Rumblin’, Bumblin’, Stumblin’ to a loss: Raiders fall 24-0
Oakland, CA - A tragic day for the Oakland Raiders. In an embarrassing performance in front of a sold out crowd, Oakland’s defense got spanked early and often. The Raiders defense only managed one defensive stop on Atlanta as the Falcons scored four times on four consecutive drives in the first half. Combine that defensive effort with an even worse offensive execution; the game would end 24-0.
Each offensive drive for Oakland ended in a 3-and-out and was met with a loud chorus of boos from the football starved Oakland fans. If this were a golf game, the Raiders would be in wonderful shape with a -2. Unfortunately, there is no Tiger Woods on the roster and this is football where that -2 means -2 yards total net yards (for the first half).
From the outset of today’s game, it was clear that Atlanta targeted Raider safety Gibril Wilson but using multiple positional players to cut block him and remove his run stopping presence from the game. Clearly, it worked to perfection as Atlanta ran all over the defense while accumulating 135-yards before the final whistle to end the second quarter.
The second half of the game was no different. Defensively, the Raiders weren’t being scored upon, but the offensive woes continued. Despite earning two first downs on different drives, Oakland could not do anything with it. Pass blocking was putrid as the offensive line allowed defenders to either sack or continually pressure quarterback JaMarcus Russell causing him to either throw the ball away or force him to throw errand passes.
Run blocking was equally anemic as often, defenders were meeting the runningbacks at the line of scrimmage or behind it (mostly).
The Raiders caught at least one break as the special teams for Oakland blocked an Atlanta punt to get the ball back with 9:56 left in the game.
But in typical Raider fashion, after JaMarcus Russell brilliantly scrambled for a big fist down after a big run from RB Michael Bush, Russell would throw an interception in the endzone to kill yet another Raider drive.
Abysmally, Oakland managed to only possess the ball for less than one quarter (14:45) for the entire game and somehow pulled of having it’s quarterback, JaMarcus Russell, to be it’s leading rusher with 46 yards.
There is no way to sugar-coat this loss. The team stunk it up on both sides of the ball as the coaching staff is equally to blame. The Raiders lack of attention to the offensive line and the receiving corps in the offseason has reared it’s ugly head and manifested in what we saw today; a butt whooping of epic proportions.
