Turning things around??

[jatfly]

Raiders' offense looks better already
By Michael Ash on August 13, 2007 12:47 AM

As most NFL fans know, it's difficult to make judgments about a team based on the games in the preseason. Star players are often sitting on the bench to make sure they're healthy when the real battles begin, and coaches rarely give their strategies away when the wins and losses don't matter.


The early action in 2006 may have been the biggest example yet of how meaningless the preseason really is. The Oakland Raiders went 4-1 in five exhibition contests but finished the regular season with the worst record in the league at 2-14. The Indianapolis Colts went 1-3 and ultimately won the Super Bowl.

So why do people try to analyze games that don't actually count?
Well, there are some things that can be gleaned from the preseason. It may not be a good sign if a quarterback who's competing for the starting job comes out and throws a few interceptions right away.
Similarly, if a receiver drops every pass thrown his way, a running back can't hold onto the ball, or a kicker can't put it between the uprights, it doesn't matter if it's the regular season or not.

And along those same lines, just as it's noticeable when a player isn't performing, it stands out when a unit shows vast improvement over its efforts from the previous year.
Sure, Oakland's offense wasn't perfect against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night. Far from it, in fact. Josh McCown started the game at quarterback and had two quick three-and-outs before marching the Raiders downfield in a drive that was ugly even by preseason standards. McCown lost the snap twice and the offensive line was whistled for three false starts, but aided by two costly Arizona penalties - a personal foul and pass interference - the seven-minute drive ended with Dominic Rhodes punching it into the end zone from 1 yard out.

The offense wasn't suddenly running like a well-oiled machine. It would be unfair to expect that kind of change in such a short time. But it was clear from watching the game that the draconian "bed and breakfast" system of Art Shell and Tom Walsh has been tossed out like yesterday's garbage.

Even in the preseason, Lane Kiffin's offense looked more productive and on par with today's NFL than anything the Raiders ran a year ago. The team moved the ball both on the ground and through the air, and the play-calling - screens, play-action, quick drops - helped keep the Cardinals' defense guessing.

Perhaps the best sign was that there seemed to be some life on the offensive line, which didn't give up a sack until the third quarter. The line opened up holes for the running game and gave the quarterbacks time to get rid of the ball. Again, not everything was perfect, but the progress that's been made was obvious.

There are still plenty of growing pains ahead, and it's true that the offense has nowhere to go but up. Still, though, if the unit looked this fresh during the typically vanilla preseason, what will Kiffin have up his sleeve once the games start to matter?
On Saturday night, for the first time in a long time, the Raiders looked like a team being coached by someone who knows what he's doing.​

 

[jatfly]

OAKLAND -- Lane Kiffin has little tolerance for mistakes.

During practice, a false start or blown assignment gets a player yanked by the Raiders' coach in favor of someone who might not mess things up.

He usually yells "get me a new ... " followed by the position of the offending player.

Following the Raiders' 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals in both teams' exhibition season openers Saturday night, some players might find mistakes will cost them more than a few plays in practice.

Kiffin will just get new players.

"There's no excuse for penalties, a fumbled snap or dropped balls," Kiffin said after the exhibition. "These guys understand, they've been told everything counts. It'll be a different room by time we get to next week's game. There will be new guys and some guys out."

The Raiders committed eight penalties for 58 yards in the game, too many for Kiffin's liking. There also were two bad dropped passes. Receiver Will Buchanon let a pass from Daunte Culpepper hit him in the hands and fall to the grass. Receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins had a Culpepper pass hit him between the "1" and the "5" on his jersey and land on the grass.

Kiffin said being nervous about the first exhibition game was no excuse for the drops.

As for the penalties, the flag that irked Kiffin the most was the "real bad late hit on the quarterback" by defensive end Kevin Huntley in the third quarter.

Huntley drew a 15-yard personal foul for driving Arizona quarterback Shane Boyd into the turf after he had thrown the ball.

Huntley was taken out following the penalty but did return.

"We've got to play a lot smarter than that if we want to win a bunch of games," Kiffin said.

Expect Kiffin to continue harping on penalties, especially mental errors such as Huntley's, and false start and offside calls.

