Rupert
The Long Wind
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Week 4 Preview - Raiders v Browns
Week 4 Preview - Raiders v Browns
September 27, 2006
By Rupert Pollard
The Raiders are coming off a much needed bye week after two brutal defeats to start the season. Cleveland has just come off a hard-fought loss to the Raiders week two opponent, Baltimore. Despite the common opponent, there are several key differences in the games, despite a similar outcome. Cleveland was able to score two touchdowns where the Raiders could only muster two field goals. Cleveland held the Ravens to 15 points while the Raiders gave up 28 points. Cleveland got to host a home game while the Raiders had to travel to Charm City. Does this say the Raiders will get their collective aspirations handed to them on Sunday? Read on…
Offense
Looking at these two teams on offense, one thing is painfully obvious, they’re both near the bottom of the league. But how do they compare to one another? On the ground, the heralded backbone of any NFL offense, they’re essentially identical, putting up right around 60 yards per game. In other words, they’re both pathetic. Through the air, Cleveland puts up about 110 more yards per game, and no surprise, that puts them at about 110 yards total per game more than the Raiders. All those additional yards get Cleveland an offensive ranking of 27th, a whole 5 positions higher than the Raiders, who scrape the bottom of the barrel.
Looking at their one common opponent, Baltimore, they had a similar lack of success on the ground, and, not surprisingly, Cleveland had almost 130 more yards through the air than the Raiders. This is indicative of the more mature passing game Cleveland has. Pass protection was roughly equivalent; both took a sack about every 5.5 attempts. The biggest difference is that Cleveland’s passing ability translated into two touchdowns, one through the air, and one because no-one was watching Charlie Frye. The Raiders six turnovers played a significant role in their lack of offense, three coming off fumbled snaps.
It’s time for excuses and explanations. Cleveland is in the second season of Romeo Crennel’s offense, and Charlie Frye had seven games under his belt prior to this season. Oakland on the other hand has a new head coach, a reshuffled line, and needs to resort to a second year player under center who saw his first significant playing time against Baltimore. The fumbled snaps cannot be excused, and even when they’re properly explained, there was no salve for the damage they did.
These offenses are in different stages of development. Cleveland has the advantage of being one year further down the road than the Raiders are. The Browns are definitely going to be more effective in the passing game, which requires more familiarity for success. They eyeball test proved that out. Cleveland is more often able to make things work in the passing game when they need to than the Raiders are. Whether it’s the scheme or just familiarity in it has yet to be proven, regardless of the reason, the Raiders offense is definitely outclassed in this matchup.
Defense
A distinct difference appears on defense, just like it did on offense. The Raiders allowed about 30 yards more on the ground per game than Cleveland has. Cleveland, on the other hand, allowed 130 more yards through the air than the Raiders have. The end result is that the Browns defense is worse, to the tune of 100 yards per game. However, Cleveland has allowed almost 5 points fewer per game than the Raiders have. Cleveland averages 2 sacks per game and 1.3 turnovers per game. The Raiders average 1 sack per game and half a turnover.
Looking at their common opponent, the results are similar. Cleveland gave up 50 fewer yards on the ground, but 130 yards more in the air. And similarly, Cleveland gave up only 15 points while Oakland gave up 28. Each team collected 2 sacks, and Oakland collected the only turnover either team had.
Let’s forget the excuses and explanations for a minute and go straight to the eyeball test. Cleveland has a better pass rush than the Raiders, and even though Cleveland stops the run better, they’re not really that good at doing it. It’s time for the excuses. The Raiders gave some pretty good field position to Baltimore, which accounts for some of the point differential, but it also accounts for the yardage differential too. Sorry, Charlie. Here, the Raiders have a scheme advantage because Rob Ryan has been in place for two years already, but the Raiders also have a lot of youth starting on defense. Cleveland is only starting one rookie, and essentially has a veteran defense.
