Oakland Raiders week 3 Ballers and Buster: Thoughts from a Reader's Side

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September 22, 2008

Oakland Raiders week 3 Ballers and Buster: Thoughts from a Reader's Side

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Our special correspondent L Dizzle checks back in with his weekly look at the players who were the ballers and busters for the Oakland Raiders. Despite the Raiders coming up on the short end of the scoreboard, there are many more ballers than busters on his list. In fact, this week there is only one buster, and he is a major bust.

Raiders Week 3: Ballers and BUSTER

By L Dizzle

Special Corrispondent

This game was a tale of one player and the rest of the team. The Raiders had Ballers abound throughout this game but to find the Buster you need only start watching this game with 1:54 left on the clock at the end of the third quarter with the Raiders ahead 16-7. That last 16:54 was when this game was decided. It can sometimes be unfair to blame one player alone for the loss of a game. Afterall, there were plenty of times where a tackle was missed or a catch was given up or a play was not made. But those were isolated plays that were distributed among different players and are to be expected. In this case, however, the blame does indeed fall at the feet of one player. That player, of course, is:

BUSTER

DeAngelo Hall- We will start the action on a masterful Shane Lechler punt to pin the Bills on their 4 yard line as we head to the 2 minute warning commercial at the end of the third quarter. Hopefully for Raider fan's sakes, they hadn't eaten too much by this point because this is when the rollercoaster ride could make you vomit. When we come back from the break, the Bills start their drive with an improbable 96 yards to go for a TD. With the Raiders up by 9 points the Bills are in need of a TD to keep their hopes alive. A TD is something the Bills hadn't had since early in the first half and they needed a turnover and a short field just to get that TD. To start the drive Hall was out of position and would have given up a long catch to Lee Evans but the Bills were called for holding. A few plays later he gives up an 11yd catch to Parrish on 3rd down to give the Bills a first down. He was way out of position on a Josh Reed catch and then misses the tackle for a huge gain. Then he gives up another big catch to Reed to give the Bills 1st and goal. The Bills run it in from there on a play in which Gibril Wilson gets ejected for a personal foul call. The ejection was ludicrous but we will move on. When the Raiders get the ball it looks like it will be a three and out with the first two calls being predictable runs for a loss of yardage. But the next play is a beautiful slant pass play that Jonnie Lee Higgins takes 84 yards to the house. Hall looks as if he may get a reprieve as the Raiders get their 9 point lead back. Yet again the refs blow a completely bogus taunting call on the TD that offsets a Donte Whitner unnecessary roughness call that would have pinned the Bills deep in their own end again after the kickoff. But it was not to be. Now let's move on. On the ensuing Bills posession Hall gives up a 22 yard third down catch to Reed. Then a 10 yard catch to Evans for another Bills 1st down. And the Bills march down the field and score another TD to bring it back to a 2 pt game. The Raiders come in and call two identical, predictable run plays for yet another loss of yards. This time the desperate 3rd and long play is incomplete and they are forced to punt from their own 17 yard line. Despite a nice punt by Lechler, the Bills still have good field position and this time they need only to get into field goal range to win it. By this point the defense has been on the field for all but 3 minutes of the fourth quarter and are exhausted. Thomas Howard, who was fantastic the rest of the game gives up two big 1st down catches and the Bills march down into field goal range, run the clock down, and kick a field goal to win it. The announcers were saying all game how the Raiders were playing such inspired football. Well, DeAngelo Hall reached into his teammates' chests and ripped out their hearts. He also ripped out mine and every other Raider fan's heart too. In my "Key Matchups" artilce on Saturday, I listed DeAngleo Hall vs. Lee Evans. It turned out to be DeAngelo Hall vs. ANYONE.

In a game like this there is certainly a great deal of "woulda, coulda, shoulda" moments. But to find the biggest of those moments for this game you would need to rewind back a few months. Back to the day the Raiders traded their 2nd round pick to the Falcons to acquire DeAngelo Hall. That is really the moment this game was lost. Let's just ponder this for a moment; what would this team look like if it had not made that deal?

