Game Grades: Oakland Raiders 31 – Denver Broncos 10
QUARTERBACK — B+
JaMarcus Russell was an efficient 10/11 for 152 yards with one touchdown toss. A week after a death in his family and after Tom Cable raved about his practices leading up the game; the young passer was poised and led the team with his solid outing. With Cable, the Raiders are stretching the field more to suit his abilities. Today, the 51-yard pass to Ashley Lelie was put where his receiver can make a play on it and on a pass to the former Bronco for 22 yards, he showed off his cannon arm. One of the nicer executed plays for Russell was on a 2nd and 7 in the 2nd quarter, when he faked a toss and then bootlegged and found Zach Miller for 30-yards to the Denver 3 yard line.
RUNNING BACKS — B-
Justin Fargas ran hard as always, but he was ineffective in short yardage situations. Many times he left his feet or did not show a solid foundation when running, as he failed to stick it in the end zone near the goal line and was clipped off his feet when trying to pick up first downs in short down and distances. Darren McFadden became the only Raider in 2008 to tally two offensive touchdowns after he scored form 1-yard out in the third quarter. His second touchdown of the day to give Oakland a 31-10 lead was on 3rd and 1 from the 1. He was used as a receiver and lined up all over the formation. Early in the 4th quarter, a pass interference call on a Denver defender trying to cover McFadden placed the ball on the Bronco 6-yard line, setting up a Raider score.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS — C+
Ashley Lelie had his best game in Silver & Black against his former teammates. His 4 receptions for 92 yards and touchdown may be the best performance any Raider wide receiver has given all year. His 51-yard grab set-up Oakland’s first offensive touchdown in 206 plays. Zach Miller was solid blocking on the edges, had 3 receptions for 41 yards, including a one handed 8-yard stab to reel in Michael Bush’s first career pass on a 3rd and 3.
OFFENSIVE LINE — B
The Kwame Harris and Cornell Green bashing will have to be held off for at least one week. Both did a solid job keeping Denver’s pass rush away from Russell. John Wade was far better this week starting in place of a still injured Jake Grove, and Robert Gallery and Cooper Carlisle were steady, but not spectacular. The one major concern was their inability as a group to run block effectively in short yardage situations. Oakland had multiple chances near the goal line and in short distances, but Denver won many encounters at the point of attack and thwarted drives with their fiery play in those situations.
DEFENSIVE LINE – B+
Kalimba Edwards was disruptive in the first half and made plays in the backfield versus the run. Derrick Burgess finally got on the field after a six game absence. But Terdell Sands and Tommy Kelly along the interior were the driving force behind the resurgence of the front seven. The tandem in the interior slowed the Denver rush game and made them one-dimensional as the game wound down. Sands pancaked Peyton Hillis on Gibril Wilson’s fumble recovery and he batted a ball down at the line of scrimmage on a Denver three and out after the Raiders took a 17-10 lead.
LINEBACKERS — B
Thomas Howard was flagged a couple of times for unnecessary roughness. But that did not stop his aggressiveness throughout the game, as he attacked the line of scrimmage on various blitz plays and when in coverage, he made his presence felt, especially in the 4th quarter when he picked off a Cutler pass after Oakland took a 24-10 lead. Jon Alston started the game with a stuff on a delayed hand off to Hillis.
SECONDARY — B
Chris Johnson was tested many times, but Denver failed to beat the aggressive cornerback. Mike Shanahan took advantage of DeAngelo Hall in their first meeting, and after praising Nnamdi Asomugha earlier in the week, the savvy play-caller attempted to go after the speedster. Johnson had an interception return for a touchdown negated by a holding penalty. Gibril Wilson was very good around the line of scrimmage in run support and as a help defender in coverage. Stanford Routt struggled covering the elusive Brandon Stokley and missed a few tackles due to poor technique.
SPECIAL TEAMS — A
Johnnie Lee Higgins did it again, igniting the Raiders before the half with a stellar 89-yard punt return for a score. After evading the first two tacklers, he tiptoed down the sideline and followed a convoy lead by a helmet-less Alston. Oakland could’ve lived without the 15-yard penalty for celebrating when he flipped in the end zone after the score with his teammates surrounding him. Trevor Scott made a nice special teams tackle on a punt return and Shane Lechler continued his solid punting with a 58.7 average. Sebastian Janikowski took advantage of the thin air and booted a kickoff from his own 15-yard line, 85-yards to the goal line after Higgins’ score.
COACHING – B+
Tom Cable mixed up the play calling a lot better in the second half. Using McFadden in ‘wildcat’ formations as well as Ronald Curry kept the Denver defense off-balance. The Raiders were able to protect up front, allowing them to get the ball down the field when they went deep. Cable won a couple of challenges, one particularly in the 4th quarter on a 18 yard reception on the sideline by Tony Scheffler, which was over-ruled, slowed the Denver attack. Rob Ryan mixed in blitzes well with Howard, and placed his best cover linebacker in coverage conveniently on 3rd down late in which he hauled in an interception. The Raiders struggled to get Denver off the field in the first half, as they converted 6-of-9 third down conversions, but only 3 in the second half. Credit the coaching staff also on tightening the ship in the second half with the penalties, as the Raiders had 9 prior to halftime and ended with 10 for the game.
