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Still not practicing this week as of yesterday. I would be surprised to see him play this weekend at this point.
He did not practiced again today, and Gutierrez reported on Twitter Ford as being out this week, along with the likes of Louis Murphy and Mike Mitchell. (sorry don't have the link)
Not surprising. I'd expect to see DHB and Moore as the starters, with Hagan getting a heavy rotation of plays. It'll be interesting to see the new wrinkle that Kevin Boss adds. He should upgrade the blocking, as well as provide a viable TE target that Oakland lacked in those first 2 games. I hope Boss can snag a TD this game, as you know the Jets are going to tighten up at the goal line. Boss couldn't have come at a more opportune time.
Love to get Ford back too. This matchup looks bad for us.
I agree with this.
DB Ron Parker signed to practice squad. Parker played safety in college. 4.35 40 time. Sterling Moore released from practice squadMove could mean several things. Chekwa played well at CB so maybe the experiment with him at FS is over with. Mitchell's injury could be lingering and Huff is nicked now as well. Corners also nicked though. Could mean injuries are more serious at safety or it could mean Moore will be signed to the roster soon. Might not really mean much of anything.
I agree, but I am not surprised. The nature of this defense, is it will get big plays, and give up big plays. In general, I just kind of shake my head at the lack of imagination, and hope the line gets pressure. Because if the don't, someone is going to be open, wide open. I don't care if you have Deion, Champ, Aso, and Mel Blount back there. It's really frustrating when the Raiders DO deviate from the Cover-1, and throw a zone blitz or a corner blitz at an offense, because it invariably works. Teams are so shocked that they don't know where every player will be on defense (except the strong safety) that good things usually happen for Oakland. The other thing, that we need to realize, is that by running man-to-man with very little help, it lends itself to the PI and defensive holding calls. I think the refs don't want to call it all the time, and I am sure they let a bit go, and maybe if the Raiders were in zone some if the time, the refs wouldn't be watching the CB/WR one-on-one battle all day, until he finally says, 'well, he went a bit far there....' Defensive holding doesn't happen in zone too much, ya know?
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The Lions did a great job in getting Brady out of his comfort zone. He's a different passer when he has a busy pocket. He doesn't like people around his feet. Anything that can make him shuffle in & out of the pocket is to the defense's advantage. Also, notice that the Bills put in 7 defensive back and played no linebackers in that second half comeback. Not that we have the secondary talent, but we need to stack the middle defense with as many skilled DB's as possible. Game will be won and lost in the secondary. Chimdi Checkwa looked really good, even on the two completions he gave up to Plax. Moving forward, would like to see more of Chimdi as the starter of Chris Johnson.
Would be huge to get Mike Mitchell back in this game since he can play the LB/DB role perfectly.
I hate articles like these. Forget about the superstition of having people say this, and forget about the expectation it raises in my heart for the beloved Silver & Black.It’s simply too early in the season to make this kind of call about the Raiders. Week 1 is always a roller coaster upset-fest, more so this year given a short preseason thanks to lock-out drama. Week 2 and 3 we see glimmers of proof of concept of teams that will endure for the season (i.e. Bills being strong, the Dolphins and Vikings and Bears not so much).We also see some weak links in some team's perennial strong chains -- PIT, for example, still has D but without a power run game, can Ben hold up the passing game? Washington and Dallas are winning games more than they are losing them, but Grossman and Romo have shown they can lose a game for the team as much as he can win one, and the production around them is inconsistent.For the Raiders, they showed that they can compete with perennially strong teams (Jets), with breakout teams that are for real this year (Bills) and that they can still dominate weaker division rivals (Broncs).They have also shown that their running game is still one of the most productive in the league, that their D can step up and play aggressively, and that they can put points on the board to stay competitive. But they have also shown some glaring weaknesses in their secondary, and wild inconsistency with their LB play. DMoore aside, they have a need for some consistent WRs play across the unit. This enables high flying offensive teams like the Bills and Jets to come back on them. And while Campbell is a good game manager, he's no Brady or Brees in terms of ensuring he can march the team down the field with the weapons he has.So to start talking about this team as a legitimate playoff team is way to premature right now. This week will tell a lot. If the Raiders can limit the Pats run with their front line, and get some consistent pressure on the pocket, they have a chance to keep up. A healthy and productive Ford and having a guy like Boss step up as well could mean all the difference against a team with som many potent weapons like the Pats. Let's win this game first with some -- then it will have me believing.'No. 16 said:
Goodell upheld his suspension as expected. This was destined to end up in court. The Raiders expected Pryor to miss the 5 weeks so it has little impact on the team. The players union and league will continue their fight. If the union wins this one in court, Pryor could end up getting some money out of it. Also the strong chance of it being settled outside the court room. Regardless of what happens with the possibility of future suspensions for NCAA violations, Pryor wont get to practice with the team for another week and a half.
