Detroit Lions Vs. Oakland Raiders

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From ESPN Insiders

Lions Boast High Flying Offense, but Raiders have Stingy D
By Scouts, Inc.

Why To Watch
Offensive coordinator Mike Martz is loaded with weapons across the board. He has a stable of wide receivers to get involved in the pass game and is excited about veteran quarterback Jon Kitna, who still has the physical ability and football savvy to lead the offense. The Detroit defense will be put to the test every week, especially in the secondary. Rookie head coach Lane Kiffin will bring a new and fresh flavor to the revamped Oakland Raiders. While the defense remains one of the best in the NFL under defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, the offense will begin to develop an identity with QB Daunte Culpepper at the helm. Culpepper will bring his success and experience to one of the worst offenses in the NFL in 2006.

When the Lions have the ball

Rushing:
The Lions may use the run game as a compliment to their passing attack this season. Kevin Jones is day-to-day with a foot injury that nearly placed him on the PUP list. Tatum Bell and T.J. Duckett will have bigger roles than anticipated in the run game. Bell is the likely starter and Duckett, a tough bruising running back, had a productive preseason and runs well in between the tackles. The additions of RT George Foster from Denver and LG Edwin Mulitalo from Baltimore improve the offensive line from a year ago. RG Damien Woody is back from an injury which forced him to miss 11 games in 2006. Oakland was on the bottom half of the NFL in run defense in 2006. Veteran defensive tackle Warren Sapp lost weight in the offseason to enhance his quickness and endurance, but the defensive line has struggled stopping the run in the past. They will have to rely on ILB Kirk Morrison again to make the plays against the running attack. The Lions will be able to spread the Oakland defense out with three and four wide receiver sets and run the ball.

Passing:
It will be exciting to see how Martz will take advantage of the talented wide receivers in Detroit. Not only will Oakland have to key on rookie sensation Calvin Johnson, they also have to account for Roy Williams and Mike Furrey, who combined for 180 catches, 2,396 yards and 13 TDs in 2006. Kitna had a productive preseason and understands Martz's passing concepts well. Oakland will also have to account for the running back as a big part of Martz's offense in catching balls out of the backfield. But the Raiders had the best pass defense in 2006, led by CB Nnamdi Asomugha, who is quietly one of the best cover corners in the NFL. Asomugha, along with corner Fabian Washington and safeties Stuart Schweigert and Michael Huff, make up one of the best secondary units in the NFL. If any group can shut down the Detroit passing attack, it's this one.

When the Raiders have the ball

Rushing:
LaMont Jordan has been a productive running back for the Oakland offense and has made the Raiders offensive line look better than they actually are. Offseason free agent acquisition Dominic Rhodes is suspended the first four games for violating the league's substance abuse policy and while that puts a bigger load on Jordan, he's used to it. Kiffin will try to establish Oakland's run game regardless, but Marinelli is determined to improve the Detroit run defense that was average last season. Marinelli brought in former Buccaneer DE Dewayne White in the offseason to bolster the defensive line. DT Shaun Cody played in only six games in 2006 after suffering a foot injury. The Detroit linebacking corps, with strongside OLB Boss Bailey, ILB Paris Lenon, and weakside OLB Ernie Sims, has speed and is starting to develop the type of aggressive philosophy Marinelli had in Tampa Bay.

Passing:
Culpepper is the key to Oakland's passing game and will make everyone around him better, including wide receivers Jerry Porter and Ronald Curry. Oakland offensive coordinator Greg Knapp will incorporate some of the West Coast three- and five-step passing routes to quicken the release of the QB. That will also help the offensive line in pass protection. In the past, the seven-step vertical passing game owner Al Davis favors required longer protection time. The loss of Dre Bly to Denver is a big one for the Lions secondary. Bly was able to man-up any receivers he played against, which allowed the Detroit safeties to make plays over the top or offer help in other areas. Corners Fernando Bryant and Stanley Wilson will be under the microscope early in the season and opponents will try to exploit them. Sims, the outside linebacker, may have a bigger role in coverage this season to aid the secondary.

