Oakland Raiders And The Blame Game: Cable, Davis or Russell?

When looking around the media these last few weeks, there has been a lot of blaming going on. A lot of what ifs, if onlys, and a share of maybes, that do nobody any good.

If only we pulled JaMarcus Russell. If only we have Gruden back. If only Al Davis fell off the planet. The list goes on.

Some blame it on previous events, such as the constant switching of coaches, for limiting the development of players. How do they want to remedy this situation? Of course! Replace the coaches again!

The history, or at least the ugly part of it has the Raiders struggling through the last six and a half years. The Raiders would put out a good effort that would fall short, win a random game here or there, and get blown out in other games.

Sometimes it was due to the defense falling apart against the run. Sometimes the team would simply give up, leading to ugly scores. Other times, players would be brought in, former Pro-Bowlers, who struggled to regain their form. Other times, those players would only play when they felt like they wanted to, truly ripping off the fans.

But this last season, we had to endure a quarterback who regressed, a former first round pick go down injured in running back Darren McFadden and a joke of a first round pick in Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Tom Cable’s own circus with the media, first with the incident at Napa and then ESPN’s own slime-a-thon airing, had to be a distraction. Sure he tried to show a solid front, concentrating on the game, but if your former loves for the last 20 years were paraded by the media, do you think you could ignore the world and go about working?

As it was, the Raiders had some games that had the Raider Nation licking their lips, wanting more. A close game against the Chargers, lost due to a prevent defense, gave us hope. A win, when everyone thought we were lost, against the Chiefs gave us what we hoped would be a breakout by Russell.

Then the wheels fell off, with three straight losses, scoring only 16 points total.

Oakland’s defense, irked by a comment from a Giants player, would catch the Eagles flat-footed, as Oakland would rout the Eagles 13-9 in Oakland…then the Raiders would get shut out the next week in front of Raider Nation, 38-0 against the Jets.

It turned into a normal pattern, as the Raiders would find games to win against good opponents, like the Bengals and Broncos, but lose to teams like the Chiefs, Browns and Redskins.

It now leaves Oakland, at 5-10, facing a good opponent on Sunday; facing the Ravens who want a playoff berth at home.

So, who shoulders the blame for this season going so badly?

Does Davis, with his record of bad picks. He failed to land a good defensive project, instead settling on Darrius Heyward-Bey? For that matter, was it his mistake in signing Cable, when someone else may have been more qualified for the job?

Was it Cable’s fault, for opening a can of worms in training camp, knocking a coach out of his chair, then allowing his dirty laundry to be thrown around the league, distracting the team? Did he fail to properly adjust Russell to the league, make poor choices in coaching and poor selections in filling out his coaching roster?

Are the players to blame, for not performing to standards? Russell’s own failures are not to be denied, as some like to link him to Ryan Leaf’s history of goof ups. Others would blame the likes of McFadden for not becoming the breakaway back we thought he would be.

Or blaming Heyward-Bey, since his own actions took away a major option for passing, for any quarterback. Questions remain; what would the Raiders have looked like, if Chaz Schilens had played more this year, or had Louis Murphy been used as the go-to option, instead of the butterfingered Bey?

What if Robert Gallery hadn’t had gotten hurt twice? What if Cornell Green actually blocked on the line, instead of holding people?

Most importantly, even if blame is placed, will it produce what is truly needed for this team: change?

Getting rid of Cable, simply reverts the team back to square one. Someone coming in, would need time to get the team situated to his coaching style. He would want to bring in his own coaches, people he is comfortable with. So again, there is another wasted season of development.

Getting rid of some deadweight players, does stand some scrutiny, as some contracts are laughable. Javon Walker for example, is being paid to be a cheerleader, instead of being on the turf running patterns. Russell, for his draft status still generates money, be it from the bench or being sacked. Some shakeups could happen that would help the team. But for this to happen, a key situation has to be resolved.

That situation is Al Davis….he needs to let this team evolve. He needs to let the players who are no longer functioning go and get the help Cable needs for next year to be better.

Getting rid of Tom Cable….would destroy any progress made. If anything, send him a skilled playcaller to work with him…and help the Raiders move forward into this new decade.

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The Raiders vs the Officials: Enough is Enough, Already

You sometimes truly hate to be a fan. Other times, you wish you could be an owner.

