A Look Back: Lions vs. Raiders (2007)
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It was Lane Kiffin’s first game as head coach of the Oakland Raiders. At 32, he became the youngest man to coach a game in the NFL since Harland Svare, when he took over the Los Angeles Rams as a 31-year old in 1962. It was also the first regular season contest JaMarcus Russell missed during his rookie holdout.
Down 17 points, Oakland erased the deficit early in the 4th quarter when Josh McCown led an eight-play, 70-yard drive, which ended in a scoring pass to fullback Justin Griffith. The home-opening crowd was electric and a new found enthusiasm was generated with the 21-20 lead, especially after Kiffin huddled his team after that score and urged his players to get stops.
That didn’t happen, as Jon Kitna quickly replied with a seven-play drive on the ensuing possession that finished with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Shaun McDonald.
McCown was intercepted on his following drive, Jason Hanson kicked a 23-yard field goal and after another turnover immediately after going up 29-21, the Lions put the game away with a Tatum Bell 14-yard score.
“In the fourth quarter, when it got loud, we didn’t blink,” Kitna said. “We kept executing and doing what we needed to do.”
“It just makes me sick,” McCown stated about his performance. “I dwell more on the negatives right now, the turnovers and the things like that. Those are the things that I go over and over in my mind.”
The starter for Oakland ended 30-of-40 for 313-yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Fans shouted for back-up Daunte Culpepper, but Kiffin was steadfast on who his quarterback was. “Fans have the right to their opinions,” Kiffin said. “After the third touchdown in a row they weren’t chanting for Daunte anymore.”
Sebastian Janikowski missed three field goals and Oakland had eight penalties. “We’re not finishing our drives and it’s something happening here or there,” Kiffin said. “Whether it’s a false start here or a missed assignment there, just something little.”
Calvin Johnson tallied four catches for 70-yards and a score in his NFL debut.
Ronald Curry had a touchdown and 10 receptions for 133-yards.
“We’re looking better,” running back LaMont Jordan commented. “You always want to look better than you did last year because we looked awful last year. Taking the next step is becoming a winning team, and we obviously didn’t do that.”
“It was in our hands,” outside linebacker Sam Williams stated after the 36-21 defeat. “We didn’t finish.”
Here are exclusive images from our game coverage from that afternoon:
Rookie Calvin Johnson exploited the Raiders secondary.
LaMont Jordan compiled 70-yards on 15-carries, as well as 89-yards receiving. In the above picture, he celebrated a third quarter score which cut the Lions lead to 17-14.
Jerry Porter had 2 catches for 26-yards.
Defensive lineman Tommy Kelly (#93) working against Jeff Backus.
During pre-game, Michael Huff, Nnamdi Asomugha and Stuart Schweigert got themselves amped-up. ”We want the game in our hands, and it was at the end,” Schweigert said after the loss. “We just didn’t stop them. That’s disappointing.”


























Aaron Brooks, QB


