego ball, then eh, eh, eh, who’s ball is it?” quarterback Aaron Brooks said. “Did they want to go back to the coin toss?”  It was wrong because the Raiders were ahead, had played better, had walled off Tomlinson within reason, had dominated Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and had taken advantage of an idiotic, game-losing move by Jackson. 

It was wrong, and this time the Raiders were, for once, both righteous and indignant. 

“We did learn something today,” Warren Sapp bellowed in the locker room. “That’s the first time you’ve ever heard of that, isn’t it? Somebody gets up, throws the ball down and that’s not a live ball? I’ve been in the league 12 years, that’s the first time for me. 

“I remember Plaxico Burress spiking the ball” against Jacksonville in 2000, ruled a fumble. “I don’t remember any rule change. Come on. Come on, man!” 

The ruling, and the loss, seemed to hit Coach Art Shell squarely in the solar plexus, and he has a big solar plexus. He is, after all, both a true Raider and a longtime NFL office executive. 

In his news conference, Shell barely seemed to have a voice, though he made sure to record his frustrations.  “I heard about three or four different stories during the course of that,” Shell said of Carey’s to-and-fro-ing on the Jackson play. “Nobody touched him. And he spiked the ball. I thought it should be our ball.”  Do you think you win the game if you get that fumble? “I believe we would have,” Shell said quietly. “Yes.” 

He was right. Sunday, for the second consecutive week, the Raiders had life and energy (and a future?), but also ended up with a loss.  It’s true, the Chargers (9-2) played this one a little fast and loose, until turning it over to Tomlinson in the fourth quarter. But the Raiders played well enough to beat one of the AFC’s best teams, until they were robbed. So yes, there is a team that’s more confused and confusing than the Raiders, and unfortunately for them, that team was officiating the game Sunday.

Ink winners — Safety Jarrod Cooper showed off photos of the winners in his best Raiders tattoo contest.
o        The winner, Scot Johnson of Kansas City, Mo., had his back covered in Raider tattoos.
o        Second place went to Juan Orozco of Yuba City, whose artwork feature a graveyard that included a picture of “tuck-rule game” referee Walt Coleman hanging from a tree.
o        Third place went to “Larry B.” whose tattoo of Raiders owner Al Davis starts at his sternum and covers his midsection.
o        Stacy Posey of Napa will have her tattoo paid for by Cooper. She had a portrait of Cooper tattooed on her thigh five days ago.
The winners receive cash prizes, Raiders tickets and gift cards to Raider Image stores.

By Jason Jones – Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, October 23, 2006

OAKLAND-The immobile kid from Arizona State made a nifty move to set the tone.  It was third and 21 from the Raiders’ 39-yard line in the first quarter.  Arizona’s defensive line was bearing down on Raiders quarterback Andrew Walter, not known for his elusiveness.  Chike Okeafor had the 6-foot-6, 230-pound Walter within his grasp. But Walter slithered away to his left and found Randy Moss for a 32-yard gain.  Seven plays later, ReShard Lee scored on a one-yard run to give the Raiders a 7-0 lead that would become a 22-9 win Sunday at McAfee Coliseum.  It was the first victory for the Raiders (1-5), who entered the game the NFL’s only winless team.
It was Walter’s first victory as a starter, one that ended an 11-game losing streak that started Nov. 27, 2005, with a home loss to Miami.  It was also the first time coach Art Shell said after a game that Walter would start the next week, even as it appears Aaron Brooks is close to returning from a shoulder injury suffered in Week One.  None of that seemed to matter to Walter, who said Shell was given the game ball.  “I’m just happy we got the win,” Walter said. “Hopefully we’ll put the bricks in place to build a foundation.  “But it’s one good game; now we’ve got to make it two.”  Walter might have solidified himself as part of the Raiders’ foundation, but he left the game late in the third quarter with a left hamstring injury.  He said he could have played, but the coaches elected to have Marques Tuiasosopo finish the game.  But as long as Walter is healthy, the Raiders are his team. 
And the scramble and pass to Moss in the first quarter got it started.  “That was sweet; that was nice,” guard Barry Sims said. “That’s what you like. After the protection breaks down and a guy gets on him, he’s able to make guys miss and still make plays. That’s the kind of highlights you can expect to see from him.”  Walter completed 17 of 30 passes for 263 yards — all career bests — and a touchdown. It was Walter’s first game as a pro completing more than half of his passes.  But it wasn’t all good for Walter. He was intercepted late in the first half and lost two fumbles after being hit on sacks.  “Walter played well, I thought,” Shell said. “He made a couple of mistakes, but again, he’s young. But he made some great throws out there at times. He moved around in the pocket and made some good throws. He got us into some good checks at times, and he continues to grow.”  A lot of those good throws came on third downs, on which Walter was 9 of 10 for 137 yards. The Raiders converted 13 of 20 third downs (65 percent). 
Walter’s favorite target was Moss, who caught seven passes for 129 yards and a touchdown.  Ronald Curry said Walter showed what his teammates expected after he did not play as a rookie in 2005.  “We’ve been watching him for two years,” Curry said. “It wasn’t about growing up — it was about him getting out there and playing. And if you don’t play for a year, obviously there’s going to be some rough spots.”  Being a part of three of the Raiders’ five turnovers wasn’t a bright spot for the second-year quarterback, making his fourth career start.  “It’s not easy to talk about after a win,” Walter said of the turnovers. “But bottom line is, our defense stepped up.”  The Raiders didn’t allow a touchdown and kept Cardinals rookie quarterback Matt Leinart off balance with three sacks, two interceptions and constant pressure. Walter was peppered with questions during the week about Leinart, whom the Raiders didn’t draft because they believed in Walter.  Walter was 0-2 in college against Leinart, who was at USC winning national championships.  But that didn’t matter Sunday.  “One-and-oh as a professional,” Walter said with a laugh.

