SB Nation User Blog: KA1Z3R

Kansas City Star Website Predicts Win

KA1Z3R — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:45:02 -0000

http://www.kansascity.com/491/story/910443.html

They think they'll beat Oakland at home with McFadden healthy and back in the lineup. Yeah right. This overly biased site thinks that being tied for 10th in the league in sacks is "modest" They think that their crummy offense can beat a very talented Raider defense. As long as Oakland shows up wanting this win (which they should) we'll win this easy. hey predict 14-12 Chiefs, I predict 31-10 Raiders. Yes I know that's the same score as the Broncos game, but that's just my predict.

Thoughts on Russell, Cable, and the Season Overall Finished

KA1Z3R — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:10:05 -0000

I'd just like to share some random scattered thoughts so i apologize if this article doesn't look as official as my others usually do. Also I may ramble on and on so get used to that throughout.

-Russell this season-

Russell has not had a great season, but it's not bad by any means. With an O-Line closely resembling that of the year 2006 and receivers that struggle to get open or catch, Russell's had to BE the offense (of course there's the backs but let's focus on Russell) Russell started out pretty sloppy. Often throwing the ball away and taking a bunch of sacks. But he never threw interceptions like Walter did when under the same circumstances. Russell has now grown into a very good looking QB. If he started out the season playing like he is now, ESPN might be talking more about him than Cassel. Russell still has great mobility in the pocket and can very easily roll out. He has great zip on his passes and has developed a rapport with Miller. As the season's developed, he's taken more shots downfield and Cable's starting to mix thing up on offense with play action. But more on that later. I give Russell a solid B on his season thus far. He's far from a bust.

-Cable's newfound offense-

Cable's offense started out horrid at best. Flat out sucking on third down and in short yardage. Passing the football was out of the question and Fargas was only getting 1 yard a carry. But now his offense looks much better than it did in the Saints game when he took over. It looks like Kiffin's the coach again. Maybe that's because Knapp isn't calling the plays, maybe it's because McFadden's back, or maybe it's because Javon Walker's out and Curry's in. Who knows, but whatever it is, it's working. Harris isn't making AS MANY mistakes, and even if he does, Henderson's more than capable of stepping in. He's finally realized that running the football on Carlisle and Green's side works. McFadden's return also helps the run game. Two TD's last week is very good for Darren. If only he hadn't gotten turf toe, we would've seen more of that (damn Cable and Kiffin for running him so much despite the injury)

Cable's also mixing it up on offense now. Quick tosses to the outside to McFadden, running it up the middle then bouncing outside with Run DMC, play-action passing, halfback option passes, and whatever he decides to try out next week. Last week was the most productive and balanced this offense has been all season. And with the chiefs coming up next week, it can only get better.

-The Resurgent Defense-

The story of the season will be the Raider's defense. This is THE best it's been since 06. We've been getting pressure with and without Burgess. Warren and Kelly are beasts in the middle. Scott has played effectively as a 6th. round rookie and Richardson is arguably better than he was last year. Edwards is playing even better than Clemons did last year. The D-Line was our biggest worry this year, now it's one of our strengths. Whoever plays at OLB opposite Howard is effective. Whether it be Thomas, Brown, Williams, or, shockingly, Alston. Morrison and Howard have both struggled this year but I think it's a fluke. Though they definitely need to work on their tackling come next year. The secondary has been very good this year with the exception of Huff, who can't cover TE's to save his life. I give him one more year, if you put him at nickel/dime corner in place of Routt who plays either nickel/dime depending on which one of huff plays. Hall sucked, and now Chris Johnson has his old job as starter. And Johnson, who was once the dime corner, is now outplaying the former Hall. Let's hope he can play like that next week when he'll be covering Bowe.

Now you might be thinking, if our defense is supposedly so good, then why is it not reflected in the rankings? We give up to many big plays underneath. Tackling is still an issue from last year that's hanging over from last year. This time it's not Stu missing tackles, it's Morrison and Howard. True they are pass defense specialists, but when it comes to tackling a receiver they flat out suck. We also give up big plays due to Ryan's porous prevent defense. If we even lead by a field goal, it's off to using prevent. Ryan, it doesn't work. Go back to what was working so well the first four weeks, blitz the LB. If Howard and Morrison aren't contributing in the pass game, send them in to blitz. It worked very well against KC, Buffalo, and San Diego; why not use it again? But with two safeties, 24 sacks (tied for 10th), and 12 INT (8th.), I'm not complaining too much.