On Sunday, I wish I could have been a player…and after being thrown out of a game for a ticky-tack penalty, I would have knocked a ref from the game.

Let’s recap.

Oakland had started the game out nicely, was down only 6-10 when Cleveland’s Alex Mack attempted to strike another player. Apparently, Jeff Triplette was too busy replying to a beeper from the Cleveland owner, for how much flags cost.

Not much, for in one drive he proceeded to throw three flags at the Raiders, while only one at the Browns. One, against Stanford Routt, crippled the Raiders secondary and led to a touchdown extending the Browns lead.

If you were watching this mess on TV, you had to wonder if Jeff was actually an official in the NFL, or just pretended to be one. As frustrating as it is, a little research into who this clown is, turns up a history of bad calls, flagrant misses and botched placing of the ball.

Sad as it was, Oakland had to deal with his incompetence all day, including having another player, Tony Stewart, ejected from the game for bumping him.

Funny, if a ref bumps the player, could the ref be ejected?

Among other questionable calls was a pass interference call, an interception that had to be overturned, a neutral zone infraction, a taunting call…. What is going on in the NFL these days?

If it was one or two calls a game, that might be tolerable. But an entire day, of bad calls? Does Goodell seriously expect football to be considered a professional sport with officiating this poorly?

Tom Cable, and more importantly Al Davis, should call the league on this travesty…. If anything, Al could hit Goodell where it’s important: in the pocketbook.

Refuse to give the NFL it’s share of revenue for team sales, until conditions improve within the game.

Either that, or since Al likes spending money, fix this problem one of two ways. Buy the best players money can buy, or buy the refs that can keep the best team from winning the game.

As it stands right now, I would also demand that Jeff Triplette no longer be allowed to ref games for the Raiders, a similar issue with Walt Coleman after the tuck rule.

If the league says the Raiders can not make such an issue, then simply say the team will not be help responsible for his poor conduct as an official.

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The Raiders’ Version of Purgatory: Javon Walker’s Lost Season

To some, it has to be the dream job. You get paid to play football, and make millions of dollars a week.

The only catch is, your job primarily consists of being a cheerleader on the sideline or during the weekly practice, imitating the opposing teams’ star wideout.

Welcome to the world of Javon Walker, wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders.

Javon started out his career in good function, with the Green Bay Packers. A first-round draft pick, he put in four seasons of being a target for Brett Favre. In 2004, he was named to the Pro Bowl, after amassing over 1,000 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns.

His next season would be a disaster, as he was injured in his first week, missing the rest of the year. On to Denver, he would recover to gain 1084 yards with eight touchdowns but his last year in Denver would be at half-speed, with eight games and 26 catches.

His trip to Oakland would be a curious adventure, both the lingering feeling from having a teammate die at close range, to being beat up in Las Vegas, it wasn’t exactly the “fresh start” anyone could have imagined. Getting a major contract from Al Davis didn’t help matters either, as people considered it yet another sign that Al had overspent on diminishing returns.

An ugly 2008 season would have him with 15 catches and less than 200 yards before being shut down had many wondering if the Raiders would ditch him, in similar fashion to DeAngelo Hall and Gibril Wilson.

During the recent offseason, Javon Walker looked to be motivated for the 2009 season. He made news with an offseason surgery, some rumors pointed to it being performed overseas, to help him recover better and faster. With Oakland drafting several players who could learn from Walker’s talents, this could be a great way for him to resurrect his career.

It seems his lessons would be from the practice fields, and not with game time.

To date, Javon Walker has seen only a single play for the Raiders, a punt return for zero yards. No deep threat plays, no long yardage formations and even when a play that would call out for him, usually Tom Cable will elect to go for younger players.

How many of us would think, what would Oakland have done, if Walker was in there instead of Darrius Heyward-Bey?

Instead, Javon Walker becomes an oddity, a player who is paid like a king, but never performs: the greatest act to never be seen.

You have to wonder if it frustrates him inside. Before the season opened, he was looking forward to the chance of proving others wrong. He wanted to opportunity to erase those old feelings, to give Al some credit for salvaging his career, at a time when he was ready to toss it in the can.

Recently he was requesting a trade, but even this request has gone silent.

Tom, for the game in Cleveland, why not use a player who is used to catching in cold weather? Might surprise a few. You never know.

