FOF2K4: A Team of Our Very Own [Archive] - Front Office Football Central

Blade

10-07-2005, 07:34 PM

My name is Barrett Blade.

I am just your average middle aged guy, stuck in a dead-end job, with no major aspirations. I am not married, I do not have any kids, and I do not have any pets. I simply work to pay for my apartment, food, clothing, and frivolous items. I work my 8-5 life, come home, order some take out, and watch TV.

And I love Football.

I cannot get enough football, really. As a kid, I played Pop Warner, and continued to play as I got older. I was never a star or anything like that, but I loved the game, and just continued to play. I became a safety/tight end in High School, then managed to make the Division II Northern Michigan University team as a safety. I graduated with an Accounting degree, and now I work at a crappy job crunching numbers. I still watch and read everything about football that I can, dreaming of what could never have been.

And so, my life goes on in a monotonous circle, day after day, with but a brief breath of life on Sunday.

My name is Barrett Blade.

Blade

10-07-2005, 07:35 PM

I was lying on the couch, watching “Total Access” on the NFL Network, when my phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey Bear! How ya doing?”

I sat up, amazed. It was John Mackey, a friend of mine since we were 5 years old. I hadn’t heard from him in about a year. John was one of those computer geeks who spent a ton of time at his keyboard, building the ultimate super computer, or at least surfing for a lot of porn. To be honest, I am not sure exactly what he was always working on, but he had hit it big with his software. He now had a multi-billion dollar organization called Mackey-Soft, and had been in hiding for the past year or so.

“Mack? How the Hell are you? And what have you been up to? Last I heard, you were buying an island or a country or something.”

Mack laughed.

“No, just been crazy with work. Besides, Mezoestonia or Czechogentina or whatever it was called was a little too small for me. What have you been up to?”

I looked down at the sweats I was wearing, stained with some spilled beer and a dropped piece of pizza.

“Uh…just working away. Doing what us simpletons do when we cannot strike it rich.”

Another laugh.

“And watching football?” Mack asked.

“Yah, and watching football.”

“Excellent! That is why I called! Remember when we were kids, and we always talked about making it to the NFL and playing together? Well, I am going to do the next best thing…I am going to buy and NFL franchise! And, I want you to be the General Manager.”

I dropped the phone. I stared at it for a minute, hearing Mack’s distant voice asking if I was still there, when I finally regained my senses and picked up the receiver again.

“Uh…what? What are you talking about?”

“I have the money now, and I want to get into the NFL. We sure as Hell know that we could never get there on talent, so I will use money!”

I was still dumbfounded.

“But, I can’t be a GM. I don’t have any qualifications!”

“What qualifications do you need? You know football, you know numbers, and you love the game, so that is all I need. Plus, it will be better than the job you are working now, I am sure.”

I didn’t know what to say. This was a dream come true, but could I do it? I thought for another moment, then came to the only decision I could come to.

“Alright, let’s do it. I hope you know what you are doing, Mack. What team are you going to buy?”

“Well, let’s face it. Any teams that we both like are not going to be for sale. I want to put our mark on the team, so I figure we are going to have to get one and move it where we want. Not only that, but we will probably have to gut a lot of it and bring in the type of players we like.”

Again I was shocked.

“Do you think an owner will sell you the team knowing your plans for it?”

“Probably not, but we are not going to tell them that, are we?”

“Mack, I am not sure if this is a good thing. We are going to be screwing a lot of fans over. I am not sure if I can do that with a clear conscience.”

Mack laughed again.

“Don’t worry, Bear. You will not mind…this is going to be our team, and we will make that team the way that we want.”

I was still worried. It just did not sit right with me.

“Well…what team are you going to buy?”

“The Oakland Raiders.”

I smiled.

Blade

10-07-2005, 07:35 PM

Hey all,

I haven’t done a dynasty in quite a while, and even longer for an FOF dynasty. As it is, I have been a big fan of FOF for years (obviously, otherwise why would I be here), but I feel a lot of shame as I did not buy FOF2k4 until last week.

As such, I am very rusty, and probably pretty bad at it now, but I wanted to start this dynasty anyway. I wanted to write it up just so I could look back at it as my career evolves, and I thought that I might as well post it here so that if anyone wanted to read it to read, enjoy, or just plain laugh at me, they could do so.

I don’t have any major goals for this dynasty other than getting to move the Raiders from Oakland, and to rebuild them in an image I prefer more. I will try to add as much storyline filler as possible, and hopefully it turns out alright. I will be using Yabanci’s real NFL rosters to start this.

I am going to try to make it somewhat pretty with graphics, but it probably will still be very plain...I would love to do something like Grid Iron did for his dynasties, but I do not have the graphic talent to do so... :(

Oh, and I really do not have any hate or bias against the city of Oakland…just the Raiders! ;)

So, sit back and enjoy, and if you decide to read, please feel free to offer your advice, opinions, etc.

Thanks!

Izulde

10-07-2005, 10:56 PM

You're getting rid of the Silver and Black? *gasps in horror* Nice start, though. Reminds me that I need to update my Tampa Bay dynasty.

Blade

10-07-2005, 11:37 PM

You're getting rid of the Silver and Black? *gasps in horror* Nice start, though. Reminds me that I need to update my Tampa Bay dynasty.

Heh...yah, just not a Raider fan at all...

Plus they fit the bill for a team that I should be able to relocate shortly...

Blade

10-07-2005, 11:57 PM

http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/nfl.gif

New Owner in the Raider Nation

By Reid Ryley

The Oakland Raiders held a press conference today to announce some shocking news: Al Davis has sold the Oakland Raiders to Billionaire John Mackey. John Mackey is the owner of the software conglomerate Mackey-Soft, which earned $27.5 billion in total revenue last year. It was announced that the deal is official and Mr. Mackey will be taking ownership of the team immediately.

When questioned as to why Mr. Davis would sell the team he had first been a part of in the ‘60’s, Mr. Davis responded that it was time to enjoy the rest of his life with family and friends. He thanked everyone that he had worked with in the Raiders organization, and wished them well.

Mr. Mackey’s first order of business was to hire a new General Manager, Barrett Blade. This was met with numerous questions as Mr. Blade is unknown to the football community. Mr. Mackey stated that the NFL should just “wait and see” what Mr. Blade will bring to the organization, and stated that he had Mr. Mackey’s fullest confidence. The current coaching staff will remain in place, however.

Mr. Mackey was also questioned as to his future plans with the Raiders. He responded that he was excited about the future, and that he had a lot of hope for the team. He also stated that the Raiders should have a long future in Oakland, so long as the city shows that they will support the team. He did say, though, that there will be changes made to the team, so that they can compete the way that he wanted them to compete. When questioned further on that issue, Mr. Mackey declined to comment.

So begins a new era in the Oakland Raiders history. Fans hope it will be long and prosperous.

Blade

10-09-2005, 11:41 PM

Mackey walked into my new office, inside McAfee Coliseum. I had my head buried into the current Raiders roster.

“Hey, Bear. How’s it going?”

I looked up from my papers and smiled. “Just going over the team roster, as it currently stands.”

“Thoughts on it?”

I thought for a moment. “Well, if we want this team to be our own, there are going to have to be some changes. But, with that in mind, we may have to start making the changes slowly, because too much in too short of a time, and we are going to be in some trouble on the field and with the fans.

Mackey laughed. “Don’t worry about it. We need to remember our main goals here. We want to be able to move this team, so some upset fans work in our favor. We also want this team to be our own, so changes are a necessary part of that.”

Mackey sat down in a chair opposite my desk.

Let’s go over this roster and see what we have.

Oakland Raiders Roster, Scout Overview

Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Collins, Kerry 5 QB QB 11 48 51 2 yrs
Tuiasosopo, Marques 8 QB 5 15 34 2 yrs
Walter, Andrew 16 QB 1 14 51 3 yrs

I frowned as I looked over our QB situation. “I am not a fan of Collins at all. He can throw the deep ball, but I just do not see him as a franchise quarterback due to his physical skills. The guys is smart, though, and is also a fan favorite, so we may need to hold onto him for a bit. Tuiasosopo is nothing great, but I like the looks of the Walter kid. He may be a decent player, so I will be interested in seeing how he develops.”

Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Jordan, LaMont 34 RB RB 5 50 53 5 yrs
Fargas, Justin 20 RB 3 32 38 3 yrs
Crockett, Zack 32 RB 11 29 29 5 yrs
Henry, Leonard 28 RB 4 26 31 1 yr.
Easy, Omar 43 FB FB 4 22 34 1 yr.
Foschi, John Paul 49 FB 1 14 24 2 yrs

“Lamont Jordan could be good for us, and I don’t mind the guy. He has already taken a leadership role on the team, and he just got here. Not bad. Fargas is a serviceable backup, but Crockett and Henry are not great. I think we should cut one of them. And I do not like our fullbacks at all. They cannot block, and if they cannot block, then they are worthless to me.”

Mackey nodded. “Yah, that is something we should look at remedying soon.”

Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Anderson, Courtney 83 TE TE 2 40 64 3 yrs
Dudley, Rickey 88 TE 10 37 37 1 yr.
Flemister, Zeron 80 TE 6 30 31 1 yr.
Moss, Randy 18 FL FL 8 89 90 4 yrs
Curry, Ronald 81 FL 4 35 51 3 yrs
Francis, Carlos 10 FL 2 22 34 2 yrs
Morant, Johnnie 19 FL 2 13 21 3 yrs
Porter, Jerry 84 SE SE 6 71 71 5 yrs
Gabriel, Doug 85 SE 3 40 48 2 yrs
Whitted, Alvis 87 SE 8 33 33 2 yrs
Williams, Randal 89 SE 5 24 35 1 yr.

I smiled as I looked at the TE situation. “I like Courtney Anderson a lot. He is pretty well-rounded, and looks like he is developing some good blocking skills. Seems like he has a good head on his shoulders, so I think he is a keeper. I am not overly happy with our backups here, though, as they cannot block.”

Mackey nodded again. “We should have some time to get some depth, so no worries there. Now, what do you think of our wideouts?” Mackey smirked, knowing what my first answer would be.

“Randy Moss. Arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL, a fan favorite, and brand new here to the Raider Nation. The fans are looking to him as a savior. Me, I hate him. Always have. He is our best trade bait, and I think he has to go.”

“I thought you would say that! I agree, though.” Mackey laughed.

“Other than Moss, I think we have some guys that we should cut from this part of the roster, but I like Porter, Curry, and Gabriel. I think we have something we can work with here.”

Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Treu, Adam 62 C C 9 57 60 5 yrs
Grove, Jake 64 C 2 33 57 3 yrs
Walker, Langston 66 LG 4 21 33 3 yrs
Hulsey, Corey 71 LG 5 13 18 1 yr.
Stone, Ron 67 RG LG 13 58 58 5 yrs
Badger, Brad 70 RG RG 9 43 43 4 yrs
Gallery, Robert 76 LT LT 2 52 89 5 yrs
Slaughter, Chad 78 LT 5 19 32 1 yr.
Sims, Barry 65 RT RT 7 32 40 5 yrs
Lekerkerker, Brad 60 RT 1 2 17 2 yrs

“Our offensive line is alright, mainly at center, right guard, and left tackle. We are hurting at left guard and right tackle, though. As for the personalities here, they seem to be alright. No one instantly pissing me off, so we should just work with our strengths and fix our weaknesses here.”

Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Lechler, Shane 9 P 6 63 67 4 yrs
Janikowski, Sebastian 11 K 6 70 74 5 yrs

I grimaced as we looked at the kickers. “Lechler, I can work with. Janikowski, in my opinion, is a cancer and needs to go. As soon as possible.” Mackey nodded his agreement.

Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Hamilton, Bobby 98 LDE LDE 10 45 48 4 yrs
Gbaja-Biamila, Akbar 94 LDE 4 16 28 1 yr.
Burgess, Derrick 58 RDE RDE 5 49 62 5 yrs
Kelly, Tommy 93 RDE 2 23 37 1 yr.
Washington, Ted 92 LDT NT 15 49 54 4 yrs
Jasper, Edward 95 LDT 9 38 40 1 yr.
Sapp, Warren 99 RDT 11 50 50 6 yrs
Sands, Terdell 90 RDT 3 23 36 1 yr.
Hawthorne, Anttaj 77 RDT 1 13 34 3 yrs
Smith, Kenny 97 RDT 5 10 16 1 yr.

“We have some decent starters along the line, but depth is a major problem here. We also have too many defensive tackles, so some cuts will need to be made. Burgess and Jasper have had some words here and there, so we may need to watch that. And Warren Sapp is another guy who is more often more trouble than he is worth, so I think we should get rid of him.”

Mackey looked at me with a smile. “The fans are really going to get mad at us.”

“Well, that is the price we pay, wanting to move the team and get our type of players in.”

Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Clark, Danny 55 MLB SILB 6 60 60 2 yrs
Foreman, Jay 53 MLB WILB 7 35 37 1 yr.
Morrison, Kirk 52 MLB 1 21 33 4 yrs
Johnson, Tim 51 MLB 4 16 26 1 yr.
Tuitele, Maugaula 50 MLB 3 13 30 1 yr.
Williams, Sam 54 SLB SLB 3 29 55 3 yrs
Brayton, Tyler 91 SLB 3 28 50 2 yrs
Grant, DeLawrence 59 WLB WLB 5 30 48 1 yr.
Irons, Grant 96 WLB 4 20 33 1 yr.

“We have too many middle linebackers, even with the 3-4 defense that our coaches like. And that said, I don’t think the majority of our MLB’s could even be effective in that defense. Some cuts will be coming. The outside linebackers are not great, but serviceable. We will need to upgrade here.”

Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Woodson, Charles 24 LCB LCB 8 45 52 1 yr.
Walker, Denard 25 LCB 9 35 35 4 yrs
Routt, Stanford 26 LCB 1 14 34 4 yrs
Hill, Renaldo 22 RCB 5 28 42 1 yr.
Asomugha, Nnamdi 21 RCB RCB 3 26 54 2 yrs
Washington, Fabian 27 RCB 1 22 55 4 yrs
Gibson, Derrick 36 SS SS 5 40 50 1 yr.
Schweigert, Stuart 30 FS FS 2 28 47 3 yrs
Cooper, Jarrod 40 FS 5 14 27 1 yr.

I rubbed my face as I looked at our secondary. “We have a few problems here. We have no one that can play on the right corner and actually be of any use to us. Also, our free safety situation is grim. But the main issue is Charles Woodson. Granted, he is a good corner, but I don’t think he is very good for the locker room, and he is definitely not one of ‘Our’ guys. Worst yet, he is making $10.5 million this year in the last year of his contract. I am thinking that we should resign him, then trade him and take the cap hit for the signing bonus.”

Mackey thought for a moment. “Yah, I agree. Let’s do that.”

Players Under Contract: 60
Inactive: 0
On Active Roster: 60

Salary Cap: $85,500,000
Cap Room: $13,010,000
Maximum for New Player: $13,390,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $0

Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $77,920,000

“Ok, it looks like we have the start of a plan here. Now it is up to you, Bear, to start working those phones and make some deals!” Mackey winked.

I rubbed my forehead. “It is going to be a long week, isn’t it?”

Mackey smiled. “Ah, you will do fine. So, thoughts on our current staff?”

“Eric Washington is our Lead Scout. He is 61 years old, and not that good of a scout anymore. I think it is high priority to find someone else next year.”

Mackey frowned a bit. “Too bad. I talked with him a bit before. Nice guy. Likes fishing. Oh well, we need to do what is best for the team, right?”

I just nodded and moved on. “Our Head Coach, Jorge Shank, seems to be a decent coach. I think we can wait to see what he can do with the players we give him before making a decision on him. Aaron Ellis, our Offensive Coordinator, seems to be pretty good at dealing with the young guys, but other than that, he is nothing special. We may need a new guy next year. And lastly, we have Louie Sutter, our Defensive Coordinator. He should go next year. No ifs, ands, or buts.”

I pushed the papers away and looked at Mackey. “That is about it, boss.”

Mackey stood up. “Sounds good, Bear. Well, get working on the phones, and we will see how badly the fans react to this.”

Mackey walked out of my office. I took a deep breath, realizing that this was all really happening, and picked up the phone.

StanGunner

10-10-2005, 11:57 AM

Any plans on which city to move to?

Passacaglia

10-10-2005, 12:15 PM

Please let it be Houghton!

Blade

10-10-2005, 04:22 PM

Any plans on which city to move to?

Not sure at the moment...I will wait until I get to the point when I can move them, and see what is available...

MizzouRah

10-10-2005, 06:19 PM

Reading this one Blade!! :)

Blade

10-11-2005, 07:02 PM

I walked up to John Mackey’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Opening the door, I found John buried under a pile of papers, furiously writing with a pencil. John looked up, noticed me, then gestured to a chair.

“Finances. Nothing but fun for me,” he said as I took the chair.

“Don’t you have accountants for that?”

“Yah, but I like to take a look at everything myself, just to keep them honest. You know accountants!” He smirked at the quick jab at me. “So, what’s up?”

“A lot. I have made enough roster moves to bring us down to 53 players, so that we will be starting the season with a full roster. I was able to resign Woodson, then traded him with a 5th round pick to San Francisco for their 2nd round pick. I also traded Janikowski and a 7th round pick to Dallas to recoup a 5th round pick. In his place, I signed the elderly Steve Christie to an $800,000 deal for this year only.”

Mackey laughed. He seemed to be doing that a lot, lately. “Steve Christie? Man, that guy is still kicking?”

“Yah, and he can still kick well. We had him work out with the team, and he did well enough. Should be alright for this year. We will need to address it next year, though.”

Mackey nodded. “Ok, sounds good. At least the locker room is becoming a little better place to be. What about Moss and Sapp?”

I grimaced. “Bad news on that front. I cannot deal them. The contracts they are currently playing under are scaring people off. I think that I will be able to deal at least Moss after this season, and hopefully Sapp too. At the very worst, we can release Sapp at the end of the year and take less of a cap hit. As it is, we are looking at a cap hit of something like $7 million next year.”

It was Mackey’s turn to grimace. “$7 million? Damn. Oh well, if it gets rid of some of the bums, then it will all be worth it. Alright, so we get one long season of Moss and Sapp. We can only hope that they will not be too much of a problem in the locker room this year. Then again, that may work to our advantage, if it costs us some games.”

I nodded. “I released some players to bring our numbers down as well. TE Zeron Flemister, WRs Johnnie Morant and Randal Williams, DTs Kenny Smith and Terdell Sands, and LB Tim Johnson.”

Mackey just shook his head. “Just fodder, right?”

“Yah. But we still have some glaring weaknesses on our team. I am not sure if you are thinking that we should address some of them now, or wait until the Stadium proposal falls through next season.”

Mackey sat back. “Well, I would say that if you can find a guy that you love for our system, bring him in. Otherwise, hold off. Sounds like we have a minor version of Cap Hell to go through, so we need to be smart about who we bring in.”

“Alright, sounds good.” I stood up to leave.

“Oh, and Bear? Be ready. These deals are going to start to bring the wrath of the Oakland faithful.”

I nodded and left.

StanGunner

10-12-2005, 11:08 AM

Steve Christie was a good reliable player here in Buffalo. Hated to see him go.

JeeberD

10-12-2005, 11:21 AM

Awesome start, Blade... :)

Kodos

10-12-2005, 04:17 PM

Not sure at the moment...I will wait until I get to the point when I can move them, and see what is available...

May I be so bold as to suggest Dallas? Or perhaps Waco? :D

Great start, sir!

Blade

10-12-2005, 11:36 PM

(Note: Thanks for the support so far, all! Also, thank you to Grid Iron for his help with the look of the added pictures!)

Woodson, Fans Angry over Trade
by Darius Donaldson, Oakland Tribune

Charles Woodson spoke to the public yesterday about the deal that sent him from the Oakland Raiders to the San Francisco 49ers recently. Woodson was resigned to a contract that would have seen him stay in Oakland for another four years beyond this season, then was dealt along with a 5th round draft pick in the 2006 draft, for San Francisco’s 2nd round draft pick in the same draft.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Woodson_Trade.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>“This is ridiculous. That new GM over there, Barrett Blade, got me to resign with the team, saying that things were only going to get better for the organization, and that I would get the respect I deserve, then he traded me. All I can say is that the Raiders are in trouble now, and they are going to be hurting without me.” Woodson spoke to reporters from the 49ers training complex, as he reported to the team for the first time.