- Stanford Routt would be the starter opposite Asomugha after Routt had a great season last year surpassing Fabian Washington on the depth chart.

- Washington would not have been traded and would be the nickel back which would not be bad at all.

- We wouldn't have been suckered into getting a 4th rounder in the form of Arman Shields who at this point is a wasted pick as he is out for the season.

- The money given to Hall would have been used to lock up Asomugha long term.

- Because Asomugha's cap number would have been just a couple million more than he is already making, the Raiders would probably have been able to pay Derrick Burgess as well (although AD likely wouldn't have, but who knows?)

- AND to think what we could have used the 34th pick for! It hurts to think of what kind of holes could have been filled with that pick.

- The combo of Routt and Fabian would have been better than having Hall on that side in both this game and the Broncos game. In this game it certainly would have made the difference between 1-2 and 2-1.

As I said, Hall was not the only player guilty of making some bad plays. For instance; the coaching overall in the fourth quarter was too conservative and was "Not playing to win but rather playing not to lose." But as a team the Raiders looked really good. They looked to have this game in hand until Hall blew it...over and over again. All he needed to do was stop ONE of the many 3rd down catches he gave up and that would have been it. But he couldn't do that. That Interception he had early in the third quarter became a distant memory. My mom used to say to me "One 'Oh sh*t' ruins a hundred 'Attaboys'." And in this case it was "a hundred 'Oh sh*ts' ruins one 'Attaboy'."

Dishonorable mention

Jay Richardson- Gave up a 20 yard catch and run on his missed tackle. Later gave up a 10 yard run and then was offsides on the next play. After that Kalimba Edwards was in for the remainder of the game.

Lane Kiffin and Rob Ryan- They were great through three quarters, especially Ryan, but if the play calls are predictable on offense and soft on defense in crunch time, what difference does it make what they did before that? Al Davis may just use this as his excuse to fire Kiffin. As if he ever really needed one.

JaMarcus Russell- Had two good throws all day. One was a nice 22 yard pass that required a great sliding catch from Ashley Lelie to put the Raiders in scoring position. The other was the slant pass to Higgins that he took 84 yards to score. Just about everything else was not so good. He was throwing behind receivers all day and he had a terrible fumble on the Raiders 23 yard line that gave the Bills an easy score. Two good throws all day will not get it done. And not protecting the ball AGAIN is a sure fire way to lose a game. Last week it cost us a score, this week it gave up a score. Either way, it is seven points lost.

Ronald Curry- Was nonexistent yet again. Not much more to say about that.

Ballers

Jonnie Lee Higgins- It is quite nice to see him make some plays worthy of making this list. He began the game exactly the way you want to begin a game. He had a 68 yard kickoff return that set up the Raiders first score of the game. He also played smartly by letting kicks inside the ten yard line bounce into the end zone. He later had a nice 15 yard run back into Bills territory that looked like he would get nothing. Then, of course, there was the big 84 yard TD catch that LOOKED to seal the game for the Raiders.

Sebastian Janikowski- He had three field goals to give the Raiders their only scoring in the first half and the lead. He tackled Leodis McKelvin which saved a TD on a run back which resulted in the Bills not scoring going into the half.

Shane Lechler- I mentioned in "Key Matchups" that we would need a great effort from our special teams. And most importantly we would need all of Lechler's big leg. And we got it. He began his punting by booming two long high punts that Parrish fair caught inside the 20 yard line. Then he boomed a 57 yarder that had a hold on the return tacked on and put the Bills on their one inch line. Then he had the aforementioned punt that pinned the Bills on the 4 yard line. Roscoe Parrish was no where to be found as a punt returner. Brian Mooreman of the Bills was selected for the pro bowl over Lechler last year. In this game it was glaringly clear who was the REAL probowl punter.

Mario Henderson- DID NOT GIVE UP A SACK! Not only that but he was a beast in run blocking. He opened a hole for a 13 yard McFadden run in the 2nd quarter, then a 17 yard run by Michael Bush and a nice 8 yard run by McFadden in the third quarter to set up the Raiders first TD. That TD was a JaMarcus Russell QB sneak that went right through him.

Entire Dline (not named Jay Richardson)- They made Trent Edwards life miserable through three quarters. On the first play of the game Tommy Kelly pressured Edwards resulting in an incompletion. Then 2 plays later Gerrard Warren sacked Edwards for a 12 yard loss causing the Bills to go three and out on their first drive. Later in the first, Derrick Burgess tackled Lynch for a loss and two plays later Kalimba Edwards pressured the QB into throwing the ball away on 3rd down. On the Bills next posession, Kalimba Edwards had a sack and forced a fumble that Sands alertly fell on to give the Raiders the ball in Bills territory and led to another Janikowski field goal to give the Raider the lead back. Kalimba Edwards and Terdell Sands were in the Bills backfield pressuring the QB and stuffing runs throughout the third quarter and they aren't even the starters. Speaking of non-starters; Fred Wakefield made his presence felt at DT. First he disrupted a run play stopping Lynch for a loss. Then a few plays later he tipped a pass at the line that negated what would have been a pass interference call on Thomas Howard. So instead of 1st down at the 50, it was 2nd down at the Bills 35. The line also made life difficult for Marshawn Lynch whenever he tried the middle of the line and held him to 3.6 ypc.

Nnamdi Asomugha- Didn't give up any long catches and had four tackles including one on Lynch to stop him for a short gain. He also had a forced fumble on Lee Evans on a catch that would have put the Bills in field goal range just before the half.

Gibril Wilson- Despite the absolutely ridiculous and unwarranted ejection, he had a good game. He was 2nd on the team in tackles with five and nearly all of them were great plays. He had three run stuffs and two tackles in coverage, one for minimal gain. He would have had another TFL if not for the receiver dropping the pass in the flat on a play he sniffed out. He also had two QB pressures and recovered the fumble that Asomugha forced.

L Dizzle is a special correspondent to Thoughts from the Dark Side.

Tags: NFL, Oakland Raiders, Raiders

Discussion

34 Comments on "Oakland Raiders week 3 Ballers and Buster: Thoughts from a Reader's Side"

Posted by Minnesota Raider, September 22, 2008 12:22 AM

Some great comments, dizz. I really felt we might just take this one, but in the end I wasn't too surprised...just numbed with shock. It happens all the time. That prevent defense is a death knell for the silver and black. They have lost way more than they have won going into the slide. I just don't know what to think anymore. The Raiders have so much talent-they really do. But what gives?

Posted by UK Raider, September 22, 2008 1:54 AM

Thanks for the insight Dizz as I didn't see the game. Gutted that we couldn't see this one out. Until our passing game shows I think our season is going to be a lot like this. We need more balance. I also thought our pass D would be a real strength this year but it seems that opposing teams are going after Hall and see him as the weak link.

So close to 2-1 and the Chargers next up. Rivers looked great against the Broncos. Hall better step it up as they have a lot of weapons to cover. Both him and Walker have given no value for money as yet.

Posted by WHITE E, September 22, 2008 2:14 AM

Thanks dizz, I didn't see the game either. I ended up watching the game score on my phone thinking we had it locked and that all those espn analysts were going to look like idiots (they all picked the bills). Sure enough, I ended up looking like an idiot. We just gave the game away. I knew it from watching my phone that we were playing soft. And now Kiff is going to be gone. Maybe, and a strong maybe, as much as I hate Ryan, at least he won't be the D coordinator anymore if he is head coach. That would leave someone else to call the plays. Hopefully they aren't as soft as Ryan.

Posted by WHITE E, September 22, 2008 2:36 AM

BTW, I was checking out some stats. The Raiders are Number 1 in the league in forced fumbles.

