Left Nut's Raider Report

Raider Report:

Andre Carter will suit up and make his Raider debut against Atlanta this Sunday. Carter had his first contact during practice since a torn quadriceps ended his season in 2011 while playing for the New England Patriots. Carter, who has 76 career sacks, will be turned loose against Matt Ryan, who has been well protected by Atlanta's offensive line all year.

Darrius Heyward-Bey is scheduled to start against Atlanta, his first game since a scary injury that resulted in a concussion in the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Khalif Barnes, Richard Gordon and Shawntae Spencer are still out indefinitely, while several other Raiders including Darren McFadden, Brandon Myers, Tommy Kelly, Taiwan Jones & Sebastian Janikowski are nursing injuries but are expected to play on Sunday.

As I mentioned last week, Oakland has lost the first game following a bye week, nine consecutive seasons. Which doesn't bode well for the Silver & Black as they travel to Atlanta to take on the undefeated Falcons. Atlanta looked disorganized and vulnerable in their game against the Washington Redskins, which they barely won 24-17.  Just like in 2011 when they rolled into Houston following Al Davis' passing, Oakland goes to Atlanta just a week after the 1st.anniversary of his death.

The Raiders seem to play better after a miserable loss (and the Denver loss was misery personified) After the Miami game, when their pride and desire was questioned, they came out and beat Pittsburgh (though it's becoming apparent that the Steelers are not very good at all) Now, the Raiders need to prove something again and that's when they're a dangerous team.  Call me crazy but I'm picking the Raiders by 7.

Once again an ex-Raider player makes the news for all the wrong reasons. Anthony Smith, the 11th overall pick in the 1990 NFL draft, and a Raider defensive end for 8 seasons, has been ordered to stand trial for four murders and could face the death penalty.

Smith played for both the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders from 1991 to 1997. It seems that he segued from the NFL into a career as an enforcer/serial killer.  A Los Angeles County judge ruled this week that there was sufficient evidence for him to stand trial for the killings that came in a nine year span.

Smith, had already been tried for one of the murders, the 2008 death of Maurillo Ponce. The jury deadlocked in favor of guilt. Ponce was beaten, stomped and shot to death alongside a desert highway in Southern California. It's believed that Smith and Ponce had a "business" dispute. It's a safe bet that the dispute didn't center around Tupperware or Amway sales.  

While awaiting retrial in the Ponce case, Smith was charged with three other murders. The 1999 killing of brothers Kevin and Ricky Nettles and the 2001 stabbing death of Dennis Henderson. The cases will be combined into a single trial, the case returns to court for a hearing on Oct. 29th. 2012.