Report card

B-: OFFENSE
Five turnovers were a downer, but Andrew Walter played the best game of his career. Raiders converted 65 percent of third downs.
B+: DEFENSE
Had two interceptions and didn’t allow a touchdown. Line made Matt Leinart look like the rookie he is.
A: SPECIAL TEAMS
Perfect on two field goals and shored up problems in kick and punt coverage. Chris Carr had 118 yards on five kickoff returns and forced a fumble on a kickoff.
B: OVERALL
Sure, the Cardinals are bad. But so are the 49ers and Browns, both of whom beat Oakland this season. Still must fix turnover problems.
 

Walter helps Raiders enter the win column – sacbee.com

Jim Jenkins from the Sacramento Bee tries to instill a little hope to the RaiderNation.  Also, Jim writes about the Randy Moss vs Howie Long verbal spar, very telling if you ask me.

By Jim Jenkins -
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Relax, Raiders fans. As grim as things appear, as nasty as what you might hear and read, this isn’t a team that will wind up winless. Not going to happen.  In the NFL, where parity is king, you would have to be pretty horrible not to come out on top at least once in a 16-game season.

Even the best teams occasionally play to the level of their competition, only to regret it.  Undefeated Indianapolis at home against winless Tennessee last Sunday was the most recent example, but the Colts woke up just in time for a narrow victory.  The Raiders? Two of their four wins last year were over winning teams, including Washington, which went to the playoffs. Of their five victories in 2004, two were over winning clubs, including a road upset of Denver, a playoff entry. In 1997, a 4-12 Oakland season, the Raiders beat a Broncos team that would win the Super Bowl.

Recent history suggests none of the teams without a victory so far — the Raiders, Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions — will be winless when the season ends.  In the NFL’s early years, going winless was common. Some franchises were loosely put together and not very competitive. Then there was scarce talent during the war years. Since World War II, however, only three teams finished a season winless.  Two were expansion teams, the 1960 Dallas Cowboys (0-11-1) and 1976 Buccaneers (0-14). The third was the Baltimore Colts (0-8-1) in the strike-shortened 1982 season. That also was an era before expansion teams could stock up with extra draft picks and true free agents.

See, nothing to worry about.

Moss has more to say

Randy Moss, during his weekly Monday segment on Fox Sports Radio, implied he still has his sights set on the Oct. 17 trading deadline.  Do you suppose he hopes Raiders management is receptive to a deal after his drop of one end-zone pass and catch of another in an embarrassing 34-20 loss to the 49ers on Sunday?