Special Teams:
Detroit's special teams will feature a new coordinator in Stan Kwan, who takes over for Chuck Priefer, who helped the Lions special teams excel. Jason Hanson will once again provide the stability and accuracy in the kicking game. The scheme is aggressive on kickoff coverage and the return phase is still a five-man front with a four- or five-man wedge behind. In Oakland, rookie NFL coach Brian Schneider will install his own identity for special teams. With two exceptional specialists in K Sebastian Janikowski and P Shane Lechler, the Raiders should improve in all phases from a year ago. Returner Chris Carr proved to be a game-changing threat in 2006 doing both the kickoff and punt returns.
__________________
 
McCown to start vs. Lions on Sunday; Mike Williams will be active and wants to justify Millen's pick

September 5, 2007

By NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

It’s easy to imagine. Josh McCown and Mike Williams connect for three TDs in Sunday’s opener. They lead their new team, the Raiders, to victory over their old team, the Lions.

This kind of thing has happened before. It happened twice last year.

First came quarterback Joey Harrington on Thanksgiving Day. He threw for three touchdowns and posted a 107.4 passer rating as Miami embarrassed the Lions, 27-10. That was his best rating of the season by far.

Then came running back Artose Pinner on Dec. 10. He ran for 125 yards and three TDs as Minnesota beat the Lions, 30-20. He ran for 65 yards and zero TDs in the Vikings’ other 15 games combined.

Oakland coach Lane Kiffin has not revealed who his starting quarterback will be — McCown or Daunte Culpepper — but various media outlets reported Wednesday evening it will be McCown. Kiffin did say Williams would be active Sunday.

“If I did play in this game and I threw three touchdowns passes, I don’t care if his name was Mike Williams or anybody else, I’d be happy,” McCown said Wednesday. “I think Mike probably has more … I don’t want to use the word vendetta … I think Mike has more motivation against Detroit than I do, if any.”

Williams told the Associated Press earlier this week his goals haven’t changed since he left the Lions.

“My goals remain the same, which is to prove Matt Millen was correct when he picked me No.10,” Williams said of the Lions president. “That’s what I’ll do. That would be the same goal if I was still in Detroit.”

The Lions traded McCown and Williams to Oakland on the first day of the NFL draft for a fourth-round pick (105th overall). They used that pick on cornerback A.J. Davis, whom they cut and signed to their practice squad.

McCown lost the battle for the starting quarterback job to Jon Kitna last year after both signed as free agents. But the two became close — playing the same position, sharing the same Christian faith — and they remain close.

“I think you judge a relationship that you have when a person leaves,” Kitna said. “That’s a relationship that continues on. He’s somebody that, we’re always texting each other or calling each other, just trying to encourage one another or build each other up.”

McCown did not attend a voluntary minicamp before the trade, but his split with the Lions was amicable. He loved the environment in Detroit; he just wanted to play. And the Lions respected that.

“I appreciated him all through the year,” Lions coach Rod Marinelli said. “He was supportive. He was a great team player. We miss him. He had a great spirit here that he left, and his work habits. He was a stud all the way through the season for me.”

Williams was not a stud for the Lions. The Lions had issues with him virtually from the moment they drafted him in 2005 — with his weight, most notably. His Detroit totals: 22 games, 37 catches, 449 yards, two touchdowns.

“He had an opportunity to move to a place that’s really good for him,” Marinelli said. “He’s a heck of a talent. Being with Lane is obviously … It looks like he’s playing well and he’s doing well, so it’s a perfect fit for him.”

Kiffin was Williams’ position coach at Southern California, where Williams was a dominant player, catching 30 touchdown passes in two years.

Williams has had some of the same issues. He suffered a pulled hamstring three quarters through his first practice with the Raiders, and that cost him about a month of off-season work.

“In my opinion, he’s still recovering from that setback because he missed a lot of our practices and missed a lot of reps in there with our offense,” Kiffin said. “He’s done some good things, but he still has a ways to go.”

Williams has been well over his listed weight of 230 pounds. But in three exhibitions, he caught eight passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown was from McCown.

“He’s put a lot more work in this time, so you’ve seen a lot more of his talent come to the surface,” McCown said. “The reason that Detroit drafted him, I think you’re seeing it now.”

Uh-oh. Are we going to see it Sunday?

The Td was not from McCown.
 
Reports say McCown; Marinelli says 'it doesn't matter'

http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/09/reports_say_mccown_marinelli_s.html


If there's one word to describe the current Oakland Raiders, it has to be "unpredictable."

From a draft-day Randy Moss trade, to the JaMoney -- er, JaMarcus -- Russell debacle, to the recent third-round cut incident, the Raiders have sent fans on a roller coaster of an offseason.

Five days separated from the official start of Oakland's season, head coach Lane Kiffin sent fans around one more stomach-turning loop.

According to the NFL Network's Adam Schefter, the first-year head coach is expected to announce Josh McCown as the team's starting quarterback for Sunday's matchup with the Detroit Lions.

