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Rich Smith of the @ALLsportsINTEL Twitter handle may have just exploded the internet for San Francisco 49er and Philadelphia Eagle fans. At approximately 5PM EST, Smith tweeted, NFL TRADE UPDATE- Source close to situation Reporting that Eagles and 49er…
Friday evening, Nnamdi Asomugha signed a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, a surprise team in the sweepstakes for his services.Asomugha makes the Eagles instant Super Bowl contenders along with the other pieces around the team.Here are a few reaso…
The stage was set, the air was crisp, and the feel of football was in the air. It was time for the Raiders to roll out their new and improved squad on the green grass of Jerry Jones’ baby, and Raider Nation was breathless with anticipation.
Questions abounded: Will this look like an NFL offense? Can the team win the game in the trenches, and thus, stop the run against a versatile attack? What’s Rolando McClain going to do? Lamarr Houston? DHB? Can this team have the look of one that is finally headed in the right direction? Will the pain and suffering finally end?
Well, none of those questions can have answers that are fully quantified after the first preseason game in which teams are traditionally sloppy and shaking off the rust of a long off-season. We did, however, get a glimpse of a few things.
This Looks Like An NFL Offense
Jason Campbell didn’t set the world on fire, checked the ball down a couple of times when he had time in the pocket, and just missed on a couple of deep throws. But after years of futility behind center, the Nation can be encouraged by what we saw. The route trees were more complicated, Campbell saw more than half the field and the playbook was wide open.
Campbell looked rusty and even a little nervous at first, which he later admitted he was, but he also looked calm and poised on the third drive of the game, and began to find a rhythm with his offense.
His uncanny knack for the play-action fake and ability to freeze the defense will assist the running game and the vertical passing game. He also took a few shots down field and showed good touch even if those passes fell incomplete. Louis Murphy fought for the ball the first time, and caught it the second, but just slightly out of bounds. DHB did nothing of significance, but they did try to get him the ball first thing.
The Cowboys seemed to be itching to get to Campbell, but the O-Line actually kept him fairly clean with one exception. Once the rust is off and the rapport is built, I expect big things here.
Michael Bush ran the ball hard and tough, but in my opinion we did not run the ball enough. Our offensive line was actually getting decent push against the first unit, but we only ran the ball four or five times with Bush, and I thought we should’ve used him more.
The Raiders Have Improved in the Trenches
I’m trying not to read too much into the first preseason game, but early returns on the trenches are good. The offensive line, while not blowing the Cowboys back and creating huge running lanes, kept Campbell and then Boller relatively clean, giving up only one sack as big Junior Siavi overpowered Samson Satele. That’s a going concern for the season, as Satele has shown he has difficulty with big nasties up front.
On the other hand, the Raiders defensive line lived in the Cowboys backfield for the majority of the game. When it was first unit against first unit, the Raiders sacked Romo three times and forced a fumble; Matt Shaughnessy, the often overlooked and underrated Raider rush monster, also beat the first team offensive line and sacked backup QB Jon Kitna just outside the end zone, almost grabbing a safety. Rookie draft choice Lamarr Houston got two of the sacks, and he also made a couple of nice plays on the edge, stopping runs for minimal or no gain.
Shaugnessy dominated the edge, picking up two sacks himself and dogging the Dallas QBs consistently. Richard Seymour and Tommy Kelly plugged up the middle, and in all, the run defense DID look much improved. There was much better gap discipline, pursuit of the ball, and getting off blockers to make a play. It was extremely encouraging. In fact, I would go so far to say that the Raiders won the battle on both sides of the ball all night.
Nnamdi Being Nnamdi
The Awesome One has been floating around the field in recent practices, and he showed why last night. The Cowboys decided to throw on Asomugha only once; and he ran Roy Williams’ route better than Roy did, and would’ve had a pick-six if not for a borderline offensive pass interference mugging by Roy to prevent the touchdown. All in a day’s work.
Then, he was interviewed during the game, and sung the praises of Hue Jackson, Campbell, the young defensive backs like McFadden and Ware, and talked up Matt Shaughnessy, all while being his usual respectful, poised, and intelligent self. He told Raider Nation to get excited, because he was, and you truly believed him.
The guy is smooth as butter, and when his brilliant playing career is over, the networks would be wise to fight each other for his wonderful analytical skills and impressive vocabulary.
Our Third Running Back Is Good
Regardless of who it may be. Rock Cartwright runs hard, and has good hands for a physical guy. He’s also a good kickoff returner, although you’d never know last night with David “Ferris” Beuehler hammering touchback after touchback into the Jerry Jones sky. His special teams ability may separate him from Michael Bennett when it comes down to cutdowns.
