SB Nation - Stanford Routt

Oakland Raiders Postgame Recap: Redskins 34, Raiders 13

Rated-R Superstar — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:32:23 -0000

Bruce Gradkowski tried to get his third win as a starter in the silver and black. [via cdn2.sbnation.com]

Fresh off of a win on the road as 15-point underdogs, the Oakland Raiders (4-8) took on the Washington Redskins (3-9) as underdogs once again. Trying to stay hot behind quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, the Raiders entered today's game 2-1 when he starts with wins over the Bengals and Steelers. Unfortunately, the game was blacked out locally. Banged up, Chris Cooley and Clinton Portis were among the many Redskins out for today's game. Dive in to see how the Raiders fared with the Redskins on a gloomy day at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. A bit of rain was in the air for this one.

Darren McFadden had a nice first quarter catching the ball. [via cdn1.sbnation.com]

First Quarter: A pathetic return by Gary Russell of 11 huge yards gave us the ball first. He did, however, make the only key play of the series before a sack by LaRon Landry forced the Raiders to punt the ball to the Redskins. Darren McFadden carried it twice on the opening series and basically went nowhere. Anyway, a 68-yard boot by Shane Lechler set up Washington at their own 20 for their opening drive. A five-yard run by Quinton Ganther was the only real positive play on the series. A sack by Trevor Scott, who has been on fire, and an incomplete pass by Jason Campbell forced a Hunter Smith punt. Johnnie Lee Higgins, who had some room on the return, managed to return it to his own 39 yard line. After Bruce Gradkowski hit Higgins for a nine-yard pass, Justin Fargas fumbled; however, Redskins cornerback Fred Smoot had one foot out of bounds on the recovery. It remained Oakland ball. Gradkowski then hit Zach Miller on a big play, but an offensive pass interference on Chaz Schilens brought it back almost to the original line of scrimmage of the drive. A timeout followed it up. The Raiders couldn't really amount anything after that. Another sack doomed a second consecutive drive and it was Lechler time again. A fair catch was called by Antwaan Randle El and the Redskins had it at their own 22. The defense made some nice plays, specifically Kirk Morrison and Chris Johnson, and a three-and-out forced the Redskins to punt. A big play opened up the next drive for the Raiders, as Gradkowski hit Darren McFadden on a slant for 43 huge yards. Unable to muster anything after that, a field goal by Sebastian Janikowski gave the Raiders a 3-0 lead with just over four minutes still to play in the opening quarter. Faced with a third down, Jason Campbell swung it out to Quinton Ganther on the left side. Busting through, Ganther picked up huge yardage to put Washington into not only Oakland territory, but also field goal range. Once again, the Redskins converted on third down. On the very next play, Fred Davis was hit for a touchdown. After whistled for a 15-yard penalty, the Redskins had to kick from their own 15. A 41-yard return by Gary Russell gave Oakland the ball at midfield. An acrobatic grab by McFadden at the 24 yard line capped a seemingly long first quarter.

Fred Davis found the end zone twice and celebrates with a teammate. [via cdn3.sbnation.com]

