Raiders- Bills Game 2

Perhaps buoyed by having stopped Denver's "My Little Pony" rushing game, the Raider defensive unit came into the Buffalo game with just a hint of that old swagger. Hue Jackson's rebuilt bully squad was feeling  it on Sunday. Although, by the time the game ended and they were on the losing end of an improbable 38-35 loss, their mood had gone south. Most were wondering what had gone terribly wrong and Jackson was imploring them not to point fingers at one another. 

The Raiders had The Bills on the ropes 21-3 at halftime, the game seemed well in hand. Then, it all came tumbling down. Ryan Fitzpatrick found his mark and he shredded the Raider pass coverage.  His quick reads and release  stymied the Raider pass rush all day long. The Raider D, which had five sacks against Denver, never got to Fitzpatrick. The Bills marched into the end zone on each of their five second half possessions. The head shot came in the form of  a six yd. td. catch by Buffalo's David Nelson with 14 seconds left on the clock.

  

After holding Denver  to 38 yds. total rushing, The Bills ripped Oakland for 217 yards on the ground. This led to 25 first downs in the second half for Buffalo. Sloppy coverage, miscommunication, cheap penalties and missed tackles killed the Raiders defense. Tommy Kelly said it best:  “In eight years, we have never been up on anybody 21-3 and lost. We have never been up on anybody 21-3 that many times since I’ve been here. It’s just a real tough pill to swallow. Real tough.”

At the very end, Oakland still had a chance to win, as Jason Campbell launched a hail mary pass into the end zone. Rookie WR Denarius Moore had the ball stripped from his hands by Bills defender Da'Norris Searcy. In a strange turn, the play was reviewed by officials after the game in a mostly empty stadium, it was ruled an interception. Watching from nearby Richard Seymour dryly added:“We’re the Raiders—you think we’re going to get that call?” 

Buffalo gals... go 'round the outside

Raider Notes:

Denarius Moore broke out in a big way, he had five catches for 146 yds. and 1 td. Yes! Raider fans, you can believe the hype about Mr. Moore. Darren McFadden scored twice and had a total of 143 yds. rushing from scrimmage. Jason Campbell was 23-33 passing for 323 yds and 2 tds.  Having game officials at practice made a difference. The Raiders, who were flagged 15 times for 131 yds. against the Broncos, had 8 penalties for 85 yds. against The Bills.

There's plenty of quotes: “Not a whole lot to say other than that effort isn’t going to be good enough,” said Richard Seymour,  “We didn’t seem to give the offense any help in the second half. That’s on us. It isn’t good enough.” he added.  Hue Jackson had some thoughts: “Good job by them, bad job by us,” Jackson hit on a common theme  “When it’s all said and done, we did not finish the game.”  

The Raiders can't dwell on this loss, they're hosting the New York Jets in their home opener next week. That will be followed by a home game against New England and a trip to Houston to face the Texans. That's a tough stretch against some of the NFL's best teams. 

Highlights: Denarius Moore, he's for real. Jason Campbell, Darren McFadden.. the offense did enough to win the game. They scored 35 points and were within a hail mary of pulling it out!

Lowlights: The Defense, all of it, the line, backs, safeties, corners and coaches

The Other Side: Ryan Fitzpatrick, he's a Harvard man with a hot hand!