Raiders- Broncos Week 13

Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen's father Grady Allen passed away on Tuesday morning from heart failure. Coach Allen returned to practice on Wednesday and addressed the team as they prepared for the game on Thursday night.  "I took my father off life support and that's not easy to do" said Allen following the game. "So was it hard?, Yeah, it was hard. But I know my father would want me to be here with this football team" Coach Allen paused, "I wanted to be here with this football team, so I'm sure you guys can imagine it wasn't an easy situation"

Condolences to Coach Allen, he carried a heavy burden this week and he carried himself in an admirable manner. No matter how the team does on the field, Dennis Allen has shown more character, perseverance and maturity that the players (some older than him) he's in charge of. They should learn from him. Raider fans more than the media have not held back on showering abuse at Coach Allen, he doesn't deserve it, but that's how the blame game goes.

The Raider fanatics have split into three camps, The "Hue Jackson" faction, the deplorable "We want Chucky Back!" faction and the more reasonable "We've had three coaches in three years.. let's not change coaches again" faction. So far, nobody is imploring the Raider front office to bring back Tom Cable.  The ugliest thing to come out of this short week was the rumor floated about by Publisher & editor of Pro Football Weekly, Hub Arkush, that the Raiders were meeting with Jon Gruden to negotiate his return to Oakland as the head football coach.

Raiders media director Zak Gilbert sent out an e-mail to members of the media, stating that "there are two people on this planet that have the ability to make talks happen between Jon Gruden and the Raiders, each of those individuals, owner Mark Davis and G.M. Reggie McKenzie wanted me to communicate that his rumor has no validity whatsoever  Gilbert continued "for the record, I'm personally disgusted that Hub Arkush would spread such an untruth on the the day our head coach had to determine with his mom, brother & sister, whether to take his dad off life support or wait and hope that he would regain consciousness"

Not sure what Hub Arkush's motives would be, or where he got his information. Either way, it's a despicable act. Reggie McKenzie is a man with strong morals & character, even if Gruden showed interest, neither party would be so gauche as to discuss such matters while Coach Allen was dealing with a death in the family.  By any standard of doing business, that would be fucked up. Neither Reggie McKenzie nor Mark Davis have ever given us a reason to think that they would operate in that fashion.

The myth is busted, Raider fans.... Chucky is not coming back. Jon Gruden is a narcissistic bastard, who craves the attention. He's the kind of guy who loves the idea that everyone wants him, but can't have him. The Gruden coaching rumors follow a sick pattern, any team (college or pro) that's ever had any connection whatsoever to him is suddenly in the running for his services. It's time to leave childhood thing like Chucky behind  and start thinking and acting like grown men (and women).  All this knee jerk second guessing and self loathing is for the birds, there's no future in it.

Oakland Raiders  13      Denver Broncos  26

Don't be fooled by the final score, it wasn't even that close. Peyton Manning dissected Oakland's defense in the same manner as he had earlier in the season at Denver. Peyton moves like a zombie but his passes are heat seeking missiles that always seem to find their target. On the field Field Marshall Manning isn't just taking on the defense in the physical sense, he's also matching wits with the defensive coordinator. The score now stands Manning 2 Tarver 0, Peyton has Jason's number and there's nothing Tarver can do about it.

It's that same sad refrain "can't stop the run, can't stop the pass..." This defense is infected with ineptitude and the infection has spread to every vital organ. Oakland won the toss but deferred to Denver. Manning took full advantage and carved the turkey, culminating the opening drive with his 30th touchdown pass of the season. The Raiders got first possession to start the second half, a drive that promptly petered out. The reasoning behind giving Denver first crack is unclear (Oakland would run just 47 offensive plays in the entire game)

Maybe... it was meant as a show of solidarity for a defense that has screwed the pooch all season long. Then too, it may have been a tribute to Coach Allen's father, who played defense for the Atlanta Falcon during his run in the NFL. "Don't worry Coach, we got you on this one" Whatever it was, it exemplified what's wrong with Oakland.... bad decisions by a befuddled coaching staff. It seems like every week I come up with a new "this is what's wrong" just as the Raiders seem to come up with new ways to look bad and lose games.

The Raider defense did show enough resolve to hold Denver to four Matt Prater field goals, holding Denver under 30 points. (Denver has a 1st. & goal at the one and couldn't punch it in)  The lack of points on the board wasn't actually the result of anything the Oakland defense did, it seemed as if the Broncos were content to toy with the Raiders. This game was in the bag before kickoff, "Let's save the afterburners for next week against the Ravens" Knowshown Moreno however, didn't hold back as he came out of Knowwhere to rip Oakland for 119 yards and 1 touchdown.

