Silver and Black Report

Sunday October 25, 2009

DeMarcus Davis, Staff Writer SBREPORT.NET, Raiderfans.net

Oakland, CA – How would the Raiders look the week following their stunning win against the high flying Philadelphia Eagles? Would they come out on defense and give the young rookie QB Mark Sanchez multiple looks and bring the pressure? Or would this be the run stuffing defense that almost silenced the San Diego Chargers in the season opener? The answer would be neither. The offense took four steps backwards from anemia and the defense predictably looked…well..predictable (again).

The Raiders elected to receive the ball after winning the coin toss and had to start with bad field position inside their own 10 yard line. Things would go horribly worng from that initial snap on through the rest of the game.

JaMarcus Russell’s lack of pocket awareness once again cropped it ugly head when the Oakland Raiders elected to receive the ball first and chose to pass the ball from it’s own 10-yard line. By the time Russell dropped back to pass, a defender from the right side of the line (non-blind side), stripped the ball to cause a fumble inside the Raiders’ 5 yard line. The Jets would go for it on 4th down after getting the run stuffed on three consecutive downs. The Jets would score a 4th down touchdown with another run to strike first 7-0.

The Raiders second bite of the apple would prove to be fruitless as well as they go 3-and-out; a seemingly all too frequent occurrence in Raiderland. At least the Oakland defense, on the Jets’ next offensive drive, showed some pride by forcing New York to punt. All would be rendered moot because after having temporarily sustaining a drive on catches from WR Todd Watkins and DHB (which brought on a loud chorus of cheers from the home crowd), Russell would throw an interception directly to a Jet defender while pressure was being brought down on him. The pass looked to have been intended for TE Tony Stewart, who was approx. 7-10 yards behind the defender. The ball would then be returned bak to inside the Raiders’ 5 yard line…AGAIN. This time, New York’s fanchise rookie QB Mark Sanchez ran the ball into the endzone to put his Jets up 14-0.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for Russell…after his offense marched up the field for multiple and sizable yardage runs, Russell elected to go for all the marbles by throwing to WR Todd Watkins in the endzone against single coverage with their stud cornerback Darrelle Revis. This pass too would be intercepted, (by Revis), for a touchback. After a strong defensive stand by Oakland, the Jets would draw up a fake punt for a 16 yard run by their punter to add insult to injury. Thankfully, the Jets could do nothing with the extended drive and would eventually be forced to punt.

Raider running back Justin Fargas would rip off a 35 yard run; about the only thing going right for the Raiders at this point in the game. Russell’s arm again would become a liability as he nearly threw another interception to an open defender on a scramble play on a crucial 3rd down play and would be forced to punt.

Fast forward to mid-way into the 2nd quarter with the Jets in possession; the Raider defense now showing signs of a slight breakdown with either tackling too high or not getting pressure on the QB. Of course, just as I type that, the Raiders bring the heat on Sanchez. But, (and you knew there would be a but), the Raiders would be called with a defensive holding on DB Stanford Routt to extend the Jets’ drive. New York would later score on a touchdown run to widen their lead to 21-0.

At about the 5:45 mark in the 2nd quarter, the Raider crowd would erupt in boisterous cheer and applause as QB Bruce Gradkowski entered the game in place of the long time struggling JaMarcus Russell. Gradkowski immediately threw the ball deep to WR Louis Murphy, but was broken up by the Jets’ Revis; a play in which should have had an illegal contact penalty against Revis for hitting Murphy’s facemask before the ball arrived. Gradkowski would later hit TE Zach Miller on 3rd down, but was short of the 1st down marker. In any event, he drive didn’t end with a turnover nor did the QB look flustered, lost, or exhibit a lack of football I.Q. and pocket awareness.

The 1st half would end shortly after a New York field goal to push the score to 24-0.

Gradkowski would man the helm for the Raider offense for their opening drive of the 3rd quarter and would become an instant sensation as he scrambled for 20 yards after having surveyed the field and opting to run it instead. In fact, Gradkowski’s quarterback play early on was perhaps the most positive QB play the Raiders have seen thus far this season. That sliver of optimism would come to a halt when Gradkowski would get the ball knocked away for a fumble when a weak-side defender hit Gradkowski from behind on a scramble play. he Jets would recover the ball. New York would then later strike paydirt on a deep pass for a touchdown with CB Chris Johnson on the man coverage to make the score 31-0. As a matter of fact, man coverage was back in effect for most of the game; a game plan that has been a disaster for the majority of the season.

The situation in Oakland regarding non-aggressive man coverage defense and blitzing from multiple looks is almost exactly what happened last season when the then defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was heavily criticized from not blitzing (5 times all game) against the Denver Broncos in Oakland. That night, the Raiders were embarrassed by Denver with a score of 41-14. QB Jay Cutler had al day to pick the man coverage apart. Following the game, former Raider Head Coach Lane Kiffin stated, “…Rob Ryan runs the defense and consults with owner Al Davis on how to do the job.” Ryan then responded, “That’s all on me. I put the game plan in, I run the defense, and it’s all on me. I just want to set it straight because I’ve been here five years and I don’t think people necessarily have the right story. I’m disappointed, but I just wanted to tell my side of the story for once because there’s so many other things that come out where I have to read it and take it and I just want the truth as I know the truth ….. I meet with Mr. Davis in the offseason. I don’t meet with him on game plans or come up with all this. It’s amazing when things like this come out when we have a bad week. Put it on me, that’s where it belongs. I’m the man that runs the defense.” (quote courtesy of espn.com)

Amazingly, the Raiders game out strong the next game and gave the Kansas City Chiefs hell by blitzing and showing multiple looks and won that game in an impressive fashion 23-8. But the defense went right back to man coverage the following week and lost in Buffalo.

Last week, the Oakland Raiders stunned the Eagles by pounding QB Donovan McNabb with blitzes and zone coverages that confused the #2 rated offensive team in the NFL following heavy criticism of Al Davis and the lack of any willingness to blitz heavy and often. The win seemed to sooth most critics for the week. But history repeated itself when the Jets came into town. The Raiders went back to man coverage and got 31 points put on them. (Whoops…spoke too soon. The Jets just ran right through the teeth of the defense to score another touchdown. It’s now 38-0 at this point)

The common theme is to play man coverage on defense until enough criticism gets dolled out. Then let he coaches run with their game plan. The team wins big with a winning gameplan, but then abandons it the next game with a rookie quarterback as an opponent who has looked like a rookie in his last few games.