For one, the Eagles line was injurued coming into the game.

For two, I was watching NFL Matchup and they highlighted a play that kind of summed up some of what was happening. The Eagles had a tendency on 3rd downs to pass protect by having all 5 of their lineman slide to the left (weak side) and leave Celek and the RB to block the strong side. The Raiders would attack this by, duh, overloading the strong side with 4 pass rushers. One would get picked up by the RT who would slide the guy to the left, Celek would take another, the RB another and voila here comes a LB screaming unblocked at McNabb, sometimes McNabb would get away, but Celek and the RB being only a TE and a RB wouldn’t hold their blocks for very long and so at least 3 Raiders were right on top of McNabb. Throw that in with their refusal to run the ball in the face of its success that day and you have all the makings of an upset.

How has the offensive line played? Why is Khalif Barnes not starting?
The offensive line has played well in spots, but in general, it has underperformed. This is certainly in part due to the fact that the QB hold the ball too long and has not shown the competence necessary to lead a balanced offense. All opposing teams know the Raiders, with Russell under the helm, can’t pass. The line cannot run block well when 9 defenders are on the line. It also doesn,t help that Gallery has been out since the 2nd game. Barnes is starting now, but at right tackle, which he never has played before and it is going to take a lot of time for him to figure it out.

What’s been the cause of the Michael Huff roller-coaster ride in 2009?
Huff started out great, but lately has tailed off a bit, not to the point off his previous suckiness, he’s just has not been making the plays as he did in the first 3 games. I think his “roller-coaster ride” is in part symptomatic of the way the whole defense reacts when they know that the offense has no possibilities to score enough points to win a game.

It seems to me that the Raiders have a punch-you-in-the-mouth defense that can win games on it’s own if they can injure the opposing offensive line (ala the Chargers and Eagles). What weaknesses does the defense have?
Similar to the answer above, the defense does not and has not reacted well to adversity, mostly due to their abundant lack of confidence in the offense and in particular, the quarterback. Other than that, their weakness is a chronic inability to consistently stop the run. That is in part due to scheme and part due to the sloppiness/underperfomance of a few key defensive players, namely Tommy Kelly and Gerard Warren. Tyvon Branch, our starting strong safety, who is quite good, but when he is your leading tackler, then you know you have problems.

If you’re Tom Cable, do you start Gradkowski this week and try to get a couple of wins to make things around the Raiders a little brighter? Or do you let Russell ride it out so that at the end of the season you can definitively say that he’s a bust?
Gradkowski will be ready again, with Russell on notice that he has to perform better, the call to make that kind of change will only come fro Al. That being said, the Raiders really have no choice but to ride it out with Russell and just see where they are by the end of the year. If things stay the way they are, it will only be the money that will keep Russell in a Raiders uniform next year. Russell will have a lot to prove with the remaining games and it won’t be just stats, it will also be his character and his ability to lead.

On that same line of thought, this is an offense built around speedy WRs and a big-armed QB. Do you think Gradkowski (or Frye for that matter) would have any success at all?
As of now, it would be difficult to imagine that they could possibly play worse. Neither one are great QB’s, so while there would be some incremental improvement, they are certainly not the long term answers.

I know Raider fans are ready to label Russell and Heyward-Bey busts, but what about McFadden?
Well, I am getting to that point where I am concerned about McFadden, but not yet ready to call him a bust. The Raider continual desire to plow him up the middle instead of running him to the outside to take advantage of his speed is baffling. I do believe that McFadden does possess true talent that the Raiders just simply do not know best how to employ. DHB certainly has not performed well, but he gets more than a half a season to prove that he can get better. Catching the ball is his problem, but catching can be improved with practice and all indications are that DHB is a very hard worker.

Has Richard Seymour been great every game, or just the Eagles/Chargers games?
With the exception of the Houston game, Seymour’s presence has been felt in every game. Some more than other, but he is defiantly not the problem with this defense or team.

Did the Raider nation expect them to play that big and tough?
Yes, as in every week 1, we think they have turned the corner and will play like all Raiders fans expect them to.

. Have there been games since where the Raider lines recaptured some of that week one performance?
The Eagles game they played well because it was a change up in defensive scheme, involving cover 2 and zone blitzes, which the Eagles, frankly, just were not prepared for. Other than that, they have not played consistently well since the first game.

I’m sure they will franchise him with the possibility of then trading him.

I only regret now, because I believe that Louis Murphy, taken in the 4th round is a better pro now and having him would negate the need to have drafted DHB. But, everybody knew going in that DHB would be raw and may take up to 3 years to “get it” and mature into a quality receiver.

I say give JaMarcus every shot that there is this year and he should at least start this game and only be benched if he shows no signs of measurable improvement.

because i don’t know for sure which Raiders team is going to show up. Will it be the Raiders team that played against the Jets and Giants? Or will it be the Raiders that played the Eagles and the Chargers the last time. If it’s the former, then San Diego will win 44-6. If it’s the latter, then San Diego will win 20-13

Al Davis isn’t dead. You’ll know when he’s dead because the Raiders will be exponentially better.

Like the Raiders did against the Eagles, where they mixed in some zone coverages with some different blitz packages, I believe that they will try to at least have the Chargers off balance with what they will bring from the defense.

I am certain the Raiders defense learned a lot from the last 2 minutes of that season opening game and will not play a soft defense like that again. I expect that they will be fairly aggressive in this game as they have to show something after last weeks debacle.

that everybody in and around RaiderNation is asking. This organization needs a top to bottom flush, a la Bill Parcels style. While the Raiders are turning into the Clippers of the NFL, there really is a big difference between Donald Sterling and Al Davis. Sterling, is an idiot, that happens to be rich and owns a basketball team, that cares little for the product as long as there is a bank roll. Davis, truly loves the Raiders and has tried everything, spent the money, all in what he believes is the way to get the Raiders winning. It’s not working and I really do believe that as much as he doesn’t want to let someone else “run the show”, he will not be able to put up with another year like this, which will be 7 straight.

There are rumors that Gruden, along with Bruce Allen would be open to coming back to Oakland. If this were to happen, then the entire organization, as well as the fan base would get a huge jolt and would at least lead them back to respectability. Al Davis, up until the last 7 years, has always had somebody between him and the coaches/players. Be it Ron Wolf, Al LoCassale or Bruce Allen, someone was there to be another pair of eyes when it comes to talent evaluation.

Had someone like Bruce Allen or Ron Wolf been there in 2007, then I don’t believe the Raiders would have drafted Russell. Not because Russell would not eventually be a good pro, but because Russell, coming out as a junior, would have to go into a very stable environment with a solid core of players around him. Instead, Russell came onto a team that had a first year, young and inexperienced head coach, very inexperienced assistants, a poor offensive line and so so receivers. For those reasons, the drafting of Russell was a disaster and baring a complete overhaul, will take the Raiders many more years to recover.

I would say that yes, absolutely I am concerned that this game can get out of hand quickly. I hope for them in this game is that, if they are going to lose, at least make the Chargers fight hard for it and for them to play with some heart and passion.

“I did a pretty good job when it boiled down to it.” — JaMarcus Russell.

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