The news came as a shock to many, as both fans and several team insiders had expected Daunte Culpepper, who signed a deal with the team on July 31, to take over the starting job.

Just hours earlier, ESPNews reported that Culpepper had indeed edged out McCown in the race, and would head into Week 1 as the starter. However, since Schefter's report, ESPN reporter Michael Smith has quietly taken the burden off his employer by saying McCown will now likely be the man in Oakland.

If Schefter is once again proven right, it will become evident that Kiffin didn't base his decision solely on numbers and percentages.

Culpepper turned many heads during the preseason, showing traces of mobility that haven't been a part of the 30-year-old's game since 2004, his last successful stint with the Minnesota Vikings. In four outings the 6-foot-4, 265-pounder completed 26-of-47 passes (55.3 percent) for 308 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. He also took off on the ground eight times, good for 32 yards.

Though not far off, McCown had an up-and-down preseason that, in the end, was capped off rather boringly.

The 28-year-old ex-Arizona Cardinal and Detroit Lion also attempted 47 passes, and completed 24 of them (51.1 percent) for 352 yards, but he threw no touchdowns or interceptions. He carried the ball just three times for 8 yards.

Statistically, then, Culpepper held the apparent edge.

Perhaps the greatest explanation behind Kiffin's unconfirmed decision, though, is the length each player has been with the team. McCown, who was added on the first day of the 2007 draft, has been a member of the Raider roster 94 days longer than Culpepper, and he might be much more familiar with Kiffin's offensive system.

He might be much more familiar with the Lions' defensive system, too. Though, that reasoning is very unlikely.

Unless you're a conspiracy theorist, then this quote looks pretty fishy:

"It's simply a matter of always trying to gain a competitive advantage," Kiffin said on Wednesday.

How chilling.

In the end, though, it will simply come down to who is the better-fit quarterback for Kiffin's offense. That is, the player who gives the Raiders the best chance to win in Week 1. As of now, only Kiffin knows whom that is.

"JaMarcus," wide receiver Jerry Porter sarcastically predicted.

For the time being, that's the only certainty in Oakland: Russell won't be on the field anytime soon.

"Really it doesn't [matter] in a certain way," Lions head coach Rod Marinelli recently said. "Both [quarterbacks] are very good veteran players: both right-handed, both can run the boot, both move around very well, both have great arms. They're savvy veterans."

Ironically, Marinelli may be the only person who can calm Raider fans down at this point.
 
Frankly, I'm more worried about who is going to cover the slot receiver in all the three wide packages Martz runs than I am about who is going to play QB for us... That freakin Mike Furrey is a little pain in the ass...

Is Carr still the nickle or is it Routt who has missed most of the preseason?...

That Martz offense generally craps out if you can disrupt the timing by getting to the QB early so hopefully Sapp and Burgess are on their game...


Sorry for veering off the McCown or Pepper, Moses cut, JaMarcus holdout course but those subjects are kind of tired...
 
hawaiianboy said:
That Martz offense generally craps out if you can disrupt the timing by getting to the QB early so hopefully Sapp and Burgess are on their game...
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I think the Raiders need on Sunday. I wouldn't mind seeing Kelly brought back inside to play alongside Sapp just to really put pressure up the middle. A couple well timed Morrison blitzes could also go a long way early on and force some halftime adjustments (which is where I think Martz tends to struggle).
 
SoCalRaider said:
That's exactly what I think the Raiders need on Sunday. I wouldn't mind seeing Kelly brought back inside to play alongside Sapp just to really put pressure up the middle. A couple well timed Morrison blitzes could also go a long way early on and force some halftime adjustments (which is where I think Martz tends to struggle).
Click to expand...

I would much rather have Terds in the middle and bring in Brayton and Warren and leave Kelly on the outside. Or even rotate Richardson inside every now and then along with having him come off the edge.
 
SoCalRaider said:
That's exactly what I think the Raiders need on Sunday. I wouldn't mind seeing Kelly brought back inside to play alongside Sapp just to really put pressure up the middle. A couple well timed Morrison blitzes could also go a long way early on and force some halftime adjustments (which is where I think Martz tends to struggle).
Click to expand...

Kelly will slide to the middle on obvious passing downs IF we win the battle against the run on 1st & 2nd. The Raiders have been clear about this for weeks.
 
Oakland vs. Detroit Game Preview

By Tony Moss, NFL Editor

(Sports Network) - Never underestimate the power of 1-0.

