Titans Review and BIG NEWS?

Another Sunday, another blown lead. It's apparent that I can sit here and talk about how the Raiders are improving all I want, but until they learn to close out games, they aren't going to make any progress.

The Titans overcame a 9-3 deficit to win by the score of 13-9. The following is my review of the game, but there is something brewing in Raiderland. I’m not at liberty to say what it is at this time, but some surprising news could be breaking soon.


The Offense was Offensive

It isn’t fun watching a team that is completely inept when they have possession of the ball. The defense played tremendously, and Stu didn’t even have any major lapses this week. The one big play the Titans had was a long run for a score by rookie Chris Henry. Tommie Kelly had been replaced at right end by Jay Richardson because of his injury and the Titans did a good job of exposing the 5th round pick. I can’t put that much blame on Richardson. I think he’ll develop into a fine run stopper, but he’s still inexperienced.


The offense was terrible…AGAIN! The entire unit is filled with mediocre players. Culpepper threw two more picks and added four fumbles! He drops the ball when nobody is even near him! The offensive line did a great job of showing how bad they are (I see Barry Sims jumping before the snap in my sleep now). I don’t fault the running game because the line provided absolutely no support. The Raiders must find a way to draft a left tackle in next year’s draft.

That is really the story…of the game…of the year…of the past couple of years. The defense is of a championship caliber, but the offense has scored 10 and 9 points in the last two weeks respectively.

These are the players on the offense that should be kept: QB JaMarcus Russell, Andrew Walter, Josh McCown; RB Michael Bush, LaMont Jordan, Justin Griffith, Oren O’neill; WR Johnnie Lee Higgins, Ronald Curry; TE Zach Miller, John Madsen; T Mario Henderson; G Robert Gallery, Cooper Carlisle, Paul McQuistan; C Jake Grove.

That means the following players need to be purged from the roster by next season: QB Daunte Culpepper; RB Dominic Rhodes, Justin Fargas; WR Jerry Porter, Tim Dwight; TE Tony Stewart; T Barry Sims, Cornell Green; C Jeremy Newberry.

The 2008 NFL Draft is going to be filled with top notch offensive tackles and that is great news for Oakland. Hopefully the Raiders can get a win this week back home against Houston.