Second Quarter: Starting the second quarter, a stupid play call (a give to Gary Russell) cost the Raiders a yard. Zach Miller and Chaz Schilens each made grabs and the Raiders had a goal-to-go from the nine. After a miscue on the give to Justin Fargas, the Raiders hit Zach Miller on third down. He was short, however, but Tom Cable remained aggressive from last week. A fourth down carry and dive by Fargas gave the Raiders a touchdown as they had regained a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter. The rain got progressively worse at this point in the game, as noted by commentator Dick Stockton. Fred Davis, open in the secondary, caught a pass and it was for a good gain into Oakland territory. Back-to-back plays by the Raider defense stuffed Quinton Ganther in the backfield. Richard Seymour and Trevor Scott stopped the run and Kirk Morrison and Tommy Kelly blew the next play up on a screen in the backfield. Needing 12 yards on third down, an offsides penalty by Greg Ellis gave the Redskins five free yards. So, another offsides penalty hurt; however, it didn't hurt as much. Hiram Eugene made a great tackle on Randle El and Washington had to settle for a field goal. Graham Gano, just signed out of the UFL, connected on a 46-yard field goal. We were tied, 10-10, in a pretty evenly matched game with 7:27 left to go in the first half. After a three-and-out, a great 58-yard punt from Lechler set the Redskins up at their own 21. The Redskins didn't get far at all, and some good pressure by defensive linemen Matt Shaughnessy and Gerard Warren forced a punt. Jason Campbell was shaken up after the hit. A couple of stupid calls -- runs up the middle by McFadden and Russell -- brought up a long third down. Nearly intercepted by Reed Doughty on a pass intended for Oakland's Zach Miller, Doughy was flagged for illegal contact. It give the Raiders an automatic first down. On the very next play, an open Miller flat out dropped the ball. It was a good pass by Gradkowski, too, but Miller just let it slip through his hands. Welcome to the show Louis Murphy, as he pulled the Raiders to within two yards of the first down marker at the two-minute warning; however, on the next play, a catch of his was correctly called back on the booth review. The Raiders were forced to punt from midfield. A stupid penalty on the punt called against Hiram Eugene -- not stupid on Eugene's part but rather the referee's -- as Eugene was called for interference when he didn't even interfere. The bench was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty and so the Redskins had it at their own 40. Santana Moss made a 14-yard catch and the Redskins were threatening before the half. Next, a big play to Devin Thomas had Washington really in business. Two plays later, Fred Davis scored his second touchdown of the game to give Washington a 17-10 lead. (Damn, he's on my bench in a fantasy football league.) A holding penalty on the kickoff return set the Raiders up in bad position, and there was just seconds to go before halftime. A couple of runs by Gradkowski picked up some yards, but Oakland needed more with just 16 seconds to go without any timeouts remaining. Almost getting sack, Gradkowski flipped it out to Fargas in the flat and he ran out of bounds with less than 10 seconds to go. An incomplete pass on the next play basically made it impossible for a field goal try; however, Tom Cable decided to go for a field goal without running another play. A 66-yard field goal fell short, and Redskins safety Reed Doughty grabbed it and took off from his own end zone. Mario Henderson grabbed him and slammed Doughty to the ground to end the half. The Redskins had a 17-10 lead. For those of you keeping track, a total of 16 penalty flags were thrown. Yes, this was an ugly game.

After filling in for Bruce Gradkowski, JaMarcus Russell spent a ton of time on the ground. [via cdn1.sbnation.com]

Third Quarter: The Redskins started out with the ball at their own 30, and more importantly the lead. A pass interference committed by Tyvon Branch gave the Redskins a fresh set of downs. Michael Huff, who suffered a stinger in the first half, is still out with that injury and being replaced by Hiram Eugene. A couple of incomplete passes had Washington in a third and long situation. A rare blitz by the defense had Campbell sacked back at his own 26 by rookie safety Mike Mitchell. A punt followed that big play. The return by Higgins set the Raiders up in good field position, at their own 44. After going down with a knee injury just before the first half concluded, Gradkowski was out and unable to return. Yes, that means JaMarcus Russell was in -- and playing quarterback, too. Raiders fans everywhere are holding their respective breaths. Needing three years on third down, Russell called a timeout as Oakland was nearing field goal range. Still, they needed a first down if they even wanted to think about a pretty good try being at Washington's 38. A big play conversion to Higgins was followed up by a 10-yard loss on the sack. Ugh, Russell didn't get rid of the ball. Rookie Brian Orakpo brought him down. More stupid play-calling from Tom Cable, the reverse went nowhere. You've already called that play once, Tom. You can't fool the defense like that. An incomplete pass to Darren McFadden set up a 53-yard field goal try for Janikowski. Missing earlier from 66 yards out, this one was much more manageable and Sebastian knocked it through for his second of the day. The Washington lead was trimmed to 17-13 with just under nine minutes to play in the third quarter. The Raiders brought the heat some more on Campbell on the Redskins' next drive, as Stanford Routt nearly got to Campbell. By the way, Routt replaced by the injured Nnamdi Asomugha. Then, on second down, Matt Shaughnessy brought down Campbell for Oakland's third sack of the game. With the third down play coming up short, a good return by Higgins set up Russell and company in good field position just shy of midfield. A second down play resulting in a first down to Zach Miller had the Raiders in Washington territory; however, on the next play, McFadden slips on a run. He still managed to pick up six yards. A pitch that went backwards forced the Raiders to make a play on third down in order to keep the drive alive. Russell found Murphy and the Raiders moved the chains. It's a step forward and then a step backwards for Russell, apparently, as Andre Carter brings him down for a loss. A false start, which didn't occur under Gradkowski, moved the Raiders back five more yards. Another penalty and then another sack totally demolished the drive for the Raiders, and it became third down with 35 yards to go. Is anyone ready for Charlie Frye yet? The punt by Lechler hopped into the end zone, and Washington began their drive at their own 20 with the third quarter almost over with. Almost off of the field, Rock Cartwright made a play on third down for the Redskins and Washington's drive continued. A couple of runs by Quinton Ganther ended the third quarter. The Redskins had a 17-13 lead over three quarters.

