Raiders- Dolphins Week 2

"The Oakland roster that showed up in Miami was not a team ready to play but a joke willing to be played. And the Dolphins, considered by some the worst team in the NFL, laughed and laughed until the merciful intervention of the clock spared the Raiders further indignity" 

"No moral victories or silver linings, nothing of redeeming value. The Raiders on Sunday so thoroughly embarrassed themselves that the team photo for the day should be 45 clown suits, all of them empty"  Monte Poole, Oakland Tribune


 Oakland Raiders 13  Miami Dolphins  35

The end zone is that-a-way >, the first game that followed the season ending injury of Jason Campbell and the arrival of an ill prepared Carson Palmer in 2011, was against the Dolphins, Oakland trailed 34-0 after three quarters and were soundly beaten to within an inch of their manhood. The Phins, have been the laughing stock of the eastern seaboard for some time now. So, how do you account for the fact that they own the Raiders, lock, stock and barrel? In 2010, the Raiders lost 33-17 as Tom Cable's complexion turned to a dark purple. In 2009, Miami manhandled them on their way to a 17-15 victory. I documented the Raiders lack of success against the fish last year and by the very nature of Raider Law, "the more things change, the more they stay the same"

Gregg Knapp and Coach Allen are pleading for patience, but in the words of sports columnist Monte Poole, "Patience is, in 2012 an outdated concept, banished by the digital age, which has produced Twitter and a million other forms of interactive and often brutally reflexive commentary" "Patience" Knapp says "I believe the team that won the Super Bowl last year was 9-7, so it's going to take some patience. BUT! (and that's a big but) there will be no patience for Gregg Knapp, Raider fans don't want to hear about patience anymore. Oakland has not had a winning season since 2002 and that ended on a sour note. Don't ask us to be patient, just figure out how to get the goddamn offense into the end zone! 

Besides, the Raiders of 2012 are not the Giants of 2011, Carson Palmer is not Eli Manning, Dennis Allen sure as hell isn't Tom Coughlin. And Dirt Knapp is no Kevin Gilbride, not by a longshot! Scoring points and gaining yardage was never a problem last year, even after the mid-season switch to Carson Palmer necessitated by Jason Campbell's season ending injury. Oakland had two very capable and resourceful offensive minded coaches on the staff at the end of the season and Reggie McKenzie fired both of them. Knapp is not the answer, Tom Cable stripped him of his play calling duties during his first stint as the Raiders O.C., and now we're heading down the same road again.... Raider Law, "the more things change.... blah, blah, fuck you Knapp!

The "New Era of Excellence" as described by the team's PR department is off to a rocky start. It's starting to sink in that 2012 will be a season of regression and not progression. The 8-8 records of the past two season could prove to be the high water marks of this decade. At any rate, unless Knapp has a life changing epiphany of sorts, we're looking at 2-14 or 4-12 at best, that's a shitload of ugly, soul sucking losses. The light at the end of the tunnel coming in our direction is the ever salty & chippy Pittsburgh Steelers. The timing couldn't be worse, two games into the season and The Raiders are facing a crucial, must win game. A win would go a long ways towards turning things around, while a loss will just confirm what we already suspect.

 "The court of impatience within the Raider Nation has reached a verdict in the case of Oakland offensive coordinator Greg Knapp: Guilty! .... Guilty of questionable play-calling, guilty of lack of imagination, guilty of killing the offense brought to life by Hue Jackson" Monte Poole, Oakland Tribune

Leave it to underachieving Miami running back Reggie Bush to have a career day against the Raiders, as so many down on their luck players often do. Reggie, cut, juked and ran as if he was still back at USC (26 carries 172 yds., 2 td's) It also turns out that rookie Ryan Tannehill, judging by the day he had against Oakland, should have been picked ahead of Andrew Luck and RG3. And why is it that the world has never heard of Brian Hartline before?, move over Megatron, The Hartbreaker is here! Maybe Miami is not who we thought they were (the worse team in the NFL) no, if you go by who beats who, that honor now belongs to our own Oakland Raiders. Geesus! I never thought I would have to say that again, but as it stands.... we are the worse team in the NFL.

"The way we started in the first half, I didn't foresee 35 at the end of the game," Raiders defensive tackle Tommy Kelly conceded to reporters in Miami. Tommy is fast becoming the defensive mouthpiece for Oakland (last year it was Richard Seymour) The game did seem like a classic grind-it-out Raider game of years past, that is until Reggie Bush got loose and the defensive ran out of steam. With the Oakland passing game misfiring in the redzone (twice they were inside the Miami 10 yd. line and settled for field goals) and the running game sputtering out (DMC, 11 carries for 22 yds., that's a whopping 2 yds. per carry) The Raiders were forced to punt the ball away nine times. It's a good thing that Jon Condo was cleared to play again.

Moving the ball through the air is not the problem (Palmer threw for 373 yds. on Sunday) but when your total running yardage over two games only amounts to 68 yds. on 34 carries, well that speaks volumes.  If your punter, who is actually part of the defensive unit, is your best offensive weapon, then things have gone wrong in a big way. "This week was must-win. But, Miami, we're supposed to have this one. I'm sorry. You take your hats off to them, but, hey, if we can't beat Miami, it's going to be rough. It's going to be rough." lamented Tommy Kelly. Weekend at Bernies is all the rage with the post-season bound Oakland A's. My guess is that The Raiders were feeling left out of the fun and decided to do "The Bernie Lean" at Sun Life Stadium.... lean back, lean back, move yo feet, move yo feet.  

"Raiders fans doubt Knapp can operate a productive offense. Though some have made their decision, all must beware of rushing to judgment. Evidence presented thus far, however, has not been in Knapp's favor"  Monte Poole, Oakland Tribune

Raider Notes:

The Raiders, under new coach Dennis Allen, are 0-2 for the first time since 2007, when another relatively unknown young coach was at the helm, Lane Kiffin. During his first stint as Raiders offensive coordinator, Greg Knapp spent two fruitless years trying to teach JaMarcus Russell his offense. After he was demoted by Tom Cable, the offense was simplified to, JaMarcus takes snap, JaMarcus drops back, JaMarcus throws deep. 

Miami used a no-huddle approach most of the game,  they  pulled away from a played out Raider defense in the final 20 minutes by mounting touchdown drives of 80, 80 and 75 yards. Denarius Moore saw his first game action of the season (having missed all four exhibition games and the season opener) Moore caught 3 passes for 67 yards. Right offensive tackle Khalif Barnes suffered a groin injury in the second quarter. Willie Smith replaced Barnes.

Cornerback Shawntae Spencer emerged from the game with a sprained foot. Running back Taiwan Jones was limited because of sore ribs. McFadden got poked in the left eye late in the first quarter and missed a few plays. He was spelled by Mike Goodson who turned a short pass into a 64-yard touchdown, the only highlight in an otherwise dismal day. McFadden returned wearing a visor, which he intends to keep wearing from here on out.

With Ron Bartell on the short-term injured reserve list, rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill picked on Pat Lee and then Joselio Hanson, with Hartline catching nine passes after never before having more than five. With Pittsburgh up next in Oakland, followed by Peyton Manning and  Denver on the road, there are very few reasons to suspect the Raiders will be anything other than 0-4 after four. 

Generally speaking, Raider Ron you are the albatross of doom