Either the Oakland Raiders or Detroit Lions will emerge from their Bay Area duel with that record on Sunday, offering at least a week's worth of hope to one of two frustrated fan bases.

The Raiders, the self-professed "Team of the Decades," have been mostly dormant since reaching the Super Bowl in 2002. Oakland is a league-worst 15-49 (.234) since 2003, and has impressed the NFL world only with its ability to hire and fire coaches. When the Silver and Black hired former USC offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin on Jan. 23rd, he became the fifth different Raiders head man in the past seven seasons, while also becoming the youngest head coach in the modern era of the NFL. The 32-year-old Kiffin will be trying to resuscitate a franchise that went a league-worst 2-14 under Art Shell in 2006.

Detroit has been in a similar hapless state of late, though the Lions' misery has been of a more extended variety.

The Lions are 24-72 (.250) since the 2001 season, with a 6-10 season in 2004 ranking as the high-water mark over that span. Motor City supporters that have witnessed just one postseason victory since the club won the NFL title in 1957 would settle for some measurable sign of progress after last season's 3-13 disaster, though more than one member of the team has predicted much greater things in 2007.

Starting quarterback Jon Kitna made headlines during the summer when he predicted that the Lions would go 10-6 or better this year (the franchise last won 10 games in 1995), and wideout Mike Furrey backed that bold pick.

SERIES HISTORY

The Raiders own a 6-3 advantage in their all-time series with the Lions, but were 23-13 road losers when the teams last met, during the 2003 season. Oakland took the previous meeting, a 37-21 home triumph in 1996. Detroit is 0-4 on the road in the all-time series, including 0-3 in Oakland, and is 0-11 in games played in the Bay Area since beating the 49ers there in 1975.

Oakland's Kiffin and Detroit's Rod Marinelli will be meeting one another, as well as their counterpart's respective team, for the first time as head coaches.

Marinelli worked as defensive line coach under Kiffin's father, Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, from 1996 through 2005.

WHEN THE LIONS HAVE THE BALL

Though many pundits are conflicted on just how many games the Lions will win in 2007, most seem to be in agreement that the team's passing game will operate at a high level. Returning is Kitna (4208 passing yards, 21 TD, 22 INT), who led the NFL in completions (372) last season and was one of four quarterbacks to eclipse the 4,000-yard plateau (Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Carson Palmer were the others). Kitna's top two receivers, Roy Williams (82 receptions, 7 TD) and Mike Furrey (98 receptions, 6 TD), return, and will be supplemented by new faces Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech) and Shaun McDonald (13 receptions, 1 TD with the Rams). Johnson was the No. 2 overall pick in the April Draft, and is expected to make an immediate impact, while the free agent pickup McDonald has familiarity with Detroit coordinator Mike Martz's offense from the days when both were in St. Louis. Running back Tatum Bell (1025 yards, 2 TD with the Broncos), an offseason acquisition from Denver, will start in the backfield at least until Kevin Jones (foot) is healthy enough to play. New starters up front include right tackle George Foster (from Broncos) and left guard Edwin Mulitalo (from Ravens), who will need to improve a group that allowed Kitna to be sacked 63 times a year ago.

The Lions will be facing a Raider defense that was No. 3 overall and No. 1 against the pass last season, though those yardage-based ranks are a tad misleading given the fact that Oakland's opponents regularly operated with short fields in 2006. Still, this is a solid group, with tackle Warren Sapp (47 tackles, 10 sacks) and end Derrick Burgess (50 tackles, 11 sacks) setting the tone up front. Sapp and Burgess combined for 21 sacks a year ago. At linebacker, middle man Kirk Morrison (127 tackles, 2 INT, 1 sack) and strong side backer Thomas Howard (110 tackles) are both blossoming talents. The secondary is led by cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha (50 tackles, 8 INT), one of the underrated defensive backs in the league, and second-year strong safety Michael Huff (78 tackles). All but one member of Oakland's projected starting 11 on defense (recently-promoted tackle Terdell Sands) started at least 12 games with the Raiders last season.

WHEN THE RAIDERS HAVE THE BALL

The million-dollar question for the Raiders in Week 1 was to be who would get the start at quarterback, but that query was all but answered when multiple media outlets began reporting on Wednesday night that former Lion and Cardinal Josh McCown would get the call over three-time Pro Bowler Daunte Culpepper. McCown spent the 2006 season as a backup quarterback and wide receiver in Detroit, and went 10-12 as a starter with Arizona between 2003 and 2005. McCown's primary targets will be holdovers Ronald Curry (62 receptions, 1 TD) and Jerry Porter (1 reception), though another ex-Lion, former first-round draft pick Mike Williams (8 receptions, 1 TD with Detroit), will be part of the mix as well. At running back, the team picked up former Colt Dominic Rhodes in the offseason, but a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy means that holdover LaMont Jordan (434 rushing yards, 2 TD) should see full-time carries in the backfield. The Raider line, which allowed a league-worst 72 sacks a year ago, has new right-side starters in tackle Cornell Green (ex-Buccaneers) and guard Cooper Carlisle (ex-Broncos).

