![]() |
| | Top #2 |
| OU SUCKS Admin Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: In A Freaking Freightliner
Posts: 33,033
| Hard to say after getting smacked around by the Patriots, but more than anything, it looks like a better prepared offense would do wonders for improving their defense. The Raiders started off good slinging the ball to Moss, but the offense can be focused on him. Moss is gonna get his numbers, and teams know that. The Patriots quickly adjusted to stopping everything else the Raiders had and ran away with the game. |
| | |
| | Top #4 |
| Fantasy Football Fan Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Texas
Posts: 200
| The Raiders actually played better defense in the 2nd half of the game. Talent wise I don't know how much the unit will or can improve. I thought they did a good job stopping the run and would have done better overall if their offense could have sustained a few more drives and given them a break. I don't think the Raiders got dominated in fact I think 2 plays during the game were the turning point. The 1st was the missed field goal by Stankikowski who in typical fashion hurried the kick for no apparent reason other than the fact that he has the I.Q. of a brick and the 2nd was the Woolfork play that led to a short field and a quick score for the Patriots. Like I have said before, I did not expect the Raiders to win this game in the 1st place but I came away from it with more hope this season than I have had the previous 2. Their defense is not going to be near the top 10 but it will be better than last season and it looks like they will have a much better running game compared to their 32nd ranked one of 2004. Collins needs to get other players more involved early on and not be so locked in to Moss but you sort of expected that in game 1 because it is like having a new shiny toy that you can't keep your hands off of. I do think Jordan is the real deal and will only get better as the season goes on and he adjusts to being an every down back. The Raiders are probably an 8-8 team that with a couple of breaks could squeeze out 10-6 and if they can manage .500 ball during the 1st half of the season they will have a shot at a winning record. I also would not dismiss Anderson as a weak link at TE because it looks like he will be a favorite redzone target for Collins. |
| | |
| | Top #6 | |
| Fantasy Football Fan Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Texas
Posts: 200
| Quote:
| |
| | |
| | Top #7 |
| Fantasy Football Fan | It looked dirty until you watched the replay. He didn't hit the guy's neck at all, it was all shoulder pads. I thought the same thing and was like "wow where's the penalty!" until I saw the replay and saw that it was clearly all shoulderpads. It was a great tackle. As for improvements, they need a Quarterback who doesn't suck. Their solution to buying more time in the pocket on the first drive? Scramble Kerry Collins. That's suicide. He talked about how much confidence he was building because all he had to do was heave the ball in the air to Moss and it was a catch. Well I saw the same tendency start branching out toward his other receivers. Half of his throws were at least a couple yards off the mark, and if it wasn't for the 8th string CBs that New England proudly starts, you'd have seen a bevy of interceptions. Offensive Line blocking is obviously a major issue, but that's the main reason people have been questioning Norv Turner's attempted installment of the Vertical Offense. Collins threw over the middle about three times the entire game, which is another big problem that the Raiders are going to have to deal with throughout the season. Also, Porter, Curry, and Jordan seemed to be struggling just to stay in the game. Curry's injury seemed to flare up and he left, but it looked like Jordan wore down fast after that first quarter, and had to take almost 2 quarters off before he could be effective again. Porter seems to still be dealing with his hamstring, but at least he played through it for the most part. I noticed a lot of overthrows to Whitted, which honestly is kind of a good sign, because he was so used to throwing deep to Porter (much faster than Whitted), and if Porter had been running those routes, a couple of those bad passes may have been Touchdowns. |
| | |
| | Top #8 |
| Fantasy Football Fan Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Texas
Posts: 200
| Oh well it is after all the first game of the season and like I have mentioned I did not expect a win for Oakland in the 1st place. I will say though that nothing really impressed me about NE either. There is a reason no team has ever won 3 in a row and if teams that were loaded with talent like the 90's Cowboys, 80's 49ers, and 70's Steelers could not pull it off I find it hard to believe NE will. NE looked avg. stopping the run and running themselves and if that continues throughout the season they will not win enough games to clinch homefield advantage and that will give another team the oppurtunity to win the AFC. I am very interested in how the Colts play this week @ BAL. If they are able to move the ball with success vs. the so called best defense in the league and their defense starts to play with a little more toughness then I think they have the inside track on getting the playoffs in their house. Their schedule is not nearly as tough as NE or PIT and if they play host in the RCA dome they will not lose. |
| | |
| | Top #9 |
| Fantasy Football Fan Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Texas
Posts: 200
| [QUOTE=MLBrandow] Also, Porter, Curry, and Jordan seemed to be struggling just to stay in the game. Curry's injury seemed to flare up and he left, but it looked like Jordan wore down fast after that first quarter, and had to take almost 2 quarters off before he could be effective again. QUOTE] I actually think Jordan did a decent job considering that was his first official start of his career. Dillon seemed to have the same if not more problems and he has always been a workhorse RB. Jordan's 18 carries for 70 yards and 5 catches for 40 yards was a decent start for a team that ranked 32nd in the league last season rushing the football. The majority of his carries resulted in positive yardage compared to Dillon who was stuffed for negative or no yards several times during his 23 carry 63 yard night. Once Jordan learns to pace himself like a starting RB he should see a whole lot of action and he is a decent dual threat running and catching. |
| | |
| | Top #10 | |||
| Banned Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 2,800
| Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
| |||
| | |
![]() |
| Thread Tools | |
| |
Similar Threads | ||||
| Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
| Raiders RB Jordan To Have MRI. | STAFF | Outlaw NFL Talk | 8 | 10-25-2006 06:57 PM |
| Raiders sign.... | ewil | Outlaw NFL Talk | 3 | 03-14-2006 08:19 PM |
| Raiders | Jukes39 | Outlaw NFL Talk | 2 | 08-16-2005 06:24 AM |