SBReport.net presents more images of the Oakland Raiders cheerleading squad. As an added bonus, we’ll give you a few images captured at road games, with the lenses on the cheerleaders for the Cincinnati Bengals, Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets and Washington Redskins.
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Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist
Yes – the New York Jets are looking to upgrade their other starting cornerback spot.
New York is not planning to pick-up a $10 million option on Lito Sheppard’s deal. He struggled with injuries all season and was torched in big spots in 2009. Ultimately, he was benched in the AFC Championship Game in favor of second-year pro Dwight Lowery.
And in that Rex Ryan defense where there’s a one-man island at one cornerback spot, and the emphasis is on blitzing with extra defenders from the secondary, Gang Green will be searching through many avenues this off-season to pick-up competent defensive backs that can play in their schemes.
But acquiring Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha will not be an option.
This past weekend at the Pro Bowl, both Asomugha and Darrelle Revis flirted with the idea of possibly blanketing the same defensive backfield.
“Me and Revis have been talking to Rex to try to do something,” Asomugha commened. “You may see us in the future. There’s a little bit of talk going on. Either he’s coming to Oakland or something else will happen.”
New York’s shut-down defender stated, “Me and him have talked about it, but I can’t really control that situation. I don’t know if he can either.”
All that talk was just playful banter.
It happens a lot every year in the Pro Bowl.
Neither is a free agent, and talk like that usually occurs when one player is going to be free to test his value in an open market and many other potential teammates try to recruit that player.
But players also envision themselves playing with other talents and conjure up dream scenarios that could lead to them sharing the same field donning the same colors.
This Asomugha/Revis talks is just that. Most likely a pipe dream that neither will probably get to see become reality.
Asomugha just inked the richest deal ever for a cornerback and has two more years remaining in Oakland.
Revis, the arguably NFL’s best cornerback this season, and the Jets will begin talks of an extension that will keep him there for the majority of his career.
So unless the Raiders decide its in their best interest to trade away their most marketable talent, a man beloved by their fan-base, the community of Oakland for his charitable work and his stellar play on the field, this Asomugha to New York talk, or Revis wearing Silver & Black has no chance at happening.
An Asomugha/Revis tandem would be dynamic to see. If you want to check that out, find a way to make that happen on your Madden video game.
“In a league where the art of man-to-man has kind of gone out of style, that could bring it back,” Asomugha said.
That cheese is going down nicely this morning in Green Bay.
The New Orleans Saints ousted Brett Favre – who spent a year in New York Jet green before landing where he always wanted to go – when his Minnesota Vikings lost in overtime 31-28.
His last pass as a Packer, a crippling interception to Corey Webster in overtime, that propelled the New York Giants into the Super Bowl and a historic finish to their campaign.
His closing act as a Jet was a three-interception performance against the Dolphins.
“The hardest part is the finality of it,” Favre said after that game, “especially when you expect to go on.”
He didn’t go on to the playoffs after an 8-3 start in New York, but he did move on to Minnesota.
And with Packer fans dreading his arrival to the hated foe, and the Vikings making a push to a Super Bowl, Green Bay couldn’t have been happy to see Favre with the ball with two minutes left in New Orleans with a chance to fulfill his dream.
A Super Bowl was within reach. A chance at adding to his legacy was a few yards away. But Favre’s one-way destination was undone again by…
Well, Brett Favre.
His last pass as a Viking could be that interception he lofted into the hands of Tracy Porter.
The gunslinger that played recklessly throughout his career just crashed Minnesota’s dream of a Super Bowl into the ground.
Instead of just running toward the sidelines and picking up a few more yards for a game winning field goal attempt, the football God’s righted everything.
Favre’s offense never got to see the football field again.
A fitting sight for Packer fans that were left yearning another Super Bowl appearance a few years back when Favre tossed away their dreams and then held the organization hostage as he did many off-seasons.
He eventually got what he wanted. Favre got to the Vikings.
It took a short disingenuous stint in New York for it to happen, but he got his way.
Yesterday, Packer fans got their way.
“The year could not have gone any better, aside from us not going to Miami,” Favre said last night.