Oakland will be going up against a Detroit defense that ranked 28th in the league in 2006 and lost notable ex-starters at cornerback (Dre' Bly), safety (Terrence Holt), and defensive end (James Hall) in the offseason. The only high-profile new face on that side of the football is end Dewayne White (52 tackles, 5 sacks with Tampa Bay), who had 14 sacks in a part-time role with the Buccaneers between 2003 and 2006. The strength of the defense is starting tackles Shaun Rogers (20 tackles, 3 sacks) and Cory Redding (47 tackles, 8 sacks), though Rogers is attempting to battle back from a knee injury that sidelined him during the preseason. Top 2006 tackler Ernie Sims (124 tackles) leads the linebacking corps, and a thin secondary is highlighted by veteran Fernando Bryant (46 tackles) at one cornerback and hard-hitting Kenoy Kennedy (66 tackles, 2 INT) at strong safety.

FANTASY FOCUS

Fantasy managers will be looking for big things out of the Lions offense this week, with Kitna, Bell, Roy Williams, and Furrey all looking like good players to start. Calvin Johnson also figures to get the nod on several fantasy teams, but it's tough to gauge how much impact the rookie will have in his first meaningful NFL contest. With Detroit's defense figuring to be shaky as well, it might be a good week to take a flier on Raiders like Jordan, Curry, Porter, or tight end Zach Miller. McCown could be worth starting too, though make sure Kiffin doesn't pull a bait-and-switch and start Culpepper before you do. Probably a good week to bench the Raiders defense, though it might get you some turnovers.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

Though you're not likely to see either of these clubs in the 2007 playoff bracket, their matchup on Sunday could be wildly entertaining. Both teams should be able to move the ball with relative ease, given the strength of the Lions offense and the weakness of the team's defense. But give Detroit a slight edge here since they're in year two of the Marinelli era and have more continuity in personnel and schemes, while Oakland figures to experience a couple more growing pains under a first-year (and first-game) head coach. The Lions need to start backing up that 10-win talk immediately, and a win over the Raiders is a good place to begin.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Lions 27, Raiders 25
 
Bits from Nancy Gay

Q: Is there light ahead for the Bay Area teams?

A: Yes, finally. We haven't experienced the playoffs in these parts since the 2002 season, when the Raiders won the AFC championship but were destroyed by the Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII. Both the 49ers and Raiders bettered themselves in the offseason.

The rebuilding 49ers (7-9) finished 2006 on a strong note, beating the Broncos in Denver and flirting briefly with a playoff berth. The team addressed its glaring defensive holes by signing top free agents such as cornerback Nate Clements, safety Michael Lewis, nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin and linebacker Tully Banta-Cain. Both first-round draft picks, tackle Joe Staley and linebacker Patrick Willis, have cracked the starting lineup.

Are they postseason bound? The NFC West improved across the board so winning the division will be difficult. But the conference is so unsettled, the 49ers should challenge for a wild-card berth.

The Raiders fired Art Shell after finishing 2-14 but more importantly, they also rid themselves of a lousy offensive coaching staff and scheme. New coach Lane Kiffin has infused youthful enthusiasm and offensive coordinator Greg Knapp is skilled enough to work with whichever quarterback the Raiders eventually put behind center.

The Raiders' third-ranked defense in 2006 kept them from going 0-16 and returns largely intact. All things considered, the Raiders open the '07 season with a fairly soft schedule, with home games against Detroit and Cleveland (combined seven wins in '06) in September. They should more than double last season's victory total.


Q: Will Kiffin stand a chance against Al Davis in Oakland?

A: You would think a 31-year-old (Kiffin's age when hired) would be head coach in name only, that Al Davis' puppetry would trump everything. That's not necessarily true.

So far, the young coach has been given extraordinary latitude and control over several roster decisions. Kiffin made the draft-day call to dump Moss. He picked defensive free-agents Donovin Darius and Gerard Warren, over the objections of some in the organization.