Appeal denied. What can you do when you appeal to the guy that handed down the suspension.
I agree. In comparison to how quickly other appeals have been dealt with, this has been moving at a snail's pace.
I said the same thing when we told Gallery over Larry Fitzgerald.I'm very anxious about this game for different reasons. First, I am scared to death when we have to face high-flying teams with great passing games. Look at all the points we gave up in the 2nd half at Buffalo... and Ryan Fitzpatrick isn't exactly Dan Marino. I also can't get the two preseason games against New Orleans (one in 2009, one this year) out of my head. Brees and the Saints went UP AND DOWN THE FIELD AT WILL against our 1's. They did whatever they wanted to and we were helpless to stop it. The thought of going up against Brady, coming off a loss, is a bit worrisome. I agree with Coach that ball control is the key to the game. The good news is, N.E. is dead last in defense.
The other thing is, I live in New England, right in the heart of Patriots country. I have been eating s##t from bandwagon Pats fans for ten years, especially walking the streets with a Raiders tattoo. Wish I had a nickel for every time someone brought up the Snow Bowl. That said, it is almost unfathomable to me that the Pats are only favored by 3.5 points. I don't mean that I think they should be favored by more. I mean that if you had told me before the season started that's what the line would be for this game, I would not have believed it. Seems like we've come so far in such a short time. I feel like my offseason excitement about Hue has already been justified. It's just nice to see the Raiders finally getting some measure of respect for the first time in a LONG time. Some people are listing Oakland in the Top-10 in their Power Rankings. If they beat the Pats, I will be a true believer that we can make the playoffs THIS season. No doubt about it. Then, our reward will be facing another high-flying offense next week... at Houston.
BTW.... now imagine we took Calvin instead of JaMarcus.
This offense would be completely and totally unstoppable.
Parker signed to rosterNick Miller released
I have no means of communicating this without sounding like I`m making excuses for him, which I am not... He needs to take responsibility for those penalties. However on the face mask, I don`t think it was intentional at all. Attempted to make a tackle amoungst the masses and grabbed the face mask in error. The roughing the passer... yeah... That wasn`t good I think he would have got away with contact, but the extra spin and pulling him down to the ground was a bit too much.Today was a game lost in errors. Not saying that they would have won, but the game would have been a lot closer if it wasn`t for some key mental and execution mistakes. You cannot win a game against Brady and the Pats when two trips to the redzone end in 3 points. The interception in the End Zone was HORRIBLE. And while the picked up PI flag was a joke, the Raiders still had the opportunity to put it in the endzone there, and failed to do so with a bad check down.DHB`s stat line looks a lot better, but watching him catch the ball with his body is painful to watch.I did like the use and play of Kevin Boss, and it was nice to see the Raiders attempt to make some adjustments in their pass coverage. Not that it worked against Welker, but at least the change was made.
Except for the couple of years we had Romonowski and Rod Woodson, this has been a problem for like 15 years. Those two guys were always around the ball and seldom ever missed tackles. When McClain was drafted, everybody had hopes that the problem was finally solved. It wasnt. McClain will improve his signal calling and that is part of the problem. Those gaps will get smaller when he does and he'll be around the ball more. However the missed tackles are what they are. The guys who are missing them will probably continue to miss them. In the case of McClain, that means he will likely never be the elite MLB we had hoped we had drafted. Some of the other guys can be replaced. If we werent so thin at linebacker I'd say the Wimbley contract was a mistake. Groves has improved a little this year but not enough. Branch might be the best tackler on the team but he is a bit small and not the hardest hitter. Had he switched to FS if Huff wasnt resigned maybe the safeties would look better. The scouting report knock on Huff was that he was something in between a safety and a cornerback. That's why we play 3 safeties so much. When the corners play man to man, they arent going to help much against the run. Its on the other guys. Our defensive scheme is meant for individuals to make the play. Those linebackers and safeties have to close those gaps and make the tackle.'massraider said:
I'm curious what you as a Raiders fan thought of the decision to have Bush in there with 1st and goal at the six - which eventually turned into the endzone pick? As a McFadden owner I definitely wanted him in there, but as a Pats fan I was really glad he wasn't. I know Bush is the "goal-line back" but don't you want your more dynamic running back in there in that scenario, if only for no other reason than to command more respect from the defense? Bush is a solid back, but I don't believe he scares the defense the way McFadden does, regardless of where they are on the field.'massraider said:
