Raiders- Broncos Week 4

The Raiders are who we thought they are, a dysfunctional train wreck of a franchise and it will take more than one season to clear the wreckage off the tracks. Until then, The New Era of Excellence express is stalled at the station. Both Dennis Allen and Gregg Knapp preach patience to the faithful, and I must agree with them. Those Raider fans who fell for  hyped up expectations weren't paying attention.

You don't undergo a radical transformation such as Raiders underwent between the 2011 & 2012 seasons without a few growing pains. It's ugly, but then it's always been ugly... the Raiders win ugly, they lose ugly, there has never been anything pretty or slick about this team. "I hear the yelp of a beaten curr", The fair weathered fans are getting restless, whining about how hard it is to remain a Raider fan. Who else are you going to root for?, the Forty Niners, the Chargers, the Broncos?

Spare me the fucking tears. Maybe you want to be a front runner? then latch on to whatever team is winning, Atlanta, Philadelphia, St. Louis.... or join the Bears bandwagon, Cutler and Urlacher may be more your style. Stay away from the Cowboys they're just like the Raiders and they still haven't started the rebuilding process. Pack all your Raider gear in your old kit sack, take off your Darth Raider helmet, burn off your Raider ink and get the fuck away.

Raiders 4 Life isn't just something you post on Facebook, it's a proclamation of loyalty for the only team in the NFL that is worth giving a fuck about, the Oakland Raiders. Being a Raider fan has never been easy and it never will be, whether we're winning Super Bowls or suffering through a long losing streak. We can't kick our way to the playoffs, success is the result of  hard work, patience, failure, loyalty and persistence. This is where we stand, Go Raiders!

Oakland Raiders  6            Denver Broncos   37

The Miami game was followed by waves of indignation from both fans and the Bay Area beat writers. This time around the mood is that of resignation. Still angry to be certain, though resigned to the fact that the Raiders are broken and the fix isn't coming anytime soon.  While everyone is starting to temper their expectations, at the same time  the barbs aimed at Dennis Allen, Gregg Knapp, Carson Palmer and Reggie McKenzie are getting sharper. 

Peyton Manning looked like the Peyton of old as he dissected Oakland's secondary, completing 30 of 38 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns.  The General consensus as this game loomed, was that Peyton Manning would pick the Raiders' woeful secondary apart, and that did come to pass. Add to that three field goals from Matt Prater and an Oakland offense that raised the bar on ineptitude and you have the recipe for an old fashioned rout. 

Old fetus head has the heart of a natural born killer (is it me or is Peyton's head getting bigger by the week?) Manning stood in the pocket like fucking Genghis Khan, nobody could touch him and he feared nothing. And could someone please explain to me how Willis McGahee, Denver's gimpy running back suddenly gets rejuvenated every time he goes up against Oakland? For all their suckitude, the Raiders were only down by four at the half, 10-6.

In the past (way past) the Raider defense would have kicked Peyton in the mouth and choked out the offense. In the present, The Raiders opened the second half with a three and out, followed by a deflected punt by Shane Lechler that traveled all of two yards. Denver scored after that miscue. The next Raider possession also resulted in a three and out, the Broncos took possession and rolled up 63 yds. on 5 plays to score yet again.

Denver converted 10 of 16  third down conversion, Oakland was 1 for 12, with none in the third quarter when the Broncos pulled away. "My plan was to play fast" explained Peyton Manning, "We went no huddle predominantly the whole game" The Raiders were off balance and out of sync, on both sides of the ball. Great game plan by Denver, the Oakland coaching staff should have been better prepared, given that Dennis Allen was Denver's defensive coordinator last year. 

"One game won't define this football team," Raiders defensive lineman Richard Seymour insisted afterward. He's right, one game won't define the Raiders, but when combined with the abysmal effort seen at Miami, the definition of who they really are starts to come into focus. "You know the saying," said Seymour. "Tough times don't last. Tough people do." With a road game against Atlanta up next (after a bye week) it appears that the going will get tougher.

Raider Notes: 

Romanowski asked on CSN-Bay Area today if Rolando McClain was a boar hunter. Romo: No. He's a puppy hunter. Little white poodles. Jerry McDonald on Twitter.   "Rolando McLain, the Raider middle linebacker who continues to show the football instincts of a cricket player" Mark Purdy. 

I know Matt Leinart bruises easily, but why was Carson Palmer still in the game when we're down by 31 points? If Leinart was brought in to help teach Carson Palmer, Knapp's offense, than Leinart should know it better than either Palmer or Pryor (who was inactive on Sunday) Why not bring in Matt Leinart and see if he can move the offense?

The defense has allowed more than 31 points per game, the run game is the league's worst. Not exactly what we expected from a defensive minded head coach and Darren McFadden in the backfield. The Raiders are 28th in defense at an average of 411.5 yards and 31.2 points per game. They are 22nd against the run at an average of 128.5 yards.

The Raiders are last (32nd) in the league in rushing at an average of 60.8 yards per game. They were seventh last season and second in 2010. The Raiders lost the first game coming off a bye each of the past nine seasons. They lost those games by an average of 14 points.

Transaction update:

10/01/2012 Signed T Nick Mondek and re-signed DB Akwasi Owusu-Ansah to practice squad

10/01/2012 Released LB Carl Ihenacho and WR Tori Gurley from practice squad

09/27/2012 The Raiders have signed LB Carl Ihenacho to and released DB Akwasi Owusu-Ansah from the practice squad.

09/26/2012 Signed DE Andre Carter; waived T Joe Barksdale

09/26/2012 Signed WR Tori Gurley to practice squad

Carl Ihenacho, was cut from the active roster, signed to the practice roster and cut from the practice roster. Andre Carter, a veteran defense end, is the son of former Denver Bronco  Rubin Carter. Andre is coming off a torn left quadricep tendon, suffered in 2011 while playing for the New England Patriots. Carter played his college ball at the Univ. of California, he was selected by the 49ers in the first round of the 2001 NFL draft. He signed with the Redskins as an unrestricted free agent in 2006 before landing at New England last season. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, is a small college player who was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in 2010, he bounced around between the Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars, before signing with the Raiders.