Kiffin is not concerned with winning exhibition games. He wants to see which Raiders can play smart enough to make the team, adding points of emphasis on not committing "dumb" penalties and turnovers.

Repeat offenders might not be in the locker room for the next exhibition game.

Top target -- Four of Josh McCown's first six passes were to Jerry Porter -- by coincidence, Kiffin said.

Porter led the Raiders in receptions in 2005 but caught one pass in 2006 after being benched following an offseason argument with former coach Art Shell. Porter had two catches Saturday.

"That's the way it happened," Kiffin said. "That's the way the defense rotated. There's the call and all of a sudden they're in a certain coverage, so that was not by design."

Ill effects -- Kiffin canceled a conference call with media Sunday because he had a fever and was resting. He had already altered the practice schedule this week, the final week of training camp in Napa. Two practices were to be held today and Wednesday, while Tuesday and Thursday were to be single-practice days. Instead, the team will practice once today and Wednesday and have two-a-days Tuesday and Thursday.

 

[jatfly]

Mike Williams catches touchdown pass, but has 'a long way to go'
August 13, 2007

FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES


Calvin Johnson didn't catch a touchdown pass in the first exhibition game, but one Lions first-round pick did.

Ex-Lion Mike Williams caught a three-yard touchdown pass and a 14-yard pass on a third down in the Raiders 27-23 victory over Arizona on Saturday night.

But Williams must show coach Lane Kiffin more to be worth a roster spot.

"It was nice to see Mike make a couple of plays," said Kiffin, who coached Williams at USC. "The touchdown catch reminded us of the Mike we remember, but he still has a long way to go."

Williams, who has had weight problems just like he did with the Lions, is competing with Travis Taylor for the third receiver role.

According to the Sacramento Bee, the 6-foot-5 Williams is listed at 230 pounds but is probably closer to 240. So he should be a mismatch against any cornerback in a goal-line situation.

Andrew Walter threw the TD pass to Williams, who along with quarterback Josh McCown, was traded by the Lions to the Raiders for a fourth-round pick.

 

[jatfly]

Raiders’ win yields positive signs


Janikowski kicked the winner By Jeremy Harness
SilverandBlack.com
Posted Aug 12, 2007

It was only the first preseason game, and there’s no shortage of areas for the Raiders to improve upon. But there were also plenty of encouraging signs that came out of the Raiders’ 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals, and for a team that went 2-14 last season, that’s a good reason for a little bit of optimism.

For one, the offensive line did a great job in protecting the quarterback (yes, you read that right). In fact, the Cardinals didn’t get a single sack on Josh McCown nor Andrew Walter in the entire first half and gave them more than enough time to throw, something that was severely lacking last year.
Also, newly-acquired free agent running back Dominic Rhodes showed some explosiveness against the Cardinals on Saturday, another thing that really wasn’t there last year. In addition to scoring a touchdown, he flashed a number of impressive moves, including a spin move to elude linebacker Karlos Dansby to turn a loss into a 4-yard gain.

Last, but certainly not least, the Raiders put some points on the board offensively, as Oakland exploded for a 21-point second quarter to spark some life into the game after a scoreless first quarter.

The first score was the result of an 80-yard drive that was helped along by a pair of costly Arizona penalties, including a pass-interference flag on cornerback Antrel Rolle in the end zone on what appeared to be an uncatchable pass to Doug Gabriel.

On the next play, Rhodes plunged into the end zone from a yard out to give Oakland an early 7-0 lead.

However, that lead wouldn’t last long, as quarterback Kurt Warner quickly found a whipping boy in cornerback Chris Johnson. The fourth-year man was beaten for two big passing plays on the drive that followed Oakland’s score, including a 59-yard touchdown connection from Warner to Bryant Johnson that saw the cornerback fall down on the slant pattern.

After the Raiders went three-and-out, they got a big play from cornerback-turned-safety Hiram Eugene, who spent last season on the practice squad. On a third-down play, Eugene intercepted a Shane Boyd and returned it 36 yards for a score, putting the Raiders ahead, 14-7.

Towards the end of the first half, Walter led Oakland on a 67-yard drive that ended with receiver Mike Williams easily winning a jump ball with Arizona cornerback Darrell Hunter in the corner of the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown.