But Bennett isn’t going to go without a fight, and man that guy still has some legs. On that screen pass in the fourth quarter, in which Bennett gained 33 yards, he looked like he was shot out of a cannon. He’s still got some speed, and picked up some tough yards between the tackles as well.
It’s a good problem to have, deciding between these two.
The Rookies Are Alright
I’ve already mentioned Houston, and big Rolando McClain, though not stand out, was solid in his debut, making a few nice tackles on short passes and showing well in coverage. He is an excellent tackler, and never seems to be out of position.
Walter McFadden had a scary moment in which a pile of Cowboys rolled over his right arm after a muffed punt by Shaun “Bye Bye” Bodiford. But he was okay, and played well in coverage when he was in there.
Jeremy Ware didn’t do much; but didn’t make any mistakes, either.
Stevie Brown grabbed a nice pick to end the game, and almost had another. The guy has been making plays all camp and has a knack for being around the ball.
Jared Veldheer played quite well in his time at LT, protecting Boller and opening some excellent holes on the left side with seal blocks to allow Bennett to bounce it around the edge. I was also VERY impressed with the fact that on that screen pass to Bennett, Veldheer, who was now playing center and doing it well, was the only lineman quick enough to even get out to block. Granted, Bennett blew right by him, but on the video, when you see Bennett accelerate and then a big number 68 come into your screen, you’ve gotta love that effort and intensity.
Speaking of effort and intensity, Bruce Campbell was impressive as well. He’s a huge, strong dude, and he used that to his advantage to push back his opponents. Not content to block just the man in front of him, he consistently got to the second level, looking for someone to hit.
Would’ve liked to see Jacoby Ford, but next time.
Kellen Heard didn’t do much and at this point may not make the final roster.
Quick Thoughts
- Welcome back, JLH. You didn’t score last night, but looked confident fielding passes and punts and showed some of that explosion we missed, along with good hands. Good on you
- As I mentioned above, bye bye Shaun Bodiford. His muffed punt, coupled with his poor hands early in camp, and Figurs solid performance last night tells me his days are numbered
- I’m comfortable with our backup quarterback situation, and Grads didn’t even play last night. Boller, after early rust, looked pretty solid
- Well done, Jon Condo. Not only are you a Pro-Bowl long snapper, but you’re a pretty awesome coverage man too; and you do it with toughness and style.
- Our WR corps has a plethora of quick guys that need to be sorted out. Figurs played well last night, muddying the waters amongst him, JLH, Jacoby Ford and Nick Miller
- Speaking of Nick Miller, how many fellow fans HONESTLY thought that call was going to go our way? I love this kid….I can see why they wasted a roster spot on him last season. Something about him just says to me he’s going to be a player in this league, and I hope we keep him around again. I don’t know what it is, but he’s got that vibe
- Not much from Kamerion Wimbley, but Quentin Groves made a couple of solid run stuffs and played decently in coverage. He got hurt but stayed in the game, which is impressive toughness in the preseason
- Tommy Kelly gets dumped on a lot, but he was solid in the middle of the defense last night with three solo tackles in very limited action. I think he steps up this year
- For a preseason game, I was impressed with the discipline of the Raiders. They didn’t take very many penalties, and really the only time it was a concern was when Boller first came into the game and the unit was out of sync
It was the first preseason game, so you can’t read too much into anything positively or negatively, but the Raiders off-season goals were to improve against the run, to improve discipline, and to improve the offense. Judging by last night’s performance, we’re well on our way
Hope you enjoyed the game as much as I did, Nation. Let me know your thoughts, and hey, a win is a win, am I right?
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The anticipation was mounting.
The Raiders fans have read about all this improvement of the offense. We’ve heard about Darrius Heyward-Bey.
Al Davis told us Jason Campbell was the next Jim Plunkett.
The concern about the Raiders was the offensive line.
Apparently it was opposite day, because nothing was what we expected.
DHB got only one target, and that was on the first play of the game.
I actually opened my eyes to see what Jason Cole was talking about. While Cole did have an agenda when he evaluated, he was correct in his evaluation.
Darrius ran a curl route, and Terrence Newman read it like he was reading the same book for years.
It was partly Campbell’s fault for not looking off of DHB, but those are the catches he needs to make. And he needs to make them, against No. 1 corners.
Unfortunately, DB was not targeted the rest of the night. It was clear Campbell took a liking to Louis Murphy. I can’t blame him either. Murphy had two opportunities to gain big yardage, and was just a smidgen off each time.
Campbell did nothing to prove his critics wrong. On his first third down, he had plenty of time to find someone, and threw to his check down receiver.
The Raiders only led one sustained drive, and that was against the Cowboys’ second unit.
