Raiders report card

[Plunkett16]

"]• PASSING OFFENSE: Andrew Walter was near flawless in the first quarter and had perhaps his best game as a pro. He spread around the ball well and picked apart the Cardinals secondary. His two fumbles set up Arizona field goals. His interception ended a scoring threat late in the first half. Grade: C+

• RUNNING OFFENSE: Justin Fargas and Zack Crockett did an admirable job (31 carries, 110 yards) filling the void of regular starter LaMont Jordan (back injury). ReShard Lee scored Oakland's first touchdown on an impressive leap over the Cardinals defense from 1 yard out. Grade: A-

• PASSING DEFENSE: The Raiders did a nice job pressuring rookie quarterback Matt Leinart and getting their hands on several of his passes. Derrick Burgess had two sacks and tipped a pass that fellow defensive lineman Terdell Sands intercepted. Michael Huff recorded a safety. Cardinals receivers got held in check for most of the game. Grade: A-

• RUNNING DEFENSE: Edgerrin James (13 carries, 34 yards) found little running room. That placed even more pressure on Leinart to be the one to make things happen for the Cardinals. It didn't happen for Leinart. Grade: A

• SPECIAL TEAMS: Chris Carr set up a Raiders first-half field goal with a 36-yard punt return. Sebastian Janikowski converted both field goal attempts (31, 35 yards) and kicked off well. Shane Lechler punted well. Grade: A-

• COACHING: Art Shell had his players fired up despite the Raiders being 0-5. The play-calling by offensive coordinator Tom Walsh featured a nice blend of run plays and downfield passes. The Raiders started off aggressively and kept up the pressure after building a 17-0 lead. Grade: A

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/sports/football/nfl/oakland_raiders/15824914.htm[/quote]

 

[Plunkett16]

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Five stars in Oakland's first win:

The Oakland Raiders , on Sunday, snapped an 11-game losing skid, a streak dating back to Nov. 20 of 2005.

"It's a weight off everybody's shoulders to get a first win," head coach Art Shell said after the game.

Shell recorded his first regular-season win as a head coach since Dec. 18, 1994. However, Shell is making certain it's the players in the spotlight.

"I'm most happy for the guys in the locker room. It's not about me. It's about those guys in the locker room. They've worked very hard to get some taste of success."

Following a 22-9 victory over the struggling Arizona Cardinals , let's take a look at five of those players who are sitting in the spotlight.

5. Michael Huff - Oakland had the chance to draft Matt Leinart seventh overall in April, but instead opted for Michael Huff to fill a void at safety. On Sunday, the pair of rookies met. Huff took running back Marcel Shipp down for a safety late in the third quarter, putting the Raiders up 22-3. The 23-year-old also chipped in with three solo tackles, part of an Oakland secondary that held Leinart to a 40% completion rate. All said and done, Huff accounted for two points on the scoreboard -- two more than Leinart.

4. Randy Moss - Moss had his share of drops on Sunday, but the seven passes he brought in accounted for 129 yards and six points. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound wideout has quickly become 24-year-old Andrew Walter's favorite target. Moss was on the receiving end of Walter's only touchdown pass of the evening -- a 32-yard strike with eight seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

3. Andrew Walter - The second-year quarterback from Arizona State posted a career-high 263-yard outing. Walter completed 17-of-30 passes before exiting the game with a hamstring injury late in the third quarter. On the play, 270-pound defensive end Bertrand Berry sacked Walter four yards deep in the backfield, and the QB lost his second fumble of the evening. The 24-year-old also threw an interception deep in the Cardinals' red zone; however, Walter looked much better on the field than on paper, controlling the pace of the game very well. The Raiders' offense held the ball for just over 37 minutes, completing 13-of-20 third down attempts to keep the chains moving. For Art Shell, next week's starter shouldn't be much of a decision.

2. Tyrone Poole - Last season, Oakland's defense tallied just five interceptions; seven weeks into the '06 campaign, the unit has already surpassed that total. Veteran defensive back Tyrone Poole was brought in during the offseason to help remedy the problem, and, on Sunday, registered his first interception with the Raiders. Poole picked off Leinart near midfield to jumpstart the third quarter -- a quarter in which the Cardinals would score just three points. The 34-year-old also recorded a pivotal nine-yard sack that would eventually lead to rookie Michael Huff's run-stuffing safety.

