Oakland Raiders prove they are still not excellent

Thoughts from the Dark Side

August 23, 2008

Oakland Raiders prove they are still not excellent

6 Comments

Recommended (0) | Share

Lane Kiffin has been quoted various times saying that the Raiders are not that good yet. Maybe he ought to stick with those answers when discussing how good the team is. After playing really well in their first two preseason games, the 'same old Raiders' showed up in Oakland for their final home preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. A day prior to the game, Kiffin was asked about the passing game and his reply was:

"...I've got a positive outlook on this week and they're going to do well..."

He couldn't have been more wrong if he was talking about the team as a whole. He definitely shouldn't have said that about the Raiders rushing defense.

The Arizona Cardinals came into the game 1-1 on the preseason, ripe for the picking due to strife with one of their star receivers and their quarterback of the future finding it difficult to be the quarterback of the now. Their once anemic running game was the difference as they rushed for big gains against a very giving Raiders defense.

The first half would've been a tie had Kiffin decided to kick a field goal late in the second quarter, but he instead opted to work on the offense and go for it on fourth down. The first half ended with a score of 3-0, Cardinals. Matt Leinart wasn't very effective as he threw for only 24 yards on 4-12 passing and three interceptions. Edgerrin James ran for 26 yards on 6 carries for a little over 4 yards per carry.

JaMarcus Russell played well at times and at others was unable to make the plays to help the Raiders put a drive together and get a score. Russell was sacked four times and the offensive line made the type of mistakes that Raider Nation has become so familiar with, such as false starts, holding, and basically not blocking well.

Michael Huff finally got an interception. After dropping one in each of the past two games, he was able to pick Leinert off on a pass intended for Larry Fitzgerald. Stanford Routt and Rashad Baker also had interceptions during the game. The only sack that the Raiders were able to get was when Kalimba Edwards got to Kurt Warner late in the third quarter.

We'll have more on the embarrassing loss later. Patrick will have his recap up later tonight, and I'll have mine up Sunday night.

Tags: NFL, Oakland Raiders, Raiders

Discussion

6 Comments on "Oakland Raiders prove they are still not excellent"

Posted by pat. T, August 23, 2008 9:32 PM

We were totally embarrased...

Posted by Umer Waris, August 23, 2008 10:08 PM

Certainly not the best of games this preseason has seen. Be expectng more of that criticism from Davis, Sharpe and some even Dukes manages to slip on NFL network.

Harris was continously beaten out the edge and pass protection was weak. If that the pocket couldve have mantained itself, we would have seen a better Russell.

On the bright side, our secondary seen several good plays. After Leinart was having a good preseason, our DBs seemed to have stopped his progression.

Posted by kelly, August 23, 2008 10:10 PM

Raider O-line did a great job of taking the day off.

Posted by Raider Scott, August 24, 2008 7:41 PM

Not sure how we recover from this game. And I am not referring to the "no-show" play, which was abysmal. Losing Carter and particularly O’Neal will hurt us badly. I don't know how good Carter would have been in an already thin receiving core but losing a promising run blocker like O’Neal is a killer. A second year player who was a physical blocker really hurts our chances. We have no depth at either position. We will be scouring the waiver wire and looking for veterans this week. I was really disappointed at watching our teams’ performance but I was deflated when I saw our guys go down with injuries.

Posted by Jared, August 25, 2008 4:42 PM

Its PRESEASON! It doesn't mean sh@#! They had a bad night, but It doesn't mean a thing. No one is playing 100% in a preseson game so stop making a big deal over a bad game. Everyone knows what the Raiders are capable of So hold your comments until Sept.8 and then start making judgements Until then, Realize what preseason is, Fully dressesd pratice and the only guys playing are the guys that have not made the roster.

Posted by Raiders News - Page 22 - AutumnThunder Forums, August 31, 2008 10:25 AM

[...] http://mvn.com/nfl-raiders/2008/08/23/oakland-raiders-prove-they-are-still-not-excellent/ Oakland Raiders prove they are still not excellent By Rob Calonge | August 23rd, 2008 Lane Kiffin has been quoted various times saying that the Raiders are not that good yet. Maybe he ought to stick with those answers when discussing how good the team is. After playing really well in their first two preseason games, the �same old Raiders� showed up in Oakland for their final home preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. A day prior to the game, Kiffin was asked about the passing game and his reply was:��I�ve got a positive outlook on this week and they�re going to do well�� He couldn�t have been more wrong if he was talking about the team as a whole. He definitely shouldn�t have said that about the Raiders rushing defense. The Arizona Cardinals came into the game 1-1 on the preseason, ripe for the picking due to strife with one of their star receivers and their quarterback of the future finding it difficult to be the quarterback of the now. Their once anemic running game was the difference as they rushed for big gains against a very giving Raiders defense. The first half would�ve been a tie had Kiffin decided to kick a field goal late in the second quarter, but he instead opted to work on the offense and go for it on fourth down. The first half ended with a score of 3-0, Cardinals. Matt Leinart wasn�t very effective as he threw for only 24 yards on 4-12 passing and three interceptions. Edgerrin James ran for 26 yards on 6 carries for a little over 4 yards per carry. JaMarcus Russell played well at times and at others was unable to make the plays to help the Raiders put a drive together and get a score. Russell was sacked four times and the offensive line made the type of mistakes that Raider Nation has become so familiar with, such as false starts, holding, and basically not blocking well. Michael Huff finally got an interception. After dropping one in each of the past two games, he was able to pick Leinert off on a pass intended for Larry Fitzgerald. Stanford Routt and Rashad Baker also had interceptions during the game. The only sack that the Raiders were able to get was when Kalimba Edwards got to Kurt Warner late in the third quarter. We�ll have more on the embarrassing loss later. Patrick will have his recap up later tonight, and I�ll have mine up Sunday night. __________________ There are days when you don't have a song in your heart. ~~ Sing Anyway! - Emory Austin [...]