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Could Charlie Frye Borrow Bruce Gradkowski’s Fire?

A couple weeks ago, the Raiders had a game to play against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

JaMarcus Russell had fallen out of favor and was benched, leading to the surprise choice of Bruce Gradkowski to be starter against the Steelers.

His last game against the Steelers, was a complete disaster. A rout, he would have a passing rating in the single digits, 1.0 with two picks, and 18 yards passing. Add in three sacks, nothing could look good, save from he wasn’t named Russell.

When he played in December with the Raiders, the results were much, much different.

Bruce would go on to throw for 308 yards, three touchdowns, and a passing rating of 121.8, shocking most of the football world. The Pittsburgh native came through big time, giving the Raiders a lot to look forward to.

Then his injury showed the Raiders how quickly reality would hurt, with a loss to the Redskins.

This week, the Raiders will have to deal with the elements and Charlie Frye will get his chance to show the Browns what they missed out on, by giving up on Frye.

Oakland, who will have used four quarterbacks this season had a taste of Frye against the Broncos didn’t look spectacular, but he was finding good looks as needed. He worked with the pocket, scrambling as needed, other times finding an open player. Until he was hit by a hard-charging Andra Davis player, it looked like Frye might win the game against the Broncos, leaving that task to an wild and unpredictable Russell.

For his Denver game, Frye was 9-17, 68 yards, with a single interception that led to a field goal. He also had a 26 yards scramble, to help his team.

Since Frye’s departure from the Browns, Frye spent a year playing for the Seahawks, starting a single game against the Packers.his results was two touchdowns, plus two interceptions, losing 17-27.

If Frye can lock out the cold Cleveland temperatures…his game should be good to watch as the Browns will be without Brady Quinn.

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Could Charlie Frye Borrow Bruce Gradkowski’s Fire?

A couple weeks ago, the Raiders had a game to play against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

JaMarcus Russell had fallen out of favor and was benched, leading to the surprise choice of Bruce Gradkowski to be starter against the Steelers.

His last game against the Steelers, was a complete disaster. A rout, he would have a passing rating in the single digits, 1.0 with two picks, and 18 yards passing. Add in three sacks, nothing could look good, save from he wasn’t named Russell.

When he played in December with the Raiders, the results were much, much different.

Bruce would go on to throw for 308 yards, three touchdowns, and a passing rating of 121.8, shocking most of the football world. The Pittsburgh native came through big time, giving the Raiders a lot to look forward to.

Then his injury showed the Raiders how quickly reality would hurt, with a loss to the Redskins.

This week, the Raiders will have to deal with the elements and Charlie Frye will get his chance to show the Browns what they missed out on, by giving up on Frye.

Oakland, who will have used four quarterbacks this season had a taste of Frye against the Broncos didn’t look spectacular, but he was finding good looks as needed. He worked with the pocket, scrambling as needed, other times finding an open player. Until he was hit by a hard-charging Andra Davis player, it looked like Frye might win the game against the Broncos, leaving that task to an wild and unpredictable Russell.

For his Denver game, Frye was 9-17, 68 yards, with a single interception that led to a field goal. He also had a 26 yards scramble, to help his team.

Since Frye’s departure from the Browns, Frye spent a year playing for the Seahawks, starting a single game against the Packers.his results was two touchdowns, plus two interceptions, losing 17-27.

If Frye can lock out the cold Cleveland temperatures…his game should be good to watch as the Browns will be without Brady Quinn.

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Will the Real JaMarcus Russell Step Forward?

Like many Raider fans who tuned in for the game Sunday, they started out watching Charlie Frye have a decent day throwing against Denver.

While he wasn’t overpowering, the offense seemed to operate more smoothly, picking up a couple yards here, a couple there. Oakland managed to take a lead into the half, 13-6.

Denver in the third quarter would storm back, putting up 10 points, while Oakland had a golden opportunity to end the quarter but came away with no points at the one-yard line.

The running game was potent, with Michael Bush and Darren McFadden combining for over 200 yards.

And like a good portion of the Raider Nation, we were horrified when Frye was knocked out of the game by a hard hit, leading to JaMarcus Russell’s appearance in the fourth quarter.

A week earlier, Russell had to come in for Bruce Gradkowski, and was perfectly horrible. Against a blitzing offense, the Redskins manhandled the Raiders at home and sent the Raiders to our ninth loss of the season.

Somewhere along the lines…Russell discovered that for him to succeed, he would have to get a little backbone.

It wasn’t easy, by any means. Russell himself was knocked around, left the game, and then came back in for a key completion on a 4th and 10.

Slowly, Russell would march the Raiders down the field, until he found Chaz Schilens for a game-winning touchdown.

In Denver, of all places.

Now, this begs the question. Where was this Russell, last week?

The previous week, Russell had been sacked six times, 10 completions and 74 yards. After the yardage lost from sacks, he had a total of 22 yards. This was comprised of the entire second half of the game.

This week, Russell came in and had 5 completions, 47 yards…one sack, that was 13 yards in damage. But it came with a touchdown, late in the game to pull out a win.

Does this mean Russell is good only as a closer, but shouldn’t start?

Could the Raiders actually work better, with a rotation that looks like Major League Baseball, than the National Football League?

As it stands and if Charlie Frye is healthy enough, he would get the nod, according to Tom Cable.

But if Russell has to come in…would we get the winning QB from Denver’s game, or the sack machine against the Redskins?

I’m hoping if he is needed, let him play, and give him the time to throw.

If not, get a mobile QB out there….and mix it up as needed.

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Fire Tom Cable? Possibly the Worst Idea for Oakland

Being a fan of the Raiders has not been a fun task, these last several seasons. Poor drafts, blowouts, the occasional annoying prediction from fans or “specialists” who know everything gets to you after a while.

One recent idea that had been kicked around was to clean house again, start fresh and call it a year.

What would be gain from this action?

For one, Tom Cable’s ideas, of working with rookies, building team unity and a sense of accountability, would be out the door. The system he spent a year working on, fleshing out the kinks and trying to put together, would all be thrown out because the coach couldn’t turn out a winning record with Al’s players.

Meanwhile the idea that the next coach down the street would have better luck, with a bust for a quarterback, injuries, a leaky defensive unit and an offensive unit with holding problems.

Not to mention working with Al Davis, fans ready to revolt and a time-frame of about 12 months to win the Super Bowl.

Piece of cake, right?

So far, Cable does appear to have achieved a rare balancing act. He can operate as coach while manipulating the players as needed. The unthinkable was benching Russell, as everyone felt Russell would start until the stands were empty.

He also did it again, by moving Russell behind a third-string QB in Charlie Frye, further illustrating his need to put out the best offensive quarterback. For most, these actions would also be met with a notice of firing. That notice, never happened.

Some do wonder, if Cable is simply playing out the string and then will be gone. Oakland will get to return to the two year plan, of losing, drafting, firing, then losing again.

With Cable in place and dealing with a quarterback unable to mature, he formed enough of a team focus to get wins when points were scarce, upsetting several teams.

On one hand, we could get a inspiring veteran coach.

Or, we could wind up with Art Shell 2.0.

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The Usual Suspects: Are the Oakland Raiders Cursed?

For the fans who showed up in the rain yesterday, you got to see the best of times and the worst of times.

When the Raiders had Bruce Gradkowski running around making plays, the Raiders looked like they wanted to win back–to–back games and prove that beating the Steelers wasn’t just a fluke.

When Russell came in, you could sense in so few words…oh crud.

I’m sure other forms of communication were uttered at the game and around the world. 

After all, why would Tom Cable switch from a player who had started people talking about winning out with this clown?

Because, he didn’t have much of a choice to make. 

Gradkowski was injured late in the second quarter, and from the sounds of it, may be done for the season.

Russell….well, Russell did manage one drive to get into field-goal range, but on a second drive let the fans watch him go from within the 30 to beyond midfield, well out of field-goal range.

At that time, the game was still manageable at 13-17.

Oakland was still “in” the game.

Then the wheels fell off, with Russell fumbling and getting sacked six times in a half of football.

So, what exactly happened to a team that was looking for a win against a team that was 3-9?

The first issue coming into this game was the loss of Robert Gallery.

With him out and the team forced to rearrange the players, Gradkowski was going to be busy all day long.

He still managed to get one drive deep, with Justin Fargas going airborne to score a touchdown on the day.

Sebastian Janikowski made one field goal, then when he had to, kicked it five yards from closer without a problem.

But what really derailed this team, and threatens to kill this season off, was Gradkowski’s injury.

Even the Redskins’ players knew that once Gradkowski was gone, Russell was a good tree.

The opposing team knew that if they put pressure on and brought different looks, they had the chance to rattle the Raiders’ quarterback.

The Redskins accomplished their task.

The game wasn’t all Russell’s fault.

As much as the fans wanted to blame him for it, part of the blame lies on the defense.

The defense thrived in the first half of play and fell flat in the second half.

Some might guess that when Gradkowski went down, the team’s morale took a hit, as well.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, the game was well out of hand, and those who had come to watch a good game, left frustrated.

For the fans, I have just two questions for Tom Cable.

Can you punch out Russell on behalf of the Raider Nation?

Or can you start Charlie Frye against Denver?

I’m sure he has to be better than Russell.

Right now, Russell couldn’t beat a middle school football team.

With three weeks to go in the season, all the Raiders fans can hope for is something to build on to next year.

Here’s hoping for something to surprise us.

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How Badly Are Oakland Raiders Hurt by Robert Gallery Loss?

You have to admit, Robert Gallery is a deep-down blue collar Raider.

Here is a guy the Raiders had hanged their hats on as a tackle, but then found a second life as a guard. He played his position well, with some murmurings that he should make a pro bowl selection, if the Raiders can win games.

Now, the Raiders are going to be forced, to win without him.

Gallery, did not want to go quietly, insisting that he needed a second opinion to the lower back injury. It can be imagined, that even with the pain, here was a fighter, willing to put it all on the line.

Tough fighter, he finally resigned to the fact he wouldn’t be able to, with that tingling feeling that would disturb the best football players.

Now for the Raiders, some wonder if this will be a repeat performance for the team who lost Robert earlier to injury.

When Robert was lost early on, the Raiders had protection issues that were evident in several games. The offensive line was forced to alter the lineup, including moving Chris Morris to other positions. With the rotation in, it took several games for this group to adjust which in turn didn’t help JaMarcus Russell withstand blitzes.

How does this affect the Raiders, with Bruce Gradkowski behind the center?

For one, Bruce will need to be more mobile. This shouldn’t be a problem as he’s already proved in the last three games. He should have better pocket awareness, just in case of a blitz package.

And above all, he should be ready to dump off passes at will, to avoid the fumbles or sacks that Russell experienced early on.

Against the Redskins, this should not be as much of a problem….the key games in this matchup, will be the last three clubs, with Denver, Cleveland and Baltimore to finish out the season against.

For Sunday’s game, i’ll be watching the Raiders over a birthday cake as my daughter has her birthday party Sunday…Enjoy the game, I’m looking for a back to back win, and DeAngelo Hall to be humiliated severely.

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Note to Tom Cable: Don’t Play the Money, Play the Skills

It isn’t rocket science to see that the Raiders function differently when Darrius Heyward-Bey is playing, is it?

Apparently, to Tom Cable it might seem like rocket science.

Bey was out of this last game due to a foot injury that is now housed in a protective boot. With him out of the game, Oakland’s passing game was in rare form, with over 300 yards passing and the most passing touchdowns in a fourth quarter since 1979. That quarterback, was some guy with the nickname of “Snake.”

From the sounds of it, Bey’s foot, once healed, would mean Bey would be returned to his position of wide receiver. For the layman, this means more dropped passes, bad reads on plays, and questionable ability, instead of good catches and everyone on the same page.

If it seems that Darrius Heyward-Bey’s performance this year has been less than acceptable, you couldn’t be more right. Blown patterns, being out of position, even slipping down in coverage, are several factors all helped doom JaMarcus Russell’s stint as a starter. While JaMarcus’ own failure as a quarterback started Bey down the road, do you want to see four more games of Bey’s sloppy attempts at imitating a wide receiver?

What should worry any fan of the “Silver and Black” is the mindset that Russell carried to the bench…that he was doing nothing wrong, that things will work themselves out, and that we’re all trying to get on the same page. That sounds identical to Bey’s excuses to his season long struggles at receiver.

Here is to hoping that Cable stops treating Bey with kid gloves and seriously considers letting Bey learn by studying how Murphy plays, how Higgins operates, and how Chaz recovered from his own injury.

The Raiders made a nice step forward against the Steelers. The Nation now hopes that Tom Cable doesn’t put the next foot down on a landmine against the Redskins.

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