Santana Moss and the Redskins ran away in the fourth quarter. [via cdn0.sbnation.com]

Fourth Quarter: Kicking off the fourth quarter was Washington in Oakland territory looking to add onto their four-point lead. Not surprisingly, the quarter begins with two penalties on the Raiders. Routt was called for pass interference -- which was a bad call as Santana Moss had slipped -- and then Howard was flagged for holding. A couple of plays later, the Oakland defense tried to get off the field with Washington tryign to convert a third down needing three yards. Of course, the Redskins picked up the first down with ease on a pass from Campbell to Malcolm Kelly. A touchdown basically kills any chance the Raiders have of winning this game, especially with Gradkowski shelved. An effective screen to Moss set up a touchdown run by Ganther, a Richmond native scoring the first time in his career, and Washington had taken a 24-13 lead with over 11 minutes to play in regulation. It was clearly a great drive by the Redskins. Chewing six minutes up and going 80 yards on 13 plays, you couldn't have asked for more if you were Jim Zorn. The Raiders had the ball back needing two touchdowns and a two-point conversion. In a shocking turn of events, Russell threw a pass that was picked off by LaRon Landry. Why am I still watching the game at this point? I don't know. Campbell to Moss goes for 30 yards, and the Redskins are a touchdown away from blowout city. Some plays later, Ganther's second touchdown of the day put Washington ahead by 31-13 score. Oh, yes, it was all over by then. Russell marched back out there and was sacked. We were all so very surprised. Luckily for us, Carter totally missed the fumble and Henderson pounced on it to keep possession. Blah, blah, blah, the Raiders had to punt without a first down gained; however, Randle El screwed up the punt return and dropped it. Tony Stewart fell on it and Oakland had the ball at midfield. On the very next play, Russell was sacked yet again and this time it was Lorenzo Alexander. That was the seventh sack of the game with five of them coming against Russell compared to only two when Gradkowski was in the game. God, this game couldn't end any sooner. I'll save the dramatics: Russell was sacked on fourth down. Getting Marcus Mason involved some in the fourth quarter, Washington marched down and kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 34-13. Terribly bad went to even worse as Zach Miller went down with an injury. After another useless drive that went nowhere led by the great JaMarcus Russell, the Redskins got the ball back and ran out the clock. Improving to 4-9 are the Redskins and falling to that same record are the Raiders by a 34-13 score.

Little Billy has some explaining to do. [via cdn2.sbnation.com]

The Report Card: I'll give grades to the pass offense, rush offense, pass defense, rush defense and special teams. Of course, you're welcome to give your own grades in the comments.

