Raiders- Chiefs Week 14

The emotional surge that led the Kansas City Chiefs to their second victory of the season following the Jovan Belcher tragedy has subsided. A 30-7 thumping by the Cleveland Browns brought them back to reality and this past Sunday at O.co, the Chiefs came up empty against  Oakland,15-0.  For the Raiders, this meaningless victory can be viewed two different ways, it was a win and wins are scarce. However the victory also pushed the Silver and Black further down the draft order. Any win for the Raiders is good, let's not lose sight of that fact, and  I'm not advocating that they should tank the remainder of the season.

The reality is that finishing the season with two or three more wins does nothing for our future.
 To quote (as I often do) Oakland Trib NFL beat writer, Monte Poole "Oakland entered the game with the third worst record in the NFL, firmly in possession of the third overall draft pick. By walking away in triumph, they now join a gaggle of teams that will hold the rights to pick as low as 11th. in the first round" Our dire needs are on defense, Manti Te'o will be gone by the time we pick, is now the time for those bums on the Raider defense to man up?  I'm probably worrying about nothing, it would take a miracle for the Silver & Black to win out.

Granted, a 6-10 record would be a sign of progress, given that Sunday's win over Kansas City broke a six game losing streak. If Coach Allen can will these bloated stiffs to six wins, just think what he'll do with some motivated players. Beating Kansas City probably assures us that Dennis Allen will be back as head coach next year. I know what the Gruden faction is thinking.... but fuck them anyway!  The Raiders need stability on the coaching staff, there's been nothing but chaos and confusion for the last three years. Losing would get us a higher draft pick, but Coach Allen and the Raiders are sure to keep trying to win, inspite of the implications.

Coach Allen despite all his detractors has been steadfast and straight-up. He's kept us moving forward, even if at times it appeared that he was leading us off a cliff. The circumstances that doomed the 2012 season, were in place even before Coach Allen was hired, he has done what he could with what he was given to work with. This franchise needs to find some firm footing and nobody said that the loss of Al Davis and the subsequent restructuring of the entire organization would be easy. The process has started and cannot be reversed.

Hue Jackson has moved on, under performing malcontents and high priced sandbaggers are being cast off and we sure as hell don't need or want Chucky Gruden back. With Al Davis in command, the team was trapped in past, living off a reputation that had grown to become a cartoonish stereotype. The Raiders' own legacy of phony tough guy posturing hindered the process of rebuilding more than it helped. It's been obvious for years, that a change of attitude and culture was long overdue.

Oakland Raiders  15        Kansas City 0

The shutout did come against Kansas City (their offense kept them out of the end zone as much as the Raider defense) but as far as I know nobody's talking about giving this one back. "It felt really, really good, no matter who the opponent is," linebacker Philip Wheeler said. "It's great to hold a team to zero and minimal rushing yards and just dominate like that."  For once both the offensive and defensive units played in dominate fashion, snapping a six game win streak and giving the Oakland players a rare opportunity to show some swagger. 

The Kansas City press was ready to pounce on Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel after what will go down in history as one of the least productive offensive efforts in the annals of Kansas City Chiefs football. THE QUESTION TO ROMEO CRENNEL WAS SUCCINCT: "COACH WAS THIS THE WORST PERFORMANCE BY THE OFFENSE OF ANY TEAM YOU'VE COACHED?" How do you respond to that?, the question answers itself. Sadly, Crennel is starting to resemble Art Shell during his ill fated homecoming season in 2006.

"Couldn't run the ball, couldn't throw the ball, got in the red zone and couldn't get any points," Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel said. "Defensively we tried to hang in there, but we missed too many tackles and on third down were unable to get off the field." I don't blame them for wanting top get off the field, nothing good whatsoever was happening for them between the stripes. The Chiefs finished with 119 yds. in total offense. By comparison, Darren McFadden, who was in rare form, had a career high 30 carries for 110 yds. rushing. 

The Raider defense sacked Chiefs Qb. Brady Quinn four times, they limited K.C. to 1 of 12 third down conversions, denying Kansas City a first down until the third quarter. I don't care who the hell you're playing against, in the NFL that counts as "total domination" For the Raiders it was a feel good game, one that was badly needed. The Raider faithful greeted the win with mixed emotions, "BIG DEAL! We win against the other worst team in the league and call it what? A turning point?" screamed one fan. 

"Oh, man, you just love that," Raider LOT, Jared Veldheer said. "We're going forward, not backward ... we were committed to it. Everyone had the right mindset, and the biggest thing of all we were able to execute it. That's the biggest thing. It was awesome." Raiders 4 Now fans couldn't wait to mock Veldheer's enthusiastic glee, "Man it was awesome, we shut out the worse team in the NFL by all field goals, could not even make a touchdown" said one "We win, we win. Sea Bass for MVP. Knapp still sucks, our offense still sucks. We beat the Chiefs by field goals. Still can't score touch downs. Pathetic" chimed in another.

Carson Palmer, who was under the weather finished with some lackluster numbers, 18-29 for 182 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. For the first time this season the running game made up for the passing game coming up short. The Raiders had 203 rushing yards on 45 carries (30 by DMC) Mike Goodson ran for 89 yards on 13 carries to compliment McFadden's 110 yards rushing. Oakland also picked up 10 rushing first downs. Sebastian Janikowski connected on field goals of 20, 50, 57, 30 and 41 yards. He missed one from 51 yards.

Raider Notes:

Darrius Heyward-Bey, didn't do much of anything on Sunday, given that he's making $8,159,000

this season, his future with the Raiders is tenuous at best. Heyward-Bey needs to go, add Richard Seymour, Taiwan Jones, David Ausberry, Rolando McClain & Shawntae Spencer to that list. That's an easy $15 million trimmed off the roster. The Raiders are supposedly evaluating Terrelle Pryor, though the three snaps he got on Sunday probably didn't tell them much... or maybe it told them everything they need to know?

Up next for the Raiders are the Carolina Panthers, who are coming off two big wins over Atlanta and San Diego. At 5-9 the Panthers are also keeping an eye on the draft order, but don't expect them to lay down for Oakland to help that cause. Since 2007, the Raiders are 3-10 in games played in the Eastern Time Zone. A Raider victory, while not totally out of the question, is highly unlikely. I will however, flaunt conventional wisdom and pick Oakland to win by 7. 

Transactions:

Dec 10 Rolando McClain MLB Suspension lifted by Oakland

Dec 10 Chimdi Chekwa LCB Active/prac. squad by Oakland

Dec 10 Ron Bartell CB Cut by Oakland

Dec 10 Owen Schmitt RB Cut by Oakland

Dec 10 Akwasi Owusu-Ansah S Pract. squad add by Oakland

McClain's suspension was lifted but he didn't see any action. Chimdi Chedwa moved up to the active roster from the practice squad. Ron Bartell was cut, we saw this one coming, signing Bartell was a bad decision, he contributed next to nothing during his stay in Oakland. Owen Schmitt is a role player that the Raiders can't afford to keep around. His playing time and production were both negligible. Owusu-Ansah is back on the practice squad, having been cut twice before. 

(image from an actual college textbook)