Davis still gets his way - that's why third-round draft pick Quentin Moses, who reaped praise from Kiffin and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, was waived in the final cutdown. Why? Because Davis, many in the organization say, personally selected fifth-round pick Jay Richardson, a defensive end who didn't distinguish himself in camp. Davis wanted Richardson. Moses is playing for the Cardinals.

Still, Davis has placed a lot of trust in an unproven young coach, with whom he feels an almost spiritual connection because of their shared USC coaching pedigree. Kiffin has been pretty smart with his power to shape the roster.

His predecessors, Art Shell and Norv Turner, didn't have that freedom.



Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm - not completely bitchy...
 
WEB EXCLUSIVE: by Jerry McDonald

Will hide-n-seek game pay off for silver and black?
Column by Jerry McDonald

Inside Bay Area
Article Last Updated:09/06/2007 05:14:31 AM PDT

ALAMEDA —Someday, the Raiders may actually be good enough so that their level of play will answer the pertinent questions.

Josh McCown will bootleg to his right and either scramble for a first down or hit tight ends or fullbacks on the perimeter to pile up first downs.

Or Daunte Culpepper will drop back, bounce off a defensive lineman and hit Jerry Porter for a big gain on a slant pass.

Jeremy Newberry, through brute force, will move aside an opposing defensive tackle and clear the way for a LaMont Jordan charge up the middle.

Or Jake Grove will get out quickly, execute a cut block, and enable Justin Fargas or Adimchinobe Echemandu to cut against the grain and into the open field for a key first down.

The Raiders will be so good nobody will have to ask those pesky blackout questions because the McAfee Coliseum stands will be full.

If Ray Russell is to be believed, his nephew JaMarcus may even show up soon and eliminate all those unanswered questions about when the Raiders will get around to signing the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.

Until all or some of those events transpire and the Raiders put some games in the win column, they will be judged on their play the past four years. In that context, the whole cloak-and-dagger routine in preparing for the 3-13 Lions seems a little silly.

Lane Kiffin may be changing the culture in the locker room, but he's falling in line with the company mandate for secrecy.

``Obviously, I know (the starting quarterback), but I have no information for you on that,'' Kiffin said before the largest assemblage of media this week.

How come?

``Because I don't want to tell you,'' Kiffin said. :neener:

There you have it. Kiffin may be only 32, but he's a regular Bill Belichick when it comes to treating a football game as if it were an issue of national security.

Kiffin is right, of course. He doesn't have to tell. There is no NFL rule which mandates the flow of information, the Raiders are known to not be overly concerned with the ones that do exist.

If keeping the identify of the starting quarterback from Lions coach Rod Marinelli presents even the slightest chance of an advantage in his first game as an NFL coach, Kiffin is going stealth.

Marinelli, the former defensive line coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is a big Kiffin fan. He worked with Kiffin's dad Monte with the Bucs from 1996 through 2005 and gave a resounding endorsement of Kiffin's ability in a conference call with Bay Area reporters.

Considering Marinelli is well-acquainted with preparing a defense for Culpepper, and that he had McCown on his team last season, he didn't sound too worried about Kiffin's shell game.

``They're both right-handed, both can run the boot, both move around very well, both have great arms, they're savvy veterans,'' Marinelli said. ``You prepare for one, you prepare for both.''

During the course of the day, ESPN News reported Culpepper as the starter and the NFL Network tabbed McCown.

When teams finished warm-ups and individual drills and went into the closed session of practice, the word is McCown was getting most of the work with the first team. Most, but not all.

``Nobody's said anything, but we've drawn our own conclusions,'' one player said, without naming one quarterback or the other.

You wonder what Kiffin truly has to gain with this little team unity experiment. He is missing the chance to get behind his starter publicly, as well in the presence of his team.

McCown and Culpepper were both gracious and said all the right things in the locker room, making sure not to divulge Kiffin's secret. McCown conceded he told his wife the identity, but no one else.

At one point, after the media walked away, McCown and Culpepper sat side by side and shrugged their shoulders, looking as if they would rather not have been put in an uncomfortable position with the Lions looming only a few days away.

In what has been an unrelentingly positive situation in the Oakland locker room since Kiffin arrived, at least a few players have been rolling their eyes this week with regard to the quarterback situation.

Porter joked that the quarterback could be in fact Jeff George, and also invoked the names Donald Hollas, Vince Evans and Jay Schroeder.

And that's the bottom line, really.

If Kiffin's choice can get the Raiders back on track, the Quarterback Decision of 2007 will be long forgotten.