Posted by Oakland Raiders week 3 Ballers and Buster: Thoughts from a Reader�s Side - Oakland Raiders Forum, September 22, 2008 4:49 AM

[...] Oakland Raiders week 3 Ballers and Buster: Thoughts from a Reader�s Side Our special correspondent L Dizzle checks back in with his weekly look at the players who were the ballers and busters for the Oakland Raiders. Despite the Raiders coming up on the short end of the scoreboard, there are many more ballers than busters on his list. In fact, this week there is only one buster, and he is a major bust. Thoughts from the Dark Side | MVN - an Oakland Raiders independent news, commentary, analysis, and m... [...]

Posted by Oakland Raiders week 3 Ballers and Buster: Thoughts from a Reader’s Side | The RaiderCast, September 22, 2008 5:17 AM

[...] (more…) [...]

Posted by silver&black88, September 22, 2008 6:35 AM

blame Ryan, not Hall. I think since Hall plays too aggressive, Ryan makes him play more off so the crap dink and dunk passes are hard for him to defend

Posted by OregonRaider, September 22, 2008 9:26 AM

No mention of DMAC playing with the turf toe. They kept showing him unable to make a cutback and falling on his ass. How many times does he have to do that before you force him to run up the middle or give the runs to Bush?

Posted by Huichol Raider, September 22, 2008 9:30 AM

Great analysis. Fraud is the correct word for Hall. I had great expectations when we traded a second rounder for him, but now I understand why nobody in Atlanta seemed worry to see him leave. We are suffering the consequences of such a bad move.

Our best player is franchised, and probably won't be here next year. he plays decent ball every time, still they bring an overrated guy and pay him the big bucks Aso is legitmately asking for...

#10

Posted by angelodebo, September 22, 2008 9:53 AM

I agree. D. Hall is not worth the money or the 2nd round pick we gave up for him. I'm sure..in the right Defensive sceme..he's probably good enough to make some plays. But for the money and a 2nd round pick..he should be as good as Aso and it's quite obvious he can't hold Aso's jock! Very bad move Al Davis.

We all knew, the Offense was going to be below average. The only hope was the Defense. And obviously the defense can keep the Raiders in the game..until the 4th quarter..and we turn to Rob Ryan's, give the QB all day so he can pick ur defense apart, "prevent a win" Defense.

Rob Ryan sux!!! I've had it with losing in the 4th quarter the SAME WAY EVERY TIME!

#11

Posted by KUSHMAN, September 22, 2008 10:04 AM

one thing that was not mentioned here guys... if you noticed.. there was 0 false start penalties... in fact i think there was just one maybe 2 penalties called on offense. i mean this alone proves that the raiders are starting to look like a real football team... that and the fact that russell had all sorts of time... proving the o-line is improving greatly.. super mario is coming thro for us like dizzle mentioned.. i mean, even with a lot of time russell couldn't produce that well.. which is expected as a rookie (basically) ... so this offense a working progress and i think the raiders are improving game by game... and the defense is amazing when we put pressure on.. but, unfortunetely for the raiders, kiffin's days are numbered due to the highly impatient al davis(skeletor) so this will be really bad for the players... as we all know blah blah...BUT JUST KEEP IN MIND BIG GAY AL THE COACHING ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL IS TOO BLAME... MOSTLY FROM ROB RYAN AS MENTIONED FROM EVERYONE AND THE VOTES ON HERE... WHO PLAYS PREVENTATIVE DEFENSE AFTER MAN TO MAN THE WHOLE GAME? HAHA no one does.

#12

Posted by xobn1050, September 22, 2008 10:21 AM

I got to disagree with you on this one Dizzle because all Hall can do is play the defense that is called. So squarely this one goes to Rob Ryan and his "prevent" defense that doesn't prevent anything. To blame Hall is just finding a scapegoat on the loss of this game. He played the defense he was told. Did you see the last Bills TD was scored by Parrish a slot receiver coverd by Routt where he also gave lots of cushion. also I blame Kiffin on this one by being so predictable at the end and not using his timeouts to at least save time for a return and an attempt to score. It was like he just wanted the game to end. At the beggining I thought that if the raiders fired Kiffin it would be insanely stupid, now even though it will not help I kind of wonder if he isn't doing this to be fired as soon as possible to get away from this situation with his money.