The Raiders scored on a yard screen pass from Carson Palmer to Darren McFadden, cutting Denver's lead to 13-7. Following a Prater field goal that gave Denver some elbow room at 16-7, Oakland responded with a comedy of errors that put any hopes of an upset to rest. Mike Goodson elected to return the ensuing kickoff  from the end zone, he was stopped at the eight yard line. A couple of plays later, Von Miller sacked Carson Palmer at the line of scrimmage forcing a fumble that Denver recovered, this led to the Knowshown Moreno touchdown two plays later.

As disappointing as the play of the Oakland defense has been, Carson Palmer's regression is  heartbreaking.  The man cannot help but fuck things up, I get the one or two key interceptions per game... he's gambling, trying to make things happen. (at least he's not tossing picks simply to get off the field like Kerry Collins)  But!, what the fuck is it with the sudden case of the fumbles? Palmer conceivably cost them the Browns game and the fumble sure didn't help their efforts against the Broncos. I never thought I would say this, but it's time to spell Carson. Sit him down, let him watch the action from the sidelines, sometimes that really does help.

Terrelle Pryor gets paid handsomely to do nothing, let's see what else he can do. (Matt Leinart is a non-option at this point) The worst that can happen is that the Raiders lose another game or Pryor gets hurt, either way it puts a stop to the Terrelle Pryor speculation. But, if Terrelle leads them to win against K.C. or San Diego, then the Raiders immediately start working to rid themselves of Carson and get Pryor ready to start next year.  I know, I know... it's like wishing that Unicorns, Big Foot and Low Every Day Prices! are real, but what else do we have at this point? 

Denver's defense on the other hand is really good. They popped and twisted Oakland's offense around so much that after a catch in the second quarter, Denarius Moore went  into the ground headfirst, rolled over untouched and took off running in the wrong direction (though he was just four yard from the first down marker) Moore picked up four yards (the wrong way) before a Bronco linebacker stupidly tackled him. Chances are Denarius would have gone at least 20 yards, or all the way, if not for that ill-advised tackle. 

That's probably not a scenario that gets mentioned while drawing up a game plan. Denver's excellent defensive play is especially grating for Dennis Allen, who was Denver's defensive coordinator last season, a job now held by Jack Del Rio. That's right! Del Rio is the glory boy, while Allen has to put up with taunts of "We Want Chucky!" or "Bring Back Hue!" on a daily (hourly?) basis.  It seems like life is hardly fair, and nobody appreciates that better than Raider fans.  

Raider Notes:

Carson Palmer completed 19-30 passes for 273 yards, two touchdowns, he lost a fumble that Denver converted into a touchdown and was picked off in the end zone (again) Darren McFadden and Mike Gooden both returned to action, though McFadden aggravated his ankle injury, giving even more credence to his loathsome nickname "McFragile"  The defense sacked Manning three times and picked him off once, the only bright spot in another wise forgettable defensive effort.

Just three more games left for the Raiders, Kansas City next week, followed by Carolina and then the finale against the Chargers in San Diego. The Chiefs game was once penciled in as a "sure thing" but K.C. in the wake of the Jovan Belcher tragedy, has suddenly found a new spirit. It's the final home game of the 2012 season.   

Transactions:  Chaz Powell was added to the practice squad along with Colin Miller.  Powell is another Green Bay castoff, Miller was with New England.  Jamize Olawale, a fullback, was signed off the Dallas Cowboy's practice squad and added to the 53 man roster, he fills the spot left open by the suspension of Rolando McClain.  Coach Allen is scheduled to meet with McClain (after he attends his father's funeral) to discuss the options. My guess is that he'll remain suspended, to be used as trade bait once the season ends. 

The $12 million dollar man, Richard Seymour is still out, Carson Palmer hurt his thumb and is listed as probable. Darren McFadden & Mike Goodson are also listed as probable. We're beginning to see the first signs of a youth movement, Rob Streater, Juron Criner, Phillip Adams, Christo Bilukidi are just some of the younger players getting more playing time. The development of Streater & Criner will probably lead to the departure of Darrius Heyward-Bey. 

   

A seventeen year old attending the Raiders-Broncos game fell thirty fell thirty feet from the third deck of the Oakland Coliseum just prior to the start of the game.  The young man was not identified and remains in serious condition at a local hospital.  Oakland police described the incident as "a deliberate act" The man, who may have been under the influence of drugs, was said to have been running up and down the stadium steps, shortly before climbing over a wall on the third deck and jumping or falling to the section below.