-Consistency-

The Raiders have been inconsistent. You don't know what Raiders team is going to show up to each game. You might see the Raiders that beat the AFC's hottest team in the Jets. Or the Raiders that rolled over and died at the feet of the Falcons. This team needs to stay consistent instead of being on and off between barely losing, being blown out, or blowing out the opponent. When the Raiders become consistent, they'll become successful. Teams like Pittsburgh, New England, Indianapolis, and more have been so successful from being consistent. And consistency begins with the coaches and the gameplan. And those two things have been consistent over the years. Consistently inconsistent. Once Davis realizes that giving a coach more than a year and a half actually makes your team better, we'll be better. Though I wouldn't hold my breath.

There ya go folks, can't wait for the KC game. We blew them out in Arrowhead, now let's give our home crowd a great game. See ya on the blog.

Let out your feelings about the game, me, season, etc

KA1Z3R — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:55:06 -0000

Well it's official, this is pretty much our worst season since 06. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we finished 2-14 again. We're actually worse than Detroit at this point. At least Detroit scored against the Falcons. Hell even the Chiefs have become competitive. So let's let out our feelings about the game and this season. And as I told Mikesd, you can also let out your feelings about my negativity.

Oakland's Run Game Becoming a Weakness?

KA1Z3R — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:10:09 -0000

Oakland's run game, 6th. last year, 5th. coming into last weekend. Though I'd rather have the 6th. best from last year, than the previously 5th of this year. Reason why? The fact that our overblown running stats come from the 300 yard performance against the pathetic Chiefs. Take that away and we've done little. True we had two great games against the Jets and Broncos. True the broncos have no run defense either, but the Jets were ranked 11th. (correct me if wrong) But how real was that performance against the Jets? A 22 yard run by Alston on a fake punt and an 18 yarder by Higgins on a reverse. There's also Fargas's 74 yard performance, on 28 carries. That's a 2.6 yard average. Let's look at each run game in depth:

Broncos: 150 yards. Great game running the ball. No complaints. Looked to be a preview of what was to come for Oakland's ground game.

Chiefs: 300 yards!!!! McFadden has over 160 and Bush looks great in his debut. Fargas is injured hurting Oakland's run game and McFadden suffers turf toe which will plague him for several weeks, maybe even the rest of the season.

Bills: 98 rushing yards. Better than i expected with a bad week of practice for McFadden and no Fargas. Bush has a 3.9 yard average.

Chargers: only 48 yards for bush and 72 in total. Only a 3.1 yard average for the whole team. Worth mentioning that McFadden only 20 yards on 7 carries, 8 of which on one carry.

Saints: 85 yards as Fargas returns averaging 3.5 yards a carry. McFadden has a 3.8 yard average, not bad. Though the yard total is still saddening. You can argue this on poor playcalling as we should have ran more than 23 times.

Jets: 153 yards, first 100 yard game since Week 2. 4 yards per carry average and it looks like things are getting back. You must also remember that there were overtime carries.

Ravens: a pathetic 47 yards. You can argue that this was the #2 run defense, but when Fargas only averages 2 yards a carry and Bush a little over 1, that's bad.

In total, 881 yards this season, we average 110 yards a game. But let's not forget, nearly half of these yards came in two games. So what's the problem?

1. We have no pass game to take the pressure off the run game

2. McFadden is injured bad. Worse than most think. When he's hurt, we're hurt. McFadden is the offense now.

3. Bush is underused. only ran 5 times against the Ravens and not used in short-yardage against the Jets. Needs to be used more, and used in the right situations.

Once Mcfadden's better, we get better receivers, and the carries are more evenly spread, we'll be a top-dollar run game. Just hope we draft some good receivers and get a better offensive tackle. Oakland's a running team, but we still need a pass game and consistency running to win.

