Silver and Black Report

The Oakland Raiders will be without Darren McFadden for two-to-four weeks after he goes in for surgery on Tuesday morning for a meniscus tear.

Head coach Tom Cable talked about the injury this afternoon and also mentioned that right tackle Cornell Green will be missing at least two weeks or a month with a calf strain.

McFadden has had an uneventful season so far, gaining 145 yards on 47 carries with a score, also adding seven catches for 53 yards.

The speedy rusher has not been able to get going in the run game, has not shown any of the dynamic plays that made him a star at Arkansas and is having problems with ball security.

Last year, he played in 13-games suffering through various ailments; sustaining shoulder and foot injuries in the same game early in 2008 and not finishing the season finale with a bum ankle. He was listed on the medical reports consistently last season with turf toe and in January, he had minor arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

Justin Fargas and Michael Bush are expected to carry the load while he is out.

Oakland’s ground game is currently ranked 28th in the NFL (88.8 per game). That was expected to be one of their only strengths on offense, but a leaky offensive line and JaMarcus Russell’s struggles have grounded what was expected to be a solid rush attack.

Since their powerful start versus the Chargers in week-one, opponents have stacked the line of scrimmage against the Raiders with no fear of Russell beating them with his weak aerial attack. Oakland has not been able to assert themselves, and the offensive line has been manhandled, beaten at the point of attack and mauled along the interior.

Robert Gallery’s injury has not helped, as Oakland lost their best run blocker with a fractured fibula.

This weekend, the Raiders managed only 45-yards rushing against a Houston team that came into the game allowing a league worst 205 yards per game.

Many of the concerns regarding McFadden coming out of college was his durability, ball handling and lower body strength. So far, he has not been able to dismiss those, as he will miss some time off the field again in 2009, has shown to be careless with the football and on many occasions, has not shown an ability to fight for extra yardage, especially when defenders are shooting for his lower extremities.

ANALYSIS:

Oakland needs to line up and just run the football. They cannot depend on Russell at this point, and when you are a good football team on the ground, you line it up and run it anyway. “It seems like they’re challenging us a little bit to throw the ball,” Justin Fargas said. “Sometimes you say, ‘Hey, you know what? We’re gonna stick to what we do, and we can run it anyway.’ But like I said, it’s tough. And if you’re not at your very best, it’s gonna be hard. And we weren’t at our best.”

Oakland a few seasons ago was one of the best team’s in the league at running the football. And they stuck with it. Yes, they are missing a few key components, but their rushers must get tougher and more productive.

The Vikings, Cowboys, Giants, Ravens among other teams run the football successfully. And they face many 8 and 9 man fronts. Brandon Jacobs still gets his fair amount of yards versus those stacked fronts and other rushers around the league bruise their way to positive yardage when facing an excess of players around the line of scrimmage.

It’s time for Oakland to show their commitment to the run and get tougher.

If they can’t, this offense will be hard pressed to score many points in the coming weeks versus a physical Giants defense, the Eagles attacking bunch and a Jets squad that played inspired ball yesterday versus the best offense in the league.

Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist