An Ugly Raider Loss

Philadelphia beats Raiders with a lousy kick in the final seconds of a 23 to 20 loss for the Raiders. Lousy because the kicker (David Ackers), hobbled by a leg injury sustained earlier, barely got the ball over the crossbars as he crumpled down in pain and part jubilation following the kick.

I said it last week and I'm yelling it this week. How can the Raiders expect to win when they continue to incur penalties at the most inopportune time? Again, we beat ourselves. Again, we couldn't come up with a big play on defense to stop a drive. Instead it seems we have a very bad habit of keeping the opponents drives marching on 3rd downs with stupid penalties.

But I can't completely blame the defense for those penalties as a cause for losing the game. They continued to bend and not break even though their pass rushing of the quarterback was atrocious. Give any quarterback the time they gave McNabb to throw the ball and he'll eventually find someone open. The defensive play of the game was the Warren Sapp interception. Sapp looked better than ever as a Raider today. I must admit, there were times where we brought the pressure but those times were too few. Our offense went flat at times but was able to make the big plays when needed. Our young Robert Gallery had one of his less than stellar performances today when he was called no less than three times for off sides penalties.

Sea Bass is definitely the goat of this game for the Raiders. Missing two field goals that he should have, being sea bass, made. The fifty yarder that hit the upright had the leg strength but not the aim. Makes you wonder if Sea Bass has gone back to his old partying ways while nobody's watching.

Our leader at the helm did a much better job this week in spreading the ball around. Collins had more muscle in his throws and not as many of them floated high as did last week. The pass protection was there against a tough pass rush and blitz. But maybe we should've abandoned the running game earlier. It wasn't working and It seemed we kept finding ourselves in 3rd down and long. That along with the penalties left us in passing mode for most of the day. Suprising no interceptions.

Moss wasn't much of a factor but was great going over the middle. Porter, Whitted and Gabriel all peformed well and Tight End Courtney Anderson was finally involved in the offense after a week's disappearance from the plan. Also, Lamont Jordan was better at the catch and run with a few screens that could have been for more yardage.

So the solution to our losing problems is obvious. Must stop the penalties period. Must get better pressure on the quarterback period. Must keep Lamont Jordan involved in the offense period. Must keep Randy Moss involved and continue taking those shots. Moss was close today to making yet another big play, keep'em coming to Moss. Sebastian Janokowski may be costing us games. Someone talk with Sea Bass quick.

Special teams was a wash. Carr continues to prove he belongs.

I believe we can still compete with the best this year. I believe we can run off a string of wins and be a force come December. We need our team and our coaches to come together and try getting us over the hump with our first win. We need to know that we can win a game be it close or a blowout. It's only been three games. We're probably the best 0-3 team you've ever seen. Let's dwarf those three losses with a string of wins and shock the world.


There's only one nation that can beat the odds and rise from a heap of losses.
The Raider Nation
Let's Win Baby!