Chiefs Review

Q: How can you tell the extent of my pain after each Oakland Raiders' loss?

A: When I don’t put a review up until THURSDAY!!! I was so utterly disgusted that I couldn’t even post the score.

The Raiders lost, at home, by the score of 12-10 last Sunday. This marks the team’s 17th consecutive loss against the AFC’s western division. That is horrible. Every divisional loss is now extending the NFL record for consecutive defeats.

The Good…

The defense played as advertised. They were very good as an overall unit and Warren Sapp finally recorded his first sack of the season. Terdell Sands played his best game of the year. The usual suspects all did their jobs and Nnamdi Asomugha played better than many people realize, despite a couple of rare miscues. Stanford Routt has looked VERY good since his insertion into the starting lineup. He had his 3rd interception of the season on a beautiful catch where Dwayne Bowe should have been flagged for pass interference.
Offensively, Zach Miller played like a veteran. He continued the strong blocking we’ve seen from him all year long, and made some big plays in the passing game as well.

The Bad…

The entire offense, with the exception of Zach Miller, was very bad. Daunte Culpepper made some nice throws, but wasn’t great overall. He threw a costly pick in the waning moments. Oakland was 20 yards out of field goal range, at the time. The offensive line is BAD. I’ve seen a lot of homers praise this group. They’re wrong. Sorry. Barry Sims and Cornell Green are backups. Mario Henderson could be a good option to replace Green, once he is deemed ready, but the team absolutely needs to draft a stud left tackle (yes I am officially conceding that it is not Robert Gallery). The guards have been alright, but Jeremy Newberry is another problem at center. I don’t know why any of you would have been watching this game last week, but if you were, you got the chance to see Newberry snap the ball to Culpepper as if he were lined up under center. Unfortunately, he was in the shotgun. There really isn’t an excuse for that. Jake Grove should be starting at center. He isn’t great either, but at least he doesn’t snap the ball to nothingness. For the first time, I actually have a problem with Lane Kiffin’s play calling. The Chiefs were bringing nine or ten guys up to stop the run on every play! I mean, it was ridiculous. The Raiders are going to have to be able to pass the ball effectively in situations like that. I realize Kiffin wanted to establish the running game. I’m all for that, but with that much pressure, you need to be able to air it out.

The Ugly…

STUUUUUUUUU. Oh man. Stu whiffs more than Phillies’ first baseman, Ryan Howard. I mean, he missed Larry Johnson all together, which led to one of the only huge plays the defense surrendered. Can we get just one good game this season out of Schweigert?

Oh well. The only good that came out of this past weekend of football is that my fantasy football team, The Pog Slammers, improved to a league best 6-1.

The Raiders are @ the Titans this week in a game that they absolutely must win. I’ll be back with a full preview.