In Green Bay, even though their team team suffered a bitter playoff defeat, their year could not have gone any better after seeing Favre fizzle and being sent home with no shot at adding to his ring total.
Oakland Raiders’ quarterback JaMarcus Russell was pulled in the 2nd quarter yesterday after committing three turnovers in five possessions. The home crowd booed the erratic passer again, as the Raider Nation got sick of seeing him tally his 13th turnover of the season and add on to a dreadful 46% pass completion rate.
Russell needed that time out. The Jets attacking defense was overwhelming him. And at this point of his career, he looks like a player weighed down by the burden of carrying this football team.
“I’ve never been in that situation,” Russell said. “It was kind of shocking to me at first.”
The good thing is, Tom Cable still sees him as the starter; as he should.
“I thought he was really out of sorts early in the game,” Cable commented. “I just did not feel like at that point he gave us the best chance to have the success we needed to have offensively and made the move. JaMarcus will continue to be our starter. There is no issue there.”
Oakland pinned all their hopes of rejuvenating this organization on Russell’s strong arm. They paid a hefty price to get him in uniform and now they have to live with the good, and the bad. There has been little good, and many times, just signs of a passer that may never be accurate, that will never lead or show the growth and maturity needed to be a franchise passer. But the Raiders and Cable cannot come to that conclusion now.
Neither Bruce Gradkowski nor Charlie Frye should keep Russell off the field. Regardless of how bad it gets, Oakland has to stick to their former number one overall pick.
This is the risk you take when you select a passer that high in the draft. And ultimately, Russell will likely see another head coach come and go in Oakland before they finally decide to pull the plug on his career. That’s life in the NFL. Especially when Al Davis handpicks you to be the guy and forks over a large sum of money for you to lead his club.
One things for sure though early in this season; Russell is no Mark Sanchez.
“Sanchez was great,” Rex Ryan said of his pupil passer. “He was just smart with the football. I think sometimes he could have put the ball on a receiver, but he was making sure the ball wasn’t intercepted. It was great to see him respond.”
Unlike Russell, Sanchez is accurate, decisive, and cool under pressure, a bookworm and openly expresses his desire to lead a football team. Playing in New York makes life tough for a quarterback, as he saw first hand being the toast of the town after three wins, but getting ripped after every loss during their three-game slide. But he has shown bounce back ability and pride at his craft; all attributes that Russell has not.
Oakland has to endure through Russell’s struggles. They committed to him, now they must find a way to get the most out of him before the word bust is used to describe him.
One thing was clear yesterday though, one young passer seems to have his act together and a organization that is providing a stable environment for him to develop, the other is going through the toughest time of his football career with a club that continues to have no direction and just more losing in their horizon.
JETS RUN FOR 316 YARDS
Through seven games, the Raiders are allowing 169.7 rushing yards per game (30th in the league). The Jets pounded on the Oakland defense all afternoon, which led to the most lopsided loss in the 50-year history of the franchise. It was the only the fifth time Oakland has been shut out at home, in front of a miniscule crowd of 39, 354 fans, the smallest crowd ever since the team returned in 1995.
“We’ve got to stop the run and we didn’t do that today,” starting middle linebacker Kirk Morrison said.
Oakland has been saying that since 2003, as they have ranked as one of the worst run defending squads consistently during that span.
“When a team runs for 300-plus, it’s everybody,” Cable stated about his entire defense.
The Raiders came out flat, were not inspired and that falls directly on the shoulders of the head coach.
New York came into the game wanting to do one thing; run the football. And the Raiders could not even find a way to slow them down. The Jets lost one of their key rushers – Leon Washington – early in the game, so John Marshall’s squad could have taken advantage of a key loss. But rookie Shonn Greene, who had 30-yards total coming into the game, danced through the defensive line consistently and tallied 144 yards and two scores.
Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist
OAKLAND, CA — Oakland Raiders tackle Khalif Barnes talks about his play versus the New York Jets.
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OAKLAND, CA — Running back Justin Fargas and wide receiver Louis Murphy talk to the media after the Raiders 38-0 defeat at the hands of the New York Jets.