Cleveland’s defense is built for today while the Raiders’ defense is built for tomorrow. Still, the Raiders’ D is performing well. However, the lack of veterans on the Raiders defense has been evident at the end of every half, when they’ve given up a scoring drive to their opponent.
Special Teams
Janikowski and Lechler have been booming their kicks. Dawson is a solid kicker and Zastudil is a decent punter. The return game favors Cleveland on punts and the Raiders on kicks. They’re fairly equivalent on the amount they’ve allowed on punt returns, but the Raiders have had one breakdown on a kick return that puts their average above Cleveland’s by 10 yards. If there’s any advantage here, it goes to the Raiders’ two kickers.
Bottom Line
This is going to be a ball burner, to quote a former UCLA Basketball coach. Based upon run defense, both of these offenses should see some success running the ball, or at least begin the process of getting their running games going. Oakland’s pass defense will be matched up against the best passing offense they’ve seen so far this season, and their passing offense and offensive line should see the most forgiving pass defense and rush they’ve faced yet. Cleveland’s pass offense and offensive line will go back to seeing the less effective pass rush that they started the season against, but will face a pretty stingy pass defense.
What are the questions? Oakland’s pass defense will have to prove that it can stand up under the pressure of a pass-heavy offense. The pass defense did well in the first two games, but they didn’t have to turn back a lot of attempts. Both teams will have to prove they can run the ball, since they have yet to mount any sort of consistent ground attack. Can Oakland score a touchdown? Despite a couple good opportunities in week two, Oakland’s inexperience at QB prevented them from consummating those. Can Oakland’s defense hold an opponent below 27 points? Good question. Since Cleveland only averages 15 points a game, the odds are in the Raiders favor. This game could go many different ways, but I see it being a struggle. Cleveland has one game, and a more cohesive offense to it’s credit, so I expect them to prevail.
Rupert’s guess
The Raiders finally break through with a couple touchdowns, but Cleveland proves to be a more consistent performer. Cleveland 23 – Oakland 20
Week 4 Preview - Raiders v Browns
September 27, 2006
By Rupert Pollard
The Raiders are coming off a much needed bye week after two brutal defeats to start the season. Cleveland has just come off a hard-fought loss to the Raiders week two opponent, Baltimore. Despite the common opponent, there are several key differences in the games, despite a similar outcome. Cleveland was able to score two touchdowns where the Raiders could only muster two field goals. Cleveland held the Ravens to 15 points while the Raiders gave up 28 points. Cleveland got to host a home game while the Raiders had to travel to Charm City. Does this say the Raiders will get their collective aspirations handed to them on Sunday? Read on…
Offense
Looking at these two teams on offense, one thing is painfully obvious, they’re both near the bottom of the league. But how do they compare to one another? On the ground, the heralded backbone of any NFL offense, they’re essentially identical, putting up right around 60 yards per game. In other words, they’re both pathetic. Through the air, Cleveland puts up about 110 more yards per game, and no surprise, that puts them at about 110 yards total per game more than the Raiders. All those additional yards get Cleveland an offensive ranking of 27th, a whole 5 positions higher than the Raiders, who scrape the bottom of the barrel.
Looking at their one common opponent, Baltimore, they had a similar lack of success on the ground, and, not surprisingly, Cleveland had almost 130 more yards through the air than the Raiders. This is indicative of the more mature passing game Cleveland has. Pass protection was roughly equivalent; both took a sack about every 5.5 attempts. The biggest difference is that Cleveland’s passing ability translated into two touchdowns, one through the air, and one because no-one was watching Charlie Frye. The Raiders six turnovers played a significant role in their lack of offense, three coming off fumbled snaps.
It’s time for excuses and explanations. Cleveland is in the second season of Romeo Crennel’s offense, and Charlie Frye had seven games under his belt prior to this season. Oakland on the other hand has a new head coach, a reshuffled line, and needs to resort to a second year player under center who saw his first significant playing time against Baltimore. The fumbled snaps cannot be excused, and even when they’re properly explained, there was no salve for the damage they did.