When reached for comment, Barrett Blade had this to say: “I don’t know why Charles is so upset. We did resign him so that we could deal him, and he came off looking clean. He got $4.75 million in a signing bonus that we walked away with, but you do not hear him complaining about that, do you? The fact is, Charles does not fit in with the new Oakland Raiders locker room. We want people who are going to put the team first, and Charles did not seem to be dedicated to that. That is also why we dealt Sebastian. He has been more trouble than he was worth in his time here in Oakland. Don’t get me wrong, they are both good players, but they just do not fit in our ideal of a team”

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Janikowski_Trade.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>Blade was referring to another deal made recently, which saw Janikowski and a 7th round pick in the 2006 draft being sent to the Dallas Cowboys for their 5th round pick. To replace Janikowski, the Raiders signed 16 year veteran Steve Christie.

Already Oakland Raiders fans are sharing their outrage at the moves the new ownership and management have made. They have done so by calling into local radio shows, posting on Internet discussion groups and in chat rooms. It looks like the young tenure of the new management is already being rocked with controversy.

Oakland Raiders’ owner John Mackey spoke to us by phone. “Fans just need to be patient with us. We want to bring a winner to this organization, which they have not had since the Super Bowl appearance in 2002, and to do that, you cannot just throw money at skilled players. You need to bring in players who are right for the team, and can buy into the system. That is what we are doing now.”

And so, the Oakland Raiders will begin the 2005 season with more questions than ever, and with all of the Raider Nation watching.

Blade

10-13-2005, 06:38 PM

Mackey and I sat down for a status meeting. The preseason seemed to be almost a blur, with it now completed and us looking ahead to Week 1 on the regular season. The team got into a rhythm during the preseason, but we had more than a few injuries.

“So, 3 and 1 for the preseason. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. How do you see it, Bear?”

I flipped through my notes. “Well, we started off against San Francisco, and of course won 27-21. We had a very good day running the ball, which is what I like to see, and Lamont Jordan had a good game with 95 yards on the ground for a 5 yard per carry average, and 3 TDs. Our passing game wasn’t too bad either, with Collins going 12 for 16 and no picks, and the youngster Walter going 6 for 6 with a TD pass. Moss was our top receiver, which I guess is to be expected, though I was hoping he wouldn’t be. The defense looked pretty good, but not outstanding. We had some gaps in our offensive line as well, which I did not like. Lastly, Charles Woodson wasn’t great, with only 2 tackles and 1 assist, with no knockdowns in pass coverage.”

“Our second game was against Dallas, and we won that one 31-14. Offensively, we were solid again, and our running game led the way as it did in the first game, even though Jordan was out with an injury. Crockett and Henry both looked great, with averages at 5.3 and 4.8 respectively. Collins looked good, throwing for two TD passes, and Tuiasosopo looked good during his first bit of action, though Walter struggled. Moss had a big game, unfortunately. However, Gabriel was quite good as well, with Porter out with an injury. Our defensive line provided good pressure, but our pass coverage wasn’t great, giving up 383 yards in the air. The offensive line looked better, though. Janikowski missed his only field goal try from 52 yards, though Christie missed a 43 yarder.”

“The third game was a 38-32 victory over Arizona, which we won in overtime thanks to Doug Gabriel running back a 96 yard punt for a TD. Fargas was the only running back who had even a decent game, with a 7.3 yards per carry average. Jordan was still out with an injury, though. Collins looked fine, though Walter got the most action. He wasn’t fantastic, going 20 for 32, for 255 yards, 2 TDs and 3 Ints. Moss was over 100 yards receiving again, though Gabriel had a good day receiving, and, of course, had the winning punt return. We also gave up a safety, which was pretty ugly. Our defense was quite bad, giving up 164 yards rushing and 344 yards passing. Really, this was not a pretty game from an execution standpoint.”

“Our last game was our only loss of the preseason, in a 42-35 game against St. Louis. Lamont Jordan was back and played absolutely lights out for us, running with a 5.8 yard average. Collins and Walter were also pretty good, though Tuiasosopo looked bad. Moss was our leading receiver again, and the o-line looked good. Defensively, we were not good at all. We gave up 341 yards in the air, and didn’t get much pressure on their QBs. Pass coverage was also pretty shoddy.”

“Now, the bad news out of all of this is the injuries we are faced with. CB Nnamdi Asomugha is done for the year with a torn ACL. We lost WR Jerry Porter for around 15 more weeks with a severe hamstring pull. CB Denard Walker is out for 10 weeks with a torn lateral knee ligament. We are also without RB Justin Fargas and CB Stanford Routt for 3 weeks. To fill our roster up for the injuries, I released G Corey Hulsey, who was a waste of oxygen anyway. I signed WR Dedric Ward to a 1 year $700,000 contract, and CB Bobby Taylor to a 1 year $800,000 contract. Both are good veteran leaders who should be good for our younger players.”

Mackey sat back and absorbed all of the information I gave him. “Ok, so what do you think going in to the regular season?”

“Well, I think we will compete, and probably put up some good numbers offensively. But I think our defense is going to let us down some games, and our offensive line may collapse in some areas. Also, if we suffer any more injuries, we could be in a lot of trouble. I think we will be lucky to have a .500 season.”

Mackey nodded. “Well, I don’t think we want to have a winner here this year anyway. Would hurt our plans overall. But, we do not want to out and out lose every game, as we may alienate the players we actually want to hold on to. Alright, well, let’s see what happens. Sounds like it might be a toss of the dice. And this will allow us to see if this coaching staff is any good.”

I nodded, scooped up my papers, and headed down to the practice facility to see the team prepare for the first game of the season.

Blade

10-14-2005, 11:56 PM

Moss Gets the Party Started in the Raider Nation

Oakland (1-0) 27 - Pittsburgh (0-1) 20

Pittsburgh, PA (Week 1, 2005) – Questions surrounding the Oakland Raiders during the off-season started to get some answers as the Raiders opened their season in Pittsburgh against a strong Steelers football team. A Raiders team that has been shrouded in criticism, with a new Owner and General Manager, followed by the subsequent trades of Charles Woodson and Sebastian Janikowski, it was another off-season move that proved to be the main story.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Moss2005-1.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>Randy Moss, traded by the Minnesota Vikings, had given the Raider Nation something to talk about as anticipation for the new season rose. Fans were excited about the prospect of having arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL, and to give Kerry Collins a true deep ball threat. Moss stepped on to the field Sunday and showed the Raider fans that he would indeed play a big factor for the Raiders’ offence, as he was dominant all game long. CB Deshea Townsend could not stop Moss from gathering in 12 receptions for 223 yards and a touchdown. Further, Moss was Collins’ go-to receiver during a number of third and long plays, picking up the first down to extend drives.

“I am just happy to finally get the season going. Too much talk going on. I just wanted to show everyone why I am here and what I can do,” Moss said after the game. “I was open all game long, and Kerry was able to hit me. Get the ball into my hands, and I will take care of things from there.”

Another off-season acquisition for the Raiders paid off during the game against the Steelers. Lamont Jordan, the backup to Curtis Martin on the New York Jets last season, ground out an effective game as he collected 100 yards on the ground, along with 2 touchdowns.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Burgess2005-1.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>“It was important to get a good balance going against that strong Steelers defense,” said Raiders Head Coach Jorge Shank. “We were able to keep them guessing as we had a great combination of Randy in the passing game, and Lamont in the running game. We are going to have a lot of success this season if we can keep that going.”

Pittsburgh QB Tommy Maddox, playing for an injured Ben Roethlisberger, got the Steelers back into the game late as he engineered a drive for a touchdown with 1:21 left in the game, which brought the team within 7 of the Raiders. Pittsburgh CB Chidi Iwuoma recovered an onside kick to give the Steelers a real chance at tying the game up, but a key sack by DE Derrick Burgess and DT Edward Jasper on the Raiders 23 yard line allowed Oakland to force the Steelers to turn the ball over on downs, and hold on for the win. Burgess was a force all game, coming up with a number of key plays.

Oakland now looks ahead to their home opener next week as they will be taking on the Buffalo Bills, and the Raiders feel like they have something special going on.

“This is only week one,” said DT Warren Sapp, “but we are undefeated, and on pace for a 16-0 season.”

Box Score

Attendance: 63,300 (64,500).

Weather: 78 degrees, fair.

1Q: 07:54 OAK - Steve Christie 20 field goal.
1Q: 05:07 OAK - LaMont Jordan 2 run.
1Q: 05:07 OAK - Steve Christie extra point.
2Q: 11:36 OAK - Steve Christie 36 field goal.
3Q: 06:35 OAK - LaMont Jordan 1 run.
3Q: 06:35 OAK - Steve Christie extra point.
3Q: 02:32 PIT - Tommy Maddox 4 run.
3Q: 02:32 PIT - Jeff Reed extra point.
4Q: 14:53 OAK - Randy Moss 7 pass from Kerry Collins.
4Q: 14:53 OAK - Steve Christie extra point.
4Q: 07:56 PIT - Jeff Reed 23 field goal.
4Q: 03:17 PIT - Jeff Reed 25 field goal.
4Q: 01:16 PIT - Cedrick Wilson 10 pass from Tommy Maddox.
4Q: 01:16 PIT - Jeff Reed extra point.

Game MVP: OAK 18 Randy Moss

Oakland 10 3 7 7 - 27
Pittsburgh 0 0 7 13 - 20

Team Statistics OAK PIT

First Downs 22 18

Total Rushes 34 26
Rushing Yards 108 128
Yards Per Carry 3.1 4.9
Pass Attempts 34 31
Completions 21 16
Passing Yards 280 284
Yards Per Attempt 8.2 9.1
Sacked 1 3
Yards Lost 8 18
Interceptions 1 0
Fumbles/Lost 1/1 1/1

Total Plays 69 60
Total Yards 380 394
Yards Per Play 5.5 6.5

3rd Down Plays 5/11 2/11
Avg. YTG on 3rd 6.6 8.8
4th Down Plays 0/0 0/1

Penalties 3 5
Penalty Yards 30 35

Avg. Drive Start OWN 33 OWN 32
Time Of Possession 33:43 26:17

Oakland Individual Statistics

Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
34 Jordan 31 100 3.2 9 2
32 Crockett 2 9 4.5 5 0
5 Collins 1 -1 -1.0 -1 0

Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
5 Collins 34 21 280 8.2 45 1 1 1

Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
18 Moss 12 223 18.5 35 45 1
83 Anderson 3 16 5.3 10 7 0
43 Easy 2 10 5.0 0 7 0
88 Dudley 2 12 6.0 5 8 0
34 Jordan 1 6 6.0 6 6 0
85 Gabriel 1 13 13.0 3 13 0

Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
85 Gabriel 2 9 4.5 0

Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
18 Moss 3 69 23.0 0
85 Gabriel 1 18 18.0 0

Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
9 Lechler 4 143 35.7 40 0

Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
6 Christie 2 2 36 3 3

Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
55 Clark 8 1 0.0 0 0 0
53 Foreman 5 2 0.0 0 0 0
36 Gibson 5 1 0.0 0 0 0
33 Taylor 4 1 0.0 0 0 0
91 Burgess 3 2 1.5 0 0 0
98 Hamilton 3 0 1.0 0 0 0
22 Hill 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
92 Washington 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
54 Williams 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
30 Schweigert 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
40 Cooper 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
59 Grant 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
27 Washington 1 1 0.0 0 0 0
18 Moss 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
83 Anderson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
82 Ward 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
64 Grove 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
52 Morrison 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
49 Foschi 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
95 Jasper 0 1 0.5 0 0 0

Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 4 0
65 Sims 0 0 0 0 1 1
62 Treu 0 0 0 0 7 0
67 Stone 0 0 0 0 2 0
5 Collins 1 0 0 0 0 0
70 Badger 0 0 0 0 1 0
55 Clark 0 1 0 0 0 0
91 Burgess 0 0 1 0 0 0

Pittsburgh Individual Statistics

Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
22 Staley 17 93 5.4 14 0
36 Bettis 4 13 3.2 4 0
8 Maddox 4 15 3.7 5 1
86 Ward 1 7 7.0 7 0

Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
8 Maddox 31 16 284 9.1 48 1 0 3

Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
86 Ward 5 95 19.0 17 35 0
80 Wilson 4 58 14.5 5 23 1
39 Parker 3 102 34.0 14 48 0
22 Staley 1 13 13.0 0 13 0
88 Kranchick 1 4 4.0 6 4 0
44 Tietsworth 1 4 4.0 0 4 0
47 Pritchett 1 8 8.0 1 8 0

Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
80 Wilson 1 11 11.0 0

Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
21 Colclough 2 42 21.0 0
86 Ward 1 17 17.0 0

Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
17 Gardocki 5 171 34.2 45 0

Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
3 Reed 2 3 25 2 2

Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
50 Foote 8 2 0.0 0 0 0
51 Farrior 7 2 0.0 0 0 0
58 Gildon 5 2 0.0 0 0 0
67 Von Oelhoffen 5 1 0.0 0 0 0
43 Polamalu 5 1 0.0 0 0 0
27 Williams 5 0 0.0 0 0 0
98 Hampton 4 3 1.0 0 0 0
53 Haggans 3 1 0.0 0 0 0
21 Colclough 3 1 0.0 0 0 0
24 Taylor 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
23 Carter 2 3 0.0 0 0 0
28 Hope 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
91 Smith 1 1 0.0 0 0 0
29 Iwuoma 1 0 0.0 1 0 0
95 Jackson 1 1 0.0 0 0 0
66 Faneca 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
26 Townsend 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
92 Harrison 1 0 0.0 0 0 0

Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
66 Faneca 0 0 0 0 2 2
59 Albright 0 0 0 0 1 1
62 Peko 0 0 0 0 2 0
77 Smith 0 0 0 0 2 0
8 Maddox 1 0 0 0 0 0
98 Hampton 0 1 0 0 0 0
29 Iwuoma 0 0 1 0 0 0
83 Miller 0 0 0 0 1 0

nfg22

10-15-2005, 12:19 AM

You gotta keep moss he is the best...

Blade

10-15-2005, 12:31 AM

Running and Defence Keys to Raiders Victory

Buffalo (1-1) 13 - Oakland (2-0) 17

Oakland, CA (Week 2, 2005) – The NFL off-season held a lot of hype for one new Raider, Randy Moss. Another new Raider was able to fly under the radar. Lamont Jordan, expected to be the key to revitalizing the Raiders running game, was lost in the media shuffle thanks to his new outspoken team-mate, but he did not mind.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Jordan2005-2.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>“It wasn’t bad at all. I was able to come in and get my workouts done and leave without a whole media circus,” Jordan said earlier in the week. “Randy is a great player, and it is only right that he should get all of the attention. I just want to do my speaking on the field.”

In what seemed to be an omen for the Raiders home opener against the Buffalo Bills, Jordan was a large part of the Oakland offence. Piling up 183 yards on 27 carries, Jordan was able to help grind the Bills defence, and set up two first half touchdowns by Randy Moss.

“It was pretty easy out there tonight,” said Jordan, speaking from his locker after the game. “The offensive line played so well, I just had to run into the holes and go for the easy gains. Plus, the threat of the passing game helped keep Buffalo honest so that they couldn’t stack the box on me.”

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Hill2005-2.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>Oakland was also able to play a strong game defensively, as they held the Buffalo offence to 165 yards passing and 76 yards rushing. Bills QB J.P. Losman had a rough time as he threw three interceptions, including one to Renaldo Hill, who was unexpectedly thrust into a starting role with the off-season trade of Charles Woodson, and the injury to Denard Walker. The Raiders also collected 4 sacks, including 1.5 sacks from DT Edward Jasper.

“There was just no room out there today,” said Losman. “There was a lot of defensive pressure, and we couldn’t get our offence going. Willis [McGahee] had problems running the ball because they were just filling the holes that we were trying to open. And their defensive backs were pretty sharp tonight.”

GM Barrett Blade had to make another move after this game as starting SS Derrick Gibson went down with a Hyperextended knee injury, and will be lost for a few weeks. Blade responded by releasing LB Maugaula Tuitele, and signing SS Damien Robinson to a one year, $700,000 contract.

Despite the early criticism of the new management, the Raider Nation seems to be living the high life with their team being 2-0. The Raiders now prepare to face Tampa Bay next week.

[COLOR=DimGray][SIZE=4][B]Box Score[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[CODE]Attendance: 53,400 (62,500).

Weather: 79 degrees, fair.

1Q: 03:10 OAK - Randy Moss 3 pass from Kerry Collins.
1Q: 03:10 OAK - Steve Christie extra point.
2Q: 11:00 BUF - Rian Lindell 28 field goal.
2Q: 09:26 OAK - Randy Moss 22 pass from Kerry Collins.
2Q: 09:26 OAK - Steve Christie extra point.
3Q: 11:45 BUF - Eric Moulds 9 pass from J.P. Losman.
3Q: 11:45 BUF - Rian Lindell extra point.
3Q: 00:24 BUF - Rian Lindell 29 field goal.
4Q: 09:47 OAK - Steve Christie 29 field goal.

Game MVP: OAK 34 LaMont Jordan

Buffalo 0 3 10 0 - 13
Oakland 7 7 0 3 - 17

Team Statistics BUF OAK

First Downs 18 16

Total Rushes 25 30
Rushing Yards 76 192
Yards Per Carry 3.0 6.4
Pass Attempts 48 27
Completions 22 15
Passing Yards 165 144
Yards Per Attempt 3.4 5.3
Sacked 4 2
Yards Lost 23 14
Interceptions 3 1
Fumbles/Lost 1/0 3/2

Total Plays 77 59
Total Yards 218 322
Yards Per Play 2.8 5.4

3rd Down Plays 5/18 3/12
Avg. YTG on 3rd 7.8 6.5
4th Down Plays 1/2 0/0

Penalties 6 10
Penalty Yards 55 64

Avg. Drive Start OWN 36 OWN 31
Time Of Possession 30:41 29:19

Buffalo Individual Statistics

Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
21 McGahee 15 52 3.4 19 0
46 Lindsay 7 15 2.1 4 0
7 Losman 2 4 2.0 3 0
31 Shelton 1 5 5.0 5 0

Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
7 Losman 48 22 165 3.4 15 1 3 4

Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
80 Moulds 5 32 6.4 3 9 1
31 Shelton 5 24 4.8 19 12 0
83 Evans 5 36 7.2 7 12 0
21 McGahee 2 27 13.5 18 15 0
87 Euhus 2 27 13.5 0 14 0
11 Parrish 2 17 8.5 1 11 0
84 Campbell 1 2 2.0 5 2 0

Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
22 Clements 2 21 10.5 0

Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
11 Parrish 2 46 23.0 0
83 Evans 1 28 28.0 0

Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
8 Moorman 7 322 46.0 68 4

Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
9 Lindell 2 2 29 1 1

Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
24 McGee 5 1 0.0 0 0 0
22 Clements 5 0 0.0 0 0 0
98 Edwards 5 0 0.0 0 0 0
94 Schobel 4 2 1.0 0 0 0
96 Posey 4 4 0.0 0 0 0
59 Fletcher 4 2 0.0 0 0 0
97 Bannan 4 1 0.0 0 0 0
23 Vincent 3 2 0.0 1 2 0
36 Milloy 3 2 0.0 0 0 0
95 Adams 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
11 Parrish 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
51 Spikes 2 0 1.0 0 0 0
57 Stamer 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
69 Gandy 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
35 Burns 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
92 Denney 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
90 Kelsay 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
31 Shelton 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
37 Poole 0 1 0.0 0 0 0

Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
78 Cash 0 0 0 0 0 1
68 Williams 0 0 0 0 2 1
69 Gandy 0 1 1 0 1 1
58 Villarrial 0 0 0 0 2 1
87 Euhus 0 0 1 0 1 0
95 Adams 0 1 0 0 0 0
80 Moulds 1 0 0 0 0 0
70 Teague 0 0 0 0 1 0
57 Stamer 0 1 0 0 0 0
21 McGahee 0 0 1 0 0 0
31 Shelton 0 0 0 0 1 0

Oakland Individual Statistics

Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
34 Jordan 27 183 6.7 52 0
32 Crockett 2 11 5.5 7 0
5 Collins 1 -2 -2.0 -2 0

Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
5 Collins 27 15 144 5.3 22 2 1 2

Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
18 Moss 4 47 11.7 13 22 2
34 Jordan 2 4 2.0 5 4 0
85 Gabriel 2 29 14.5 4 17 0
83 Anderson 2 25 12.5 11 18 0
88 Dudley 2 19 9.5 13 10 0
49 Foschi 2 15 7.5 8 8 0
43 Easy 1 5 5.0 5 5 0

Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
85 Gabriel 2 4 2.0 0

Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
18 Moss 3 76 25.3 0

Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
9 Lechler 8 296 37.0 53 3

Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
6 Christie 1 1 29 2 2

Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
55 Clark 7 3 0.0 0 0 0
92 Washington 6 0 1.0 0 0 0
54 Williams 5 0 1.0 0 0 0
22 Hill 4 1 0.0 1 0 0
53 Foreman 3 3 0.0 0 0 0
27 Washington 3 2 0.0 1 0 0
30 Schweigert 3 0 0.0 1 4 0
26 Routt 3 1 0.0 0 0 0
87 Whitted 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
96 Irons 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
91 Burgess 2 2 0.5 0 0 0
40 Cooper 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
59 Grant 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
95 Jasper 1 1 1.5 0 0 0
98 Hamilton 1 2 0.0 0 0 0
99 Sapp 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
33 Taylor 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
18 Moss 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
81 Curry 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
51 Brayton 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
76 Gallery 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
52 Morrison 1 0 0.0 0 0 0

Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
65 Sims 0 0 0 0 1 2
62 Treu 0 0 0 0 2 0
34 Jordan 1 0 1 0 0 0
85 Gabriel 2 0 0 0 0 0
67 Stone 0 0 0 0 1 0
53 Foreman 0 1 0 0 0 0
66 Walker 0 0 0 0 1 0
83 Anderson 0 0 0 0 1 0
88 Dudley 0 0 0 0 1 0 [/CODE]

Kodos

10-15-2005, 01:22 PM

This and DataKing's new dynasty are the most promising new football dynasties to come down the pipe in a long time. Keep up the good work!