Pass Offense: D -- Obviously, things were going a lot smoother with Bruce Gradkowski back there instead of the totally inept and awful JaMarcus Russell. Still, we have to grade them both. Gradkowski was a little below average and Russell was awful, so I tried to find the middle ground.
Rush Offense: F -- The rushing offense was absolutely dreadful. On 24 carries, a 2.7 average just isn't going to cut it. Justin Fargas led the way with 21 yards and a touchdown, but that stuff is something that should be achieved in just one quarter and not one whole game.
Pass Defense: D+ -- Jason Campbell had almost a field day going 16-for-28 with 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns. They brought some heat, so that was a good thing but just about the only good thing.
Rush Defense: C -- It was a very average performance by the rush defense with the Redskins averaging around four yards per carry with a couple of rushing touchdowns.
Special Teams: B- -- Janikowski's only miss came from 66 yards. Shane Lechler averaged almost 52 yards per punt. Johnnie Lee Higgins was okay returning punts while Gary Russell was nothing special returning kicks. Overall, it was pretty decent and I guess I couldn't complain about the way special teams played. The coverage wasn't all that bad itself.

My Thoughts and Tidbits: It's quite simple, really. Once JaMarcus Russell came in for the injured Bruce Gradkowski, it all went to hell. Trailing 17-10 at the half, this game was clearly within reach all the way. Charlie Frye should start next week should Gradkowski be unable to go. Next up, we have the Denver Broncos who are 8-5 and leading the Wild Card race in the AFC. This was really rough in the second half. Enjoy your Sunday evening, guys, and try to put this one behind us.

Poll

Weekly Recap Poll: Who was the Oakland Raiders player of the game?

Al Davis Fires Roster

John Morgan — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:00:22 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sakuma - AP

"That's right, JaaMarcus--you failure. I fired you twice!"

Browse more photos »

Assuming my response to their question was not mistaken as insult and assuming I did not make any embarrassing gaffes in my semi-sober state, you should be able to click on this link and read my exclusive report about Al Davis firing his entire roster and staff. It's exclusive.

"I’ve worked with liars like Lane Kiffin and I’ve worked with failures like Mike Shanahan, but I’ve never worked with a bunch of sucks like these Raiders. I say I can hire garbage men and dock workers and lose and not pay millions to do so. And it’s my right by the CBA to do so. If my Art Powell is stuffing lettuce in-a taco shell somewhere, I am here sayin’ ‘you can play pro football—you can beat [former Raiders corner] Stanford Routt."

New England Patriots Links 9/07/09 - Belichick Shakes Down the Final Roster

Marima — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:10:49 -0000

How can Belichick have so much up his sleeve when he never wears any?

View full size photo »

Tony Massarotti wrings his hands in a "this will be good unless turns out to be bad" sort of way over the Seymour trade.

For Belichick and for the Patriots, this suddenly appears to be a pivotal time in their evolution. Their dynasty from the first half of this decade is now a thing of the past, symbolically and otherwise. The Pittsburgh Steelers have won two titles since the Pats last won a Super Bowl and the Indianapolis Colts have won one. The core of Belichick’s defense now has been transplanted. Belichick has not made a move as this one since releasing Lawyer Milloy just before the start of the 2003 season, a move that seemed to blow up the coach’s face when the Pats subsequently absorbed a 31-0 loss to the Bills in Week 1.

By the end of that season, the Patriots were Super Bowl champions and Belichick looked like a genius. But what happens if this one goes the other way?

Steve Corkran (Oakland Tribune) Raiders acquire Richard Seymour from Patriots for No. 1 pick in 2011.

Cable said you can't pay too much for a player of Seymour's ability. "The issue is, you want to make your team better for right now," Cable said. "Right now is all that matters. We'll address that when the time comes, but I don't see that as a negative, I really don't. Not at this time." In Seymour, the Raiders get a versatile player who has flourished as a tackle and end in a 4-3 scheme and as an end in a 3-4 scheme. The Raiders prefer the 4-3 scheme under defensive coordinator John Marshall. "It's pretty self explanatory what he brings," cornerback Stanford Routt said. "He has championship-type of intelligence, comes from the Patriots, so he, obviously, knows football. He's a beast coming off that edge. "... He's going to bring a lot."

Ian Rapoport says the players have no choice but to fill the void left by Seymour.