These offenses are in different stages of development. Cleveland has the advantage of being one year further down the road than the Raiders are. The Browns are definitely going to be more effective in the passing game, which requires more familiarity for success. They eyeball test proved that out. Cleveland is more often able to make things work in the passing game when they need to than the Raiders are. Whether it’s the scheme or just familiarity in it has yet to be proven, regardless of the reason, the Raiders offense is definitely outclassed in this matchup.
Defense
A distinct difference appears on defense, just like it did on offense. The Raiders allowed about 30 yards more on the ground per game than Cleveland has. Cleveland, on the other hand, allowed 130 more yards through the air than the Raiders have. The end result is that the Browns defense is worse, to the tune of 100 yards per game. However, Cleveland has allowed almost 5 points fewer per game than the Raiders have. Cleveland averages 2 sacks per game and 1.3 turnovers per game. The Raiders average 1 sack per game and half a turnover.
Looking at their common opponent, the results are similar. Cleveland gave up 50 fewer yards on the ground, but 130 yards more in the air. And similarly, Cleveland gave up only 15 points while Oakland gave up 28. Each team collected 2 sacks, and Oakland collected the only turnover either team had.
Let’s forget the excuses and explanations for a minute and go straight to the eyeball test. Cleveland has a better pass rush than the Raiders, and even though Cleveland stops the run better, they’re not really that good at doing it. It’s time for the excuses. The Raiders gave some pretty good field position to Baltimore, which accounts for some of the point differential, but it also accounts for the yardage differential too. Sorry, Charlie. Here, the Raiders have a scheme advantage because Rob Ryan has been in place for two years already, but the Raiders also have a lot of youth starting on defense. Cleveland is only starting one rookie, and essentially has a veteran defense.
Cleveland’s defense is built for today while the Raiders’ defense is built for tomorrow. Still, the Raiders’ D is performing well. However, the lack of veterans on the Raiders defense has been evident at the end of every half, when they’ve given up a scoring drive to their opponent.
Special Teams
Janikowski and Lechler have been booming their kicks. Dawson is a solid kicker and Zastudil is a decent punter. The return game favors Cleveland on punts and the Raiders on kicks. They’re fairly equivalent on the amount they’ve allowed on punt returns, but the Raiders have had one breakdown on a kick return that puts their average above Cleveland’s by 10 yards. If there’s any advantage here, it goes to the Raiders’ two kickers.
Bottom Line
This is going to be a ball burner, to quote a former UCLA Basketball coach. Based upon run defense, both of these offenses should see some success running the ball, or at least begin the process of getting their running games going. Oakland’s pass defense will be matched up against the best passing offense they’ve seen so far this season, and their passing offense and offensive line should see the most forgiving pass defense and rush they’ve faced yet. Cleveland’s pass offense and offensive line will go back to seeing the less effective pass rush that they started the season against, but will face a pretty stingy pass defense.
What are the questions? Oakland’s pass defense will have to prove that it can stand up under the pressure of a pass-heavy offense. The pass defense did well in the first two games, but they didn’t have to turn back a lot of attempts. Both teams will have to prove they can run the ball, since they have yet to mount any sort of consistent ground attack. Can Oakland score a touchdown? Despite a couple good opportunities in week two, Oakland’s inexperience at QB prevented them from consummating those. Can Oakland’s defense hold an opponent below 27 points? Good question. Since Cleveland only averages 15 points a game, the odds are in the Raiders favor. This game could go many different ways, but I see it being a struggle. Cleveland has one game, and a more cohesive offense to it’s credit, so I expect them to prevail.
Rupert’s guess
The Raiders finally break through with a couple touchdowns, but Cleveland proves to be a more consistent performer. Cleveland 23 – Oakland 20
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