Blade

10-15-2005, 11:36 PM

This and DataKing's new dynasty are the most promising new football dynasties to come down the pipe in a long time. Keep up the good work!

Thanks Kodos! That is high praise indeed!

Hopefully I can get the next game done soon...

Blade

10-16-2005, 12:53 AM

Big Plays Highlight First Raiders Loss of the Season

Tampa Bay (3-0) 23 - Oakland (2-1) 20

Oakland, CA (Week 3, 2005) – In a rematch of the XXXVII Super Bowl, the Oakland Raiders were hoping that the outcome of the game would be different this time around. In a game that was highlighted by a number of big plays by both teams, the Oakland Raiders fell short of the victory, taking their first loss of the season.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Moss2005-3.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>The game started with a 57 yard touchdown pass from Kerry Collins to Alvis Whitted on the fifth offensive play of the game. Tampa Bay QB Brian Griese came back with a 46 yard pass to Joey Galloway later in the first quarter, which led to a Tampa Bay field goal. The game slowed down for a while after that, as both teams worked at grounding the other team down with more balanced play. With the game tied at 13 in the third quarter, the big plays came out again as Collins hooked up with Randy Moss for a 95 yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders the lead again.

The Tampa Bay defense had been putting pressure on Collins all game long, and in the fourth quarter, the Buccaneer defensive line was able to for the Raiders to punt from deep in their own territory, and received the ball on the Oakland 42 yard line. Eight plays later, and Tampa Bay tied up the game. With five minutes left in the game, Griese found Michael Clayton for a 53 yard pass which would lead to a 27 yard field goal by Kicker Matt Bryant. Oakland came back, but Kicker Steve Christie missed a 50 yard field goal attempt with 1:05 left, and the game was over at that point. Christie had a rough game, going 2 for 4 in field goal attempts.

“It was a tough loss. We hung in there, but couldn’t pull it out in the end. It happens,” said Raiders Head Coach Jorge Shank. “We could have played better in all facets of the game, and we will have a lot of film to look at this week. All we can do now is learn from this, and move on.”

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Collins2005-3.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>The Oakland defense was victimized by plays going for 20 or more yards a number of times, as they gave up 415 total yards to the Buccaneers. The Raiders offensive line was also porous as they allowed Collins to be sacked four times, with RT Barry Sims allowing three of them. Lamont Jordan was held to 72 yards rushing, the first time this season he has not reached the 100 yard rushing mark.

Despite the loss, there were some strong performances by a few Raider players. Kerry Collins went 18 for 31, with 321 yards and two touchdown passes, despite the pressure he was under. Randy Moss grabbed five of those passes for 135 yards and one touchdown. Collins seemed optimistic about the team, even in light of the loss.

“We showed that we can hang with the big boys,” Collins said after the game. “Tampa is still undefeated, and they have beaten some good teams. But, we hung in there, and gave ourselves a chance to tie it at the end. That says something. With all of the changes we have had in the past few years, we are growing as a team, and I think that you are seeing the result of that this season.”

Oakland heads to Houston next week to take on the 0-3 Texans. There should be little reason to believe that the Raiders will not be able to take it to the Texans, so long as they are prepared.

“We are getting better. Every game we learn something new about ourselves,” Coach Shank said. “You are going to see a Raiders team ready to compete game in and game out.”

Box Score
<PRE>Attendance: 54,000 (62,500). Weather: 49 degrees, fair. 1Q: 12:21 OAK - Alvis Whitted 57 pass from Kerry Collins. 1Q: 12:21 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 1Q: 06:52 TBY - Matt Bryant 18 field goal. 2Q: 14:41 TBY - Matt Bryant 36 field goal. 2Q: 08:24 OAK - Steve Christie 45 field goal. 2Q: 05:02 TBY - Cadillac Williams 2 run. 2Q: 05:02 TBY - Matt Bryant extra point. 3Q: 09:19 OAK - Steve Christie 28 field goal. 3Q: 03:11 OAK - Randy Moss 95 pass from Kerry Collins. 3Q: 03:11 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 4Q: 08:10 TBY - Michael Pittman 4 pass from Brian Griese. 4Q: 08:10 TBY - Matt Bryant extra point. 4Q: 02:35 TBY - Matt Bryant 27 field goal. Game MVP: TBY 8 Brian Griese Tampa Bay 3 10 0 10 - 23 Oakland 7 3 10 0 - 20 Team Statistics TBY OAK First Downs 22 16 Total Rushes 31 22 Rushing Yards 115 82 Yards Per Carry 3.7 3.7 Pass Attempts 41 31 Completions 23 18 Passing Yards 313 321 Yards Per Attempt 7.6 10.3 Sacked 2 4 Yards Lost 13 31 Interceptions 0 0 Fumbles/Lost 0/0 0/0 Total Plays 74 57 Total Yards 415 372 Yards Per Play 5.6 6.5 3rd Down Plays 8/18 3/13 Avg. YTG on 3rd 7.5 10.9 4th Down Plays 0/0 0/0 Penalties 14 7 Penalty Yards 105 48 Avg. Drive Start OWN 36 OWN 20 Time Of Possession 32:11 27:49 Tampa Bay Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 32 Pittman 15 59 3.9 10 0 24 Williams 13 51 3.9 10 1 8 Griese 3 5 1.6 4 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 8 Griese 41 23 313 7.6 53 1 0 2 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 19 Hilliard 7 50 7.1 4 11 0 80 Clayton 4 92 23.0 14 53 0 84 Galloway 2 60 30.0 0 46 0 32 Pittman 2 7 3.5 2 4 1 43 Cook 2 9 4.5 0 8 0 85 Corbett 2 22 11.0 0 16 0 86 Kemoeatu 2 52 26.0 12 30 0 24 Williams 1 5 5.0 6 5 0 81 Smith 1 16 16.0 0 16 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 84 Galloway 5 50 10.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 22 Cox 3 68 22.6 0 84 Galloway 1 18 18.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Bidwell 6 240 40.0 53 4 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 5 Bryant 3 4 36 2 2 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 55 Brooks 6 1 0.0 0 0 0 53 Quarles 5 4 1.0 0 0 0 97 Rice 4 1 2.0 0 0 0 99 Hovan 4 3 0.5 0 0 0 56 Nece 4 1 0.0 0 0 0 37 Allen 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 50 Gooch 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 94 Spires 2 1 0.5 0 0 0 20 Barber 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 25 Kelly 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 96 Wyms 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 90 White 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 28 Jackson 1 3 0.0 0 0 0 64 Bryant 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 30 Garner 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 19 Hilliard 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 48 Nicholson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 85 Corbett 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 44 Harris 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 67 Walker 0 0 0 0 2 0 43 Cook 0 0 0 0 0 1 75 Steussie 0 0 0 0 4 1 78 Stinchcomb 0 0 0 0 3 0 76 Wade 0 0 0 0 2 0 40 Alstott 0 0 0 0 1 0 77 Terry 0 0 0 0 1 0 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 19 72 3.7 20 0 5 Collins 1 6 6.0 6 0 32 Crockett 1 0 0.0 0 0 18 Moss 1 4 4.0 4 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 31 18 321 10.3 95 2 0 4 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 18 Moss 5 135 27.0 98 95 1 34 Jordan 5 36 7.2 23 13 0 87 Whitted 2 64 32.0 56 57 1 49 Foschi 2 19 9.5 2 11 0 32 Crockett 1 25 25.0 5 25 0 81 Curry 1 18 18.0 0 18 0 85 Gabriel 1 21 21.0 3 21 0 88 Dudley 1 3 3.0 0 3 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 85 Gabriel 1 12 12.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 18 Moss 2 44 22.0 0 85 Gabriel 1 22 22.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 7 317 45.2 57 0 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 2 4 45 2 2 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 55 Clark 9 3 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 6 6 0.0 0 0 0 92 Washington 5 1 0.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 4 1 0.0 0 0 0 33 Taylor 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 3 2 1.0 0 0 0 91 Burgess 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 40 Cooper 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 51 Brayton 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 1 0 1.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 87 Whitted 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 34 Jordan 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 76 Gallery 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 2 1 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 0 3 67 Stone 0 0 0 0 1 0 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 1 0 49 Foschi 0 0 0 0 1 0
</PRE>

Blade

10-17-2005, 11:12 PM

Raiders Lose in Overtime, Give Texans First Win of Season

Oakland (2-2) 27 - Houston (1-3) 30

Houston, TX (Week 4, 2005) – Things started off so well for the Raiders. In a game expected to be a blow out for the Oakland Raiders, Lamont Jordan got it going with a 55 yard touchdown run on the first offensive play of the game. Against a Texans club that had no wins coming into the game, Oakland was figuring that this was just the first step in what would be a game where the Raiders were in complete control. How wrong they were.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Jordan2005-4.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>On their first possession of the game, the Texans, led by QB David Carr, strung together a drive that answered the Oakland TD with one of their own, on a 7 yard pass to Andre Johnson. “We wanted to show Oakland, and everyone else out there, that we are here to play,” said David Carr, after the game. “We have been the whipping boys of the league this year, and we want to get some respect back. It was important for us to come back with an answer to the first touchdown they scored, so that we could show them that we would not be intimidated.”

The game continued to be a see-saw battle in which both teams traded scores, leading to a tied game at 24 with 1:53 left in the game, when Kris Brown hit a 19 yard FG to give the Texans the lead. Kerry Collins led the Raiders back with passes to Randy Moss for 23 and 21 yards, then a Lamont Jordan run for 9 yards set up a 47 yard field goal try for Steve Christie, which he made, sending the game to overtime.

In the overtime period, both teams defences came out in full force, as the ball changed possession five times before the Texans were able to string a strong drive together, highlighted by 22 yard pass from Carr to Mark Bruener, and two 15 yard passes to Andre Johnson. With 2:16 left in overtime, Kris Brown kicked a 40 yard field goal to give the Texans their first win of the season.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Brown2005-4.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>The loss saw an Oakland defence that again struggled to defend the pass, as they allowed David Carr to throw for 391 yards and two touchdowns. Texans receivers Andre Johnson and FIRST NAME Armstrong both pulled in 140 or more yards during the game. The Oakland pass rush was a little more effective, however, as they accumulated 3 sacks, 3 pass blocks, and 9 hurries.

Offensively, Lamont Jordan had a big game, as he carried the ball 24 times for 172 yards and a touchdown. Randy Moss also pulled in more than 100 yards for the third time this season. The offensive line had difficulties though, especially LT Robert Gallery, who allowed 3 sacks in what was an uncharacteristic game for him this season.

“We have a lot of things to work on this week,” Head Coach Jorge Shank said at his post-game conference. “This is very disappointing for our club. We are getting some very good performances out of some players, but very poor performances out of others.
We may have to make some line-up changes soon to see if we can spark some of the players.”

Raiders GM Barrett Blade was questioned regarding Coach Shank’s comments. “We are not really looking at making any deals here, or bringing in any free agents. I think that Jorge was talking about switching up the depth chart a bit. We are just not in the place where we can make any deals at the moment.”

The questions continue to be asked about a Raiders team that is starting to have it’s weaknesses exposed. Next up is the Indianapolis Colts, whose strong passing attack will look to further exploit a poor Raiders pass defence.

Box Score
<PRE>Week 4, 2005 Attendance: 64,100 (69,500). Weather: 94 degrees, fair. 1Q: 14:23 OAK - LaMont Jordan 55 run. 1Q: 14:23 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 1Q: 09:32 HOU - Andre Johnson 7 pass from David Carr. 1Q: 09:32 HOU - Kris Brown extra point. 1Q: 02:20 HOU - Kris Brown 44 field goal. 2Q: 13:07 OAK - Ronald Curry 1 pass from Kerry Collins. 2Q: 13:07 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 02:59 HOU - Jonathan Wells 2 run. 2Q: 02:59 HOU - Kris Brown extra point. 3Q: 08:12 OAK - Rickey Dudley 1 pass from Kerry Collins. 3Q: 08:12 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 3Q: 04:48 HOU - Mark Bruener 7 pass from David Carr. 3Q: 04:48 HOU - Kris Brown extra point. 4Q: 13:52 OAK - Steve Christie 18 field goal. 4Q: 01:31 HOU - Kris Brown 19 field goal. 4Q: 00:12 OAK - Steve Christie 47 field goal. OT: 02:16 HOU - Kris Brown 40 field goal. Game MVP: HOU 8 David Carr Oakland 7 7 7 6 0 - 27 Houston 10 7 7 3 3 - 30 Team Statistics OAK HOU First Downs 18 31 Total Rushes 26 30 Rushing Yards 174 114 Yards Per Carry 6.6 3.8 Pass Attempts 35 57 Completions 18 34 Passing Yards 236 391 Yards Per Attempt 6.7 6.8 Sacked 5 3 Yards Lost 33 14 Interceptions 0 0 Fumbles/Lost 2/1 5/2 Total Plays 66 90 Total Yards 377 491 Yards Per Play 5.7 5.4 3rd Down Plays 8/16 12/20 Avg. YTG on 3rd 7.3 6.6 4th Down Plays 0/0 0/1 Penalties 14 8 Penalty Yards 90 40 Avg. Drive Start OWN 31 OWN 28 Time Of Possession 28:52 43:52 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 24 172 7.1 55 1 18 Moss 1 1 1.0 1 0 85 Gabriel 1 1 1.0 1 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 35 18 236 6.7 37 2 0 5 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 18 Moss 7 104 14.8 13 23 0 85 Gabriel 3 75 25.0 6 37 0 34 Jordan 2 19 9.5 3 11 0 81 Curry 2 13 6.5 3 12 1 88 Dudley 2 15 7.5 3 14 1 83 Anderson 1 3 3.0 3 3 0 49 Foschi 1 7 7.0 2 7 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 85 Gabriel 1 2 2.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 18 Moss 5 150 30.0 0 85 Gabriel 2 37 18.5 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 6 278 46.3 56 2 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 2 3 47 3 3 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 55 Clark 10 2 0.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 7 3 1.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 7 0 0.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 6 3 0.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 5 4 1.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 5 2 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 4 0 1.0 0 0 0 92 Washington 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 3 2 0.0 0 0 0 51 Brayton 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 33 Taylor 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 91 Burgess 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 62 Treu 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 20 Fargas 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 93 Kelly 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 1 3 34 Jordan 1 0 1 0 0 0 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 0 1 70 Badger 0 0 0 0 2 1 67 Stone 0 0 0 0 6 0 62 Treu 0 1 0 0 2 0 5 Collins 1 0 0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 0 0 1 0 0 0 53 Foreman 0 1 0 0 0 0 54 Williams 0 1 0 0 0 0 27 Washington 0 1 0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 0 1 0 0 0 0 49 Foschi 0 0 1 0 0 0 Houston Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 37 Davis 20 67 3.3 18 0 32 Wells 5 33 6.6 20 1 44 Norris 2 7 3.5 6 0 88 Armstrong 1 -1 -1.0 -1 0 8 Carr 1 4 4.0 4 0 80 Johnson 1 4 4.0 4 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 8 Carr 57 34 391 6.8 50 2 0 3 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 80 Johnson 10 142 14.2 12 25 1 88 Armstrong 9 140 15.5 11 50 0 87 Bruener 7 56 8.0 7 22 1 44 Norris 4 22 5.5 2 11 0 13 Mathis 2 17 8.5 0 11 0 86 Gaffney 1 8 8.0 3 8 0 37 Davis 1 6 6.0 0 6 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 42 Coleman 1 0 0.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 38 Faggins 3 49 16.3 0 13 Mathis 2 36 18.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 7 Stanley 4 164 41.0 48 2 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 3 Brown 3 3 44 3 3 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 56 Greenwood 6 0 0.0 0 0 0 24 Fenimore 6 0 0.0 0 0 0 93 Babin 5 2 1.0 0 0 0 52 Wong 5 3 0.0 0 0 0 96 Walker 3 2 2.0 0 0 0 91 Payne 3 2 1.0 0 0 0 94 Ioane 3 2 1.0 0 0 0 23 Robinson 3 4 0.0 0 0 0 42 Coleman 3 3 0.0 0 0 0 21 Sanders 3 3 0.0 0 0 0 22 Buchanan 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 20 Logan 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 50 Anderson 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 87 Bruener 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 47 Baxter 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 86 Gaffney 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 69 Pitts 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 83 Joppru 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 78 Wand 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 38 Faggins 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 70 Weary 0 0 0 0 2 1 71 Wade 0 0 0 0 1 2 76 McKinney 0 0 0 0 3 0 8 Carr 1 0 1 0 0 0 32 Wells 2 0 0 0 0 0 96 Walker 0 1 0 0 0 0 42 Coleman 1 0 0 0 0 0 52 Wong 0 1 0 0 0 0 94 Ioane 0 0 1 0 0 0 69 Pitts 0 0 0 0 1 0 37 Davis 1 0 0 0 0 0 83 Joppru 0 0 1 0 0 0 44 Norris 0 0 1 0 0 0 
</PRE>

Blade

10-17-2005, 11:13 PM

I was sitting in the conference room when John Mackey walked in.

“Hey Bear. How’s it going?”

I looked up at Mackey. He was wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt, with a pair of beige khaki shorts. He had sunglasses sitting on top of his head, and a tan.

“Not bad. Where have you been? I haven’t seen you around for a few weeks.”

“Off talking to some potential clients in the Caribbean. Owning a company can be tough some days.” He winked. “So, we are through a quarter of the season. How are we doing?”

I opened my folder and spread some papers around.

“Well, we are 2-2 right now. The team really surprised me to open the season with that win over the Steelers, but they were without their regular starting quarterback, so that played a role. The good news is that we have lost two straight, and this latest loss was to Houston, who had been winless going in to the game against us. We have lost some steam, and it seems like there is a lot of grumbling going on with the fan base. Things are setting up nicely for your stadium proposal to the city at the end of the season.”

Mackey smiled and sat down. “That is good to hear. It will be nice to make this team fully ours.”

I nodded absently. “We are going to have to be careful, though. It would not be great to make it obvious that we are setting the team up to be moved. We are already on somewhat shaky ground with the deals I made before the season started. We do not want to alienate the players that we want to keep after the team moves. That Woodson deal has really hurt the team, as our pass defence is second last in the entire league. Our rushing defence is about middle of the pack, too.”