#13

Posted by Boron, September 22, 2008 10:45 AM

Many Al Davis fans are stubborn loyalists…While Al Davis was truly great in his prime years, that time had long gone. His management[on-the-field coaching, drafts, FA signings, coach selections, etc] style and the terrible consequences have been apparent since Gruden left. So far in this early season I read postings from an increasing number of Al Davis critics that stubbornly defended him over the past 5-6 years. Does it really take that long to recognize Al has progressively gotten more senile? There still remains a hard core group of Al Davis worshippers who think he’s still the guru of NFL..they were vocal following the KC game but mostly are hiding right now, waiting for the expected announcement from Al…..LMAO….Another losing season will bring forth [1] another #1 draft choice [another defensive DB? A speedy runner?] and [2] more converts to the anti-Davis camp….LMAO

#14

Posted by Mad Road Dog, September 22, 2008 1:07 PM

Blitzchick had it right with her article. As for me, this game went the way I thought, Kiffin's incompetence with the passing game did not help our defense stay off the field, and Rob Ryan's prevent defense in the 4th quarter nullified the great defensive effort by the Raiders through the first three quarters. Fire Kiffin and Ryan.

#15

Posted by azraider37, September 22, 2008 2:08 PM

Good write-up. I was livid with the d and d coordinater for the entire 4th quarter and for about 3 hours after the game. Then I realized that we were only one first down away from all but icing it. At least our d showes signes of dominence. Our O is pretty bad. Sure we ran all over the chiefs, but look what atl did to them. We manage 2 td's one was a drive that started on the Buffalo 10! We are predictable and untill we let Russell take a chance or two we will be bad. I was excited whe I found out the main thing we were teaching him was not to "make poor decisions" and throw picks. But know I realize that when you only take the safe way, it is that much harder for a consertive O to move the ball. Don't get me wrong, I don't want Russell to come out and start throwing 3 or 4 picks a game, but there has never been a hall of famer that hasn't thrown more than a few ints. The pass to Higgins was a risk and it turned out good! It looks like if Russell's stat line is around a 120yds with no picks and no tds, we are going to have a tough time.

#16

Posted by New Mexico Raider, September 22, 2008 2:19 PM

Kiffin press conference. He has not been told By Al that he is fired. And will continue to work until he is told by Al that he's fired.

#17

Posted by Radlady, September 22, 2008 2:37 PM

FIRE ROB RYAN AND AL DAVIS

ENOUGH SAID.

#18

Posted by Severeraider, September 22, 2008 3:10 PM

In Halls defense he had deep 1/3 responsibility, so L-Dizzle you are incorrect in your assesment. Alot of those catches being made were the responsibility of the LB to that side. Furthermore, Aso was not the perfect player that you made him out to be, he made many mistakes as well. I saw him whiff on many tackles and had a few passws completed on him. In fact he had at least one TD caught on him that day. I blame Kiffin more for this loss than I do Ryan, with the game on the line instead of stepping up like a man and trying to seal a win, he wussed out and put the ball back in the court of Rob Ryan and a tired defense.

#19

Posted by raiderkyle, September 22, 2008 4:02 PM

rob needs to go and the raiders are going to have some growing pains but we should have not lost that game

#20

Posted by LDizzle, September 22, 2008 4:05 PM

SevereRaider even in zone defense, Hall should be able to come up with one stop. I pointed that out as well as saying that many players had mistakes. But one or two mistakes are expected from anyone. Aso only had ONE missed tackle not the "many" you GUESS that he had. He also did not have a TD caught on him. Simply being in the area does not mean that he had a TD caught on him. The catch you are refering to is obvious. That would be the Parrish catch that brought the Bills within two points near the end. Parrish started on the right side and ran a crossing pattern to the right side at which point it was Gibril Wilson covering him not Aso. Aso was covering his man and was in the endzone locking down that receiver when the catch was made. I let Ryan off easy in this I will say. I said that Kiff and Ryan are both at fault but to say Kiffin is MORE at fault is just plain stupid. Ryan played the same terrible scheme that got us killed in week one against the Broncos. And that said, the one guy who was to blame for not being able to "prevent" anything was Hall. That is why I place this loss squarely on him. For 70 million dollars he should be able to play zone with at least a shade of competance. And as I said "one stop" was all this team needed and he couldn't give us that.