Tribute to my fellow bloggers

KA1Z3R — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:15:11 -0000

I would just like to give a special shout out to all of my buddies on here. Now I only joined this blog a few weeks after the Super Bowl, but I've met my fair share of fans on here. Ranging from questionable fans like Bacon, to die-hards like Saint, to even Bronco fans like Zappa. I love chatting with the regulars, and miss those who seem to have just vanished. One who no longer shows up that I remember the most is OakFoSho. I remember our heated pre-draft arguments about McFadden and Dorsey. I remember arguing of offseason signings. He was the one I argued with the most, and yet the one I enjoyed chatting with the most.

Now back to the present. I'd like to say thank you to those who have been contributing, commenting, and just plain reading. Let's remember those who don't join in, but just read what we have to say. I'd like to thank those who lived through my near departure after the raiders opposition series, and those who have been faithful commentors and readers of my work. I'd also like to thank those who have contributed and given me something to read. After all, this is where I get most of my Raider news.

My special thanks goes out to:

Saint- for keeping this show running and being a constant source of info

Raider76- for being one of the more active people on here

punisher- for being an especially active blogger.

Bacon- for giving me someone to argue with

Zappa- for similar reasons as bacon

Laoren- for being a very sensible and unbiased person on here

RaiderPete- for similar reasons to Laoren

OaklandSMASH- for incredibly active, sensible, and being a good friend on here

To all the countless people I've met and chatted with on here- I apologize for not individually expressing my gratitude, but there's so many of you I couldn't get to all of you. But each of you I thank deeply

And my final shout out to my Raider brethren, stay faithful and hold your heads high with silver and black pride.

KA1Z3R- just a reader and contributor

Cable seems like the real deal

KA1Z3R — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:43:32 -0000

Read this on Raiders.com

Oakland Raiders interim Head Coach Tom Cable addressed the media immediately following Thursday's practice session at the team's Alameda, Calif., facility as the Silver and Black head into the bye week and get ready to play the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, October 12 at the Louisiana Superdome.

Coach Cable: Today was an awesome practice.

Q: What separated it from yesterday and normal practices?

A: Little better focus, a little more sharpness on both sides of the ball. I was out for special teams and they got a ton of work done. I didn’t realize they were getting that much work done. But as good as they are playing it didn’t surprise me. That was impressive, very impressive.

Q: How is it to have the extra week to get used to being in this position?

A: It’s good, I think it’s good for all of us. Whenever you go through something like that, it’s good to have a little time to take a deep breath. We talked to them about when you come back, come back with your mind right. Go away this weekend, enjoy your family and kids, that’s it. When we come back it’s a 12-week grind, so it’s good to have the extra week for the coaches and players.

Q: About passing, can we see more from JaMarcus Russell like last game?

A: What you’re going to see is balanced offense. That’s the key. Whether that means more passing or not I don’t know. You might see a series or two where it’s all pass or all run. I think we have to be more balanced. We do run the football, so there’s a lot of people in the box so you’ve got to take your shots.

Q: Is coaching what you always wanted to do, and can you tell us about your entry into it?

A: There’s two people: Dick Armstrong who was my high school coach, and Keith Gilbertson, Sr. Those two guys had the greatest influence on me wanting to be a teacher and a coach but I always wanted to do it. I grew up thinking that I wanted to do it. It’s always been my dream, always been my passion.

Q: How much passion do you have for the running game and working with the offensive line?

A: I do have great passion. I played that spot so I can really understand them and how much they go through, what they put their bodies through. You have to kind of oil them up and keep pushing them. I do understand that. Without question this is a tremendous passion for me. I always want to be a part of that.”

Q: How much did you work with Greg Knapp on calling plays and your relationship in Atlanta?

A: I think I’m very blessed to have him here because we went through a year together. In between series we’d talk about doing ‘this and this’ and give it to me in that order. He was great, and I look forward to that dynamic. It’s in tact, in place and we can really go after it together. I look forward to that.

Q: How itchy do you see him to be able to call plays. That is something he’s always done?

A: We talked about it the last couple of days and he is certainly excited about it. The nice thing is he has called a lot of plays in a lot of big games. You know he’s been in San Francisco and in the playoffs, he’s been in Atlanta and they were in the playoffs, he went all the way to NFC Championship game so he’s called games when something was really, really big on the line and you know that is not like any other weekend in the NFL. You know. To have that experience there I think is going to be awesome.

Q: Do you see this team as being close to being a contender?

A: Yeah I do. I don’t have any question in my mind. First thing we have to do is learn how to win, then we have to learn how to handle winning. We compete hard, I think that’s obvious. That’s step one. Step two is learn how to win. We need to win in the fourth quarter. Once that happens we need to learn how to handle winning because it hasn’t happened for a while. You don’t just go out and win a few games and think everything’s all rosy because it can blow up on you. There’s still a process that you have to get through. Right now it’s about learning how to win games and finish games in the fourth quarter.

www.raiders.com

To me Cable seems like the real deal. I'm still loving this move.

Bye Week is Crucial for Cable

KA1Z3R — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:14:24 -0000

Well Kiffin's been fired and new coach Tom Cable is in. And this was the perfect time for these moves, players now have two weeks to get used to Cable, and for Cable to get used to head coaching. The real test for Cable is to see what he does to improve some of Oakland's shortcomings.

-Russell and his receivers- While it's no secret that Oakland hasn't fielded a good pass offense since 2005, and that deficit will continue into this year at least. Russell needs to take some more risks and the receivers need to get open. Hopefully Troupe will play in New Orleans, freeing up Miller to make plays like he did against San Diego. Curry, who was supposed to be our possession receiver, has a case of stone hands. Walker, who was supposed to be our big play threat, looks good getting two to three catches on the first possession, but then seemingly disappears afterward. The only bright spot at WR is someone nobody expected to be anything more than a returner. However, Johnnie Lee Higgins is our second leading receiver (behind Miller) and has an 84-yard TD reception and some very good returns. Lelie has done an okay job, but nothing spectacular by any means. Meanwhile, McFadden and Bush have been great as receivers combining for 15 receptions for 143 receiving yards. If Lofton and Cable can get the receivers up to speed, expect better numbers than those from San Diego.

-Scoring Defense- It's ironic that Oakland is the 17th. ranked defense and 6th. in sacks, yet they're 23rd in points allowed. This is a culmination of Hall's inconsistent play, Ryan's 4th. quarter play calling, and the defense getting tuckered out. They need to work in 4th. quarter rotation and tell Hall to play close to his man. That's what we brought him in for. Because he was supposed to one of the best bump-and-run, in your face, man cover corners in the NFL. But instead, all he's done is give up a lot of passing yards throughout the season. I will admit he's been getting better as the year has gone on. He's had an interception in each of the last two weeks and he's had half a sack on the season. Edwards and Warren have been our most disruptive defensive linemen this year with Richardson and Burgess not far behind. Since Ryan started blitzing more often, this team has looked much better on defense. All we need is Hall to be more consistent and rotate out players when they're tired, especially in the 4th.

-Play calling- You'll notice I didn't mention the rushing offense, well it's ranked fifth and all it needs is to see more action than it did last week. No more passing on first down except for the end of half or game winning situations. I'd also like to see some change ups in the passing game. Checkdowns and the occasional big play is nice, but why not use some more play action. Teams respect our running game, so why not use pay action. Russell is more than capable of rolling out and throwing quick passes. You can argue that our O-Line isn't good enough for play action, not true. As long the opposing defense sees a running back going up the middle they'll forget the possibility of a pass play. If our receivers improve, work in longer pass plays or else teams will just use short zones and pick off passes. Stay mistake free, but don't be afraid to mix it up a bit.

That's all she wrote my friends, we actually i guess he since I'm a dude, but you get the point.

Cheers,

KA1Z3R

I'll be glad when Kiffin's fired

KA1Z3R — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:42:25 -0000

Whenever Kiffin happens to be fired, I'll actually be happy about it. He's not done much for us lately other than being responsible for two losses, getting bad publicity, and hurting morality.

Publicity- It's no secret that Lane has gotten us very bad publicity. He made the biggest mistake a Raider coach can do other than lose, he blamed Davis. He needs to learn that this is Al Davis's program and blaming him, or his best friend Rob Ryan for that matter, is like wearing a suit made of bloody sausages and jumping into shark-infested waters. I love how on the week of our triumph over KC all anybody could report was how bad Kiffin was stepping in it. This publicity maddens me to no end and I'm sure it maddens Al.

Morality- This ties into publicity. With word of Kiffin's possible firing buzzing around the locker room, all the players' hopes of this finally no longer being a dysfunctional organization evaporated. They knew it was and will be only a matter of time till Kiffin bids "Adieu". It's hard to stay when a coach that was very well liked by the players is leaving. Some players would start to blame themselves or others for this. While others (mainly the defense) have actually elevated their play. I guess the morality issue works both ways.

Two losses- aka Kiffin's bum play calling. I love how in the SD game, rather then run the ball; which has been our strength the past two years, he decides to pass on first and second which leads to more passes on third down. We aren't the Colts or the Cowboys, we don't have the talent to be passing on every down. This is a run first team. And after a long defensive drive rather than give the D a break by running the clock a bit, Kiffin calls more pass plays. Passes don't keep the clock rolling, or in our case, get first downs. In Buffalo, all the D needed was some rest. But Kiffin decides to save timeouts that he would never use and not give the defense a break. In the past two games, the best until that's been on the field as been our defense. All that it needs is some time to get some rest and catch their breaths, instead Kiffin give them maybe a minute. That's not enough for the effort and intensity our defense brings.

I can't wait to hear that Kiffin's been fired. His play calling has been atrocious and is partly to blame for our losses. I took one thing from Pete Carrol's press conference after their loss to Oregon State, "There's no excuses. Oregon was more prepared and more motivated" Actually the Raiders wanted this far more and judging by the defense, was more prepared. Question is, was Kiffin?

Raiders sign Ben Troupe

KA1Z3R — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:37:13 -0000

The raiders just signed Ben Troupe and released John madsen. Troupe is a better blocker and a good receiver. With Troupe in, miller is freed up to make plays in the passing game. This one move improves our two weakest areas of offense. Troupe's blocking improves the O-Line, and Miller being liberated from blocking improves the receiving corps. Good move Al, in fact great move. now keep Kiffin and I'll be happy.

Notre Dame-35 Michigan-17

KA1Z3R — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:23:09 -0000

Welp, it's over. One of the most suspenseful games for me, and one of the most glorious. A storied rivalry etched in the history of the NCAA, Michigan and Notre Dame. The maize and blue, facing the gold and blue. Two teams trying to make a name for themselves after less than stellar seasons. The clash of the two winningest schools in college football history, and two of the most famous. The Fighting Irish and the Wolverines. Charlie Weis trying to save the university, and Rich Rodriguez trying to build a spread offense.

This game was slated to be a close one. Down to the wire all the way through. Michigan favored to win with Notre Dame being labeled "losers" after only one losing season. Only one of five losing seasons in school history. Michigan was very downplayed coming into this season just because of two losses last year to Oregon and Appalachin St. and a late season loss to Ohio State. But people forget how they beat Florida in their bowl game, a fairly good Florida team mind you. An SEC Florida team. But with a new system and a new coach that Michigan wasn't fit for, how would they fair this year?

The game was a turnover fest for Michigan that didn't get any better once rain kicked in late in the second quarter. So many fumbles (three on kick returns) is never a good thing. Especially when you're playing a much improved Notre Dame offense. After getting 8 sacks against the Fighting Irish last year, the Wolverines never sacked Clausen. So far, his jersey's stayed clean the entire season. The Golden-Clausen connection was very good, as was Notre Dame's defense. Even though it was very shaky against the run, it only gave up two touchdowns and a field goal. Though Weis suffered a Tom Brady injury (torn ACL and MCL, interesting that a coach gets injured), the atmosphere in South Bend was electric.

With a win today, the game against Michigan State isn't quite as daunting a task (especially since the Spartans only scored 17 points on Florida Atlantic). Notre Dame should go 8-4 if things keep going at this pace, while Michigan will be lucky to go 6-6.