“Ok, so, our defence is hurting us right now,” Mackey said as he grabbed a glass of water. “How is our offence doing?”

I took a deep breath. “Well, the news there is not as good, for you and I, at least. It may be very tough to justify trading Randy Moss to the media after this year. As it stands right now, he is leading the league in reception yards, and tied for the league lead in receiving touchdowns. On the upside, we both like Lamont Jordan, and he is leading the league in carries and rushing yards. Of course, that is good because we may want to hold on to him after the team leaves, but he may single-handedly win us some tight games this year.”

“I see. Well, maybe the fact that our defence is so bad will help keep this team out of some games. Plus, aren’t we like the second most penalized team in the league? I think if we can go .500 or worse, we will be in good shape for the stadium proposal.”

I nodded again. “We will have to see. The rest of our schedule this year seems to be against teams who could go either way. They could either turn out to be strong teams, or end up being weak teams. There are just too many question marks right now. But, yah, penalties are high right now. Shank and his staff have started to pull their hair out.”

Mackey sat back and took a sip of water. “Anyone else to note?”

“Well, other than last game, Gallery seems to be living up to his potential. He is going to be a great player, and seems to be alright in the locker room, so we should keep him if possible. Collins is also doing alright, but I still do not like him as our franchise quarterback. We will have to see who else is available in the next few years. Oh, and Chad Slaughter, a LT behind Gallery, is pissed about his playing time.”

“Is he any good?”

“Not really. And his contract is up at the end of the year, so I think we should just let Shank deal with him.”

Mackey laughed. “Sounds good. I saw that our division is still up for grabs. KC is 3-1, San Diego is 2-2, and Denver is 1-2-1. Still pretty tight.”

“Yah, but we haven’t had any divisional games yet, so things will start to become clearer. I am not too worried about it yet.”

Mackey stood up. “Alright, well, just keep on the way you have been. We may have to step in if we start on some kind of winning streak, but I just can’t see that happening right now. I am off to Florida now for some more meetings.”

I just shook my head. “Must be a hard life.”

Mackey turned as he was heading out. “Oh, it is. But it will be getting better soon!”

Mackey walked out. I continued to sit and look at my papers. “I hope it does…”

Blade

10-17-2005, 11:14 PM

Hey everyone (at least whoever happens to be reading this),

I was just wondering if I can get some feedback on this dynasty so far. Is there anything different you would like to see? More detail? Less detail?

Any thoughts at all (in relation to this dynasty ;) )?

StanGunner

10-18-2005, 09:31 AM

Good mix of a look inside the coach's room and on field results. I enjoy reading. Keep up the good work.

JeeberD

10-18-2005, 09:41 AM

I'm loving it and don't really see anything that you need to change... :)

MizzouRah

10-18-2005, 10:15 PM

Me either, very impressed Blade!!

Blade

10-19-2005, 12:42 AM

Raiders Fortunes Change in Second Straight Overtime Game

Oakland (3-2) 30 - Indianapolis (2-3) 24

Indianapolis, IN (Week 5, 2005) – For the second straight game, the Oakland Raiders went to overtime. This time, however, they were determined to create a different outcome. Playing a good, but beat-up, Indianapolis Colts team, the Raiders had to fight back from a 24-10 deficit after three quarters.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Moss2005-5.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>“We have been under a lot of criticism lately, especially with the loss last week,” said Raiders QB Kerry Collins. “We knew that we had to make something happen, and it had to happen soon. I don’t know if this can be called a statement game, as it is still early in the season, but this is a game we knew that we had to win.”

Using another strong game by Lamont Jordan, rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown, as a foundation, Collins put the Raiders on his back and led the team to two fourth quarter touchdowns, sending the game to overtime. Collins ended up with 447 yards passing and two touchdowns. 275 of those yards, and one of those touchdowns, were to his main receiver, Randy Moss, as Moss collected his second 200+ yard game of the season.

“He just makes it easy on me out there,” said Collins. “He gets a lot of attention by the defence, but he is such a remarkable player that he often gets separation from his coverage, or flat out beats a cornerback to the ball. I can just throw the ball up for him, and he will go and get it.”

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Jordan2005-5.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>Indianapolis came into the game without their top running back, Edgerrin James, who was out with an injury. Dominic Rhodes did well in relief, picking up 134 yards and a touchdown. The Colts took another serious blow, however, late in the fourth quarter, as Peyton Manning went down with an injury. Travis Brown took over for Manning, and while he went 5 for 7 with no interceptions, he was not as effective as Manning. The Raiders defence were able to neutralize the Colts offence during overtime, allowing Collins and the rest of the Raiders offence to drive the field and win the game, on a 1 yard TD run by Jordan.

While the Raiders offence had a strong day, the Raiders defence was exploited for most of the game, particularly in the run game. The front seven did not seem to get much pressure on Manning, and looked confused by the Colts running schemes. Head Coach Jorge Shank knows that they have to improve. “This game shows the strengths and weaknesses of this team. Our offence is amazingly good, and can win a game on its own, but the defence has struggled a lot, and has cost us games. We need to shore up our holes, and our players need to support each other more. They just don’t seem to be hungry for the ball.”

During the game, Guard Brad Badger went down with an injury and will be lost for at least the next Raiders game. As a result, GM Barrett Blade released Safety Jarrod Cooper and signed Guard Rich Seubert to a one year deal worth a reported $570,000. Seubert should start during next week’s divisional match-up against Denver.

Box Score
<PRE>Week 5, 2005 Attendance: 56,700 (60,300). Weather: 68 degrees, fair. 1Q: 08:42 IND - James Mungro 2 run. 1Q: 08:42 IND - Mike Vanderjagt extra point. 1Q: 02:33 OAK - Randy Moss 67 pass from Kerry Collins. 1Q: 02:33 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 13:23 IND - Dominic Rhodes 38 run. 2Q: 13:23 IND - Mike Vanderjagt extra point. 2Q: 07:17 OAK - Steve Christie 22 field goal. 2Q: 01:22 IND - Mike Vanderjagt 19 field goal. 3Q: 00:26 IND - Reggie Wayne 2 pass from Peyton Manning. 3Q: 00:26 IND - Mike Vanderjagt extra point. 4Q: 10:42 OAK - Justin Fargas 2 run. 4Q: 10:42 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 4Q: 03:46 OAK - Ronald Curry 8 pass from Kerry Collins. 4Q: 03:46 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. OT: 06:07 OAK - LaMont Jordan 1 run. Game MVP: OAK 18 Randy Moss Oakland 7 3 0 14 6 - 30 Indianapolis 7 10 7 0 0 - 24 Team Statistics OAK IND First Downs 27 23 Total Rushes 26 31 Rushing Yards 138 166 Yards Per Carry 5.3 5.3 Pass Attempts 41 39 Completions 25 22 Passing Yards 447 221 Yards Per Attempt 10.9 5.6 Sacked 4 2 Yards Lost 29 10 Interceptions 0 0 Fumbles/Lost 1/0 1/0 Total Plays 71 72 Total Yards 556 377 Yards Per Play 7.8 5.2 3rd Down Plays 7/14 6/14 Avg. YTG on 3rd 7.5 6.2 4th Down Plays 0/0 0/0 Penalties 6 8 Penalty Yards 34 67 Avg. Drive Start OWN 19 OWN 33 Time Of Possession 33:58 34:55 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 25 136 5.4 45 1 20 Fargas 1 2 2.0 2 1 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 41 25 447 10.9 67 2 0 4 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 18 Moss 12 275 22.9 92 67 1 81 Curry 4 95 23.7 13 36 1 85 Gabriel 4 45 11.2 5 14 0 34 Jordan 3 10 3.3 7 4 0 87 Whitted 2 22 11.0 2 11 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 85 Gabriel 1 -2 -2.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 18 Moss 2 44 22.0 0 20 Fargas 2 49 24.5 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 6 206 34.3 54 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 1 1 22 3 3 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 33 Taylor 7 0 0.0 0 0 0 55 Clark 6 6 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 5 2 1.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 4 2 0.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 91 Burgess 3 0 1.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 92 Washington 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 96 Irons 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 51 Brayton 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 32 Crockett 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 76 Gallery 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 1 1 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 3 2 70 Badger 0 0 0 0 0 1 67 Stone 0 0 0 0 7 0 5 Collins 1 0 0 0 0 0 33 Taylor 0 1 0 0 0 0 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 1 0 34 Jordan 0 0 1 0 0 0 Indianapolis Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 33 Rhodes 20 134 6.7 38 1 26 Mullis 6 18 3.0 7 0 23 Mungro 3 7 2.3 8 1 18 Manning 1 6 6.0 6 0 5 Brown 1 1 1.0 1 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 18 Manning 32 17 184 5.7 25 1 0 0 5 Brown 7 5 37 5.2 13 0 0 2 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 88 Harrison 4 34 8.5 12 14 0 87 Wayne 4 45 11.2 6 22 1 23 Mungro 4 21 5.2 15 8 0 83 Stokley 3 41 13.6 9 25 0 44 Clark 3 38 12.6 5 13 0 33 Rhodes 2 24 12.0 10 15 0 80 Hartsock 1 12 12.0 0 12 0 26 Mullis 1 6 6.0 8 6 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 87 Wayne 2 21 10.5 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 88 Harrison 3 101 33.6 0 33 Rhodes 1 23 23.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 17 Smith 7 254 36.2 42 5 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 13 Vanderjagt 1 1 19 3 3 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 50 Thornton 7 2 1.0 0 0 0 94 Morris 7 1 0.0 0 0 0 21 Sanders 6 1 0.0 0 0 0 93 Freeney 4 1 2.0 0 0 0 77 Simon 4 2 1.0 0 0 0 42 David 4 4 0.0 0 0 0 28 Jackson 4 3 0.0 0 0 0 72 Burns 4 1 0.0 0 0 0 41 Bolton 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 20 Doss 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 29 Jefferson 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 30 Strickland 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Mathis 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 51 Gardner 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 48 Snow 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 58 Brackett 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 23 Mungro 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 59 June 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 80 Hartsock 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 69 Ulrich 0 0 0 0 0 1 65 Lilja 0 0 0 0 1 1 71 Diem 0 0 0 0 5 0 23 Mungro 0 0 0 0 3 0 36 Pritchett 0 0 0 0 1 0 78 Glenn 0 0 0 0 1 0 63 Saturday 0 0 0 0 1 0 33 Rhodes 1 0 0 0 0 0 54 Calmus 0 0 1 0 0 0 93 Freeney 0 1 0 0 0 0 </PRE>

Blade

10-19-2005, 12:47 AM

Jordan, Collins Key to Win Over Denver

Denver (1-4-1) 7 - Oakland (4-2) 24

Oakland, CA (Week 6, 2005) – Things started well for the Denver Broncos, as they ended the first quarter with a 7-3 lead. That was the closest they would come to winning the game, though. Despite the fact that the Raiders have been a Jekyll and Hyde team this season, they were able to control their divisional foes without much difficulty.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Collins2005-6.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>“It was important to establish a good rhythm to the game early,” Kerry Collins said from the locker room after the game. “When you have a guy like Lamont [Jordan], it is easy to do. He is the league leading rusher for a reason, and we know that we can just give him the ball and allow him to set the tone.”

Jordan did indeed set the tone, picking up 135 yards on the ground, while running for one TD and catching another. He has shown all season long why the Raiders handed him a nice contract and gave him the starting job, despite being a backup to Curtis Martin last season. He has also shown that he can handle the majority of the carries without being spelled, though the Raiders will be watching to see if he can continue to be durable as the season continues.

“This is what I have wanted since I got to the NFL,” said Jordan. “I wanted to show people that I could be a starter in this league, and more than that, be a player that the team can count on for those big plays and those tough yard plays. I want the ball on every down, so I am ready whenever my number gets called in the huddle.”

Kerry Collins was also very effective against the Broncos, going 21 for 28, with 246 yards and two touchdowns. He was able to help keep the Broncos honest by being efficient with his throws, hurting Denver when they were looking to stack the box against Jordan. That allowed Oakland to keep Denver off-balance, sustaining drives and grinding the opposing defence.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Clark2005-6.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>“We just went with what their [the Broncos] defence gave us,” said Collins. “Lamont was able to pound the ball at them, and I just had to make simple passes to keep things going. I will take a game like that any day, over a tight game where we throw for 400 yards.”

While Oakland had a somewhat easy time with the victory, their run defence was exploited for the second straight game, as they surrendered 116 yards to Broncos RB Tatum Bell. They were also unable to sustain a lot of pressure on QB Jake Plummer, though they did keep him to 160 yards passing.

“We know that we have to get better, at least in stopping the run,” Coach Jorge Shank said. “We have some big guys on the line, so we are not sure why they are getting beat so easily lately. We are going to have to go back to the film this week and work on addressing that.”

Oakland is now tied for the lead in the AFC West with San Diego. They will look to continue their success next week against the New Orleans Saints.

[COLOR=DimGray][SIZE=4][B]Box Score[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]
<PRE>[SIZE=3]Week 6, 2005 Attendance: 53,400 (62,500). Weather: 57 degrees, fair. 1Q: 12:10 OAK - Steve Christie 38 field goal. 1Q: 00:37 DEN - Stephen Alexander 8 pass from Jake Plummer. 1Q: 00:37 DEN - Jason Elam extra point. 2Q: 13:56 OAK - LaMont Jordan 18 run. 2Q: 13:56 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 3Q: 09:02 OAK - Doug Gabriel 6 pass from Kerry Collins. 3Q: 09:02 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 3Q: 01:01 OAK - LaMont Jordan 1 pass from Kerry Collins. 3Q: 01:01 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. Game MVP: OAK 5 Kerry Collins Denver 7 0 0 0 - 7 Oakland 3 7 14 0 - 24 Team Statistics DEN OAK First Downs 17 24 Total Rushes 31 31 Rushing Yards 146 153 Yards Per Carry 4.7 4.9 Pass Attempts 21 28 Completions 17 21 Passing Yards 160 246 Yards Per Attempt 7.6 8.7 Sacked 2 3 Yards Lost 14 18 Interceptions 0 0 Fumbles/Lost 2/2 3/1 Total Plays 54 62 Total Yards 292 381 Yards Per Play 5.4 6.1 3rd Down Plays 5/11 5/10 Avg. YTG on 3rd 6.2 7.0 4th Down Plays 0/0 0/0 Penalties 8 4 Penalty Yards 46 26 Avg. Drive Start OWN 23 OWN 26 Time Of Possession 27:32 32:28 Denver Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 26 Bell 26 116 4.4 26 0 33 Dayne 4 22 5.5 16 0 16 Plummer 1 8 8.0 8 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 16 Plummer 21 17 160 7.6 17 1 0 2 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 82 Alexander 6 77 12.8 19 17 1 85 Lelie 4 26 6.5 5 12 0 80 Smith 2 22 11.0 5 14 0 26 Bell 2 8 4.0 4 5 0 83 Leach 1 4 4.0 3 4 0 87 Terrell 1 16 16.0 2 16 0 17 Watts 1 7 7.0 0 7 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 44 Rossum 1 24 24.0 0 85 Lelie 1 25 25.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 10 Sauerbrun 5 228 45.6 53 2 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 1 Elam 0 1 0 1 1 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 55 Williams 6 3 1.0 0 0 0 52 Gold 6 4 0.0 0 0 0 25 Ferguson 6 1 0.0 0 0 0 95 Palepoi 5 2 1.0 0 0 0 47 Lynch 5 3 0.0 0 0 0 79 Warren 4 4 1.0 0 0 0 51 Burns 3 4 0.0 0 0 0 35 Walls 3 2 0.0 0 0 0 76 Myers 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 91 Ekuban 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 44 Rossum 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 92 Coleman 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 53 Whitfield 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Brown 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 72 Foster 0 0 0 0 1 1 50 Hamilton 0 0 0 0 3 1 78 Lepsis 0 0 0 0 3 0 95 Palepoi 0 2 0 0 0 0 26 Bell 2 0 0 0 0 0 51 Burns 0 0 1 0 0 0 66 Nalen 0 0 0 0 1 0 25 Ferguson 0 1 0 0 0 0 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 26 135 5.1 18 1 49 Foschi 3 7 2.3 4 0 5 Collins 2 11 5.5 12 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 28 21 246 8.7 37 2 0 3 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 18 Moss 7 88 12.5 26 21 0 87 Whitted 3 38 12.6 10 24 0 34 Jordan 3 4 1.3 4 5 1 83 Anderson 3 30 10.0 9 13 0 81 Curry 2 33 16.5 6 17 0 32 Crockett 1 10 10.0 1 10 0 85 Gabriel 1 6 6.0 3 6 1 88 Dudley 1 37 37.0 11 37 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 3 147 49.0 63 2 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 1 1 38 3 3 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 55 Clark 9 4 0.0 0 0 0 92 Washington 6 2 0.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 6 2 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 4 0 1.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 4 2 0.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 3 0 1.0 0 0 0 91 Burgess 3 4 0.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 3 2 0.0 0 0 0 33 Taylor 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 96 Irons 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 1 3 0.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 1 2 0.0 0 0 0 51 Brayton 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 34 Jordan 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 82 Ward 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 2 0 66 Walker 0 0 0 0 0 1 61 Seubert 0 0 0 0 1 1 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 1 1 62 Treu 0 0 1 0 4 0 67 Stone 0 0 0 0 3 0 55 Clark 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 Collins 1 0 0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 0 0 1 0 0 0 18 Moss 0 0 1 0 0 0 81 Curry 1 0 0 0 0 0 83 Anderson 1 0 0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 0 0 1 0 0 0 </PRE>[/SIZE]

Godzilla Blitz

10-19-2005, 01:11 AM

Hey there, Blade. This looks great! I'm going to set some time aside to read it tomorrow. Very nice.

Izulde

10-19-2005, 07:47 AM

Superb dynasty you have here. The pictures really add to it. :)

Blade

10-19-2005, 11:12 PM

(Thanks for the support guys!)

Raiders Look Ugly Early but Win in Dramatic Fashion

New Orleans (2-5) 26 - Oakland (5-2) 27

Oakland, CA (Week 7, 2005) – For almost three quarters of the game, the Oakland Raiders were ineffective against their opponents, the New Orleans Saints. The Raiders offence was having a tough time moving the ball, while the New Orleans offence was successful in getting points on five of their first six possessions. With 9:26 left in the third quarter, Oakland found themselves down 19-0. In their bid to get any points at all, Steve Christie missed two field goal attempts, one from 55 yards, and one from 43 yards.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Moss2005-7.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>“Things were going wrong for us in all phases of the game,” said Coach Jorge Shank during his post-game conference. “We were not executing at all. Our offence was shaky, and we were having problems establishing the run. Our defence was alright at preventing a lot of yards, but we were giving the Saints good field position, so they did not need a lot of yards anyway.”

Finally, the Raiders got the spark they needed with 1:21 left in the third quarter, as CB Renaldo Hill grabbed an errant pass by Saints QB Aaron Brooks and took it 28 yards for the touchdown to put Oakland on the board. That seemed to put some life back into the Raiders bench, and their fans.

“It was crazy. All game there seemed to be a cloud hanging over us and the stadium,” said DT Edward Jasper. “Things were quiet because of how bad we were playing. Then Hill came up with that pick for the touchdown, and the crowd started to get back into it. We have already been in some tough games this year, and we got the feeling back that it just was not over yet.”

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Stuart2005-7.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>After the touchdown, the Oakland defence continued to take control of the game back from the Saints, as LB Jay Foreman hit Saints TE Ernie Conwell, causing a fumble which was recovered by FS Stuart Schweigert, giving the ball to the Raiders defence. With 5:12 left in the game, Raiders QB Kerry Collins kept the ball himself, and closed the Saints lead to five with a 4 yard TD run.

Seeing that Oakland was coming to life, Brooks led the Saints on a quick drive, regaining the Saints twelve point lead with a 4 yard TD pass to Joe Horn. “It was strange,” said Collins. “At that point in the game, being down by twelve with two minutes or so left in the game, we just felt like we still had a real chance. And, with a player like Randy [Moss], we always have a chance.”

