Chargers Review

OK. Now that I've calmed down, I can finally review last week's loss. My preview of the game really ended up being accurate. Rather than complain about Schweigert and his inability to take a proper angle against the run, I’m going to concentrate on something new. Just as I predicted; we couldn’t run the ball, and we couldn’t stop LT.

New Developments

Culpepper- Boy did he ever look bad. If you read the box score, you’ll see that he threw 2 picks and couldn’t hang onto the ball (when he was supposed to). The box score does him justice, in this case. I found myself screaming, “Daunte, throw the ball! Throw the ball! Daunte throw the damn ball away,” for a solid three hours. After a horrible first half showing by the entire team, it looked as though the Raiders would enter halftime tied at 14. The score was 14-7 Chargers, but the Raiders had 1st and goal inside the 1. They had one timeout left and about 20 seconds. Coach Kiffin called a pass play. Good call. You get the touchdown and if nobody is open, you throw it through the uprights to stop the clock. I know this. For the record, I’ve never played a down as a QB in the NFL. Daunte danced around in the pocket and took a sack. I wanted to puke. So there goes the timeout. Now its second down and you have to pass because there is no way to stop the clock. Culpepper danced around, got sacked, and fumbled the ball away. At that moment, something occurred to me. Let’s start with the facts. Daunte Culpepper obviously came to Oakland this year in order to audition for other teams and a big contract at the end of the season. He must know he won’t be Oakland’s starting quarterback next season because JaMarcus Russell’s huge contract basically guarantees that he’ll be on the field next year and the team would once again land in salary cap hell if they gave Culpepper a big contract (even if it were only for one year i.e. the franchise tag). In that moment where the ball popped out of his hand, I started to think that Daunte may not have the team’s best interests in mind. He may have been more concerned with making an ESPN highlight reel instead of playing it safe. It’s unfair to judge him based on this one game, but it is definitely something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

Fabian Washington and Michael Huff- These guys were pleasant surprises. Both have been disappointing and neither has shown that they were worthy of first round selections. Huff did an admirable job covering the league’s premier tight end, Antonio Gates. He was beat on one play where he almost jumped in front of the ball for a pick-6, but it’s difficult to criticize the guy for taking a chance like that. Washington has responded to his benching thus far, and really did a nice job in coverage. San Diego’s receivers were nearly invisible in this game.

The bottom line is that it’s difficult to win when you allow 206 yards rushing. If we look at the big picture, a loss @ San Diego isn’t the end of the world. The Raiders just need to soundly beat Kansas City this week. I’ll get into that game more, later this week.

Other Notes

S Jarrod Cooper was, indeed, signed and should be in uniform this Sunday.

The NFL trade deadline passed without a deal made by the Raiders. I was happy to see that Andrew Walter wasn’t traded.

The Raiders set the modern day record for consecutive losses to divisional opponents on Sunday with their 16th straight defeat.