1. Derrick Burgess - After a slow start to the season, Derrick Burgess is back in full stride, with no signs of stopping. No. 56 terrorized Leinart and the Cardinals' offense for four consecutive quarters, recording five tackles to complement a pair of sacks. Burgess also batted a pass down on Arizona's second drive, which would be snagged by the 6-7, 335-pound Terdell Sands. On the following play, Walter would connect with Moss for the Raiders' second touchdown of the evening.

Burgess led the team with five tackles; free safety Stuart Schweigert recorded just four -- his lowest total on the season. Raiders win 22-9.

http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2006/10/raiders-cardinals-analysis231006.html

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[Madturk]

I'd like to see Walter do a better job of stepping up when he feels the pocket collapsing. Seemed like he did a better job in previous weeks. Several of those sacks yesterday should be on him for not getting rid of the ball sooner. I'd also like to see him take off more often when he's got an open field in front of him.

 

[Rupert]

I thought the pocket was pretty shallow in front of him yesterday. I didn't think he had too much room to step up. That said, he should get rid of the ball if there's no room to go anywhere. On a couple of those sacks he looked indecisive: Run, Throw, Run, Throw, oops Sacked. I think there was one or two plays where he just got rid of the ball before the sack. I think we 're going to see more of this from him as he learns the timing of it.

But how about that exceptonal escape early in the game. Ducking under one guy and escaping from another before throwing a 1st down. Killer!

 

[Madturk]

But how about that exceptonal escape early in the game. Ducking under one guy and escaping from another before throwing a 1st down. Killer!

He had the presence to find Curry 20 yards downfield too instead of just flinging it somewhere like Collins would. I really like his coolness under fire. Doesn't seem to rattle. Reminds me a bit of a young Tom Brady.

 

[Rupert]

He had the presence to find Curry 20 yards downfield too instead of just flinging it somewhere like Collins would. I really like his coolness under fire. Doesn't seem to rattle. Reminds me a bit of a young Tom Brady.

I think that's the reason they keep throwing him out there, mistakes and all. With Tui you can always see he's a little desperate. When he gets the rhythm he calms down, but until then, he's amped up on his own adrenaline. Not so with Walter, even under extreme duress. I think it was wise to take him out against San Fran since he seemed a little flustered. He wanted to go back in against Arizona and correct the mistakes. It was a different attitude, and I liked seeing it.

In some ways, yes, much like Brady, but I remember Brady working many throws toward the sidelines to protect his mistakes. Walter works the entire field, so his mistakes can become amplified. But it's that lack of fear that should make Walter better, and could leave him hung out a little longer. No problem in my opinion.

 

[Madturk]

In some ways, yes, much like Brady, but I remember Brady working many throws toward the sidelines to protect his mistakes. Walter works the entire field, so his mistakes can become amplified. But it's that lack of fear that should make Walter better, and could leave him hung out a little longer. No problem in my opinion.

Good point. He's got some of that gunslinger mentality like Favre. He's going to throw a few picks but I like the fact that he's not afraid of going for the home run. I would like to see us work more quick hits to Moss especially when the corner is playing 8-9 yards off the LOS. Force them to cheat in a bit then go for the long ball.

 

[Rupert]

Yeah, I really think some of the constant deep passing attack is designed to get into opponents' heads. If we did like Arizona, and used those short passes and screen to get ahigh completion percentage, we'd see more DE's doing what Burgess did to Leinart. By emphasizing the deep patterns, we get them ignoring that as a possibility. However, we need to throw the short passes more than a couple times in a game to get them to cheat up or have their DE's play short.

It's no use setting up the short pass with the deep routes if you don't throw the short pass. and vice versa. I think we'll get there, but it's part of a process, and I believe it's by design.

 

[hawaiianboy]

Not to rain on the victory parade, but I think an "A" grade for the coaching is just a lil generous... I'd have given it a B...

Whether it's the playcalling or execution (chicken or the egg to me at this point), I still think the playcalls on first down could be more balanced...

On first down we ran the ball 23/33 times...

12 of those 23 attempts gained 2 yards or less
16 of those 23 attempts gained 4 yards or less


IMO, that's just too many 2nd and long situations to have a young QB fight his way out of... Too Walter's credit, we converted an obscene amount of third and longs.....That's probably not something we should hope to rely on, especially against the better defenses...

We're improving steadily and playing hard despite our record though, which is an excellent sign...

Even on Moss's drops, it didn't appear to be from apathy as the weeks prior suggested... This time around, he seemed to be pressing and trying to do something with the rock before securing the catch...


JMO...