"We’re getting younger on the defensive side of the ball," second-year linebacker Jerod Mayo said. "There are guys that can really play football, and we’ll see this year. [Seymour] will be dearly missed, but we have players ready to step up. Hopefully, we can replace him."

TEAM TIDBITS

Andy Hart looks at the long and short of the Seymour deal, and the breakup of the trio of first-round defensive linemen.
Paul Perillo is stunned and disappointed with the move.

LOCAL LINKS

Shalise Manza Young notes Seymour is weighing whether or not to report to Oakland, and if he does, Seymour would most likely want assurance that the Raiders will either not use their franchise tag on him next year or will sign him to a lucrative short-term extension.
Christopher Price considers the huge upside: the Patriots heading into the 2011 draft with two first-round picks, Vince Wilfork signed to a long-term deal, no rookie salary cap and plenty of dough to work with.
Chris Gasper calls this the end of an era and says Seymour hinted to Ty Warren that he thought this was going to happen.
Karen Guregian says moving on from Seymour means a front line that won’t be nearly as good in the immediate future.
Mike Reiss talks about the trade that sent shockwaves across the NFL, and offers his expert analysis on the Seymour deal.
John Chandler says that underneath the shock value, Seymour trade makes sense for Patriots.
Mark Divver analyzes the trade and says the Patriots' offense could be so explosive this season that it will cover up for any adjustment pains the defense suffers.
Mike Petraglia offers players' reactions to the Seymour trade from Faulk, Maroney, Mayo, Lewis, Wilfork and Warren.
Chris Gasper catches teammate reactions to losing Seymour.
Dan Shaughnessy chimes in with his 'bloodless Belichick' routine, noting the slip of the facade with Bruschi is gone - along with any sentiment for Seymour, his 3-time Super Bowl and 5-time Pro Bowl player.
Ron Borges grabs the chance to again stick it to Belichick. "Seymour never insisted upon being the highest-paid defensive lineman in football nor did he care about that. What he cared about was if it’s a business and you’re one of the best in the business then you be paid like it. Eventually he was paid, but the stone-hearted, businessman’s approach Bill Belichick favors left Seymour cold."
Mike Reiss looks at the Patriots current roster and when each player's contract expires.
Karen Guregian reports several noted ESPN football analysts view the Patriots' O-Line as its Achilles' heel.
Mike Reiss notes the praise given to WR Terrence Nunn by coach Bill Belichick after Friday's game.
Christopher Price reports the Patriots practice squad will be released sometime today.
Ian Rapoport notes A.J. Feeley's wife, Boston Breakers star Heather Mitts, is openly rooting for her husband to land with the Patriots.

NATIONAL NEWS

Peter King (SI) MMQB: Cutdown weekend highlights; the Seymour fallout; 10 things and more.
Monte Poole (Oakland Tribune) Seymour facing long odds of succeeding in Oakland.
Jerry McDonald (ContraCosta Times) Starting Monday, or whenever Richard Seymour arrives from the New England Patriots, you won’t have the Raiders to push around anymore.
Cam Inman (Oakland Tribune) Seymour? Yes, it may finally be safe to see more Raiders defense.
Tim Graham (ESPN) Patriots trade looks like masterstroke for future.
Charles Robinson (Yahoo! Sports) The right risk at the right time for Pats.
Albert Breer (Sporting News) Breaking down the Richard Seymour Trade.
Nancy Gay (NFL Fanhouse) Richard Seymour a short-term fix for a clunker of a franchise.
Bill Williamson (ESPN) Expect Oakland to do what it can to keep Seymour; Raiders trying to get better short term.
Don Banks (SI) Predicting the 2009 NFL season. First place in the AFC? New England.
Don Banks (SI) Predicts the Playoffs. It will be Pats over Chargers in the divisional playoffs, Pats over Titans in the AFC Championship and Pats over Packers for the Super Bowl. Nice.
USA Today's NFL Power Rankings. Pats at number 2 behind Steelers.
Tim Graham (ESPN) With O'Connell, Jets must make QB decision.

