Coach Jay Dee
Will the REAL Raiders Please Stand Up?...
Even though we lost to the Chargers 24-16, there are some positive things that we can take away from this game. I am usually a “glass half empty” kind of fan, but today I’d like to focus on the good things more than the bad. The defense played pretty well, the offense didn’t play terrible and we were competitive. Don’t get me wrong; merely being competitive is not enough for me or for the average Raider fan, but we actually looked like a genuine NFL team this week.
First of all, Justin Fargas showed us why he should be the starter at RB. He ran with authority and purpose, finishing every run by punishing anyone that tried to tackle him. He also showed good vision in traffic and decent speed on the edge. He followed his blockers, found holes and even created holes where there were none. Every time he touched the ball he gave it all he had with aggressive, physical runs that ended in 2 or 3 extra yards on second efforts. Compared to our other RBs, Fargas gives us the best chance to win each week. If Tom Cable doesn’t continue to hand him the ball 20 or 25 times a game, he will be making a huge mistake.
Second, the entire offensive line showed some improvement. Not enough, but some. This is evidenced by the fact that we ran a total of 54 offensive plays compared to San Diego’s 56 and only 58-second difference in time of possession. That is a direct result of the O-line opening holes for the RBs and protecting fairly well. On 2nd and 3rd and intermediate or long, the line gave Russell enough time to get the ball out and convert. Most of the 5 sacks were due to great coverage by the Chargers secondary. Russell was forced to hold the ball rather than risking another turnover. In all, they still have a lot of room for improvement but they did play better than in recent weeks.
Third, Jon Alston played decently in the absence of Ricky Brown. In fact, I think that Brown better heal up quickly because Alston is showing that he could take his job! He got 4 tackles and an assist. That isn’t that great, but it isn’t that bad either. He controlled the edge and held containment very well. He didn’t let anything outside and he covered well too. He didn’t miss any tackles that I could see; he stayed disciplined and played within himself. It is nice to see the young guys step up and play well when starters go down and Alston’s play is a prime example of this.
Finally, speaking of young guys stepping up…how about Matt Shaughnessy? He showed up to play! He was in the backfield all day, wreaking havoc on Rivers, Sprolls and Tomlinson. He was making tackles 6 and 7 yards downfield on the opposite side of the field. He wound up with 5 tackles and a sack. That doesn’t seem like a huge day but the stats don’t show the impact he really had. In the 3rd and 4th quarters, the Chargers didn’t even attempt to run at him. Shaughnessy dictated what the Chargers could do. When he lined up at DE, they ran up the middle. When he lined up at DT, they ran outside. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be in two places at once. When Tommy Kelly went out, San Diego just ran away from Shaughnessy and directly at whoever was replacing Kelly. I’ll admit that I was critical of Mr. Davis when he picked Matt in the 3rd round last year, but clearly I was mistaken on that. He is starting to show that he can play in this league and deserves to get more opportunities.
Overall, we didn’t play that poorly. Our QB didn’t play that well…again. He wasn’t as bad as he has been, but he wasn’t that good either. He went 14 of 22 for 109 yards and 1 int. The interception he threw was badly over thrown as were a lot of his throws. These throws weren’t even close. I’m beginning to believe he needs to see an ophthalmologist for depth perception problems! I will say that he showed some improvement when it came to decision-making. When his receivers were covered he threw the ball away or took the sack, rather than trying to force it and turning it over. That is a good sign and we need to hope that this trend of improvement continues.
Now you may ask, “If everyone played so well, why did we lose?” There are several answers to that question. The first is that Tommy Kelly got hurt and had to leave the game. Kelly had been playing lights out recently and was stopping the run extremely well. The Chargers took advantage of this injury and began to run the ball up the middle effectively. Kelly’s absence not only affected the run defense, but also the pass rush. With him out we were unable to get any push up the middle into the QB’s face. This allowed Rivers to step up into the pocket and buy some extra time for his receivers to get open. Another answer is that Vincent Jackson is on fire and had another great game. He was catching just about everything thrown his way…even when Nnamdi Asomunga was covering him. Jackson is an elite receiver and showed why today. At times we couldn’t get out of our own way (The collision between Murphy and Heyward-Bey for example) and it cost us dearly at critical moments. Even though the offense was able to hang on to the ball, we didn’t get the touchdowns we needed. However, I think the biggest reason for the loss was the fact that the Chargers just made more plays when they needed them. Had the offense adjusted at half time as well as the defense did, we could have won.
All things considered this wasn’t a terrible showing by the Silver and Black. We played much better than in recent weeks, the coaches put together a better game plan and got some great production from the young guys. The offense sustained drives and was able to control the clock much better than we had to this point. The defense played very well in the 2nd half allowing only 3 points to the Chargers. If this trend continues we may just break out and get a few more wins this year.
There…I did it…7½ paragraphs of positivity and only 1½ of negativity! If we go back to playing like we did against the Jets or Broncos, it won’t last!
Just one coach’s take.
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