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 . . .
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