Oakland Raiders: A Few Players Who Must Step Up Against Baltimore
By Kevin Saito
Ready or not, it’s time for Manuel’s close up.
Many eyebrows were raised when the Raiders signed, former Buffalo first round pick and noted bust Manuel. But hey, even though he was never able to be the franchise quarterback the Bills hoped he’d be, at least he wasn’t as bad as JaMarcus Russell, right?
Manuel’s summer was up and down to say the least. He had some good showings and some downright awful ones. But he did enough to beat out second-year man Connor Cook for the backup gig – which some say is akin to winning an ugly contest.
However, with Carr already ruled out of the game thanks to a transverse process fracture in his back, suffered last week, Manuel will be under center against Baltimore.
And you have to say, if he can come out and play against the Ravens the way he did against Denver last week, the Raiders may just have a puncher’s chance after all.
Granted, the sample size was limited – Manuel played in less than two full quarters. However, when he came in, he did something not even Carr was able to do against the Denver defense – move the ball. Until he threw a ghastly interception to effectively end the game, he had this Oakland offense moving and helped put them in a position to win the game.
For the quarter plus he was in, Manuel went 11 for 17 for 106 yards. He took a sack and threw the aforementioned ghastly interception. But according to PFF, when Manuel’s passing numbers were adjusted to account for dropped passes, throw aways, and the like, he actually completed 82.4 percent of his passes – the fourth best rate of any quarterback in week four.
Baltimore’s pass defense ranks sixteenth in the league to this point, surrendering just 223 yards per game. But Manuel will have a plethora of weapons at his disposal – both through the air and on the ground.
It’s a huge game for a Raiders team trying to avoid slipping below .500 for the year. And Manuel needs to prove that the moment isn’t too big for him and that he can indeed step up and play.