With exception to one mishap by Samson Satele, the line looked solid. Hue Jackson didn’t run the ball many times, but looked okay running between the tackles.
Let me make it clear that this was only a preseason game, but the offense could have been much sharper than it was. Oh yeah, but when the most dynamic player on offense isn’t in the lineup (McFadden), it takes away from the development of the offense.
The defense, on the other hand, looked sharp. The defensive line destroyed the Cowboys’ first unit.
Both Matt Shaughnessy and rookie Lamarr Houston looked good. Both had two first-half sacks. Trevor Scott also had a couple of pressures.
Rolando McClain didn’t make many plays, but didn’t make any glaring mistakes, either.
Nnamdi was his terrific self as usual. On one play against Roy Williams, Nnamdi ran Williams’ route extremely well. Romo was lucky Roy played some good defense, and Nnamdi didn’t take that to the house for six.
One of the players that struggled was Tyvon Branch. Jason Witten beat him fairly on an out route.
The special teams looked decent. Long snapper Jon Condo was particularly impressive.
All in all, the Raiders first teams played well.
I’m expecting the rust to come off soon, as we get closer to the regular season.
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The Raiders have the day off today as they prepare to travel for their Thursday night game against the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas is one of two teams to have already played in the preseason, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 16-7 in last Sunday Night’s Hall of Fame game to kick off the season.
As to be expected from the first preseason game, Dallas looked fairly sloppy on offense and managed only three field goals. The Cowboys’ lone touchdown was an INT return by a rookie linebacker on a gift-wrapped spiral from Jordan Palmer. Dallas is a Super Bowl contender this season (so “they” say) and its defense looked pretty fierce. We should be able to garner a few things from tomorrow night’s game in regards to the progress the Raiders have made from last season.
Thus far in camp, there have been some very encouraging signs that the Raiders will improve upon their recent futility. There have been a few setbacks as well. Here are some thoughts on camp thus far.
Jason Campbell is no JaMarcus Russell
And that couldn’t be a better thing for the Raiders. Campbell is a highly motivated, hard working son of a coach with innate leadership ability who loves football and demands and receives respect from his teammates.
Quietly, he has come in and changed the culture at the game’s most important position. Teammates are effusive in their praise for his study habits, knowledge of the game, respect for the team concept, and his Herculean work ethic, not to mention his downfield accuracy and ability to move in the pocket.
Campbell has made believers not only out of a Raider Nation, who desperately needed a new quarterback, but a team and coaching staff that had to be somewhat skeptical based on the perception of Campbell as a failure in Washington. A new start for both parties is just what is needed to inject some life into their respective seasons.
Do you want to play fullback?
Because we need someone, anyone. When the Raiders are lining up coveted second round pick Lamarr Houston at fullback, you know there’s some desperate straights back there. The incumbent, Luke Lawton, has been injured throughout camp and faces a two-game suspension to start the season. The next guy in line, Marcel Reece, has shown well but also been injured. Manase Tonga has shown excellent ability to block but no hands or burst, and he’s injured as well. Chane Moline has been injured the majority of camp.
Enter Alex Daniels, a converted defensive end who speaks like a true football player. He’s been quoted as saying he’d do anything to make the team, including fetching coffee. He’s a gamer who wants to be on the field, and since switching over to the white jersey he’s got in the grill and under the skin of some of his former defensive teammates.
At this point, it’s looking like it’ll be Reece by default because the rest are injured and Daniels is just learning the position. It’s intriguing to think of Houston carrying the ball on the goal line, and he was a very successful RB and FB in high school. Risking injury to him on the offensive side of the ball when our run defense needs addressing is not wise, in my opinion.
Or wide receiver?
The one position this team could least afford to be beset by injuries is the wide receiver position. Chaz Schilens, Darius Heyward-Bey, and Louis Murphy are projected to be the starting wideouts, but they have a combined five years experience between them, so they need every single snap and every single drill they can participate in. Unfortunately injuries and soreness have limited all three to some extent.
Thus far, Murphy has missed most of camp. He first had a concussion, and kudos to the Raiders for not rushing him back too quickly and placing his health first. Since Murphy recovered, a foot issue that isn’t overly serious has limited his reps.
Schilens has had two surgeries in the recent past to repair a broken metatarsal, and the Raiders appear to just be protecting their big wideout from further aggravating the foot. It’s been tender in camp, but there is no damage or injury to the foot. With Schilens being the Raiders’ most experienced wideout and most likely possession receiver, he’s imperative to the offense and the team is right to limit his reps, even if it does limit the rapport he can build early on with Campbell.