#21

Posted by raiderkyle, September 22, 2008 4:06 PM

oh also I read somewhere that lane might be moves to some low offence coach so al Davis doesn't have to pay him

#22

Posted by LDizzle, September 22, 2008 4:08 PM

typo: Parrish ran that crossing pattern from right to left. If you saw it you knew what I meant anyway, but judging by your lack of who was defending on the play, I thought I would just be safe and make the correction.

#23

Posted by badass raider, September 22, 2008 4:19 PM

mad dogs right get rid of these clowns.worst play calling on both sides of the ball that i have ever seen.may as well have shell come back and call plays for both sides of the ball.

#24

Posted by xobn1050, September 22, 2008 5:50 PM

Dizzle the one covering the Parrish TD catch was #26, which if I am not mistaken is Routt. G.Wilson was already ejected from the game.

#25

Posted by xobn1050, September 22, 2008 6:16 PM

Parrish caught the ball with #26 giving cushion to cover him, wasn't Hall and Wilson was already ejected at that point.

#26

Posted by NateDawgSnB, September 22, 2008 8:03 PM

It was routt covering him. But guys come on with firing kiffin. The players love him they play hard for him and as much as you hate it he has great play calling. Our team can not gun it out for wins. We have to play conservitive have no turnovers and have our D step up and win games for us. Sure his play calling in the 4th quarter was a little soft, but guys he is 33 years old, he has coach 19 games now. Give him a break, you see people all the time having HORRIBLE clock managment that have been in the coaching game for 10 years. He will learn, he knows he messed up just as he said in his press conference. And Hall is to blame, you said they were running the zone, but watch Aso he was playing up. Half the plays in the 4th quarter Hall was not even in the screen. And if you are going to give that big of a cushion thats fine but you can not start running back when the play start so you keep letting him have a 10 yard coushin. All they have to do is run up 8 yards and do a quick turnaround, catch it and run up 2 yards for the first down. Hall will learn very fast he can not do this. Just like everyone they have to get used to the system, i am not giving him a excuse i really dislike the guy but i belive he is better than what he showed. Did we waiste money and a pick on him? Yes we did. Routt is good enough, washington was not, so gettin rid of him was good. The fact though that we will not pay ASO next year and Keep hall will prove to be the dumbest move Davis has ever made. ANd all you raider fans hate to admit its going to happen but we all know it will. If he franchises him again next year though Aso will be pissed and wont resign with us no matter what Davis offers him the next year. So unless davis mans up and pays him, and burgess, and morrison, this is going to be out best D for about 5 years to come. Our best 3 players i would say possibly on the team have not been payed. Why is it that we suck? I belive cause davis rather pay people to come in the big bucks than the players actualy on the team that have showed they have heart and the players that bleed silver and black. But he pays the players that bleed green paper. Also for you saying to fire kiffin come on, if kiffin had his way we would not have had walker (WAISTE OF MONEY) would not have had Hall (WAISTE OF MONEY) and we would not have RYAN (WAISTE OF OXYGEN) and we would have his father Monte (who by the way cordinated the best D ever argulably) and we would have 125 million more over the next 7 years that we could have spent on someone proven like either Chad Johnson or Anquan Boldin or even Roy Williams. My guess is too if we wouldnt ahve picked up walker Boldin would be on the team right now, all we would of had to do is trade a 2nd and 3rd rounder for him. plus we would of had a 2nd round pick this year that could have been used on a good reciver or CB cause this years draft was DEEP in both of those. Or maybe even a offinsive lineman, but we all know davis doesnt like spening picks or money on them cause i mean, all they do is block for your team and i mean thats not important or anything.... To all you Kiffin Haters though suck my ballzzzzz cause you know NOTHING about the raiders cause you clearly dont watch. Think of all the things he wanted to do that davis wouldnt let him, and look at all the problems on our team now. About 90% of those would have been fixed if Kiffin had control. So all you who complain about us sucking but belive davis is a Football Guru, go and take you anti-psycotic meds and come watch the raiders play and you will see whats up. And coach elk you are a idiot, plain and simple, you think you know it all and are a tough PoS. But really we know you are 16 years old livin at mommys house and wackin it off to kiffin and you just dont like him cause he wont sign your tampoons you sent to him. Im out!

