Oakland, CA — Heading into this game, I had that awful recollection of that old spectre of former cheesehead Brett Favre’s last visit here in Oakland where he put on a show for the ages at the expense of a bad Raider team who were on the (wrong) receiving end of a 399 yard, 4 touchdown deluge one night after his father had died in a car accident. Favre was magnificent then…but this is 2008 and he was going against an improved Raider team that is now on the verge of becoming a winning football team.
From the outset of Sunday’s game, it had looked as if Favre was going to show that he still had it by marching 58 yards and settling for a field goal attempt on the back of three Raiders offsides penalties to put New York up 3-0.
The Raiders would respond by punting on their first offensive drive following a false start and going 3-and-out and just like past games, the defense held the opposition early in the game and would force the Jets into a 3-and-out. Wanting to take advantage of decent field position, the Raiders called runningback Darren McFadden’s number and got the team to the Jets’ 48-yard line. However, the penalty bug would bite the Raiders in the behind and move them back to their own 48-yard line on an offensive holding call and was further backed up on a false start. The Raiders looked to be going backwards offensively as they were forced to punt. The silver (and black) lining would come in the form of a muffed fair catch attempt by the Jets with Raider linebacker Sam Williams recovering the ball on New York’s 16-yard line.
Oakland looked to have scored a touchdown on a pass from quarterback JaMarcus Russell to tight end Zach Miller, but it was called back because WR Javon Walker was not lined up on the line of scrimmage, thus being called back for an illegal formation. The Raiders would settle for a field goal to tie the game at 3-3.
Oakland would claim the lead in the third quarter on a short pass to WR an elated Javon Walker putting Oakland up 10-3. Typically what the Raiders defense had been doing late in games is allow teams to get back into games. This time, the Raider defense showed its teeth and in the process became witnesses to the maturation of rookie defensive end Trevor Scott as he would beat his lineman counterpart and sack legendary quarterback Brett Favre twice. Showing his resilience, Favre mounted a response and commanded his team 87-yards and score a game tying touchdown making it 10-10 in the fourth quarter.
On Oakland’s following offensive drive, they opened one of those pages in the back of the playbook that is reserved for moments like these (late in games). While in a punt formation, the Raiders direct snapped the ball to linebacker Jon Alston and watched him run 22 yards for a big first down in front of a raucous home crowd. Oakland, following a JaMarcus Russell fumble/recovery would settle for a field goal to put them back on top 13-10.
Despite the Raider Nation being in full throat and excited, I was still nervously cautious. This IS Brett Favre after all and there was still 1:55 left in regulation. Fearing, yet another, Brett Favre late game winning drive, I ad an epiphany. I remembered how as of about three years ago, Favre had been throwing quite a bit more interceptions than what he normally would throw. Then all of a sudden, I proclaimed in the press box that Brett was due for one of his untimely interceptions. Surely enough…he threw one to a wide open DeAngelo Hall as it looked as if the receiver ran the wrong route. I cheered (silently) in my press box seat and reserved by elation by fist pounding my box mates Black Hole Steph (Stephanie) and Blitz Chick (Phyllis), thus maintaining my Black Hole status. (lol)
However, the Raiders couldn’t do anything with the ball and punted it away with about a minute and a half left in regulation. But just as you would know it, Brett Favre gave it one more college try and got his kicker into field goal range. Jets kicker clanged his kick on the left upright as the ball fell harmlessly to the ground. But wait a minute…Raider head coach Tom Cable had called a time out? What the heck…? Doesn’t he know that that tactic usually doesn’t work? Unfortunately, the Jets were allowed a second bite of the apple and this time nailed a 52 yarder to put the game into overtime with a 13-13 score.
The Raider defense had held up for the most part late in the game to this point. They would up their play by stooping Favre from getting his Jets into field goal range as the two teams would joust back and fourth a few times until kicker Sebastian Janikowski said enough is enough. With 2:35 left in overtime and on 4th down, “Seabass” launched 57-yard ballistic missile that would have been good for at least 67-yards out to win the game and was mobbed by his teammates at mid-field.
The Oakland Raiders had taken down a football legend, won a game, in front of its deserving fans, and gave back to all the former Raider players who attended the game and talked/cheered to then before and during the entire game on the sidelines. The Raiders would enjoy the taste of an overtime 16-13 victory before heading to Baltimore next week.
That cheese is going down nicely this morning in Green Bay.