Arizona chipped away at Oakland’s lead in the second half and actually took the lead late in the third quarter, when Neil Rackers’ 25-yard field goal gave the Cardinals a 23-21 advantage with 3:43 left in the quarter.

However, the Raiders came right back early in the fourth quarter, driving 69 yards before Sebastian Janikowski’s 27-yard field goal gave Oakland a one-point lead it would not relinquish.

 

[jatfly]

Raiders' Williams hopes his weight, er, wait is over
The Contra Costa Times

NAPA - For Mike Williams, it always seems to be about weight. He had the weight of sitting out of football for 19 months after a failed attempt to enter the NFL after his sophomore season at USC.

He entered the NFL in 2005 with the weight of being the 10th player selected in the draft by the Detroit Lions. From there, his weight became the hot-button issue.

Now, he only has the weight of trying to recapture the magic that made him such a hot commodity coming out of USC and trying to make the Raiders' 53-man, opening-day roster at wide receiver.

Sure, his weight has been an issue with the Raiders, Williams said, but not as much as it was during a tumultuous two-year stint with the Lions, where things soured so badly that he landed behind quarterback Josh McCown on the depth chart. At wide receiver, that is.

"When I (check) in, it's just about football," Williams said. "I don't have to worry about the coaches being on me about this, or the organization on me about that. It's a relief. That's the last thing I'm worried about now. ... It's a long road ahead of me."

Williams' road to where he stands today was filled with legal potholes, organizational obstacles and continuous tests of his resolve.

Suffice to say, few envisioned such a bumpy ride for a player who totaled 176 receptions for 2,569 yards and 30 touchdowns in his two seasons at USC.

His troubles began when he hired an agent and declared himself eligible for the 2004 draft. A court ruling blocked Williams from entering the NFL before his junior season, and the NCAA compounded matters by refusing to reinstate his eligibility.

All seemed right again when the Lions selected Williams No.

10 overall. He caught 29 passes for 350 yards and one touchdown his rookie season under Coach Steve Mariucci but all but disappeared last season under new coach Rod Marinelli and offensive coordinator Mike Martz.

Williams sparred with coaches, showed up late to meetings and missed prescribed weigh-in targets in a season in which he caught only eight passes for 99 yards and one TD. The Lions traded him and McCown to the Raiders for a fourth-round pick in April.

Williams said he wondered, "What's next?" when the Lions fired Mariucci after the 2005 season. Martz tipped him off by informing Williams that he "wasn't his kind of guy" coming out of college.

Raiders coach Lane Kiffin was at USC when Williams, 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, ran roughshod over defensive backs. He intends to capitalize on Williams' size and not let it be a distraction.

"That is a value, obviously," Kiffin said, "his size and being able to keep people away from him. That goes back to when he's right, he's a dangerous red-zone player. ... There are good ways to use him down there. But he's got to get better."

Signs of Williams' progress showed during a recent practice when he beat standout cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha on two plays that he turned into touchdowns. He has made a habit of catching everything thrown his way.

In Saturday's 27-23 victory over Arizona in the Raiders exhibition opener, QB Andrew Walter engineered a scoring drive to end the half, capped by a 3-yard pass to Williams, who outjumped Darrell Hunter for the ball. Williams had another 14-yard reception for a first down.

"It was good to see Mike make a couple plays," Kiffin said. "The touchdown catch was the Mike that some of us remember, but he still has a long ways to go."

That's the player McCown remembers seeing last season, when both were relegated to long stints on the sideline.

"Mike can be a really good receiver in this league," McCown said. "He's got unbelievable talent. It's just him getting in a comfort level to make the most of his talents. Consistency is the thing for Mike. Some guys, I've seen it a lot through the course of my career, when a guy doesn't really feel comfortable or doesn't want to be somewhere ... people don't work very hard."

Williams' wait for NFL stardom soon might end, though he acknowledges this likely is his final shot.

"I'm in the position of where it's kind of make or break," Williams said, "so I've got a lot prove and I've got to make a statement in this league as a player and I'm glad to have a fresh start to do that."