#27

Posted by tonyoakland, September 22, 2008 8:15 PM

rob ryan as d-coordinator, the raiders are 20-63.

what are the constants over the last 5.3 years, al davis and rob ryan. how 4th quarter leads have we lost in that time (someone else do the research, please). at least al was there for the good times. can we say that about the caveman? please release this guy and get an aggressive D-C?

#28

Posted by WHITE E, September 22, 2008 8:59 PM

Hell, there was probably 10 games LAST year that we lost in the 4th!

#29

Posted by LDizzle, September 22, 2008 10:24 PM

xobn you are absolutely right. It was Routt. I just had a brain lapse there when I said it was Wilson.

#30

Posted by LDizzle, September 22, 2008 10:32 PM

Very nice Nate Dawg. A little hard to read but well said none the less.

#31

Posted by UK Raider, September 23, 2008 12:01 AM

Nice comment AZRaider37. I like the saying 'Fortune favours the brave' and I think that should apply to our passing attack. We have to stretch the field a bit. I know our receivers are n't exactly getting open deep down the field but you have to do it now and again just to get everybody off the line of scrimmage.

Russell looked best to me in pre season when he had a few passes to get into a rhythm. I'm not saying that we should change into a pass every down offense but we do need to start going down the field. We should be working that play fake to death. Let's have a bit more courage and ambition to win a game and not just try to avoid losing it!!! Free Jamarcus Russell !!!!

#32

Posted by RDH, September 23, 2008 11:12 AM

Well Mr Ryan how can you go soft in the 4th quarter after playing so well for 3 quarters.Well most of the d-fence played well except Hall who I guess forgot how to play bump and run.Why was he giving a 5 to 10 yard cusion the hole day it hurt us big time on the last drive.And how can you go soft and play prevent EVER.The O-line is starting to show improvement and D-line has diffenently steped up.Now we need the coaches to step up when you have played a good game only to lose as time runs out.That hurts worse then getting blown out.My thoughts were Players grade B Coaches grade D

#33

Posted by fansince76, September 25, 2008 9:36 AM

Al has become that old guy in your family that you are sent to run errands for that didn't give you enough money to run all the errands but swears you went and cleaned out his account put everything in your name and always checks the odometer on the car when you get back guess what its almost Sun. time to go check on the old man again Kiff.

#34

Posted by Mr. Shizzle, September 26, 2008 4:56 PM

Why are folkies making excuses for D. Hall? Obviously the dude is over rated. D hall talks the talk but does he walk the walk come game time? Is it Rob Ryans fault that D Hall got burned by rookie Eddie Royal? Hall even fell on his ass trying to cover rookie Royal: who looked like the Rookie? I think it was D, Hall. He is the Ryan Leaf of corner backs. Plays to aggressively? That is just an excuse for him and has become his own mantra for not being able to cover guys that he should be able to with his supposed speed. I wish we had a return policy on him. Send is his no cover a$$ back to the Falcons. My dog could cover receivers better than D Hall. Furthermore, if oppossing teams want to gain big yards in the passing game just throw it to D Hall's side of the field. This dude is supposed to be a "Pro Bowl" corner back, what ever that means these days. Just defend some damn passes Pro Bowl or not, stay with your man since you are supposedly a "Cover Corner" start covering someone instead of giving up 15 and 20 yard plays on 3 downs and such.