MHR Chalk Talk -- Week 12 - Oakland at Denver

Steve Nichols — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:00:06 -0000

YOUR SOURCE FOR THE VERY BEST

IN DENVER BRONCO PRE-GAME ANALYSIS

MILEHIGHREPORT.COM

For Everything Raiders Related, Check Out Silver & Black Pride

As I write this report, I'm battling some kind of illness that MHR's own Dr. BroncoBear needs to look into. I seem to be suffering from something that is a cross between ebola, anthrax, and the bubonic plague. Fever, vomiting, stomach cramping, swollen lymph glands, headache, and the worst sore throat ever. For that reason, this is the hardest final draft I've written for MHR. One thing keeps me from crawling into bed and resigning myself to an engagement with my Lord and Maker however...

That's right Baby....

It's time for the epic good versus evil match-up that we've all been waiting for. Yep. Twice a year the Heavens and the bowels of Hell open up to cast forth the armies of rightousness (the Denver Broncos) and the demons of darkness (the Oakland Raiders). To some of the more unbalanced fans in our midst, these two games hold more significance than even the Superbowl itself. But to all of us, something in the fabric of time, space, dimension, and destiny has gone awry if Denver doesn't manage to beat the grotesque, morbid henchmen of the dark overlord himself, Darth Al Davis.

And so dear readers, come with me into MHR's Chalk Talk this week as we break down the match-up between the angels and the demons, and see why good should triumph over evil, or (Heaven Forbid!) why evil has an apple's chance in Eden.

Read on...

oakland vs. Denver

We've come a long way since the first game of the season, where we beat the Raiders by a score of 41 to 14. We've taken a decent lead in the AFC West, while the Raiders have the potential to finish worse that their 4-12 record of last year the last few years.

How bad have things gotten for the Raider Nation? Look for yourself! Saint is a class act, and you have to feel compassion for a guy whose football world is in total collapse. One to four days go by in between fanposts (none with recommendations), and the news just gets worse and worse (the admission that Javon Walker was a bust, and the Broncos were right / too much money spent on MeAngelo Hall / yes, Al Davis really is the cause of the franchise deathof the Raiders).

In the meantime, while not in the La La Land of MHR stalwarts Zappa and Mike Clark heading to 13-3, the Broncos are very likely heading to the playoffs this year, and not as some wildcard team.

Yep. Things look really nice from over here in MileHighReport.com Land. And while I pick Denver to win this game in a big way, no good coach would look at the match-up and call this a gimee. No really. There are some match-up issues to look at. (C'mon folks. I'm trying to keep a straight face).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are a lot of match-ups to consider in this game. Some are scheme related, and some are player related. The most important ones in my estimation are below.

The Oakland Run Game vs. the Denver Run Defense

Yes, Denver run defense is improving. Despite missing 100% of the LB starters, Denver fought of Atlanta's elite run attack. Is the run defense coming together, or did we just have a couple of good games? How much should we be concerned with the Oakland attack?

Jeff Legwold at the Rocky Mountain News gives this terrific insight:

Despite all the Raiders' problems, and they are many, they still are the 10th-ranked rushing team in the NFL. And that's despite their No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft, Darren McFadden, having missed three games because of injury and Justin Fargas, their leading rusher, having missed two.

McFadden has the Raiders' only 100-yard rushing game of the season, 164 against the Chiefs in September. But with Fargas, McFadden and Michael Bush, Oakland can pound away at a defense if motivated to do so.

Given the Raiders' troubles at quarterback and in their passing game - it's last in the league - if they are going to move the ball Sunday, they will have to lean on those backs.

The Broncos are coming off a quality outing against the run-heavy Falcons, limiting Michael Turner to 81 yards and Atlanta to only 3.3 yards per carry overall. They did it with quality play up front, which enabled their linebackers to flow to the ball.

Legwold makes an excellent argument that the Oakland running attack is nothing to laugh at. Whle they may rank 10th, they rank that low with the consideration that they have had their share of injuries. I'll go a step further.

Denver's one gap defense is a work in progress, but it is not the kind of defense you want against against the zone block system that Oakland runs. That's more cause for concern in an otherwise "easy" looking game.