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OAKLAND, CA — Bruce Gradkowski, who replaced JaMarcus Russell this afternoon during their 38-0 defeat against the New York Jets, talked to the media and SBReport.net was there to capture what he had to say.
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OAKLAND — Oakland Raiders’ quarterback JaMarcus Russell talks to the media after the 38-0 home loss to the New York Jets. Russell was benched in the second quarter in favor of back-up Bruce Gradkowski.
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QUARTERBACKS: F
The loudest cheers during this lowly contest were of fans happy to see Bruce Gradkowski in at quarterback for the ineffective JaMarcus Russell. Oakland pulled their pricey young passer after he went 6-for-11 for 61 yards with 2 interceptions and a lost fumble. Russell had three turnovers in four possessions and after the fifth drive, the coaching staff and crowd had seen enough. The former number one overall pick was sacked on the opening play of the game and lost the football, giving the Jets a start at the Oakland 4-yard line. Russell again showed poor pocket presence, was oblivious to the incoming pressure, locked down the field to his target and victimized the offense with his lack of awareness. On a 2nd and 8 a few drives later, he was blitzed, panicked and lofted a pass into Jim Leonhard’s hands that was returned 44-yards to the Oakland 4-yard line. Russell has accounted for 13 turnovers and completed only 46% of his passes. Gradkowski finished 10-of-19 for 97 yards. He attempted to go long on his first pass to Louis Murphy, but Darrelle Revis broke up the toss. In his first drive of the second half, Gradkowski eluded blitzing defenders and ran for a 20-yard gain. But a few plays later Calvin Pace stripped him while scrambling on 3rd and 5.
RUNNING BACKS & FULLBACKS: B
This grade is solely based on Justin Fargas’ constant professionalism. He ran 8 times for 67-yards and added 3 receptions for 23-yards. Fargas was one of the few Raiders who showed up ready to play and did not give up when the game was out of reach. Michael Bush had another non-eventful performance, carrying the football 8 times for 25-yards. After a solid outing last week, Gary Russell was silent as a ball carriers and pass catcher.
WIDE RECEIVERS & TIGHT ENDS: F
Louis Murphy had 4 grabs for 58-yards, but most of those stats were compiled during garbage time. The rookie out of Florida hurt the Raiders on offense on their second drive, dropping a catch able pass on 3rd and 3. He tried to take out a Jets defender at the end of Tony Stewart’s 19-yard reception on a 3rd and 10 in the first quarter, but got shook up after the huge impact. Darrius Heyward-Bey had 2 receptions for 28-yards, but again was a non-threat. His 24-yard grab in the first quarter was probably the best executed pass play of the afternoon, as the Jets blitzed and Russell was able to sit in the pocket and fire a dart to the rookie. Heyward-Bey had his hands on a fade pattern late in the 4th quarter that he should have come down with in the end zone. Zach Miller had only 2 receptions and Todd Watkins again had drops, and was no help to Russell on a pass that Revis made a spectacular play on to haul in the interception.
OFFENSIVE LINE: F
The Jets came into the game allowing 148 rushing yards per during their three-game slide. And with no Kris Jenkins, the Raiders offensive line was not able to establish themselves for any sustained drives. They allowed 3 sacks and were confused at times when Rex Ryan attacked with his blitzing 3-4 fronts. The Jets also played without Shaun Ellis, who left the game in the 1st quarter with an ankle injury.
DEFENSIVE LINE: F
Oakland let the Jets run wild for 316 yards on the ground. Thomas Jones followed up his career outing last week with 121 yards and a score. Rookie Shonn Greene tallied his first 2 touchdowns of his career and 144 yards rushing. Greene came on when New York’s multi-dimensional rusher Leon Washington was lost with a broken leg earlier in the contest. The Jets’ offensive line dominated from the start. Richard Seymour was flagged for a personal foul on a 3rd and 5 after the Raiders held and forced an incompletion out of Mark Sanchez.
