Dissecting the Raiders’ Loss to Chargers on Opening Night
By Blu Spikes
If it’s not one thing it’s another. That seemed to be the Raiders credo on Monday Night Football. The stars seemed to be in alignment for a great opening game to the 2012 season. A sold out Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Winning the coin toss and taking the ball seemed like a great decision on this opening night’s gridiron contest. Somewhere between the opening kick-off bobble and the final gun, something went wrong.
There are usually 3-5 plays that if you took back, would entirely change the complexion of the game. On Monday night the Raiders wish they would have had more mulligans to use in the course of the contest.
First, the reverse trick plays have a place in the game, but not when you have the most dominant running back in the league. Give the ball to Run DMC!
Two and three belong to Tommy Kelly for jumping offsides and keeping the Charger drive alive to help them march down and score. The ball is right in front of you, come on man!
Numbers four and five: Travis Goethels’ holy roller snap back to Shane Lechler for aOaklandturnover and a Charger field goal, and his slow but accurate snap that led to Shane Lechlers first blocked punt in six years and another Bolt field goal.
No mulligans in football!
September 10, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen (right) shakes hands with San Diego Chargers head coach Norv Turner (left) after the game at O.co Coliseum. The Chargers defeated the Raiders 22-14. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE
On the plus side, the Raiders’ defense only allowed two field goals after the snapping miscues. Richard Seymour played well – not great, but well – as did Tommy Kelly. It looked like the defensive backs were a step behind on most man –to-man coverage. P
Phillip Webber had a good opening night for the Silver and Black, as did the rookie linebacker fromSan DiegoState, Miles Burris. The Raiders allowed five field goals and one touchdown; they can build on this and develop into one of the better defenses in the league.
The offense was adequate, but simply not good enough to win. Carson Palmer was 32/46 for 276 yards. Rod Streater had the lone touchdown catch and his first in the NFL. Darren McFadden set a new record for running backs with 13 receptions in a game. The old record was set by Allen in ‘87 and Gardner in ‘02. The strength of the game was to be set on the shoulders of McFadden – he had just 32 yards on 15 carries.
The flow of the game seemed to be disrupted; the offense seemed off. Consistency was a part of the chemistry that was missing.
One marked place of definite improvement was in the penalty dept, where the Raiders were penalized a mere six times for 35 yards. It speaks loudly of the discipline that Coach Allen is trying to instill to his charges.
Special teams – except for the field goal team – were ghastly. No energy, no pop, no swagger. It’s a third of the game and a place where you can pick up cheap points and win games. It was tough to watch. With all that said it is now behind us and there is nothing anyone can do to change the outcome of the Charger game. We move on to the fish ofMiamiwith high expectation of victory.
Howard Cosell once said: “The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give.”
I believe the Raiders have a lot more to give and we will see marked improvement from week one to week two in all aspects of the game.