The good news? Atlanta only recently parted ways with the zone block running system, and much of their offensive line and running style still retains major elements of the zone block, and the Denver Defense did just fine. Consider also that the ATL run attack is just plain better that Oak's.

My point is that we look good stopping the run, but not "comfortably" good. Score this match-up for Denver, but with the caveat that there could be some disturbing undertones.

The Oakland Pass Game versus the Denver Pass Defense

Oakland has the worst pass game in the League. Champ Bailey is questionable for this game. My (lowly, humble) advice to Denver? Sit Champ. Let him rest and repair. No need to risk Superman against the Smurfs. As ancient and awful as the vertical pass system is, and as poor as Oakland runs it, we'll be just fine with Bly and company.

Denver's Air Force versus the Oakland Pass Defense

If you are like me, and you don't like the mainstream sports media, you're in good company. But let's give credit where credit is due. The Rocky Mountain News does a great job, and they're good friends of MHR. Writer Lee Rasizer drops by to chat with Guru here at MHR, and writer Jeff Legwold puts up solid pieces at RMN as well.

Again, from Jeff Legwold:

The previous time these teams met - to open the regular season - the Broncos sent Royal after Raiders cornerback DeAngelo Hall, in Jay Cutler's words, "time after time."

Royal came away with 146 yards on nine catches in his first regular-season NFL game.

The Raiders since have jettisoned Hall, and with Nnamdi Asomugha likely to get Brandon Marshall much of the time, that would leave Royal working against Routt.

Routt has plenty of speed - he was timed in the low 4.3 seconds in his 40-yard dash at the 2005 scouting combine - and is a little bigger than Royal. But Royal has shown the ability to consistently make himself some space against man-to-man coverage.

Again, I'll go a step further. As of this writing, Nnamdi Asomugha is listed as questionable for this game. If you like Jeff's take on the match-up, imagine how much sweeter it is without Asomugha in the line-up.

Denver's Ground Forces against the Oakland Run Defense

Ten little nine little eight little running backs, seven little six little five little running backs...

Mow down the Denver running backs. Go ahead. Stick them all on injured reserve. Despite Mike Shanahan's constant admonition that you just can't plug anyone into the RB spot with the high powered Denver zone block, it's getting harder to believe. Need proof? Denver lost starting RBs before the season began (injury, off field behavior, etc), and lost the entire string behind them as the season wore on.

No problem. Denver brings in a cell phone saleseman, a player from another position, and some guy nobody has heard of before, and Denver rips the heart out of Atlanta.

Now that Denver seems (we hope) to have reverted back to running and west coast play (over the pass heavy version of the spread offense they've been using), I'm confident that few teams can stop the Broncos in the run.

Match-ups by Ranking

Denver on Offense -

Denver run Off (18th) versus Oakland run Def (30th)

Denver pass Off (3rd) versus Oakland pass Def (12th)

Denver Off yards (3rd) versus Oakland yards defensed (25th)

Denver Off Pts (8th) versus Oakland Pts allowed (28th)

Denver on Defense -

Denver run Def (26th) versus Oakland run Off (10th)

Denver pass Def (29th) versus Oakland pass Off (32nd)

Denver yards defensed (29th) versus Oakland Off yards (30th)

Denver Pts allowed (27th) versus Oakland Off Pts (32nd)

The Bottom Line

Denver is getting their act together in playcalling, and the young guys are stepping up where veteran free agents have disappointed. The team is on the right track, but still young and still (despite a great outing of rookies against Atlanta) a team that will make mistakes.

Oakland? Frankly, this looks like a team playing without heart. For this rivalry to heat up again, the NFL may have to step in and force an ownership move. Al Davis is a sick man, and both his wife and daughter should inspire little confidence given previous issues discussed at MHR in the past.

The players won't treat this game as a rivalry (that's something that fans do, and they project it on the team). Only one person on the field has strong personal feelings about this game. Mike Shanahan will never forget how Al Davis treated him, and will continue to beat the Raiders, and yes, probably run up the score.

Denver by a Mile High.