Moss was indeed big, as Collins found him with a 27 yard pass, then a 48 yard pass for a touchdown, on a drive that took only 26 seconds to complete. Oakland then continued their miracle comeback, as LB Tyler Brayton recovered Steve Christie’s onside kick. It didn’t take Collins long to hook up with Randy Moss for another 48 yard pass for a touchdown, to give the Raiders the lead with 30 seconds left. The Raiders attempted the two-point conversion, but were unsuccessful. It did not matter, however, as the Raiders defence wrapped the game up with a interception by Schweigert to give the Raiders the amazing victory.

“What can you say about a game like this? It is unbelievable,” said Shank. “We played a pretty bad game for the most part, but these guys persevered and stuck with it, and pulled out an incredible victory. They worked hard, and this is the type of victory that will buoy a team for a long time. We just need to ride this momentum now, and prepare for an important divisional game against San Diego.”

Box Score
<PRE>Attendance: 54,000 (62,500). Weather: 53 degrees, fair. 1Q: 07:18 NOS - John Carney 29 field goal. 1Q: 02:17 NOS - John Carney 47 field goal. 2Q: 10:25 NOS - Donte' Stallworth 10 pass from Aaron Brooks. 2Q: 10:25 NOS - John Carney extra point. 2Q: 00:04 NOS - John Carney 38 field goal. 3Q: 09:26 NOS - John Carney 41 field goal. 3Q: 01:21 OAK - Renaldo Hill 28 interception return. 3Q: 01:21 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 4Q: 04:59 OAK - Kerry Collins 4 run. 4Q: 04:59 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 4Q: 02:14 NOS - Joe Horn 4 pass from Aaron Brooks. 4Q: 02:14 NOS - John Carney extra point. 4Q: 01:24 OAK - Randy Moss 48 pass from Kerry Collins. 4Q: 01:24 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 4Q: 00:18 OAK - Randy Moss 48 pass from Kerry Collins. 4Q: 00:18 OAK - LaMont Jordan run for conversion failed. Game MVP: OAK 18 Randy Moss New Orleans 6 10 3 7 - 26 Oakland 0 0 7 20 - 27 Team Statistics NOS OAK First Downs 22 17 Total Rushes 30 19 Rushing Yards 128 78 Yards Per Carry 4.2 4.1 Pass Attempts 35 34 Completions 20 17 Passing Yards 232 288 Yards Per Attempt 6.6 8.4 Sacked 4 5 Yards Lost 30 24 Interceptions 2 2 Fumbles/Lost 3/2 1/0 Total Plays 69 58 Total Yards 330 342 Yards Per Play 4.7 5.8 3rd Down Plays 6/14 3/13 Avg. YTG on 3rd 8.5 7.6 4th Down Plays 1/1 1/1 Penalties 3 4 Penalty Yards 20 35 Avg. Drive Start OWN 29 OWN 33 Time Of Possession 35:10 24:50 New Orleans Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 26 McAllister 19 78 4.1 14 0 32 Smith 10 36 3.6 13 0 2 Brooks 1 14 14.0 14 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 2 Brooks 34 19 221 6.5 50 2 2 4 5 McPherson 1 1 11 11.0 11 0 0 0 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 26 McAllister 6 43 7.1 11 15 0 87 Horn 4 59 14.7 4 36 1 44 Karney 3 11 3.6 7 5 0 81 Hakim 2 37 18.5 16 21 0 19 Henderson 2 57 28.5 0 50 0 85 Conwell 1 4 4.0 3 4 0 32 Smith 1 11 11.0 0 11 0 83 Stallworth 1 10 10.0 0 10 1 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 81 Hakim 2 1 0.5 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 21 Craft 2 57 28.5 0 87 Horn 1 24 24.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 17 Berger 3 125 41.6 48 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 3 Carney 4 4 47 2 2 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 50 Allen 7 0 0.0 0 0 0 94 Grant 5 1 1.5 0 0 0 93 Howard 3 1 2.0 0 0 0 97 Sullivan 3 1 1.0 0 0 0 35 Brown 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 55 Watson 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 75 Leisle 2 0 0.5 0 0 0 57 Bockwoldt 2 4 0.0 0 0 0 59 McKinnon 2 3 0.0 0 0 0 43 McKenzie 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 87 Horn 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 24 Smith 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 83 Stallworth 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 25 McAfee 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 29 Bullocks 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 21 Craft 1 0 0.0 2 15 0 20 Bellamy 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 22 Thomas 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 53 Slaughter 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 66 Young 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 79 Brown 0 0 0 0 0 1 78 Stinchcomb 0 0 0 0 2 1 61 Holland 0 0 0 0 0 1 65 Bentley 0 0 0 0 3 1 85 Conwell 1 0 0 0 0 0 71 Mayberry 0 0 0 0 1 0 64 Jacox 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 Brooks 1 0 0 0 0 0 26 McAllister 1 0 0 0 0 0 94 Grant 0 1 0 0 0 0 83 Stallworth 0 0 1 0 0 0 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 15 55 3.6 10 0 5 Collins 3 20 6.6 10 1 85 Gabriel 1 3 3.0 3 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 34 17 288 8.4 48 2 2 5 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 18 Moss 8 197 24.6 16 48 2 34 Jordan 5 36 7.2 8 13 0 81 Curry 2 15 7.5 1 8 0 87 Whitted 1 27 27.0 4 27 0 85 Gabriel 1 13 13.0 2 13 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 18 Moss 4 92 23.0 0 85 Gabriel 2 43 21.5 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 6 240 40.0 50 3 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 0 2 0 3 3 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 53 Foreman 8 2 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 6 1 3.0 0 0 0 55 Clark 5 1 0.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 3 0 1.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 3 4 0.0 1 9 0 36 Gibson 3 3 0.0 0 0 0 91 Burgess 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 2 4 0.0 0 0 0 51 Brayton 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 92 Washington 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 1 1 0.0 1 28 1 26 Routt 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 70 Badger 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 87 Whitted 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 34 Jordan 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 81 Curry 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 28 Henry 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 66 Walker 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 85 Gabriel 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 96 Irons 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 33 Taylor 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 0 1 66 Walker 0 0 0 0 0 1 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 0 1 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 2 0 70 Badger 0 0 0 0 0 1 67 Stone 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 Collins 1 0 0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 0 1 0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 0 1 0 0 0 0 91 Burgess 0 0 1 0 0 0 43 Easy 0 0 1 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 0 0 1 0 0 0 26 Routt 0 1 0 0 0 0 </PRE>

Blade

10-19-2005, 11:13 PM

I was sitting in my office, head in my hands, as John Mackey stormed through the door.

“What the Hell was that?”

I looked at him, his face becoming quite red. I sat there for a second, unsure of what to say. Never in my wildest dreams, or nightmare, did I expect to see a game like I had just seen out of these Raiders. I finally composed myself.

“I am not sure. We knew that they had some weapons, and the New Orleans defence just gave up. This team has more guts than I had given them credit for, anyway. But, I guess, we need to look at the bright side. This is our team, and regardless of the fact that they will be moved, and players will be dumped, this is the core, and the fact that they have this in them is a good sign.”

Mackey sat down and rubbed his face.

“I know, Bear. But, Hell, this is not going to help our case in the off-season. It is games like this that rally a city around the team, and if they are at the point where they are ready to accept all kinds of crazy stadium deals, well, our plans are out the window. And what did Moss have? Like 200 yards?”

I nodded. “Something like that. Let’s face it, Jordan and Moss are playmakers. They are good enough that the entire offence can jump on their backs and be carried. By no means is this team good enough to win a Super Bowl, but they are good enough that an above .500 season is not out of the question.”

“Something needs to be done, Bear.”

I looked at Mackey helplessly.

“What can we do? We can’t dismantle the team at this juncture, or it will be obvious that we are sabotaging them, and that is press that we may never recover from.”

Mackey smiled. “Don’t worry, I will figure out something.”

I didn’t like that look in his eye.

wishbone

10-20-2005, 05:24 PM

The plot thickens...

Blade

10-20-2005, 10:39 PM

Moss, Jordan Missing as Raiders Lose to San Diego

Oakland (5-3) 19 - San Diego (5-3) 37

San Diego, CA (Week 8, 2005) – Game time approached, and the Raiders could not find their two star players, Randy Moss and Lamont Jordan. The league leaders in yardage for their respective positions were no where to be found as the Raiders walked onto the field to start the game. And they were also not with the team by the time the game ended, with the Raiders losing the game to their divisional opponents, the San Diego Chargers.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Williams2005-8.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>Earlier in the day, Moss and Jordan were booked to attend a photo shoot for an NFL-driven charity drive. It was learned after the game that both players were at the shoot and were then trapped in the building after the shoot ended. They were descending the building in an elevator when the elevator lost power and trapped them both between the 16th and 17th floors. Maintenance crew were unable to restore power to the elevator for six hours and by the time Moss and Jordan were freed, they had already missed the game.

“It was insane. Being trapped in a small elevator for that much time, that is something I don’t wish on my worst enemy,” said Moss, who was reached for comment later in the evening. “Lamont and I wanted out as fast as possible because we knew that we had a big game today. To be stuck there for so long, and to find out that we lost, is just the garbage thing to have happen.”

On the field, the Raiders sorely missed the presence of their star players. Oakland QB Kerry Collins did everything that he could to give the Raiders a chance, and he spread the ball around 9 different receivers, but without the big play threat of Randy Moss, and without the strong running of Lamont Jordan, he couldn’t generate the offence needed to hold off the Chargers. The Raiders’ offensive line also had problems giving Collins any time, as Chargers DT Jamal Williams completely dominated the game. Williams recovered a blocked punt during the Raiders’ first offensive series of the game and returned it 27 yards for the Chargers opening points. He finished the game with 6 tackles, 4 assists, and a huge 4.5 sacks.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Tomlinson2005-8.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>“He was incredible tonight,” said Collins after the game. “No matter where I looked, Williams was coming after me. It also didn’t matter who he lined up against, he beat everyone. Four or five sacks and a touchdown tonight? How can you beat that?”

The Oakland defence also had problems all game long. Despite two interceptions off of Chargers QB Drew Brees, including one by Stuart Schweigert for a touchdown, the San Diego offence was efficient and effective. Star running back LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 109 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries, and the passing game was timely when needed. By comparison, Raiders RB Zach Crockett, starting for the missing Jordan, ran for only 40 yards on 14 carries.

“It is complete and utter [expletive deleted],” said Raiders Coach Jorge Shank. “Our two best players caught in this freak accident, and we miss them for our first big game of the year? What can I say? We did not have our best team out on the field, and we paid because of it. Complete [expletive deleted]. I hope they find out how this happened. It just seems to convenient.”

When questioned further about his comments, Coach Shank declined to say any more. Oakland now gets ready to get back into the win column against the Carolina Panthers.

[COLOR=DimGray][SIZE=4][B]Box Score[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]
<PRE>[SIZE=3]Attendance: 57,500 (71,600). Weather: 72 degrees, rain. 1Q: 13:04 SDO - Jamal Williams 27 blocked punt return. 1Q: 13:04 SDO - Nate Kaeding extra point. 1Q: 11:20 SDO - LaDainian Tomlinson 6 run. 1Q: 11:20 SDO - Nate Kaeding extra point failed. 1Q: 05:38 OAK - Steve Christie 20 field goal. 1Q: 00:44 SDO - Drew Brees 1 run. 1Q: 00:44 SDO - Nate Kaeding extra point. 2Q: 10:04 OAK - Dedric Ward 12 pass from Kerry Collins. 2Q: 10:04 OAK - Steve Christie extra point failed. 2Q: 07:07 OAK - Steve Christie 40 field goal. 2Q: 00:50 OAK - Stuart Schweigert 30 interception return. 2Q: 00:50 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 00:15 SDO - LaDainian Tomlinson 21 run. 2Q: 00:15 SDO - Nate Kaeding extra point. 3Q: 01:39 SDO - Nate Kaeding 42 field goal. 4Q: 11:51 SDO - LaDainian Tomlinson 3 run. 4Q: 11:51 SDO - Nate Kaeding extra point. Game MVP: SDO 76 Jamal Williams Oakland 3 16 0 0 - 19 San Diego 20 7 3 7 - 37 Team Statistics OAK SDO First Downs 21 17 Total Rushes 22 32 Rushing Yards 61 139 Yards Per Carry 2.7 4.3 Pass Attempts 45 21 Completions 24 11 Passing Yards 284 154 Yards Per Attempt 6.3 7.3 Sacked 6 1 Yards Lost 36 7 Interceptions 1 2 Fumbles/Lost 1/1 2/0 Total Plays 73 54 Total Yards 309 286 Yards Per Play 4.2 5.2 3rd Down Plays 6/17 5/11 Avg. YTG on 3rd 10.0 6.2 4th Down Plays 1/1 0/0 Penalties 7 6 Penalty Yards 55 35 Avg. Drive Start OWN 22 OWN 45 Time Of Possession 33:16 26:44 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 32 Crockett 14 40 2.8 10 0 28 Henry 7 20 2.8 13 0 5 Collins 1 1 1.0 1 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 42 24 284 6.7 26 1 1 6 16 Walter 3 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 81 Curry 6 74 12.3 18 26 0 87 Whitted 3 32 10.6 3 12 0 85 Gabriel 3 42 14.0 2 17 0 83 Anderson 3 34 11.3 2 17 0 82 Ward 3 40 13.3 1 15 1 32 Crockett 2 38 19.0 22 23 0 88 Dudley 2 19 9.5 3 11 0 43 Easy 1 2 2.0 4 2 0 28 Henry 1 3 3.0 3 3 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 85 Gabriel 3 47 15.6 0 10 Francis 1 11 11.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 5 188 37.6 49 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 2 2 40 1 2 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 55 Clark 8 0 0.0 0 0 0 25 Walker 6 0 0.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 4 1 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 51 Brayton 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 87 Whitted 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 91 Burgess 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 1 0 1.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 1 2 0.0 1 30 1 27 Washington 1 1 0.0 1 39 0 22 Hill 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 28 Henry 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 88 Dudley 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 82 Ward 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 10 Francis 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 0 2 0.0 0 0 0 92 Washington 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 2 2 66 Walker 0 0 0 0 0 1 43 Easy 0 0 0 0 0 1 78 Slaughter 0 0 0 0 0 1 70 Badger 0 0 0 0 0 1 67 Stone 0 0 0 0 1 0 32 Crockett 1 0 0 0 0 0 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 1 0 45 Robinson 0 1 0 0 0 0 28 Henry 0 1 0 0 0 0 San Diego Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 21 Tomlinson 23 109 4.7 21 3 43 Sproles 4 14 3.5 6 0 9 Brees 3 10 3.3 5 1 33 Turner 2 6 3.0 4 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 9 Brees 21 11 154 7.3 26 0 2 1 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 86 McCardell 2 25 12.5 5 19 0 21 Tomlinson 2 14 7.0 10 7 0 82 Caldwell 2 34 17.0 9 26 0 85 Gates 2 30 15.0 2 18 0 88 Parker 2 34 17.0 5 25 0 84 Peelle 1 17 17.0 3 17 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 88 Parker 1 14 14.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 43 Sproles 4 124 31.0 0 22 Davis 1 18 18.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 5 Scifres 5 170 34.0 47 3 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 10 Kaeding 1 1 42 4 5 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 59 Edwards 7 2 0.0 0 0 0 76 Williams 6 2 4.5 0 0 0 58 Godfrey 6 3 0.0 0 0 0 23 Jammer 5 1 0.0 0 0 0 91 Merriman 4 2 0.0 0 0 0 51 Leber 4 1 0.0 0 0 0 22 Davis 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Robinson 3 1 1.0 0 0 0 20 Wilson 3 3 0.0 1 28 0 48 Kiel 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 25 Fletcher 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Phillips 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 99 Olshansky 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 41 Neal 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 56 Hardy 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 40 Starks 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 21 Tomlinson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 33 Turner 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 93 Castillo 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 74 Cesaire 0 1 0.5 0 0 0 31 Milligan 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 77 Fonoti 0 0 0 0 1 1 50 Binn 0 0 0 0 2 0 41 Neal 0 0 1 0 1 0 72 Oben 0 0 0 0 2 0 79 Goff 0 0 0 0 2 0 84 Peelle 1 0 0 0 1 0 22 Davis 0 0 2 0 0 0 76 Williams 0 0 0 1 0 0 85 Gates 0 0 0 0 1 0 88 Parker 1 0 0 0 0 0 48 Kiel 0 1 0 0 0 0 </PRE>[/SIZE]

Blade

10-20-2005, 10:42 PM

John was sitting in the conference room, waiting for our meeting to start, when I walked in and tossed an issue of the Oakland Tribune sports section down in front of him.

“Did you read this, Mack? They are talking about the loss against San Diego. They are actually suggesting that someone had purposely sabotaged that elevator to keep Moss and Jordan out of the game. They have no evidence, it is just a suggestion, but they are not making any comments on who they think may have done it.”

Mackey looked up at me and had a little smirk.

“What are you suggesting, Bear?”

“I am not suggesting anything, personally, Mack. But, our last meeting was a little strange. Did you have anything to do with this? I mean, we want the team to lose, or at least keep fan support down, but to openly risk something like this? If we were ever found out…”

“Bear, we are friends. We have been friends for a long time. I am not going to even answer that question. Now, half the season is over. Let’s see where we are.”

I shook my head and sat down. I knew that he had to have been involved. While I wanted everything to go well and be able to move the team, I was starting to question the length that Mack would go to see that happen. I took a deep breath, trying to compose myself, and opened my folder.

“Well, we are 5-3, and thanks to the last game, we are tied with San Diego for the division. The upcoming schedule is against some teams that we can beat, so that is cause for concern. Our offence is definitely the strength of this team, and can outscore other teams regardless of how bad our defence is playing. We are ranked 5th in rushing yardage, and first in passing yardage. Collins is rated first in passing yards and tied for second in passing touchdowns. He is also fourth in QB rating. And, well, have you seen what Jordan and Moss have been doing?”

Mack shook his head. “I know that they have been doing well. That is about the extent of it.”

“Even with the game they missed, they are still the top in yardage at their positions. Jordan is about 70 yards above the number two player. Moss, though, is putting up insane numbers. As of right now, he has 1069 yards receiving. That is around 420 yards more than the number two receiver! As of right now, including the game he has missed, he is on pace to shatter the single season receiving yards record!”

Mack groaned. “Well, that should make trading him easier to do from the standpoint of finding a partner, but the fans will definitely not like that.”

“True, but will we care if things are in place to move the team? I think the real issue is that if he is pursuing the record late in the year, we may draw more fans then we want. That said, our defence is plain bad, and I am hoping that will be enough to cost us games. We are in the bottom half of the league in yards against for both passing and rushing, and I cannot see us getting much better. Our linebacker, Clark, is having a decent year though. He is currently fifth in the league in tackles. Oh, and apparently Shank isn’t getting much discipline out of the team, as we are fifth in the league for most penalties.”

“Ok, so, you are saying that things can still go either way, correct?”

“Yah, Mack, it could go either way. But, I would put my money on this team winning more than it will lose. I think we need to prepare by putting together a stadium offer that the city has no choice but to refuse.”

Mack smiled. “Don’t worry about that. I have that under control.”

Godzilla Blitz

10-21-2005, 01:27 AM

This is really superb, Blade. Great stuff. Looking forward to the next installment. Count me in as another reader.

Are you getting the action shots from Madden 2006 for the PC? If so, are you actually playing games to get those players together for your image? I would think that would take a long time. They really add a nice touch to the write-ups, though.

Keep it up!

And take the stairs.

Grid Iron

10-21-2005, 01:30 AM

Looks great!

I hate the Raiders (San Diego native), but I'll be following this story!

Zippo

10-21-2005, 02:07 AM

great work keep it up!

Blade

10-21-2005, 08:46 AM

This is really superb, Blade. Great stuff. Looking forward to the next installment. Count me in as another reader.

Are you getting the action shots from Madden 2006 for the PC? If so, are you actually playing games to get those players together for your image? I would think that would take a long time. They really add a nice touch to the write-ups, though.

Keep it up!

And take the stairs.

Thanks GB!

I am using Madden 2005 for the PC. Yah, I am actually playing games until I get the shots I want. The tough part is with it being the 2005 version, I have to set the rosters before most games to make sure the right players are on the right team and starting...

Looks great!

I hate the Raiders (San Diego native), but I'll be following this story!