Moss told Fox host Chris Myers: “If I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing, it might be in the team’s best interest to look elsewhere. Chris, I love what I do, I respect the game, I respect this organization. But at the same time, if you don’t like what is going on or don’t like what you see, then there has to be some changes made, no matter whether it’s the front office, coaching staff, players or whatever it may be.”  Moss’ interview this time might have stirred up extra trouble.

Hall of Fame defensive lineman Howie Long, part of Fox television’s NFL show, questioned Moss’ passion for football, prompting a sharp response from the wide receiver. Moss said Long played during an era when “he was probably popping pills and tablets and all that, to get up and going, but nowadays with the drug-testing policies and performance-enhancing policy, it’s hard for a player to just go (out there) week in and week out.”

More from Moss on Long: “I know he’s an analyst, and it’s his job to stir up controversy, but (if he doubts my passion), you tell him to come out here, put on some pads and go at me.”

Wouldn’t advise it, Randy.

Oakland Raiders – Will Raiders go winless? Don’t bet on it – sacbee.com

Art Shell is taking this Raider team back to the days of old but it seems he needs to go back further than 2005-06.  The performance tonight does not give me any confidence that the Raiders will improve their sorry record of 4-12 from a year ago.  When was the last time you saw a team start to run out the clock to begin the second half?  I can’t even begin to explain what went wrong tonight, the Raider Recap was going to return tonight but I have decided not to waste my time on this pathetic performance.  Look at my post from late August and notice my top concern was the offensive line.  I quote myself, “I hope they (o-line) gel quickly and turn this around or it will be a long season.”  They will not be able to fix the o-line anytime soon and it will take too long to develop all of those players into a strong unit.  I don’t even think the talent is there.  Gallery is proving that his first round selection was a waste and they really don’t have anybody else worth noting.  It will be a long season for the Raider Nation.  This game was torture!
 

My Observations:

• Courtney Anderson dropped three catches that he should have had.  So much for the TE emphasis if you don’t have a TE with hands.  
• When the announcers are complimenting your punter all night, your team stinks!  
• Again, defense makes a few big plays then give up a big play or commit a dumb penalty to keep the drive alive.  (Last year, 25% of the opponents’ scores occurred during a drive where the Raiders gave the opponent a first down via penalty).  I did like the effort though, the D should improve this year but if the Offense cannot stay on the field, the D won’t have a chance.  
• Raiders had 45 Total yards at halftime, LT had 100 by himself.  
• Taunting penalty on Moss after 20 yard gain was weak sauce by the refs.  
• Brooks was not on his game, but what can you expect from a man who is running for his life.  
• Lechler did perform well and so did all of special teams.  
• At one point Brooks throws an out to Moss and it wasn’t close and so Moss didn’t even stick out his arms to try for it.  Brooks gave a confused “what the…” look which just oozes confidence.  
• Walters gets thrown to the wolves and moves the ball but it was reminiscent of preseason as we were playing against the second team (and he still got sacked twice).  
• After another holding penalty by Gallery, Jordan fumbles handoff from Walters on their own 6 yard line.  Sets up another easy score for the Chargers.  
• Oakland called timeout with 15 seconds left in the game and Marty was annoyed, best part of the game in my opinion.  The camera catches him yelling, “Don’t let them get in the #@!%&$ end zone.”  I wanted Sebass to kick the field goal just to avoid the shutout but they decide to go for the TD.  Of course they botched that play up too as Roland’s momentum carries him out of bounds on the four with nobody in front of him as time expires.  
• Raider QBs were sacked 9 times tonight (7 Brooks / 2 Walters)  
• Raiders Total Yards for game = 129, LT had 131 rushing yards for the Chargers.  
• Penalties: Raiders 7 for 54 yards (Not that high but they all were devastating tonight).  
• Raiders are now 2-17 versus the AFC West in recent years.

Shell stated after the game, “I was shocked.  We didn’t play well, as you could tell.  We didn’t have the intensity level that the Chargers did.  I didn’t get us prepared for this game.”  I think Randy is right when he said something “fishy” is going on in Oaktown and it isn’t coming from the ocean.  I am also losing faith in management and the offensive coordinator, Mr. Walsh.  You have got to be able to counter that defense with something right???  One word, embarrassing!
 

Silver lining, I know I am reaching here but eight years ago, the Raiders lost by 20 to a Schottenheimer team, committed 15 penalties, allowed 10 sacks, fumbled 7 times and missed two field goal attempts.  That was the beginning of the Jon Gruden era and that they were able to turn that around right?  I am still supportive of Art Shell, I think he is the right man for the job but he needs a lot of help.  Trust me, it is going to get worse before it gets better.  Al, I know it is hard to do but can you say rebuilding year?  Oh yeah, don’t look now but Ray Lewis and the Ravens D are salivating for their match-up next week in Baltimore.  Can the Raiders go scoreless two weeks in a row?  Yep, it could happen.  Que Lastima indeed.  When does NCAA basketball start?   

No sooner is he back in the league then he gets himself released by the Raiders. Why on earth would they sign the guy just to cut him within the week? We may never know…

That is right, this is not an old post nor is Jeff joining the coaching ranks.  The Raiders announced that they have signed Jeff George to play quarterback.  I know that Al Davis has an infatuation with older talent and George had plenty of talent but this seems to be a bit much.  George hasn’t played since 2001 when he argued with then coach Marty Schottenheimer for the Redskins and stunk up his first two games with a quarterback rating of 34.6.  What is even more mysterious is that there are already three quarterbacks on the roster (Brooks, Walters, and Tuiasosopo) so it is not very clear what need he is filling.
George had this to say to the media, “I’m really excited to be back, I’m just very thankful that this organization believed in me and allowed me another opportunity, because I don’t know where I would be without them,” George said after taking part in his first practice since signing with the team. “I felt good out there. I felt like I really hadn’t missed a beat. Once you’re a part of this family, you remain a family and I have felt that even though I wasn’t here, I really felt like part of the Raider family. I knew from the get go, that if I was going to get back in the league there was only one team that I wanted to be a part of.”
“He looks good. He did a very good job of throwing the ball. He still has that zip, he still has that quick release and he was very impressive,” Raiders Head Coach Art Shell said after Monday afternoon’s practice. “He has the talent and I’m looking forward to working with him. He still has a passion to play the game.”
Sadly enough, Jeff’s passion level was probably the biggest detriment to his career.  Hopefully he has learned to temper and control that passion in his older years but I still don’t see how he makes it on to the field.  I hope you prove me wrong Raiders.

It has been a while since I have posted anything about the Raiders and we are now three games into the preseason so this is long overdue. 

Yes, the Raiders are undefeated at 3-0 so far but as we all know, preaseason win records are meaningless (although it does feel good doesn’t it?).  Even though the offensive starters looked better against the Whiners last week, they have been shaky to say the least.  Let’s also not forget that they were playing against one of the worst teams in the league.  I still have hope that this squad will be better than last year but I am far from making any post season type of predictions.  Here are my concerns:

1. Offensive line – I was hoping that Coach Shell would have this unit in tip top form but this has not been the case.  I hope they gel quickly and turn this around or it will be a long season.  This leads to my next two points…

2.  Quarterback play – The accuracy of Brooks is also a concern but I think the lack of protection can take part of the blame.  Brooks also needs to develop better chemistry with Moss.  I am not suggesting Moss be the target on the majority of the plays but so far (in limited action mind you) Brooks has only thrown his way less than 10 times this preseason.  I don’t think that Walters is the answer either (at least for now) but he has shown some potential for the future.

3.  Running game – How many times has Jordan been stuffed at the line so far this year?  Again, part of the blame needs to be given to the Oline but I have not yet seen the energy and drive that I saw last year.  Maybe he is saving up for the real season.

On the flip side, the defense has shown improvements and I think they will be better than the experts are predicting.  They just need to stay away from the mental penalities and they should not be a liability this year.  Also, I think it is safe to say that Sebass is back.  The loss of weight combined with the competition in camp has seemed to motivate him this year.  I am very excited about his performance so far.  Notice how I did not list Porter as a concern.  As far as I am concerned, he can remained burried on the depth chart.  His selfish attitude is a perfect illustration of the recent Raider mindset and we need this squad to put the team first if they want to succeed.

There is still plenty of time to work these issues out and I still remain hopeful that they will.  RAIIIIIIIDERRRRRRRS!