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The good: For starters the team finally got over the eight win season after doing that for the past two seasons. The penalties decreased with only five this time. The return of DE Lance Johnstone did help the defensive line. He got a sack and DT Grady Jackson got two. The defense did a good job of curtailing the big play ability of Saints WR Joe Horn by limiting him to three catches and keeping him out of the end zone. The offense didn't dominate but it did make plays when it had to. The offense jumped on the Saints early with an 17-0 lead and also took control in the fourth quarter by pulling away with the TD pass to WR Tim Brown and the TD run by RB Zack Crockett. The pass attempts were down to a more manageable level with 21. Overall, the team did a good job of controlling the tempo of the game by leading from start to finish.
The bad: The offensive line had problems with pass protection allowing five sacks. p. The leading rusher turned out to be QB Rich Gannon with 55 yards. RB Zack Crockett did an below average job in running the ball. The touches were there with seventeen attempts but he needs to average more than 44 yards, that is less than 3 yards a carry. The LB corps as a group did not have a good day in making tackles thus causing SS Marquez Pope to the leading tackler with 13 (9 solo, 4 assist). On the two touchdown passes that were allowed it appeared that Saints WR Willie Jackson was unchallenged. The safeties especially need to work on doing a better job of communicating their responsibilities in zone coverage. After the team went up 31-16, the kickoff coverage team did a horrific job by allowing a 68 yard return. Totally uncalled for.
Next opponent: Atlanta Falcons
This game could be a grind it out
affair or a blowout. The Falcons have play makers at the skill positions
but the offensive line is not that good which has led to its slumping performance
this year. When the Falcons run the football the Raider defense will primarily
focus on stopping RB Jamal Anderson. In the passing game the Falcons will
look to stretch the field with WR Shawn Jefferson. The short to intermediate
passes will primarily focus on WR Terrace Mathis and TE O.J. Santiago.
The Falcon defense has been improving. The front seven is not healthy with
DE Shane Dronett and LB Jessie Tuggle out. The cornerbacks of the Falcons
are solid with Ray Buchanan and Ashley Ambrose. The Raiders kickoff return
team needs to be very aware of Falcons' KR Tim Dwight who is very capable
of making a big play at any time. The Raiders on offense need to do two
things, get ahead of this team early and run the football. RB Tyrone Wheatley
will not play this game as well. His position will be split between Zack
Crockett, Napoleon Kaufman and Randy Jordan. The Raiders did sign RB Terry
Kirby this past week, who in all likelihood will primarily be used as a
receiving back in passing situations. On defense, the Raiders need to force
Atlanta to pass the football and take them out of the ball control running
game that they will most likely resort to. If there is an x-factor for
this game it will rest on the shoulders of WR Andre Rison who should be
more than ready to play this game against his former team.
That's all for this week.
For the past opinions click here.
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