Silver and Black Report

The Oakland Raiders honored late owner Al Davis in their return home with a 24-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns at O.Co Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. 

In the first home game since Coach Davis passed away last Saturday, the organization honored the man who was part of the team for 49 years with a moment of silence along with numerous montages throughout the game featuring Davis.

Perhaps the biggest tribute to Mr. Davis occurred during halftime with former Raiders forming a circle around the Raiders shield at midfield. The halftime ceremony was completed with hall of fame head coach John Madden lighting a torch in the southeast end of the stadium with the announcer stating that the fire with “burn forever” for fans to remember Davis.

But on a day that featured much emotion amongst fans and the organization, the team suffered a devastating blow to their offense on the field.

Up 14-7 late in the second quarter of the game, Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell scrambled up the middle for seven yards before being hit by Browns linebacker Chris Gocong. Campbell remained on the ground in pain and will likely miss the remainder of the season with a broken right collarbone.

Before leaving the game with the injury, Campbell drove the Raiders 88 yards on 15 plays on their opening offensive drive. The drive was capped off with a four-yard

touchdown run by running back Darren McFadden, his fourth rushing touchdown of the season. McFadden finished with 91 yards on 20 carries.

Oakland’s defense held the Browns off of the scoreboard until early into the second quarter. On a first and 1 from Oakland’s 1-yard line, quarterback Colt McCoy found one of his tight ends Alex Smith to tie the game at 7-7.

The tie wouldn’t last long as Raiders wide receiver and kick returner Jacoby Ford returned the ensuing kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown. The touchdown return marks Ford’s fourth in his short NFL career, where he is in just his second season.

Oakland’s offense struggled much of the time under backup quarterback Kyle Boller after Campbell’s injury, and the Raiders took a 14-7 lead into halftime.

Boller was finally able to add to the score after he found Ford on a swing pass that was good for 27 yards. The Raiders would be unable to advance the ball from the Browns’ 35-yard line and have to settle for a Sebastian Janikowski field goal from 48 yards out, his only one of the game.

Janikowski would look to get another chance late in the third quarter on a 53-yard attempt. Instead, Raiders head coach Hue Jackson faked a field goal and punter Shane Lechler found tight end Kevin Boss for a 35-yard touchdown reception to give the Raiders a 24-7 lead.

After holding the Browns for much of the game, the Raiders defense was tested late in the game again.

The Browns were only able to gain 268 yards of total offense, with 95 of those yards coming on a late-game drive as McCoy tried to come back and force an overtime.

After seeing an interception by Raiders safety Tyvon Branch overturned by a referee review, McCoy took advantage and tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi to make the score 24-17 with just over a minute left on the clock.

Cleveland was then able to recover an onside kick on Oakland’s 49-yard line to put a scare in the Raider Nation. But it was there that the Raider defense buckled down and only allowed seven yards before the Browns failed to convert a fourth down and turned to ball over on downs to allow Boller to take a knee.

With Campbell out for the season, Jackson said that the team will go forward with Boller as their starting quarterback. Boller finished 8-14 for 100 yards.

Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey followed up last week’s solid perfomance with another well-played game this week, finishing with six receptions for 82 yards.

Oakland’s defense was able to stop the run again this week, only allowing 65 yards on the ground. They defense was also able to pressure McCoy consistently, but was only

able to record two sacks. Another key piece to the victory was the Raiders special teams play, including their ability to keep Browns returner Joshua Cribbs under control. Cribbs finished with only 53 kick-return yards and 30 punt-return yards.

The Raiders will look to win their third straight game as they host AFC West rivals Kansas City Chiefs at home on Oct. 23.

The Oakland Raiders will look for their fifth win during an emotional return home to O.Co Coliseum as they host the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

Raiders CEO Amy Trask said that the team will “honor and pay tribute” to Raiders owner Al Davis who passed away last Saturday after spending 49 years of the organization’s 52 years of existence.

Just one day after the passing of Davis, the Raiders were able to hold on for a 25-20 victory on the road against the Houston Texans. Safety Michael Huff was able to secure the victory with a last-second interception in the end zone to end the game. It was later pointed out that the Raiders only had 10 men on the field.

The victory gave the Raiders a 3-2 record, making them above .500 for the first time since 2002, the year they made it to the Super Bowl. The Clevelend Browns are 2-2 and will surely be energized as they face the Raiders coming off of their bye week.

Oakland’s offense struggle last week, and didn’t earn a first down until late into the second quarter. The Raiders finished with a season-low 278 total yards of offense, including a season-low 51 yards for the NFL-leading rusher Darren McFadden.

Raiders head coach Hue Jackson will most likely look to get McFadden back on track after only averaging 63 yards per game over the last two weeks.

McFadden should be able to find some running room against a Browns defense that is giving up an average of 124.5 yards per game on the ground, 25th in the NFL.

Middle linebacker D’Qwell Jackson has proven to be a solid middle linebacker for the Browns as he leads the team in tackles (40) and sacks (2.5). Jackson missed the two previous seasons due to a torn chest muscle. Jackson is flanked by two solid veteran linebacker, Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong who are California natives.

Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell will also look to get back on track against the Brown after finishing 15-35 for 190 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception. Campbell will face another tough test as the Browns boast the 4th-best pass defense in the league.

Veteran Sheldon Brown and second-year corner back Joe Haden make up a solid secondary that is only allowing 195.5 yards per game in the air.

Third year wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, a controversial draft pick made by Al Davis, will look to build on a solid game where he had 7 receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown. Standout rookie wide receiver Denarius Moore and tight end Kevin Boss both finished with zero receptions and will surely look to be a factor in the passing game once again.

The Raiders defense will again look to get on track early in the game. Against the Texans last week, the Raiders defense struggled early but stiffened up in the second half to force field goals. In the end, Houston gained a total of 473 total yards of offense against the Raiders porous defense.

Oakland hopes to continue their run defense they had last week, as they held the NFL’s leading rusher of 2010, Arian Foster, to just 68 yards on the ground on 22 carries.

This week they will face Browns running back Peyton Hillis, who had a breakout year of his own last season while rushing for 1,177 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first year with Cleveland, and third year in the NFL. This year, Hillis has had a hard time finding running room while he’s been on the field, rushing for only 197 yards on 54 carries thus far.

The Browns also possess a young passing game that the Raiders secondary will be tested by. Quarterback Colt McCoy is starting his second season in the NFL, after playing eight games last season and 1,576 yards, six touchdowns but nine interceptions. This year, McCoy has thrown for 984 yards, six touchdowns and just three interceptions in four weeks.

The Browns also have young wide receivers that they hope McCoy can grow to succeed with. McCoy has proven to spread the ball around to his receivers, with the top five receivers all having 12-16 receptions on the year. Tight ends Evan Moore and Ben Watson are his favorite targets in the red zone, while he targets young wide receivers

Mohamed Massaquoi, Greg Little and the dangerous Josh Cribbs often as well.

Oakland will have to lock down Cribbs on not only offense, but also on special teams. Cribbs is regarded as one of the best return men in the NFL and holds the NFL record for most kickoff returns for touchdowns with eight.

Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski will likely look to kick the ball through the end zone to take the ball away from Cribbs on kickoff returns. Janikowski is third in the NFL with 18 touchbacks thus far, just two behind the NFL leader Matt Prater of the Broncos.

Punter Shane Lechlar and the punt team will also have to do a solid job in order to contain Cribbs on punt returns.

The game is expected to be sold out, meaning the Raiders have sold out their first three home games of the season.