Thanks Grid Iron! I hate the Raiders too, which is why I don't mind getting rid of players and moving the team! And thanks again for you help, since I cannot take any credit for the look of this dynasty.

great work keep it up!

Thanks!

Blade

10-21-2005, 09:36 PM

Turnovers Key to Win Over Panthers

Oakland (6-3) 28 - Carolina (3-5) 23

Carolina, NC (Week 9, 2005) – With Randy Moss and Lamont Jordan back in the line-up after missing a game due to a freak accident, it was turnovers which allowed the Oakland Raiders to pull out a victory over the Carolina Panthers. It started early in the game as Carolina had their punt blocked by CB Renaldo Hill on the first possession of the game, giving the Raiders the ball on the Carolina 24 yard line.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Collins2005-9.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>Randy Moss, who missed last week’s game with team-mate Lamont Jordan by being trapped in an elevator, was anxious to get back on the field, and it showed as he quickly pulled in a 24 yard TD on the first Raiders offensive play of the game. “I was pumped up all week, ready for this game,” said Moss, after the game. “Missing that game last week was something I was not happy with, especially with the numbers I am putting up so far this year. When things are going good, you just want to keep playing as much as possible and take advantage of it.”

Moss finished the game with 76 yards receiving, well below his per-game average this year, but did have two touchdowns. Lamont Jordan also showed his anxiousness to play again, collecting 127 total yards and a touchdown reception. QB Kerry Collins also was strong, throwing for four touchdowns. Overall, the Raiders’ offence did not put up big numbers, collecting only 291 total yards for the game, but they did not need to put up strong numbers, as their average starting position for the game was their own 41 yard line.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Jordan2005-9.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>That was thanks to the turnovers that the Oakland defence was able to generate. Collecting three fumbles and one interception at key moments in the game, as well as the special teams play, the Raiders were constantly in strong positions to come away with points. Despite the turnovers, the Oakland defence did struggle at times in the game, allowing DeShawn Foster and the rest of the Carolina run game to collect 168 yards. The Raider’s run defence suffered another blow as DT Ted Washington went down with an injury during the game and did not come back. After the game, Washington was examined and it was determined that he suffered a torn ankle ligament and will be out for the season.

“Losing Ted is going to hurt,” said DT Warren Sapp. “That is a big body in the middle of our line, and he is going to be missed. All we can do is try to pick up our play in his absence.”

Despite the performance of the defence against the run, the Raiders seem to be in a place where all they can do is win games, so long as their key players are in the game. However, with a bye week next week for the team, there is the worry that they will lose some momentum.

“What we have to do is stay focused over the next two weeks,” said Coach Shank. “The guys will get some time off to clear their minds and rest up, but then it is back to the practice field. We want to keep things going for us, because we are in a good place right now. Plus, we have our last game against San Diego when we get back, and that game is going to be huge. We are concentrating on one thing right now, and that is winning.”

Box Score
<PRE>Attendance: 70,200 (73,300). Weather: 51 degrees, fair. 1Q: 12:48 OAK - Randy Moss 24 pass from Kerry Collins. 1Q: 12:48 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 1Q: 09:10 CAR - John Kasay 47 field goal. 1Q: 05:54 OAK - Rickey Dudley 11 pass from Kerry Collins. 1Q: 05:54 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 1Q: 02:42 CAR - John Kasay 42 field goal. 1Q: 01:42 CAR - DeShaun Foster 15 run. 1Q: 01:42 CAR - John Kasay extra point. 2Q: 02:46 CAR - Ricky Proehl 3 pass from Jake Delhomme. 2Q: 02:46 CAR - John Kasay extra point. 2Q: 00:32 OAK - LaMont Jordan 45 pass from Kerry Collins. 2Q: 00:32 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 3Q: 00:00 OAK - Randy Moss 25 pass from Kerry Collins. 3Q: 00:00 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 4Q: 08:15 CAR - John Kasay 38 field goal. Game MVP: OAK 5 Kerry Collins Oakland 14 7 7 0 - 28 Carolina 13 7 0 3 - 23 Team Statistics OAK CAR First Downs 15 24 Total Rushes 22 31 Rushing Yards 73 168 Yards Per Carry 3.3 5.4 Pass Attempts 28 45 Completions 16 26 Passing Yards 243 256 Yards Per Attempt 8.6 5.6 Sacked 4 1 Yards Lost 25 6 Interceptions 0 1 Fumbles/Lost 1/1 4/3 Total Plays 54 77 Total Yards 291 418 Yards Per Play 5.3 5.4 3rd Down Plays 2/11 7/14 Avg. YTG on 3rd 10.3 6.8 4th Down Plays 0/1 0/1 Penalties 6 3 Penalty Yards 60 30 Avg. Drive Start OWN 41 OWN 31 Time Of Possession 26:17 33:43 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 18 62 3.4 12 0 5 Collins 3 6 2.0 4 0 87 Whitted 1 5 5.0 5 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 28 16 243 8.6 45 4 0 4 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 18 Moss 4 76 19.0 9 25 2 34 Jordan 4 65 16.2 23 45 1 87 Whitted 2 28 14.0 7 25 0 81 Curry 2 48 24.0 0 31 0 83 Anderson 2 15 7.5 9 9 0 88 Dudley 1 11 11.0 0 11 1 82 Ward 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 85 Gabriel 2 42 21.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 6 230 38.3 45 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 0 1 0 4 4 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 55 Clark 8 7 0.0 0 0 0 25 Walker 8 3 0.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 6 0 0.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 5 1 0.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 4 1 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 3 2 0.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 3 1 0.0 1 17 0 91 Burgess 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 51 Brayton 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 2 0 1.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 43 Easy 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 92 Washington 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 96 Irons 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 2 0 66 Walker 0 0 0 0 0 1 61 Seubert 0 0 0 0 1 1 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 1 1 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 2 0 70 Badger 0 0 0 0 0 1 99 Sapp 0 1 1 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 0 1 0 0 0 0 25 Walker 0 0 1 0 0 0 91 Burgess 0 0 1 0 0 0 59 Grant 0 1 0 0 0 0 34 Jordan 1 0 0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 0 1 0 0 0 0 Carolina Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 26 Foster 22 110 5.0 20 1 35 Shelton 5 15 3.0 4 0 17 Delhomme 4 43 10.7 20 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 17 Delhomme 45 26 256 5.6 24 1 1 1 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 89 Smith 7 109 15.5 14 24 0 26 Foster 7 34 4.8 15 16 0 86 Mangum 4 45 11.2 12 16 0 83 Colbert 4 43 10.7 6 19 0 81 Proehl 2 8 4.0 1 5 1 87 Gardner 2 17 8.5 2 12 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 23 Lucas 1 -1 -1.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 23 Lucas 4 92 23.0 0 32 Smart 1 21 21.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 7 Baker 2 23 11.5 23 0 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 4 Kasay 3 4 47 2 2 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 55 Morgan 6 3 1.0 0 0 0 54 Witherspoon 6 2 0.0 0 0 0 28 Branch 5 3 0.0 0 0 0 30 Minter 3 3 0.0 0 0 0 56 Kyle 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 23 Lucas 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 77 Jenkins 2 0 1.5 0 0 0 99 Buckner 2 1 0.5 0 0 0 93 Rucker 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 24 Manning 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 90 Peppers 1 2 1.0 0 0 0 81 Proehl 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 86 Mangum 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 84 Gaines 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 34 Jackson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 92 Seward 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 63 Hangartner 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 68 Wahle 0 0 1 0 3 1 76 Reyes 0 0 0 0 3 0 26 Foster 2 0 0 0 0 0 56 Kyle 0 0 1 0 0 0 60 Mitchell 0 0 0 0 1 0 17 Delhomme 1 0 0 0 0 0 37 Goings 0 0 0 0 1 0 54 Witherspoon 0 1 0 0 0 0 69 Gross 0 0 0 0 1 0 35 Shelton 1 0 0 0 0 0 </PRE>

Blade

10-23-2005, 09:03 PM

Fourth Quarter Comeback Over Divisional Rivals For Raiders

San Diego (6-4) 28 - Oakland (7-3) 31

Oakland, CA (Week 11, 2005) – Both teams knew that the game would be an important one, as the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders met to determine the sole leader of the AFC West, though it is still early in the season. It had all the markings of an exciting game, and it did not disappoint.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Treu2005-10.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>Things started well for the Raiders as Raiders CB Renaldo Hill forced and recovered a fumble on the Chargers’ second possession of the game. It took only two plays for Lamont Jordan to break a few tackles and take the ball 50 yards for the first six points of the game. The Raiders continued to play well, working up a strong 21-10 lead over the Chargers near the end of the half. The Chargers started to work away at that lead with a field goal as the half ended.

San Diego came out for the second half with the momentum as they picked off QB Kerry Collins, setting up a drive that ended with an 11-yard TD pass from Chargers’ QB Drew Brees to TE Antonio Gates. They tied the game with a successful two-point conversion. San Diego finally took the lead with less than eight minutes left in the game on a TD pass to Reche Caldwell for 31 yards, and the 28-24 lead.

Oakland had difficulty getting anything going after that point, until a big play by DT Warren Sapp, when he forced Chargers’ RB Darren Sproles to fumble, which LB Kirk Morrison fell on to give the Raiders the ball on the Oakland 25-yard line with 2:04 left in the game. This time, Collins came out firing, first hitting Alvis Whitted for a 36-yard reception, then a huge 44-yard TD pass to Doug Gabriel to give the Raiders the 31-28 lead with 1:21 left in the game. The Oakland defence did a great job holding the Chargers at bay, including a sack by LB Danny Clark, and time ran out to give the Raiders the big victory.

“This was huge for us,” said DT Edward Jasper. “With all of the early season stuff we went through, and with the bizarre circumstances surrounding the last game against the Chargers, we needed to come out and make a statement. It wasn’t overly pretty at times, but we made a statement. You can’t count us out, and we are going to fight tooth and nail to win a game.”

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Gabriel2005-10.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>The game was all about offence, as both teams combined for 857 total yards of offence. San Diego was led by Brees, who had a fantastic game by going 21 for 36, with 317 yards and three touchdown passes. WR Reche Caldwell was Brees favorite target during the game as he finished with 138 yards and two touchdowns. RB LaDainian Tomlinson also had a good game as he ran for 100 yards.

Lamont Jordan was the big player for the Raiders, ending the game with 126 yards rushing and two touchdowns, as well as another 56 yards receiving. Randy Moss also had another strong game with 124 yards receiving and a touchdown. Collins had a good game as well, as he threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception being the lone blemish.

The Raiders defence also had a few good performances, led by DE Derrick Burgess, who 2 sacks during the game. Unfortunately, Burgess went down with an injury during the game, and will be lost for up to three weeks with a strained foot ligament. “We are going to miss him, that is for sure,” said LB Danny Clark. “But, this is the NFL, and injuries are a part of life. The season comes down to a battle of attrition, and the teams who are successful are the ones who can deal best with injuries. We have shown that we can do that, and we will continue to do that.”

The Raiders did get some good news on the injury front, as it was announced that WR Jerry Porter will be back at practice this week and should be available for the Raiders game against the Denver Broncos in another divisional match-up.

Box Score
<PRE>Attendance: 55,900 (62,500). Weather: 73 degrees, rain. 1Q: 10:02 OAK - LaMont Jordan 50 run. 1Q: 10:02 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 1Q: 05:46 SDO - Nate Kaeding 41 field goal. 2Q: 10:46 OAK - LaMont Jordan 2 run. 2Q: 10:46 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 04:54 SDO - Reche Caldwell 12 pass from Drew Brees. 2Q: 04:54 SDO - Nate Kaeding extra point. 2Q: 01:09 OAK - Randy Moss 46 pass from Kerry Collins. 2Q: 01:09 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 00:03 SDO - Nate Kaeding 32 field goal. 3Q: 08:32 SDO - Antonio Gates 11 pass from Drew Brees. 3Q: 08:32 SDO - Drew Brees pass to Antonio Gates for conversion 3Q: 04:45 OAK - Steve Christie 31 field goal. 4Q: 07:45 SDO - Reche Caldwell 31 pass from Drew Brees. 4Q: 07:45 SDO - Nate Kaeding extra point. 4Q: 01:10 OAK - Doug Gabriel 44 pass from Kerry Collins. 4Q: 01:10 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. Game MVP: OAK 34 LaMont Jordan San Diego 3 10 8 7 - 28 Oakland 7 14 3 7 - 31 Team Statistics SDO OAK First Downs 23 18 Total Rushes 25 31 Rushing Yards 145 148 Yards Per Carry 5.8 4.7 Pass Attempts 36 24 Completions 21 16 Passing Yards 317 286 Yards Per Attempt 8.8 11.9 Sacked 4 2 Yards Lost 25 14 Interceptions 0 1 Fumbles/Lost 2/2 1/0 Total Plays 65 57 Total Yards 437 420 Yards Per Play 6.7 7.3 3rd Down Plays 6/12 4/10 Avg. YTG on 3rd 11.3 7.1 4th Down Plays 1/1 0/0 Penalties 13 5 Penalty Yards 89 40 Avg. Drive Start OWN 32 OWN 25 Time Of Possession 30:36 29:24 San Diego Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 21 Tomlinson 18 100 5.5 12 0 43 Sproles 4 25 6.2 15 0 9 Brees 3 20 6.6 8 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 9 Brees 36 21 317 8.8 33 3 0 4 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 82 Caldwell 8 138 17.2 13 31 2 88 Parker 4 75 18.7 6 33 0 86 McCardell 3 35 11.6 5 17 0 85 Gates 2 28 14.0 4 17 1 87 Osgood 2 30 15.0 2 18 0 21 Tomlinson 1 4 4.0 1 4 0 34 Pinnock 1 7 7.0 1 7 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 88 Parker 1 19 19.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 43 Sproles 4 119 29.7 0 86 McCardell 1 16 16.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 5 Scifres 4 166 41.5 47 2 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 10 Kaeding 2 2 41 2 2 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 51 Leber 7 1 1.0 0 0 0 59 Edwards 5 3 0.0 0 0 0 58 Godfrey 5 2 0.0 1 23 0 74 Cesaire 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 22 Davis 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 23 Jammer 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 76 Williams 2 1 1.0 0 0 0 99 Olshansky 2 3 0.0 0 0 0 91 Merriman 2 3 0.0 0 0 0 20 Wilson 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 27 Jue 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 29 Florence 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 48 Kiel 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 34 Pinnock 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Phillips 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 93 Castillo 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Robinson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 70 Olivea 0 0 0 0 4 2 79 Goff 0 0 0 0 0 2 72 Oben 0 0 0 0 3 0 50 Binn 0 0 0 0 1 0 41 Neal 0 0 0 0 1 0 82 Caldwell 1 0 0 0 0 0 77 Fonoti 0 0 0 0 1 0 99 Olshansky 0 1 0 0 0 0 43 Sproles 1 0 0 0 0 0 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 26 126 4.8 50 2 32 Crockett 3 11 3.6 5 0 5 Collins 2 11 5.5 6 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 24 16 286 11.9 46 2 1 2 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 34 Jordan 6 56 9.3 14 26 0 18 Moss 4 124 31.0 15 46 1 87 Whitted 2 48 24.0 0 36 0 43 Easy 2 7 3.5 5 4 0 85 Gabriel 1 44 44.0 6 44 1 88 Dudley 1 7 7.0 0 7 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 18 Moss 2 40 20.0 0 87 Whitted 1 15 15.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 5 198 39.6 48 2 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 1 1 31 4 4 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 22 Hill 9 3 0.0 0 0 0 55 Clark 7 2 1.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 6 0 0.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 4 2 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 91 Burgess 3 0 2.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 25 Walker 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 18 Moss 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 93 Kelly 1 0 1.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 34 Jordan 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 81 Curry 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 51 Brayton 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 88 Dudley 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 77 Hawthorne 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 2 1 67 Stone 0 0 0 0 2 1 70 Badger 0 0 0 0 2 0 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 2 0 22 Hill 0 1 1 0 0 0 34 Jordan 1 0 1 0 0 0 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 2 0 99 Sapp 0 1 0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 0 0 1 0 0 0 </PRE>

JeeberD

10-24-2005, 05:15 PM

Lose, Raiders! LOSE!!!

Blade

10-24-2005, 10:27 PM

Lose, Raiders! LOSE!!!

Thanks for the vibe! (See the next post!)

nfg22

10-24-2005, 10:29 PM

I like moss...as long as he is good...

Blade

10-24-2005, 10:31 PM

Missed Field Goals Cost Raiders in Game Against Struggling Broncos

Oakland (7-4) 14 - Denver (5-5-1) 16

Denver, CO (Week 12, 2005) – The Raiders headed into another divisional game with high expectations. Coming off a gutsy win over the strong San Diego Chargers, many figured that an inconsistent Broncos team would be an easy target. Unfortunately for the Raiders, that did not prove to be true.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Warren2005-12.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>The weather was a chilly 22 degrees as both teams took the field, and the game turned into a slow and ugly one. Both offences started off sluggish, attempting to establish the run game but having little luck. Denver was able to strike first with two field goals in the first quarter. Before the half ended, Oakland had finally gotten on the board with a five yard touchdown pass from QB Kerry Collins to RB Lamont Jordan, but Denver responded with another field goal to take 9-7 lead into the half.

As the second half got underway, the tempo in the game remained even, with the game becoming a slow grind. Denver ended the third quarter by finally finding the end zone on a 26 yard TD pass from QB Jake Plummer to WR Rod Smith, giving the Broncos a 16-7 lead. Oakland began to show some signs of life at that point by stringing together a solid drive which ended with a 2 yard TD run by RB Justin Fargas.

Oakland continued to get their offence going on a drive that killed off 6:01 of the fourth quarter and set up K Steve Christie with a chance to give the Raiders the lead with a 40 yard field goal attempt, but Christie kicked the ball wide to the left. Not ready to give up, the Oakland defence stopped the Broncos from killing the clock by forcing them to punt with 1:19 left in the game. Collins made a key completion to give Christie a chance at redemption as he attempted a 55 yard field goal. Unfortunately, the aging kicker came up short, and the Raiders lost the game.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Christie2005-12.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>“It was not fun to watch,” said Raiders Coach Jorge Shank. “That is the way it is sometimes. But all in all, it is not Steve’s fault. We just did not have a good game offensively at all. We had the game plan down, but when it came to execution, something was very off. All year, our bread and butter has been our offence, but we did not come to play today. We are going to have to address that for next week.”

The Oakland offence did indeed struggle for most of the game, as they tried to establish the run game. The Raiders ran the ball thirty times, but only came away with 98 yards, 75 of them gained by Jordan. The Raiders’ passing game was not a lot better, as they managed only 236 yards, with star receiver Randy Moss only gaining 72 yards. On the flip side, the Raiders’ defence had a better time than they have had over the past few weeks, as they held the Broncos to only 293 total yards, with Plummer barely eclipsing the 200 yard mark.

“We played well, overall,” said LB Danny Clark. “Still, it wasn’t enough. This is a game we have to win, and to lose it will only make things more difficult in the stretch. We will be watching a lot of film this week, and see what we can do to get better. We have a big game next week, and we need to be ready and erase the bad taste of this loss.”

Oakland is now tied for the AFC West division lead with the Kansas City Chiefs, which makes next week’s game against the Chiefs very important. Oakland will definitely be looking to it’s offence to come out firing, and will also be hoping that their defence can match their performance from this week.

