Raiders Man Down

Oct 19, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders tackle Menelik Watson (71) reacts before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland Raiders lost starting right tackle Menalik Watson to a ruptured achilles tendon in yesterday's 30-23 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.  It's a huge loss.  

The third year lineman was out to prove that he could stay healthy and play a full productive season; he couldn't. His season ending loss leaves the Raiders plugging in backup linemen in hopes of getting an already missing-in-action running game going. Not good Raider Nation, not good at all.

The not so bad news is they released running back Trent Richardson. Trent just couldn't find his way to or through the hole throughout preseason. His lone decent run for 15 yds in yesterday's game against a third string defense was much too little way too late. So long Trent.

Special teams looked excellent with the old soldier Sabastian Janikowski putting it down again and again (5/5).

We got Defense!  Yesterday the defense stole the show, stopping and dropping Carson Palmer early. Interceptions, sacks and slamming running backs behind the line of scrimmage had them reflecting coordinator Ken Norton's personality; toughness. Breakdowns at games end allowed the Cardinals to pull off a road win, but the defense overall looked dominantly impressive.

It's the redzone offense that needs work. We all saw that rookie WR Amari Cooper is the real deal.  #89 (Coop) is gonna be something special to watch. You can see him setting up defenders to miss right before he catches the ball, giving himself a chance to take it to the house on just about every play.

While starting QB Derek Carr survived an off day throwing and backup QB Christian Ponder was just okay, it was my boy Matt McGloin who looked like a polished veteran quarterback, throwing the only Raiders touchdown of the day to receiver Kris Durham.  I like receivers Durham and Seth Roberts, but its definitely time we give THE BUTLER, that be third year wide receiver #12 Brice Butler, a chance to show he belongs on the field making plays.  

The Butler always shines in preseason, especially when McGloin is targeting him, but this season he just looks a bit quicker and more seasoned.(Polished).

We need The Butler to be great this regular season and beyond. The last thing I wanna see is Brice making highlight plays for another team.  Please Raiders, don't lose the services of The Butler; he's part of that bright silver & black future we've been talking about. He polishes the silver and more.

Win, Lose or Tie