Raiders- Lions Game 14

Lip service is all we ever get from Hue Jackson. The Raiders are sitting at 7-7 with two games to go. "Right now I'm a .500 football coach and that's not who I am" said Jackson. If The Raiders can't win one of their last two games (and it's looking like they can't) Hue will be a losing coach and that might be closer to who he really is.  It's not from lack of effort that The Raiders keep losing. I think the operative word to describe their woes is focus, or better yet the lack of focus. 

Up 27-14 with 7:30 left to play in the game, Oakland had this one in the bag. The Broncos and Jets were both getting rolled and suddenly a chance at a playoff spot was right there before their eyes. Tommy Kelly had just stripped Matthew Stafford of the ball and Aaron Curry returned it six yards for a touchdown. At that point it seemed highly unlikely that Detroit would rally. Alas, the defense giveth and the defense taketh away, The Raider defensive unit simply couldn't make a stop. 

Matthew Stafford directed Detroit scoring drives of 71 & 98 yards (a drive that took less than two minutes) to take a 28-27 lead. To their credit The Raiders still had a chance at the end. Following a dropped pass by Darius Heyward-Bey at the 37 yd. line with 8 seconds left on the clock. Oakland lined up to attempt a 65 yard field goal, (had Heyward-Bey caught that pass it would have been a 54 yard try) 

It's a given that for most teams in the league it would be preposterous to even imagine such a thing. Except, the Raiders have Sebastian Janikowski, who bad hamstring and all is fully capable of scoring from that distance. He might have made it, but we'll never know because Ndamukong Suh got a thumb on the ball and knocked it off course.  For Suh, coming off a suspension for stomping on a Green Bay lineman's arm, it was a moment of sweet redemption.

Calvin Johnson's 214 receiving yards were the most against The Raiders since Don Maynard's 228 during the infamous Heidi Game vs. The Jets in 1968.  Oakland had no answer for "Megatron" At times the Raider pass coverage seemed frozen in their tracks, either with awe or fear as he took them to school. 

Carson Palmer completed 32 of 40 passes for 367 yds. and a td pass. Darrius Heyward-Bey had a career day with eight catches for 155 yards and one touchdown. Yet, when the Raiders needed a big play from Darrius (as has been the case his entire career) he couldn't get it done. Two dropped  passes and Suh's thumb made all the difference in the world.

Raider Notes:
For the Raiders it was a crushing and demoralizing blow, although the game never should have come down to that last field goal attempt. “Very demoralizing,” Carson Palmer said “We had chances to close them out and a chance to put them away there and just didn’t make enough plays when it came down to it.” The Raider's season has turned on an unexpected three game losing streak.

This was billed as a playoff push game, a win at all cost match-up with a Detroit squad that's barely playing .500 ball after starting the season 5-0. Playoff teams find a way to hold a two touchdown lead with seven minutes to go. To quote outspoken former NFL coach, Jim Mora "You guys shouldn't write about us being a playoff team and all that bullstuff, that's malarkey."

Allow me to quote Jim Mora again regarding the postseason, "What's that?.. Playoffs? you kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game." An 8-8 record would go a long way towards keeping the team on track and moving ahead. A .500 season could be seen as a success when you factor in the plague of injuries that derailed Oakland just as they were picking up steam.

The Raiders travel to Kansas City next week. The Chiefs shut out Oakland earlier in the season (Carson's first game) Since then they've picked up Kyle Orton from Denver and last week ended Green Bay's nineteen game winning streak. Both the Chiefs and Orton are playing with renewed vigor under interim coach Romeo Crennel.

On top of that, there's a revenge factor involved, seeing how Oakland romped over The Chiefs in last year's season finale. Chief's fans don't forget those things, Arrowhead will be hostile come Sunday. Oakland still has a mathematical chance at a playoff spot. If The Raiders win out and Denver loses both of its remaining games, they would edge out the Broncos for the AFC West title.


Highlights: Carson Palmer played well enough for Oakland to win, Darrius Heyward-Bey had a big day

Lowlights:  The defense collapsed, yet again. It's time to re-think our defensive schemes

The Other Side: Matthew Stafford is a stone cold killer and as much as I hate that stupid "Megatron" nickname, Calvin Johnson is a pass catching machine.

Talk To Me:
"As the pass fluttered down, there was linebacker Rolando McClain in pass coverage, trailing as one would expect. He failed to make the play. Safety Jerome Boyd, also in the area, watched as if in a trance. Two plays and 21 seconds later, Detroit had its victory." Oakland Tribune

"I thought we were going to make a play on it," Wimbley said, presuming McClain and Boyd would contain Johnson because, well, they were in position to do exactly that.

"You gotta make that play," coach Hue Jackson said. "The ball is laying up there in the air. You gotta make that play."

"We just knew we had to go out there and get the stop, and we didn't do it, As far as I'm concerned, we just didn't get the job done. If that's the best we've got, we have to get better.''  Aaron Curry

"I've got nothing to say," Chaz Schilens replied, when he was approached for comment on his third-down, off-the-fingers non-catch.

"You saw it," said Heyward-Bey, when asked about his dropped pass with 8 seconds left.

"Everybody is going through the motions.  Are you really only going through the motions? Lip service is all you'll ever get from me."       Elvis Costello