 

[jatfly]

Offense returns to respectability
By Dan Nied
Article Launched: 08/12/2007 08:24:17 AM PDT
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_6607222


OAKLAND - Go back to last season, when points were as scarce as summer rain in Oakland and a brick wall defense was useless because of a a soft-mortar offense.
Go back to the offseason, when Raiders owner Al Davis jettisoned coach Art Shell, and then took his sweet time finding a replacement.

Go back to the coaching search, when all reports suggested that Davis wanted to hire USC boy-wonder Steve Sarkisian, and then all reports suggested that Sarkisian, who was only an assistant at USC, turned the Raiders down.

Go back to that moment when you read his name and wondered aloud "Who the heck is Lane Kiffin?"

ing to Davis, Kiffin was the real boy-wonder offensive genius assistant coach from USC. And Kiffin would lead the Raiders offense back to respectability, or at least back from total embarrassment to mild embarrassment.

Now go back to Saturday night, when the Kiffin era began in a preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. Raider Nation turned its eyes to the 30-something guy in the visor and pleaded with him to fix the gaping hope in this ship, begged him for more than the 16 touchdowns the Raiders offense scored last season.

The Raiders won 27-23, but the question still has to be asked: Were they better

Saturday? They were. But it's not exactly clear if that's just because they couldn't have gotten any worse.
Actually, for a while, the Raiders looked just as lost as they had last year. With new quarterback Josh McCown getting the start over newly signed Daunte Culpepper and last year's holdover Andrew Walter, the Raiders sputtered early.

Their first series of the night went like this: Incomplete pass to Jerry Porter. Incomplete pass to Jerry Porter. Incomplete pass to Travis Taylor. Punt.

Perhaps the barren drive was just a result of kinks that hadn't been worked out in practice. But with the inflated value of that first drive based on everything that went wrong last year, the Raiders failed to quiet the panic that has rightfully gripped fans.

Then came Oakland's second offensive drive of the game, and it got only marginally better: Dominic Rhodes up the middle for two yards. Receiver screen to Porter for five years, quick out completion to Ronald Curry for a yard. Punt.

But then it happened, something that Raiders fans have forgotten about. On the third drive of the game, the offense started moving the ball. Granted, they got help from 39 yards of Arizona penalties on the drive, but in the end, the Raiders offense was credited for a 12-play, 80 yard touchdown drive.

It was more a sigh of relief than a thing of beauty. But, for a few moments - despite fumbling two snaps on the drive - the new strategies and fresh personnel started to click. Rhodes was the star of the drive, and the rest of the skill players performed steadily. After Rhodes cut his way to 13 yards, and then four, Porter took a quick pass for 13 yards. Then McCown found Rhodes underneath for 10 and then Mike Williams on the outside for 14.

That put the Raiders into the red zone as the clock ran out on the first quarter. Four plays and one defensive pass interference penalty later, Rhodes plunged into the end zone from a yard out and McAfee Coliseum erupted. It was a slippery piece of hope, but it was all the fans had to hang on to.

That was all there was for the first team as they came out on the next series. Williams would use his 6-foot-5 frame later in the second quarter to haul in a 3-yard touchdown pass from Walter. Walter would look good at times, bad at others, in his quarter and a half of work.

Culpepper would finish the game and look healthy, if not spectacular, doing it. He would let go of a beautiful 50-yard deep pass to rookie wideout Johnnie Lee Higgins and be victimized by five passes dropped by backup receivers. The offensive line was solid in pass protection, and used its new zone blocking scheme to give Rhodes ample room for cutbacks.

In the end, the Raiders offense scored 20 points - two touchdowns and two field goals - which seems like a cornucopia compared to last season.

But this was simply the first preseason game, which means that progress was more important than domination. And the Raiders showed enough that we can now consider this a work in progress instead of a total disaster.

This was the first apology from the Raiders. The first "We're sorry" for putting forth such a terrible product last year. When Rhodes fell into the end zone, and Williams hauled in that touchdown pass later, the offense looked like it actually belonged in the NFL.

Look, it was just a preseason game, just a glorified scrimmage. But it is reasonable to say that the seeds are planted for this offense. It will be better than last year, for certain. Kiffin may or may not end up being the offensive genius Davis wants him so desperately to be. But under his watch, so far, progress has been achieved.

Saturday was proof