If McCown or Culpepper simply becomes the latest maligned quarterback in silver and black, joining Porter's esteemed list, Kiffin won't be able to find a secret interesting enough to keep.

Staff writer Jerry McDonald can be reached by e-mail at jmcdonald@insidebayarea.com
 
Mike Martz: This year's team is totally different
by Tom Kowalski
Thursday September 06, 2007, 12:15 PM


Highlights of Mike Martz's talk with reporters today:

How do you feel about your offense now?
"A little nervous. We haven't had everybody together for any length of time in the (preseason) games so I'm a little bit nervous about that. But I think we'll jell and we'll get going. I'm anxious to see them all together in a game environment.''

What are you expecting from the Raiders' defense?
"I think they fooled around a little bit in the off-season but what they do, they do very well. They're such a good defense I can't imagine they'd change a whole lot, but we have to be prepared for that.''

What adjustments does Calvin Johnson have to make going into his first regular season game?
"This week in practice he's made that adjustment pretty good. We're trying to help him because there's so much on his mind right now. We're going to be very careful about how much we ask him to do in the game. We'll piece him in there and give him the opportunity to make some plays. I have great confidence that speed and talent that he's got will show up.''

Quarterback Jon Kitna said that last year he had just two reads: Roy Williams and Mike Furrey.
"The rest of it was kind of a decoy. You don't know how hard that was. We had all these plays and most of it was a wish list - I wish we could call that. I feel real good about these guys and it'll take a little time in some aspects - the offensive line has to get used to each other a little bit - but that's part of football.''

How do these 11 starters compare to last year's starters?
"It's a different team, totally different really. Jon is completely different, he has such a great grasp of what we're doing that I feel so comfortable with him. And you have to be careful because then you start asking him to do things you shouldn't. You can stress those quarterbacks out.''

How is Roy Williams different?
"His approach to the game. He's grown so much that's it's so much fun to be around him and watch him grow. He's such a talented guy. This is going to be good, I'm anxious to see if he doesn't take off - take off like he left off at the end of last year. He's got great character, he's such a solid guy to begin with. He loves the game and he just wants to know. He's spent this last year really studying his craft and working at it.

What is the ceiling for the offense?
"I don't know, I really don't know. All I worry about is that we get better every week and they take what we're doing and try to execute it at its highest level. I don't know how good this team could be. We still have some concerns and we'll work through those things. I think it could outstanding but, with that said, you've still got to put your hand in the ground and go to work. It's time to go to work now.''

How do you feel about the running game?
"We've got to run the ball effectively. The whole idea about throwing the ball is that you want to throw because you want to throw it, not because you have to throw it. If you feel like you have to throw the ball and you're really not in a position to do that, it can makes things a little difficult. Offensively, we did that to ourselves (last year) with some turnovers and we had some issues there.

What makes Kitna such a strong leader?
"I think everybody tries to describe what good leadership is and everybody has an opinion of it. I think it's hard to describe because it comes in so many forms. I think we'd all agree that when you see it, you know what it is, if any of that makes sense. He has a confidence and an energy about him that everybody respects and what's to be identified with.''

Raiders receiver Mike Williams (who was dumped by the Lions in the off-season) has spoken highly of you in recent interviews. Do you find that ironic?
"No, not at all. We talked about this with Mike when he was here - Mike came out at a very early age and when you come out that young and have all of this adulation and the money and all of those things, at that age, I don't know how much of us would be in a position to deal with it that well. He's matured a great deal and he's got a great future in this league.'''
 
Frampton a Spy!

Oakland coach Lane Kiffin liked safety Eric Frampton, whom the Lions claimed off waivers from the Raiders this week.

"We went back and forth on whether we were going to keep him," Kiffin said. "He was a guy that was very likely to return on our practice squad because I think he does have a future in this league, and he's a wonderful human being, as well, one of my favorites.

"As strange as it sounds, I was actually happy for him that he got picked up because I was really rooting for him to make a roster."

Could Frampton give the Lions any info they could use against the Raiders in Sunday's opener?

"Yeah, I'm sure he can," Kiffin said. "He was a guy who really took to studying our stuff and our tendencies. I'm sure he's helping them out."
 
Injury Report

DETROIT LIONS at OAKLAND RAIDERS

Lions: DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE: QB Dan Orlovsky (toe); LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE: RB Jon Bradley (shoulder), RB Kevin Jones (foot), DT Shaun Rogers (knee).

Raiders: OUT: LB Isaiah Ekejiuba (foot).

Shaun Rogers would be a nice subtraction. I Doubt we'll see Jones and Bradley (meh).
 