LINEBACKERS: F
This group missed tackles, was out of position and when John Marshall sold out to stop the run with this corps, it just put them in bad configurations all afternoon. Kirk Morrison almost got an interception in the 4th quarter; one of the few times he dropped back into zone and the front-four applied pressure. It seemed like every time the Raiders run blitzed, the Jets took advantage of missing defenders on the second level.
SECONDARY: D
Chris Johnson was bad again. David Clowney torched him on the 35-yard touchdown reception and on a 19-yard grab on 3rd and 6. The Jets were hurt at wide receiver this week, playing without Jerricho Cotchery and Brad Smith. In the 2nd quarter, Stanford Routt was flagged for defensive holding on a 3rd and 5 that was not converted. Michael Huff saved a few big plays as the last line of defender on many runs. Unfortunately for Oakland, many of those times, the Jets already had ripped through the defense for big chunks.
SPECIAL TEAMS: F
The Jets toyed with the Raiders punt coverage team in the first quarter with a fake punt. Steven Weatherford ran for 16-yards before Isaiah Ekejiuba could make the stop, with the majority of the coverage team with their backs to the punter. Jonathan Holland has been futile on kickoff returns. He puts no fear on opposing coverage teams and the blocking on kickoffs has been dreadful.
COACHING: F
With a second home game after a solid performance last week in front of the ‘Black Hole’, Tom Cable’s bunch missed a great opportunity to send a message to their fan base and the rest of the NFL that they were in fact turning the corner. The Raiders came out flat, were not inspired and played a horrendous game at home against a team that had a struggling rookie passer, many of their best players inactive, a first year coach trying to steer his team away from a fourth straight loss while traveling across country for their lone west coast visit. Cable takes a big hit for this performance. Now he has to play psychologist in dealing with Russell and his benching.
GAME NOTES
Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist
Sunday October 25, 2009
DeMarcus Davis, Staff Writer SBREPORT.NET, Raiderfans.net
Oakland, CA – How would the Raiders look the week following their stunning win against the high flying Philadelphia Eagles? Would they come out on defense and give the young rookie QB Mark Sanchez multiple looks and bring the pressure? Or would this be the run stuffing defense that almost silenced the San Diego Chargers in the season opener? The answer would be neither. The offense took four steps backwards from anemia and the defense predictably looked…well..predictable (again).
The Raiders elected to receive the ball after winning the coin toss and had to start with bad field position inside their own 10 yard line. Things would go horribly worng from that initial snap on through the rest of the game.
JaMarcus Russell’s lack of pocket awareness once again cropped it ugly head when the Oakland Raiders elected to receive the ball first and chose to pass the ball from it’s own 10-yard line. By the time Russell dropped back to pass, a defender from the right side of the line (non-blind side), stripped the ball to cause a fumble inside the Raiders’ 5 yard line. The Jets would go for it on 4th down after getting the run stuffed on three consecutive downs. The Jets would score a 4th down touchdown with another run to strike first 7-0.
The Raiders second bite of the apple would prove to be fruitless as well as they go 3-and-out; a seemingly all too frequent occurrence in Raiderland. At least the Oakland defense, on the Jets’ next offensive drive, showed some pride by forcing New York to punt. All would be rendered moot because after having temporarily sustaining a drive on catches from WR Todd Watkins and DHB (which brought on a loud chorus of cheers from the home crowd), Russell would throw an interception directly to a Jet defender while pressure was being brought down on him. The pass looked to have been intended for TE Tony Stewart, who was approx. 7-10 yards behind the defender. The ball would then be returned bak to inside the Raiders’ 5 yard line…AGAIN. This time, New York’s fanchise rookie QB Mark Sanchez ran the ball into the endzone to put his Jets up 14-0.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for Russell…after his offense marched up the field for multiple and sizable yardage runs, Russell elected to go for all the marbles by throwing to WR Todd Watkins in the endzone against single coverage with their stud cornerback Darrelle Revis. This pass too would be intercepted, (by Revis), for a touchback. After a strong defensive stand by Oakland, the Jets would draw up a fake punt for a 16 yard run by their punter to add insult to injury. Thankfully, the Jets could do nothing with the extended drive and would eventually be forced to punt.