Box Score
<PRE>Attendance: 74,700 (76,100). Weather: 22 degrees, fair. 1Q: 11:42 DEN - Jason Elam 42 field goal. 1Q: 04:48 DEN - Jason Elam 37 field goal. 2Q: 07:17 OAK - LaMont Jordan 5 pass from Kerry Collins. 2Q: 07:17 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 00:18 DEN - Jason Elam 36 field goal. 3Q: 01:53 DEN - Rod Smith 26 pass from Jake Plummer. 3Q: 01:53 DEN - Jason Elam extra point. 4Q: 11:19 OAK - Justin Fargas 2 run. 4Q: 11:19 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. Game MVP: DEN 79 Gerard Warren Oakland 0 7 0 7 - 14 Denver 6 3 7 0 - 16 Team Statistics OAK DEN First Downs 21 16 Total Rushes 30 26 Rushing Yards 98 104 Yards Per Carry 3.2 4.0 Pass Attempts 35 34 Completions 24 17 Passing Yards 236 206 Yards Per Attempt 6.7 6.0 Sacked 3 3 Yards Lost 24 17 Interceptions 0 1 Fumbles/Lost 1/0 1/1 Total Plays 68 63 Total Yards 310 293 Yards Per Play 4.5 4.6 3rd Down Plays 8/15 5/12 Avg. YTG on 3rd 7.3 11.5 4th Down Plays 0/0 1/1 Penalties 9 10 Penalty Yards 70 86 Avg. Drive Start OWN 24 OWN 33 Time Of Possession 34:08 25:52 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 23 75 3.2 11 0 20 Fargas 4 14 3.5 8 1 5 Collins 2 4 2.0 5 0 18 Moss 1 5 5.0 5 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 35 24 236 6.7 18 1 0 3 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 18 Moss 6 72 12.0 10 18 0 84 Porter 5 47 9.4 10 17 0 34 Jordan 3 22 7.3 17 10 1 85 Gabriel 3 28 9.3 6 14 0 43 Easy 2 12 6.0 2 9 0 83 Anderson 2 22 11.0 0 11 0 81 Curry 1 10 10.0 0 10 0 20 Fargas 1 7 7.0 2 7 0 88 Dudley 1 16 16.0 0 16 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 18 Moss 1 26 26.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 6 209 34.8 46 3 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 0 2 0 2 2 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 30 Schweigert 7 0 0.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 5 2 0.0 1 0 0 93 Kelly 4 1 1.0 0 0 0 55 Clark 4 3 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 2 0 1.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 51 Brayton 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 81 Curry 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 1 0 1.0 0 0 0 25 Walker 1 2 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 20 Fargas 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 83 Anderson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 96 Irons 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 77 Hawthorne 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 43 Easy 0 0 1 0 0 1 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 2 1 70 Badger 0 0 0 0 3 0 67 Stone 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 Collins 1 0 0 0 0 0 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 1 0 36 Gibson 0 1 0 0 0 0 54 Williams 0 0 1 0 0 0 83 Anderson 0 0 0 0 1 0 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 1 0 Denver Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 38 Anderson 12 59 4.9 9 0 33 Dayne 11 42 3.8 37 0 16 Plummer 3 3 1.0 4 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 16 Plummer 33 17 206 6.2 26 1 1 3 9 Huntley 1 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 80 Smith 4 68 17.0 8 26 1 85 Lelie 4 45 11.2 2 18 0 17 Watts 3 46 15.3 2 23 0 82 Alexander 2 24 12.0 7 17 0 38 Anderson 1 2 2.0 0 2 0 33 Dayne 1 5 5.0 5 5 0 88 Putzier 1 8 8.0 3 8 0 39 Johnson 1 8 8.0 3 8 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 27 Williams 1 12 12.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 85 Lelie 3 86 28.6 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 10 Sauerbrun 3 125 41.6 63 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 1 Elam 3 4 42 1 1 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 55 Williams 10 3 0.0 0 0 0 79 Warren 6 0 1.0 0 0 0 52 Gold 5 2 1.0 0 0 0 47 Lynch 5 2 0.0 0 0 0 56 Wilson 5 2 0.0 0 0 0 98 Brown 5 1 0.0 0 0 0 24 Bailey 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 25 Ferguson 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 35 Walls 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 36 Cowdrick 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 51 Burns 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 92 Coleman 1 0 1.0 0 0 0 91 Ekuban 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 39 Johnson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 27 Williams 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 37 Sapp 0 0 0 0 0 2 50 Hamilton 0 0 0 0 1 1 66 Nalen 0 0 0 0 3 0 78 Lepsis 0 0 0 0 2 0 71 Spikes 0 0 0 0 2 0 16 Plummer 1 0 0 0 0 0 52 Gold 0 1 0 0 0 0 </PRE>

Blade

10-24-2005, 10:36 PM

Oakland Strong Against Kansas City Despite Penalty Trouble

Kansas City (7-5) 10 - Oakland (8-4) 20

Oakland, CA (Week 13, 2005) – The Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs met in the latest round of the dog-fight for the AFC West. Coming into the game, both teams were tied for the division lead, but it was the Raiders who came to play. Led by a strong running game and an improving defence, Oakland were able to control the game, despite a barrage of penalties which helped extend a number of drives for the Chiefs.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Porter2005-13.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>One of the most penalized teams in the NFL, the Raiders took another eleven penalties throughout the game, compared to the three penalties taken by Kansas City. “We were undisciplined, plain and simple,” said Raiders Coach Jorge Shank. “It is something we have struggled with all season long, and something we have worked on in practice, but it does not seem to be getting any better. I don’t know if it is a lack of concentration by the players or what, but this is going to hurt us come playoff time if we do not get it fixed.”

Penalties aside, Oakland took control of the game in the first quarter, and did not look back. WR Jerry Porter, playing only his second game since returning from a serious injury suffered early in the year, hauled in the first score of the game on a 5 yard TD pass from QB Kerry Collins. K Steve Christie, criticized after his performance in Week 12 against the Denver Broncos, regained some of his form by kicking two field goals to give the Raiders a 13-0 lead by halftime. Kansas City put up a bit of a fight in the second half, as they finally got on the score sheet with a 4 yard scramble by QB Trent Green, then closed the gap to 3 with a 20 yard field goal by K Lawrence Tynes. The Raiders put it out of reach late, though, with a 1 yard TD run by RB Lamont Jordan.

It was Jordan and the rest of the Raiders’ running game that led the way, as they ate up 133 yards, 112 of them by Jordan himself. Jordan also added another 40 yards receiving. They were able to grind the Chiefs defence down, which took a lot of the fight out of them. The Oakland defence continued that trend, as they held the Chiefs to only 195 yards passing, and held star running back Priest Holmes to 81 yards rushing on 24 carries.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Defence2005-13.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>“It was tough out there today,” said Holmes. “Running room out there was at a minimum, and wherever I turned, I was faced by a black shirt. Without our running game, we had problems establishing the pass, and it just went downhill from there. We are getting to a point in the season where every game is important, and divisional games doubly so, and they came to play today. We didn’t.”

The Raiders’ defence did not have to be flashy to get the job done, as they were able to confuse Trent Green with coverage schemes and unique looks, and not on pressure and turnovers, though Green was sacked twice. The Oakland offence was similarly efficient as Collins threw for a conservative 227 yards, while Randy Moss only hauled in 72 yards.

“We have shown that we can be all about the big play,” said Collins after the game. “But today, we showed that we can grind out the wins as well. You have to be able to adapt to what the other team gives you, and I think we have been able to do that pretty well this season. Each game like this only serves to expand your abilities as a team to win in different fashions, to be more adaptable. This game is only going to improve our ability to win in any given situation.”

With the win, Oakland has regained sole possession of the AFC West, and looks to face a struggling Atlanta Falcons team next week.

Box Score
<PRE>Attendance: 55,900 (62,500). Weather: 54 degrees, fair. 1Q: 04:47 OAK - Jerry Porter 5 pass from Kerry Collins. 1Q: 04:47 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 09:34 OAK - Steve Christie 35 field goal. 2Q: 00:20 OAK - Steve Christie 28 field goal. 3Q: 02:29 KCY - Trent Green 4 run. 3Q: 02:29 KCY - Lawrence Tynes extra point. 4Q: 05:33 KCY - Lawrence Tynes 20 field goal. 4Q: 02:10 OAK - LaMont Jordan 1 run. 4Q: 02:10 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. Game MVP: OAK 5 Kerry Collins Kansas City 0 0 7 3 - 10 Oakland 7 6 0 7 - 20 Team Statistics KCY OAK First Downs 19 21 Total Rushes 27 29 Rushing Yards 89 133 Yards Per Carry 3.2 4.5 Pass Attempts 36 33 Completions 17 21 Passing Yards 195 227 Yards Per Attempt 5.4 6.8 Sacked 2 2 Yards Lost 12 19 Interceptions 0 1 Fumbles/Lost 0/0 2/1 Total Plays 65 64 Total Yards 272 341 Yards Per Play 4.1 5.3 3rd Down Plays 5/15 8/13 Avg. YTG on 3rd 8.6 8.0 4th Down Plays 2/2 0/0 Penalties 3 11 Penalty Yards 27 80 Avg. Drive Start OWN 24 OWN 38 Time Of Possession 30:18 29:42 Kansas City Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 31 Holmes 24 81 3.3 16 0 10 Green 3 8 2.6 5 1 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 10 Green 36 17 195 5.4 24 0 0 2 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 49 Richardson 3 12 4.0 12 5 0 89 Dunn 3 42 14.0 4 24 0 88 Gonzalez 3 37 12.3 8 18 0 87 Kennison 2 42 21.0 10 24 0 31 Holmes 2 15 7.5 8 9 0 80 Maggard 2 18 9.0 2 13 0 82 Hall 1 17 17.0 0 17 0 12 Thorpe 1 12 12.0 0 12 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 82 Hall 1 7 7.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 43 Ambrose 2 26 13.0 0 82 Hall 2 44 22.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 2 Colquitt 6 240 40.0 55 0 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 1 Tynes 1 2 20 1 1 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 99 Bell 10 3 1.0 0 0 0 29 Knight 8 3 0.0 1 0 0 23 Surtain 6 2 0.0 0 0 0 50 Mitchell 6 2 0.0 0 0 0 56 Johnson 4 3 0.0 0 0 0 43 Ambrose 3 0 1.0 0 0 0 26 Battle 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 25 Wesley 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 21 Woods 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 93 Browning 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hicks 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 39 Holcombe 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 66 WIlkerson 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 22 McCleon 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 89 Dunn 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 88 Gonzalez 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 27 Johnson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 94 Siavii 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 65 Black 0 0 0 0 1 1 54 Waters 0 0 0 0 2 0 68 Shields 0 0 0 0 0 1 77 Roaf 0 0 0 0 3 0 62 Wiegmann 0 0 0 0 1 0 21 Woods 0 1 0 0 0 0 29 Knight 0 0 1 0 0 0 23 Surtain 0 1 0 0 0 0 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 27 112 4.1 16 1 20 Fargas 2 21 10.5 11 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 33 21 227 6.8 25 1 1 2 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 18 Moss 6 72 12.0 12 23 0 34 Jordan 6 40 6.6 22 16 0 84 Porter 3 30 10.0 3 13 1 81 Curry 3 50 16.6 3 25 0 83 Anderson 2 22 11.0 10 19 0 85 Gabriel 1 13 13.0 0 13 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 84 Porter 2 19 9.5 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 18 Moss 3 97 32.3 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 4 144 36.0 50 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 2 2 35 2 2 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 53 Foreman 8 3 0.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 5 3 0.0 0 0 0 55 Clark 4 5 1.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 4 2 0.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 3 0 0.5 0 0 0 25 Walker 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 51 Brayton 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 77 Hawthorne 1 1 0.5 0 0 0 54 Williams 1 2 0.0 0 0 0 93 Kelly 1 2 0.0 0 0 0 5 Collins 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 62 Treu 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 34 Jordan 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 94 Gbaja-Biamila 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 85 Gabriel 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 0 2 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 3 1 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 2 1 67 Stone 0 0 0 0 4 0 70 Badger 0 0 0 0 2 0 18 Moss 1 0 0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 0 0 1 0 0 0 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 1 0 34 Jordan 1 0 0 0 0 0 </PRE>

Blade

10-24-2005, 10:39 PM

I was shaking my head, looking over my notes, as John Mackey walked into my office.

“What’s up, Bear?”

I was surprised by the intrusion, as I was not expecting to meet with Mack for another two hours.

“Uh, just going over my notes. You are here early. I thought our meeting was scheduled for 2.”

“You know how it is. Apparently there is some urgent meeting I have to attend, dealing with some anti-trust suit or something. Just a waste of time, but I guess it is something I have to deal with. Anyway, I thought we could quickly go over things now, then I can head off to that meeting.”

I nodded absently, organizing my notes.

“Well, what can I say? We are 8-4, tied for the best record in the AFC. We are leading the AFC West, thanks in part to another damn last minute win over a good team, San Diego. Just when you think this team is down, they find a way to win. The funny thing is, they are still largely inconsistent, as the loss over Denver should not have happened.”

Mack finally took a seat and smiled. “Yah, I saw that game. If we played more like that this year, we wouldn’t have any problems.”

“Tell me about it. As it is, we are still getting some good performances from some players, primarily Moss. He hasn’t had 100 yards receiving in a game for a few now, but he is still on pace for the damn single-season receiving yards record. That is something that the fans are buzzing about, and something that will haunt me if he gets it this year. I am hoping that he is tiring out now as the season wears on, but something tells me that is not truly the case.”

“Well, I am not sure if there is anything we can do, but I will think on it.”

Again, Mack had that tone.

“Alright, but let’s just be careful. There is still a lot of questions being asked about the elevator incident, and regardless of how it happened, we do not need more accusations going on here.”

Mack just nodded, but said nothing. After a few uncomfortable seconds, I continued on.

“The other key offensive players are still doing well, too. Collins is the third highest rated QB in the league, and still leads the league in passing yards. Jordan has fallen off his pace somewhat, but is still high in rushing yards, third overall, I believe. Defensively, we are still not great, being ranked 22nd overall in rushing yards against and 28th overall in passing yards against, but the defence is starting to play better. We are still pretty undisciplined as a team, being tied for fourth overall in penalties against. Oh, and I think we are ranked third in the AFC Power Ratings.”

Mack nodded again. “Four games left, huh?”

“Yah, we have four games to go, and we are playing some weaker teams. I am not sure if that is good, yet. We should be able to kill them, but the Denver game showed me that it may not be as cut and dry. That said, I think we have to expect at least ten or eleven wins by the end of it, and maybe a first round bye. That is going to hurt our ‘proposal’ in the off-season, not to mention the crappy spot we will be getting for our draft. Things are definitely not looking good for our plans.”

Mack stood up. “Pretty much the same message you have delivered over the past few meetings then. Alright, well, we will have to see what will happen. Thanks, Bear.”

I was about to say something, but Mack just turned and started to walk out. As he was leaving, I thought I heard him mention Moss’ name again, though I could have been mistaken.

Blade

10-26-2005, 11:28 PM

Moss in Road Rage Incident and Misses Game, Raiders Lose to Atlanta

Oakland (8-5) 17 - Atlanta (5-7-1) 32

Atlanta, GA (Week 14, 2005) – One hour before game-time, the unimaginable happened to the Oakland Raiders’ star wide receiver Randy Moss: he was brought into an Atlanta police station for questioning regarding an incident of road rage that took place a half hour earlier.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Vick2005-14.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>Given permission by the team, Moss rented a 2005 Black Hummer to visit some friends before the game. After the visit, Moss headed back to join his team-mates at the stadium and prepare for their game. During that return trip, Moss was involved in a minor accident which turned ugly as tempers flared. The details of the incident are sketchy, as all of the involved parties gave statements to the police that were contradictory. As such, the parties were brought down to a police station where further questioning ensued and the Raiders-Falcons game took place.

According to the statement given by Moss, he was cut off by another driver in a 1992 Toyota Corolla, and Moss hit the Corolla from behind. Upon getting out of their respective cars, the other driver, identified as Jarred Klusky, started to yell and scream obscenities at Moss for the accident. Moss attempted to calm Mr. Klusky down, but Mr. Klusky became even more agitated and started to attempt to punch Moss. Moss then punched Mr. Klusky in the chest, knocking him down into the street. It was at this moment when Atlanta police arrived on the scene. Mr. Klusky’s statement disputes some details, as he reports that Moss rammed his car into Mr. Klusky’s Corolla at a light when there was ample time to stop. Upon getting out of their vehicles, Mr. Klusky reports that Moss yelled at him, saying that he was late for the game now, and it was all Mr. Klusky’s fault. Moss yelled some obscenities, then punched Mr. Klusky, knocking him down.

After four hours at the police station, enough witnesses had corroborated Moss’ original statement, and Moss was released. Unfortunately, it was too late for Moss to get into the line-up for the Raiders game, and they felt his loss, as the Atlanta Falcons controlled the majority of the game.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Jordan2005-14.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>The Raiders’ offence could not get into a rhythm early, while their defence took a step back in the play that they have exhibited over the past few weeks. Falcons QB Michael Vick looked good passing and running, giving the Oakland defence a tough time. Vick finished the day going 19 for 28, with 257 yards and a touchdown, as well as another 68 yards on the ground. The DVD running game was in full effect, as Dunn pitched in 53 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Duckett had another 68 yards and a touchdown. Young wide receiver Michael Jenkins was the Falcons top receiver, with 87 yards and a touchdown.

It was the inability to establish the run game that hurt the Raiders most. RB Lamont Jordan only managed 44 yards on 13 carries, while Collins could not keep the Falcons defence honest with the passing game, going 13 for 24, with 223 yards. He did throw two touchdown passes, however. WR Jerry Porter did his best to make up for the loss of Moss, gaining 117 yards, though he did not find the endzone.

“We have no excuses for this game,” said Collins. “Sure, it hurt without Randy in the line-up, but we cannot be a team that is reliant on one person. We have a lot of talent here, and we should be able to win games like these without Randy. I just wasn’t very sharp tonight, and I didn’t push hard enough to make something happen. We are in a fight to win the division, and every single game counts. If we can’t overcome performances like this, we have no chance to make it to the Super Bowl.”

The Raiders also suffered another blow to their defensive line, as DE Derrick Burgess once again went down with an injury. He could miss the rest of the regular season, though it will depend on how well things heal.

Oakland now looks to what should be a tough match-up against the 8-5 Tennessee Titans next week, back in Oakland.

Box Score
<PRE>Attendance: 62,200 (71,100). Weather: 68 degrees, fair. 1Q: 09:29 ATL - Michael Jenkins 5 pass from Michael Vick. 1Q: 09:29 ATL - Todd Peterson extra point. 1Q: 00:44 ATL - Todd Peterson 19 field goal. 2Q: 14:48 OAK - Dedric Ward 24 pass from Kerry Collins. 2Q: 14:48 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 09:32 ATL - Warrick Dunn 1 run. 2Q: 09:32 ATL - Todd Peterson extra point. 2Q: 05:42 ATL - Todd Peterson 22 field goal. 2Q: 00:09 ATL - Todd Peterson 33 field goal. 3Q: 11:49 OAK - Rickey Dudley 10 pass from Kerry Collins. 3Q: 11:49 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 3Q: 06:18 ATL - T.J. Duckett 3 run. 3Q: 06:18 ATL - Todd Peterson extra point failed. 3Q: 00:00 OAK - Steve Christie 20 field goal. 4Q: 11:17 ATL - Todd Peterson 32 field goal. Game MVP: ATL 7 Michael Vick Oakland 0 7 10 0 - 17 Atlanta 10 13 6 3 - 32 Team Statistics OAK ATL First Downs 12 32 Total Rushes 17 50 Rushing Yards 54 200 Yards Per Carry 3.1 4.0 Pass Attempts 24 28 Completions 13 19 Passing Yards 223 257 Yards Per Attempt 9.2 9.1 Sacked 1 1 Yards Lost 5 6 Interceptions 0 0 Fumbles/Lost 1/0 0/0 Total Plays 42 79 Total Yards 272 451 Yards Per Play 6.4 5.7 3rd Down Plays 4/10 13/17 Avg. YTG on 3rd 5.7 4.2 4th Down Plays 0/0 0/0 Penalties 6 4 Penalty Yards 50 25 Avg. Drive Start OWN 27 OWN 32 Time Of Possession 21:33 38:27 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 13 44 3.3 9 0 5 Collins 2 3 1.5 4 0 84 Porter 1 4 4.0 4 0 20 Fargas 1 3 3.0 3 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 24 13 223 9.2 61 2 0 1 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 84 Porter 5 117 23.4 39 61 0 82 Ward 4 63 15.7 9 24 1 34 Jordan 1 5 5.0 2 5 0 85 Gabriel 1 17 17.0 0 17 0 83 Anderson 1 11 11.0 1 11 0 88 Dudley 1 10 10.0 0 10 1 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 84 Porter 1 3 3.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 20 Fargas 3 76 25.3 0 85 Gabriel 2 68 34.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 5 191 38.2 49 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 1 1 20 2 2 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 22 Hill 8 3 0.0 0 0 0 55 Clark 8 2 0.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 7 6 0.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 5 5 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 5 2 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 91 Burgess 4 1 1.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 4 1 0.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 3 3 0.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 3 2 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 25 Walker 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 51 Brayton 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 70 Badger 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 87 Whitted 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 34 Jordan 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 96 Irons 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 93 Kelly 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 0 3 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 0 1 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 3 0 5 Collins 1 0 0 0 0 0 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 1 0 34 Jordan 0 0 1 0 0 0 Atlanta Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 28 Dunn 17 53 3.1 9 1 45 Duckett 16 68 4.2 14 1 7 Vick 12 68 5.6 11 0 27 Versteeg 2 6 3.0 4 0 33 Griffith 1 3 3.0 3 0 44 McCrary 1 2 2.0 2 0 82 Korinek 1 0 0.0 0 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 7 Vick 28 19 257 9.1 33 1 0 1 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 12 Jenkins 6 87 14.5 26 33 1 89 White 4 65 16.2 17 24 0 83 Crumpler 4 61 15.2 20 23 0 82 Korinek 2 20 10.0 4 12 0 28 Dunn 1 8 8.0 8 8 0 33 Griffith 1 12 12.0 0 12 0 44 McCrary 1 4 4.0 4 4 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 12 Jenkins 1 11 11.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 21 Hall 3 93 31.0 0 36 Webster 1 20 20.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Koenan 1 54 54.0 54 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 2 Peterson 4 4 33 2 3 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 56 Brooking 8 2 0.0 0 0 0 21 Hall 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 38 Heard 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 52 Beck 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 75 Coleman 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 36 Webster 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 35 Jansen 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 96 Engelberger 1 0 1.0 0 0 0 95 Babineaux 1 2 0.0 0 0 0 98 Reese 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 24 Scott 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 28 Dunn 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 45 Duckett 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 33 Griffith 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 51 Williams 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 29 Carpenter 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 99 Fincher 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 27 Versteeg 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 90 Moylan 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 78 Levine 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 73 Kocialski 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 62 McClure 0 0 0 0 6 0 69 Claxton 0 0 0 0 3 0 79 Stokes 0 0 0 0 1 1 74 Weiner 0 0 0 0 1 0 96 Engelberger 0 1 0 0 0 0 83 Crumpler 0 0 0 0 1 0 64 Bibla 0 0 0 0 1 0 </PRE>

Blade

10-26-2005, 11:30 PM

I walked into my office, coming from a short scrum with reporters, and I saw John Mackey sitting in a chair opposite my desk. I nodded, threw some papers on the desk, and grabbed a bottle of water.