Rookie WR Jacoby Ford was impressing in camp and turning some heads before he missed significant time with a quad injury, and will not suit up for the Dallas game. Once again, this is not a serious injury and the Raiders are just being cautious, but the WR corps is inexperienced and injuries are now making it very, very thin.
Or quarterback?
Raider fan-favourite Bruce “Grads” Gradkowski is a competitor, but his body is conspiring against him in recent history. After blowing out both knees during a game last season, then tearing a pectoral muscle prior to OTA’s, Gradkowski was rehabbing vigorously and ready to rock in training camp. But he’s hurt again, this time beset by a tweaked groin, and he’s frustrated as hell about it. His competitive fire burns as brightly as ever, but his body is not allowing him to play. He’s also out for the Dallas game.
As is Charlie Frye, the possible third stringer who has a hand issue. Frye is really more of a future coach than anything on this roster, and doesn’t give the Raiders much when he’s on the field. I like him as a player and a leader, but he’s not the greatest QB.
As such, the Raiders recently signed Colt Brennan, the former Hawaii Warrior and Washington Redskin known for his weak arm and accuracy. He was a system QB in college, but a damned good one, and he looked good for ‘Skins in preseason last year. Thus far, he’s dispelled his weak-arm notion by throwing deep balls equal to Campbell’s, and his accuracy has stood out. He’ll be the No. 3 QB for the Dallas game, and could stick around in place of Frye.
At this time, the Raiders have five QB’s on the roster in Campbell, Kyle Boller, Gradkowski, Frye, and Brennan. With Campbell the starter and Grads the likely backup, that leaves Boller, Frye, and Brennan battling for the No. 3 job. Boller thus far is in the lead by default, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Brennan usurped him.
Failure To Launch
The new anti-launching rule prevents a player from leaving their feet to make a tackle. I, for one, say THANK YOU! The reason I’m happy about this is that the Raiders have struggled mightily in giving up huge plays over the last few seasons, and a huge, huge contributing factor to those big plays has been a lack of fundamental wrap tackling.
This team needs to tackle better, period, or all the Rolando McClain’s and John Henderson’s in the world won’t improve the run defense. The Raiders last season were actually quite good against the run the majority of the time, but then would see missed tackles and missed assignments allow an opposing back to bust a 40+ yard run, and the numbers would then jump up significantly.
The emphasis on having to make a solid, wrap tackle can only help in the Raiders’ goal to improve their run defense.
Nnamdi’s Roaming
It’s about TIME this team decided to let their best defensive player change things up and have more of a chance to be around the ball and make some plays. When people talk of the best corners in the NFL, Asomugha’s name is mentioned, but always with the caveat that he doesn’t get a lot of interceptions. That’s because they don’t throw the ball his way.
Now, he’s been lining up all over the defensive backfield, and with the depth in the front seven as well as the improved talent, the defensive backs should have more opportunities to make plays on the ball. Asomugha has shown in the past that he’s very adept at making plays on the ball; he just needs it to be thrown in his vicinity.
The defense is finally realizing that we have versatility all over the field, at virtually every position. It’s time to take full advantage of that versatility.
Cable Guy
Coach Cable’s relentless optimism can at times be tedious, but you have to love a guy who truly believes in what he’s doing and by extension has the team on board. Cable is not an experienced or overly effective in-game coach to this point, but he does bring the ability to motivate his players, challenge his players, and have them willing to go to war for him.
Cable has changed the culture from a me-first group collecting paychecks and laughing during losses to guys who are battling camp, getting after each other, and enjoying each other’s company. The concept of team has taken hold strongly, and with veterans like Nnamdi and Richard Seymour, it will only solidify as the team makes improvements on the field.
Renewed Hope
The players, the coaches, the fans, even Al Davis in his recent interview, have all expressed realistic hope that things are changing for the better in Oakland.
A new quarterback, the growth of the young explosive players like DHB, bringing in Hue Jackson as a legitimate OC, giving John Marshall some freedom on defense to mix and match with the various parts we have, and just having the team excited to play football and excited about the changes and culture that is forming in Oakland gives us all a reason to hope.
Other than injuries to Schilens, D-Mac, and the occasional drop by a receiver, camp has been positive for the most part. The passing game is lightyears ahead of where it was this time last year (though it’d be impossible NOT to be), and the defense is showing a lot more fire, intensity, and stoutness at the point of attack.
I’m very excited to see what this team brings to the table tomorrow night. Although it’s preseason, stopping the run and our offensive line play are going to be the two biggest things I look for. If they both look sloppy, that’s not a good sign, but remember it’s the first preseason game and sloppiness can be forgiven to a point. Still, this team needs to show marked improvement in both areas to appease the fans of the Nation.
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