Raiders Set to Challenge Payton

Right there – in a nutshell – is the game.  It’s the Raiders against Payton Manning.  It’s not about the Indianapolis Colts.  It’s not that you worry the Colt’s will beat you.  It’s what Payton Manning will do against your team.

The Colts go the way of Manning.  If he has a great game, the Colts are uplifted, and they can be a dangerous team. 

Manning has two wins in a row (Tennessee, and Jacksonville), and in those two games he has thrown 4 touchdowns with 548 yards, and most importantly, had no interceptions.  Prior to those two games, Manning had three losses, and it’s easy to point to the fact that he threw 10 interceptions in those games as being the central reason for those losses.

Manning is always dangerous.  In two of the three losses the Colts scored 28 and 35 points.  The only game they were held to under 20 points in that streak was 17 points against San Diego.

There really is only one way to stop Payton Manning, and that is get in his face and harass him all day long. 

But that’s not so easy.

Manning is well known for his play calling at the line of scrimmage.  He waits to see what the defense is giving him, and has been known to call three plays at the line base on what adjustments he sees the defense make. 

In the end, what matters will be the Raiders beating the Colts offensive line to make Manning’s day a bad one, no matter what he does.

Keeping Manning off the field is helpful, but not a certain method to defeat the Colts.  Ask the Miami Dolphins about that. 

Last September the Dolphins kept the ball for 45 minutes against the Colts.  They had 15 first downs out of 21 chances, and ran the ball for 239 yards.   Manning had only 35 plays to work with against 85 for the Dolphins, but . . . that was all he needed.  Manning engineered a drive with 3:50 left in the game, and down 20-24.  Well, I guess you’d call it a drive.  It took him 32 seconds to score the winning touchdown.

The Raiders ought to be able to run the ball against the leagues 28th ranked defense against the run.   Indianapolis ranks 11th against the pass, but the Raiders managed to dominate the NFL’s number one ranked San Diego’s pass defense.

The result the Raiders had against San Diego is what should give all Raiders fans hope, because just a few weeks ago, the Chargers held the Colts to 17 points, while putting up 36 points against their defense.

Stick to the formula – rush and pressure Manning on defense, and run over the Colts defense –a good day from our defensive backs - and I think the Raiders pull of this win in the Oakland Coliseum tomorrow.

---

Photo Credits:
All photos from the Raiders website

Raiders to Rebound Against Denver

Last week was a tough loss against a pretty good team. The Raiders had done what they needed to do in order to win, even after letting Jacksonville back in the game. Pulling out a tie with 3:40 left in the fourth quarter, it felt like they would get the ball back, and get the chance to put it away right at the end of the game.

Jason Campbell had a great day - his best yet for the Raiders. I mentioned last week that the audible seemed to be non-existent, but Campbell had three audibles in the game, and one was for a touchdown. Campbell showed true leadership throughout the game, and the comfort to override plays that came in from the coach, based on what he saw the defense doing.

It all speaks well for the future.

Today, the Raiders take on the Denver Broncos in Oakland. I hate to be a broken record - you may well take me to task for it - but . . . the Raiders can beat anybody - and I mean anybody - if they do what it takes to get the running game going and keep it going, and defensively put pressure on the quarterback on every play.

Tom Tebow will start for the Broncos today, and as a reasonably mobile quarterback he will likely be a challenge to contain. Expect at least one big gainer on a 3rd down.

Put pressure on him and frustrate him, and the Raiders should show him how this is not college. He still has a lot to learn.

Today is a great opportunity for the Raiders - an important game on a number of fronts.

• If they win the remaining three games they have a winning record at the end of the season
• Win today, and they are 5-0 in the division, with the chance to sweep against KC
• Keep alive the possibility that they get into the playoffs
• Establish they are in fact better than bad teams - and Denver is a bad team this year

It may be that you are holding your breath in anticipation of the Raiders getting into the playoffs.  That would be fantastic.

But on a realistic front, I would be happy at the end of the season with a winning record.

I would feel an 8-8 record is a solid statement that the Raiders are a team on the move, and are up out of the doldrums of the past seven years - a fantastic season.

But I would be thrilled to see the Raiders sweep the AFC West with a 6-0 record.  How long has it been since we did that?

The Raiders can win today.  I think the Colts Payton Manning can threaten the Raiders with his ability to throw the ball, but we can beat him with pressure.  The Chiefs will be tough, and will certainly be fighting us for a playoff spot, but there is no aspect of their game that we can't stop.

Keep the pressure on the quarterback, run the ball, and the Raiders win!

This has been the best season in years, and I'm lovin' it!

---

Photo Credits:
Photo of Raiders vs Broncos from the Raiders website

And Now for the Repeat!

THAT'S what I'm talking about!

The Raiders took it to San Diego with emphasis!  The pass rush sacked Rivers 4 times, and according to Tom Cable, they hit him another 16 times.

The pressure was awesome.

On offense the Raiders took to the ground.  Again.  Why Hugh Jackson, the Raiders offensive coordinator so totally gave up on that key part of their game, I guess we'll never know.  But it was back, and back with a vengeance.

The Raiders ran the ball down the Chargers throat.  Bush and McFadden ran the ball for a combined 42 attempts.

Now THAT's what I'm talking about.

Can the Raiders take the Jags?

Oh yea.  Just play your game baby!

---

Not Looking Good for the Raiders Today

The Oakland Raiders take on the San Diego Chargers today in Qualcomm stadium. 

It's not been a very nice place for the Raiders to play since 2002, when they got smacked around in the Super Bowl by Jon Gruden's Tampa Bay Bucs.

Unfortunately, I don't hold any conviction that things will be different today.  Of course, on any given day . . .

The past two weeks the Raiders have looked so much more like the team they've been for the past seven years, that it's painful. 

Where was the running game?  Gone.  Where was the play action quick pass?  Gone.  Where was the quick release to beat the rush?  Gone.  Where were the come back pass route?  Gone.  Where was the rush?  Gone.  Where was the creativity on offense?  Gone.

Yes, there were injuries on defense.  Nnamdi was not up to playing last week.  A bad ankle sprain can take months to fully heal, not just a few weeks.  Apparently his is that bad.  And everyone could see our weakness on pass defense when you don't get a rush on the opponent's quarterback.  We played well enough, possibly, to keep it close if the offense could have held on to the ball longer, and put some points on the board.

But that didn't happen.

The one aspect of the Raiders game the past couple of weeks that most disappointed me was the lack of the running game.  The press has rewarded the opponent defense with having stopped the running game, and the Raiders offensive line with being ineffective. 

I point to the offensive coordinator as the primary culprit.  In Pittsburgh the Raiders ran a total of 15 times, and McFadden was given the ball only 10.  Against the Dolphins the Raiders ran a total of 12 times!  That's right - against one of the leagues worst defenses, the Raiders ran only TWELVE times!!  McFadden got the ball on only eight running plays. 

Unbelievable.

With Campbell at the helm, expect an all-out-blitz-kind-of-day from the Chargers. 

It's NOT impossible that the Raiders win today.  But I hate to say it, but I'm afraid it could get really ugly . . .

---