Raider running back Justin Fargas would rip off a 35 yard run; about the only thing going right for the Raiders at this point in the game. Russell’s arm again would become a liability as he nearly threw another interception to an open defender on a scramble play on a crucial 3rd down play and would be forced to punt.
Fast forward to mid-way into the 2nd quarter with the Jets in possession; the Raider defense now showing signs of a slight breakdown with either tackling too high or not getting pressure on the QB. Of course, just as I type that, the Raiders bring the heat on Sanchez. But, (and you knew there would be a but), the Raiders would be called with a defensive holding on DB Stanford Routt to extend the Jets’ drive. New York would later score on a touchdown run to widen their lead to 21-0.
At about the 5:45 mark in the 2nd quarter, the Raider crowd would erupt in boisterous cheer and applause as QB Bruce Gradkowski entered the game in place of the long time struggling JaMarcus Russell. Gradkowski immediately threw the ball deep to WR Louis Murphy, but was broken up by the Jets’ Revis; a play in which should have had an illegal contact penalty against Revis for hitting Murphy’s facemask before the ball arrived. Gradkowski would later hit TE Zach Miller on 3rd down, but was short of the 1st down marker. In any event, he drive didn’t end with a turnover nor did the QB look flustered, lost, or exhibit a lack of football I.Q. and pocket awareness.
The 1st half would end shortly after a New York field goal to push the score to 24-0.
Gradkowski would man the helm for the Raider offense for their opening drive of the 3rd quarter and would become an instant sensation as he scrambled for 20 yards after having surveyed the field and opting to run it instead. In fact, Gradkowski’s quarterback play early on was perhaps the most positive QB play the Raiders have seen thus far this season. That sliver of optimism would come to a halt when Gradkowski would get the ball knocked away for a fumble when a weak-side defender hit Gradkowski from behind on a scramble play. he Jets would recover the ball. New York would then later strike paydirt on a deep pass for a touchdown with CB Chris Johnson on the man coverage to make the score 31-0. As a matter of fact, man coverage was back in effect for most of the game; a game plan that has been a disaster for the majority of the season.
The situation in Oakland regarding non-aggressive man coverage defense and blitzing from multiple looks is almost exactly what happened last season when the then defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was heavily criticized from not blitzing (5 times all game) against the Denver Broncos in Oakland. That night, the Raiders were embarrassed by Denver with a score of 41-14. QB Jay Cutler had al day to pick the man coverage apart. Following the game, former Raider Head Coach Lane Kiffin stated, “…Rob Ryan runs the defense and consults with owner Al Davis on how to do the job.” Ryan then responded, “That’s all on me. I put the game plan in, I run the defense, and it’s all on me. I just want to set it straight because I’ve been here five years and I don’t think people necessarily have the right story. I’m disappointed, but I just wanted to tell my side of the story for once because there’s so many other things that come out where I have to read it and take it and I just want the truth as I know the truth ….. I meet with Mr. Davis in the offseason. I don’t meet with him on game plans or come up with all this. It’s amazing when things like this come out when we have a bad week. Put it on me, that’s where it belongs. I’m the man that runs the defense.” (quote courtesy of espn.com)
Amazingly, the Raiders game out strong the next game and gave the Kansas City Chiefs hell by blitzing and showing multiple looks and won that game in an impressive fashion 23-8. But the defense went right back to man coverage the following week and lost in Buffalo.
Last week, the Oakland Raiders stunned the Eagles by pounding QB Donovan McNabb with blitzes and zone coverages that confused the #2 rated offensive team in the NFL following heavy criticism of Al Davis and the lack of any willingness to blitz heavy and often. The win seemed to sooth most critics for the week. But history repeated itself when the Jets came into town. The Raiders went back to man coverage and got 31 points put on them. (Whoops…spoke too soon. The Jets just ran right through the teeth of the defense to score another touchdown. It’s now 38-0 at this point)
The common theme is to play man coverage on defense until enough criticism gets dolled out. Then let he coaches run with their game plan. The team wins big with a winning gameplan, but then abandons it the next game with a rookie quarterback as an opponent who has looked like a rookie in his last few games.