It's a Sell Out!!!!!!!!

Raiders cornerback Fabian Washington expects the Lions to throw at him on Sunday
The Associated Press
News Fuze

Article Launched:09/06/2007 03:27:48 PM PDT

ALAMEDA, Calif.—Oakland Raiders cornerback Fabian Washington says the smart thing for the Detroit Lions and quarterback Jon Kitna to do in Sunday's opener would be throwing the ball in his direction.

In Washington's opinion, the Lions really have no other option.

"Just think about it. You're the quarterback, there's a corner getting at least one pick about every other game, you're going to go at the other dude, right?" Washington said Thursday. "You have to be up for the task. At some point, it's a one-on one-competition and you have to win your competition."

Washington was referring to teammate Nnamdi Asomugha, who emerged last season as one of the top cornerbacks in the AFC after recording a career-high eight interceptions while being picked as an alternate to the Pro Bowl.

A first-round pick in 2003, Asomugha was the cornerstone of Oakland's secondary which finished with the NFL's top-ranked pass defense last year and was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal 2-14 season.

Both he and Washington should be tested plenty by Kitna and the Lions. Detroit has used its first-round picks on wide receivers in four of the last five drafts, including in April when the Lions snagged Calvin Johnson with the No. 2 overall pick.

The Raiders, who drafted immediately ahead of Detroit, could have had Johnson but opted instead to take quarterback JaMarcus Russell with the first overall selection. Russell has yet to sign a contract and remains a holdout while Johnson is set to make his NFL debut against Oakland, which owned the league's No. 1-ranked pass defense in 2006.

Much of that was due to Asomugha, who didn't have a single career interception until last season. Along with the eight interceptions—the most by a Raiders cornerback since Lester Hayes had 13 in 1980—Asomugha also had 19 passes defended and 50 tackles, all while playing almost exclusively in man-to-man coverage.

"I've told people since the end of last season, Nnamdi is the best corner in the game," Washington said. "There's no ifs, ands or buts. I see the guy every day in practice and I watch him in games. He's the best."

Which is why Washington anticipates Detroit and its fleet of receivers—Johnson, Roy Williams and Mike Furrey—to gear the offensive plans toward him. After all, he has just four career interceptions and routinely became the focus for opponents late last season while Asomugha's stock was soaring.

"Me, I don't care," Washington said. "Come on, hopefully this year I'll get eight, nine picks. Hey, the more they throw at me, that's the more opportunities. You'll never hear me complaining about opportunities to get interceptions.

"Everybody knows Mike Martz prides himself on his offense so I'm thinking he's going to come out and go right at us. So us as a team, we have to slow that offense done. Us corners, we already know we're in for a tall task. They got their No. 1 pick, Calvin Johnson, and they're going to use that new toy they got. It's just how they're going to use them. We think we know a couple things they're going to do with him so it's going to be interesting come Sunday."

Part of Asomugha's success last year was a result of his dedicated work ethic. He regularly stays after practice for up to 30 minutes, often working alone on refining his coverage skills and fine-tuning his techniques.

Oakland coach Lane Kiffin said the Raiders need that kind of effort from Washington.

"It's extremely important, especially within the system we play, because we put a lot on our corners," Kiffin said. "We don't help them very much in our defensive system because we trust them so much and they're such good players. It's going to be no secret teams are going to throw (Washington's) way. He really needs to play well for us to continue to improve on defense."

Notes:@ Oakland CB Duane Starks (groin) is listed as questionable ... Sunday's game has been declared a sellout and will be televised locally in the Bay Area. The Raiders had six sellouts in 2006.
 
RaiderIVlife said:
Anyone know if the game is being televised in the Los Angeles?
Click to expand...
You need to bust out and get Sunday Ticket.

I used to go nuts asking that very question and checking newspapers etc. No more. I just turn on the TV and the game is always on. :D
 
CrossBones said:
You need to bust out and get Sunday Ticket.

I used to go nuts asking that very question and checking newspapers etc. No more. I just turn on the TV and the game is always on. :D
Click to expand...

I know.

Though I litteraly stopped watching ALL TV about 18 months ago. Even last year I watched games at Sports bars, online (crappy quality) or listened to the radio. I've decided to watch them on TV this year at home (yes, I plugged in the basic cable about 3 weeks ago), but paying for TV doesn't jibe well with my "minimalist" existense.

By minimalist, I mean the 3 neccesities of course: Roof over my head, car and pu**y. :D

Oh yeah, and food.
 
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