“Hey, Bear. Fun conversation?”

I opened the water and took a big drink. “Oh yah, a lot of fun. I hate talking to reporters. I am just not a good public relations guy. Speaking of which, where the Hell is our public relations guy?”

Mack laughed. “I think he is out at some charity golf tournament.”

“Figures. Anyway, this Moss thing is the talk of the town. Maybe the entire NFL. It seems that enough witnesses have come forward, and he is off the hook, and I guess the guy he punched isn’t going to press charges, but it was attention we didn’t need anyway.”

“Well, that is not all bad. Look at the bright side. Regardless of what the official word is, there will be some speculation, and Moss is not known as the most stand-up guy around, so that helps us out when we get rid of him. Secondly, it kept him out of a game and put him further away from that record. Lastly, we lost the game he missed. Sounds like a good situation to me.”

I looked at Mack, trying to keep the suspicion out of my expression. He couldn’t have anything to do with this, could he? Am I being paranoid?

“True. I guess there are some good things to come out of this. But there are still three games left in the season, and we are still one of the leading teams in the division, so there are many things that can still go wrong. Tennessee will hopefully put up a fight, but I am really hoping things go our way in the game against KC two weeks from now. That may determine the division champion, and it is in KC, so it should be a tough one to win.”

Mack nodded. “Yep. That game is definitely critical. We need to make sure they lose…”

I interrupted Mack at that point. “Mack. We need to lay off. We are almost there, and things are still looking up, judging by the public support we have seen when we put out an impromptu poll on getting a new stadium. So long as we do not screw up too much, we should be in the clear.”

Mack was about to argue, then sat silent for a moment. Finally, he spoke again. “Alright, Bear, let’s see how the rest of the season plays out. We can decided after that if anything needs to be done.”

“Good. Alright, well, let’s hope that they can choke in the games that count.”

JeeberD

10-27-2005, 11:05 AM

Mr Klusky, we salute you!

Blade

10-28-2005, 11:05 AM

Oakland Takes Advantage of Uninspired and Sloppy Titans

Tennessee (8-6) 3 - Oakland (9-5) 20

Oakland, CA (Week 15, 2005) – Every game is an important one as the NFL nears the post-season, and the Oakland Raiders took that to heart. The Tennessee Titans, on the other hand, did not. In a game that was hyped and nationally televised on ESPN Sunday night, it did not live up to its billing as the Titans looked uninspired and ineffective.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Anderson2005-15.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>Tennessee looked bad early as RB Chris Brown fumbled the ball on their first offensive possession, which Oakland recovered. Two plays later, QB Kerry Collins hooked up with TE Courtney Anderson for a 6 yard touchdown pass, and Oakland did not look back from there. Oakland controlled the flow of the game with solid offence, and kept the Titans down with decent defence and a poor performance by the Titans’ QB Steve McNair and Chris Brown.

McNair had problems all night long in his attempts to get the passing game going. He did not look comfortable in finding receivers, and was faced with pressure on many occasions. He ended up going 17 for 39, with 171 yards and one interception. “What can I say? That was pathetic,” said McNair. “I am a leader on this team, one of the players that the team should be able to count on in a big game, and I was awful. Plain awful. I have no excuses. They played a good game, but we did this to ourselves.”

The Raiders did give Tennessee a number of opportunities to get going, as they took twelve penalties on the evening. Discipline seems to be a problem that has plagued the Raiders all season. That aside, the Raiders stepped up with some solid numbers. WR Randy Moss, who missed the last game in a bizarre road rage incident, was back and caught a solid 80 yards, though he did not find the end zone. WR Jerry Porter also had a good game, bringing in another 81 yards. Collins, the man slinging the passes, was strong and efficient again, going 23 for 36, with 257 yards and two touchdowns. However, it was RB Lamont Jordan who was the workhorse again, picking up 64 yards on 19 carries, as well as another 7 receptions for 74 yards.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Collins2005-15.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>“People talk about Randy Moss all the time, and rightfully so, as he is maybe the best receiver in the game,” said Collins. “But it is Lamont who is our go-to guy. He just does so much for this team. He is easily one of the best backs in the league, and he can pound out the tough yards, or break the huge runs. But in the last few weeks, he has shown that he can be a dangerous receiver too. That is something that only some great backs can do, like Tomlinson in San Diego.”

The Raiders defence was very good in containing the Titans’ offence, holding them to 221 total yards during the game. It wasn’t one or two players who dominated, but the entire unit, which was able to confuse McNair and blanket Brown when called upon. “They were just great tonight,” said Raiders Defensive Coordinator Louie Sutter. “The group had been criticized a lot this season, but they have shown some flashes of brilliance, and tonight was one of those games. They gave the Titans the impression that they [the defence] were one step ahead, and that is when you can control a team. You don’t always need a lot of turnovers, sometimes it is all about mind games.”

The win is a huge one for the Raiders, as they are in a three-way tie for the AFC West division with Kansas City and San Diego. This sets up a big game next week as the Raiders travel to Kansas City.

“Two games left,” said Collins. “But in our mind, there is only next week’s game. It is going to be a fight next week against the Chiefs, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Box Score
<PRE>Attendance: 56,600 (62,500). Weather: 53 degrees, rain. 1Q: 11:19 OAK - Courtney Anderson 6 pass from Kerry Collins. 1Q: 11:19 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 08:32 OAK - Steve Christie 46 field goal. 3Q: 06:48 TEN - Rob Bironas 37 field goal. 4Q: 12:49 OAK - Courtney Anderson 12 pass from Kerry Collins. 4Q: 12:49 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 4Q: 02:00 OAK - Steve Christie 32 field goal. Game MVP: OAK 5 Kerry Collins Tennessee 0 0 3 0 - 3 Oakland 7 3 0 10 - 20 Team Statistics TEN OAK First Downs 14 20 Total Rushes 19 27 Rushing Yards 66 103 Yards Per Carry 3.4 3.8 Pass Attempts 40 36 Completions 18 23 Passing Yards 172 257 Yards Per Attempt 4.3 7.1 Sacked 3 1 Yards Lost 17 6 Interceptions 1 0 Fumbles/Lost 2/1 2/1 Total Plays 62 64 Total Yards 221 354 Yards Per Play 3.5 5.5 3rd Down Plays 2/13 6/14 Avg. YTG on 3rd 6.9 10.2 4th Down Plays 1/3 0/0 Penalties 3 12 Penalty Yards 15 90 Avg. Drive Start OWN 29 OWN 33 Time Of Possession 26:55 33:05 Tennessee Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 29 Brown 12 39 3.2 10 0 43 Nash 4 10 2.5 5 0 49 McGregor 2 8 4.0 11 0 82 Roby 1 9 9.0 9 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 9 McNair 39 17 171 4.3 46 0 1 3 7 Volek 1 1 1 1.0 1 0 0 0 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 83 Bennett 5 54 10.8 5 23 0 82 Roby 4 51 12.7 3 22 0 84 Troupe 3 14 4.6 6 6 0 18 Thurman 2 47 23.5 0 46 0 88 Kinney 1 2 2.0 1 2 0 44 Fleming 1 2 2.0 0 2 0 86 Williams 1 1 1.0 0 1 0 43 Nash 1 1 1.0 0 1 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 86 Williams 1 11 11.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 32 Jones 2 44 22.0 0 36 Waddell 1 29 29.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 15 Hentrich 5 206 41.2 61 4 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 2 Bironas 1 2 37 0 0 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 53 Bulluck 11 2 0.0 0 0 0 55 Kassell 7 2 1.0 0 0 0 34 Freeman 7 1 0.0 0 0 0 28 Thompson 6 3 0.0 0 0 0 32 Jones 4 1 0.0 0 0 0 47 Holmes 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 59 Sirmon 2 3 0.0 0 0 0 99 Long 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 92 Haynesworth 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 25 Williams 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Odom 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 83 Bennett 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 65 Spencer 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Schobel 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 74 Diaz 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 77 Hartwig 0 0 0 0 2 0 75 Olson 0 0 0 0 0 1 76 Mathews 0 0 0 0 3 1 72 Hopkins 0 0 1 0 0 1 9 McNair 1 0 0 0 0 0 92 Haynesworth 0 0 1 0 0 0 55 Kassell 0 1 0 0 0 0 29 Brown 1 0 0 0 0 0 47 Holmes 0 1 0 0 0 0 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 19 64 3.3 10 0 20 Fargas 7 40 5.7 15 0 5 Collins 1 -1 -1.0 -1 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 36 23 257 7.1 24 2 0 1 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 34 Jordan 7 74 10.5 20 24 0 18 Moss 6 80 13.3 13 19 0 84 Porter 6 81 13.5 7 17 0 83 Anderson 4 22 5.5 5 12 2 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 84 Porter 1 5 5.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 18 Moss 2 52 26.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 6 264 44.0 51 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 2 2 46 2 2 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 25 Walker 7 1 0.0 0 0 0 55 Clark 6 2 0.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 4 4 0.5 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 4 3 0.0 1 10 0 54 Williams 3 0 1.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 3 0 0.5 0 0 0 93 Kelly 2 0 1.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 1 2 0.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 1 2 0.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 70 Badger 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 87 Whitted 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 81 Curry 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 43 Easy 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 20 Fargas 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 0 2 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 0 1 67 Stone 0 0 0 0 4 0 70 Badger 0 0 1 0 3 0 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 Collins 1 0 0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 0 1 0 0 0 0 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 1 0 34 Jordan 1 0 0 0 0 0 54 Williams 0 0 1 0 0 0 64 Grove 0 0 0 0 1 0 30 Schweigert 0 1 0 0 0 0 </PRE>

Blade

10-28-2005, 11:11 AM

Turnovers, Holmes Too Much for Raiders

Oakland (9-6) 21 - Kansas City (9-6) 34

Kansas City, MO (Week 16, 2005) – With two weeks left in the NFL regular season, and a three-way tie for the AFC West divisional lead, the game pitting the Oakland Raiders against the Kansas City Chiefs was the biggest game of the season for those involved. The Raiders, coming off a strong performance over the Tennessee Titans last week, proved to be overmatched by their divisional rivals.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Whitted2005-16.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>Oakland looked like they came to play early, as they stormed out of the gate with a six play drive that ended with a twelve yard touchdown pass from QB Kerry Collins to WR Randy Moss. The Raiders defence could not keep the momentum going, however, as the Chiefs offence came back with a four play series of their own, tying the game on a 23 yard touchdown pass from QB Trent Green to TE Tony Gonzalez.

Oakland looked to respond again with a score, but the Chiefs defence forced a three-and-out, which included a sack by DT Junior Siavii. Then, Raiders P Shane Lechler had his punt blocked by DE Eric Hicks, which CB Patrick Surtain recovered on the Oakland 15 yard line. The game was over at that point.

Kansas City proceeded to score all of their 34 points from the 8:35 mark of the first quarter to the 8:20 mark of the third quarter, as Oakland’s defence had no answer to the Chiefs’ attack, led by RB Priest Holmes. Holmes finished the day with 140 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while picking up another touchdown and 16 yards receiving.

“That is what Priest can give you, and why he is one of the most feared backs in the league,” said Raiders Coach Jorge Shank. “He beat the Hell out of us today. If he wasn’t spinning by one of our players, he was running through them. We knew coming in that he would be a major part of their offence, and we still could not stop him.”

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Holmes2005-16.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>Lamont Jordan played well, rushing for 75 yards on 12 carries, but the Raiders did not stay committed to the run, which was a surprise. They were also plagued by turnovers all game long. Their offensive drives, after their first touchdown, and before the first touchdown scored in the fourth quarter, ended with four punts, two interceptions, a fumble, and the half-time break. They came to life briefly in the fourth quarter and scored two touchdowns, and even though they were down by 13 with two minutes left in the game, they attempted an onside kick which Kansas City recovered.

“I don’t know what this says about the team,” said Shank. “This was a very important game with direct playoff implications, and we had the majority of our players healthy. What happens? We lose big. There is no sugar coating it, we lost big and ugly. We only have one game left before the post season, and we are not helping ourselves out at all.”

Oakland looks to finish the regular season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and will be looking to win if they hope to take the AFC West. They will have to do so without starters Guard Ron Stone and Cornerback Denard Walker, who suffered injuries in the game. Both are expected to be out for a period up to three weeks.

“This is it,” said Jordan. “No more excuses. We have one game left in the season and it is time to put up or shut up. If we do not come to play, we are not doing ourselves any favors. Time for every guy to look into himself and put it all on the field.”

Box Score
<PRE>Attendance: 78,200 (79,400). Weather: 43 degrees, rain. 1Q: 10:49 OAK - Randy Moss 12 pass from Kerry Collins. 1Q: 10:49 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 1Q: 08:35 KCY - Tony Gonzalez 23 pass from Trent Green. 1Q: 08:35 KCY - Lawrence Tynes extra point. 1Q: 05:19 KCY - Priest Holmes 1 run. 1Q: 05:19 KCY - Lawrence Tynes extra point. 2Q: 12:10 KCY - Priest Holmes 6 run. 2Q: 12:10 KCY - Lawrence Tynes extra point. 2Q: 03:11 KCY - Priest Holmes 1 pass from Trent Green. 2Q: 03:11 KCY - Lawrence Tynes extra point. 2Q: 00:17 KCY - Lawrence Tynes 35 field goal. 3Q: 08:20 KCY - Lawrence Tynes 36 field goal. 4Q: 09:41 OAK - Doug Gabriel 38 pass from Kerry Collins. 4Q: 09:41 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 4Q: 01:02 OAK - Jerry Porter 28 pass from Kerry Collins. 4Q: 01:02 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. Game MVP: KCY 31 Priest Holmes Oakland 7 0 0 14 - 21 Kansas City 14 17 3 0 - 34 Team Statistics OAK KCY First Downs 17 22 Total Rushes 17 42 Rushing Yards 87 141 Yards Per Carry 5.1 3.3 Pass Attempts 35 24 Completions 17 18 Passing Yards 252 221 Yards Per Attempt 7.2 9.2 Sacked 2 2 Yards Lost 14 12 Interceptions 2 0 Fumbles/Lost 1/1 1/0 Total Plays 54 68 Total Yards 325 350 Yards Per Play 6.0 5.1 3rd Down Plays 3/10 4/12 Avg. YTG on 3rd 8.1 4.5 4th Down Plays 0/0 0/0 Penalties 8 3 Penalty Yards 53 25 Avg. Drive Start OWN 26 OWN 45 Time Of Possession 22:56 37:04 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 12 75 6.2 15 0 20 Fargas 3 13 4.3 9 0 5 Collins 1 -2 -2.0 -2 0 18 Moss 1 1 1.0 1 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 35 17 252 7.2 38 3 2 2 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 84 Porter 5 87 17.4 1 28 1 81 Curry 3 49 16.3 12 25 0 85 Gabriel 3 54 18.0 15 38 1 18 Moss 2 25 12.5 0 13 1 87 Whitted 2 22 11.0 0 12 0 34 Jordan 1 3 3.0 0 3 0 83 Anderson 1 12 12.0 0 12 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 18 Moss 4 106 26.5 0 85 Gabriel 2 41 20.5 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 5 165 33.0 44 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 0 0 0 3 3 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 55 Clark 12 4 0.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 9 1 0.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 5 3 0.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 5 3 0.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 3 2 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 93 Kelly 2 0 1.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 2 4 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 96 Irons 1 0 1.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 1 3 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 25 Walker 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 18 Moss 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 83 Anderson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 43 Easy 0 0 0 0 0 1 70 Badger 0 0 0 0 0 1 67 Stone 0 0 0 0 2 0 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 1 0 87 Whitted 1 0 0 0 0 0 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 1 0 59 Grant 0 1 0 0 0 0 66 Walker 0 0 0 0 1 0 64 Grove 0 0 0 0 1 0 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 1 0 Kansas City Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 31 Holmes 37 140 3.7 20 2 27 Johnson 3 1 0.3 2 0 10 Green 2 0 0.0 1 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 10 Green 24 18 221 9.2 26 2 0 2 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 18 Parker 5 69 13.8 13 24 0 31 Holmes 4 16 4.0 11 6 1 87 Kennison 3 32 10.6 3 16 0 88 Gonzalez 3 56 18.6 5 26 1 89 Dunn 1 18 18.0 2 18 0 82 Hall 1 14 14.0 2 14 0 12 Thorpe 1 16 16.0 5 16 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 82 Hall 2 65 32.5 0 44 Warfield 1 18 18.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 2 Colquitt 5 154 30.8 37 3 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 1 Tynes 2 2 36 4 4 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 94 Siavii 7 0 1.0 0 0 0 43 Ambrose 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 23 Surtain 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 21 Woods 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 29 Knight 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 93 Browning 2 0 1.0 0 0 0 25 Wesley 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 99 Bell 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 97 Fox 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 22 McCleon 1 1 0.0 1 3 0 56 Johnson 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 39 Holcombe 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 44 Warfield 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 66 WIlkerson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 40 Wilson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Grigsby 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 26 Battle 0 1 0.0 1 25 0 98 Hicks 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 69 Allen 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 64 Scanlon 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 65 Black 0 0 0 0 1 1 68 Shields 0 0 0 0 2 1 77 Roaf 0 0 0 0 3 0 62 Wiegmann 0 0 0 0 3 0 49 Richardson 0 0 0 0 2 0 22 McCleon 0 1 1 0 0 0 88 Gonzalez 0 0 1 0 0 0 31 Holmes 1 0 0 0 0 0 </PRE>

Blade

10-28-2005, 03:32 PM

Raiders Surrender 27 Straight Points in Horrendous Loss to Jaguars

Jacksonville (7-8-1) 27 – Oakland (9-7) 14

Oakland, CA (Week 17, 2005) – Things were looking up for the Raiders. Last game of the regular season, with a chance to win the AFC West division, against a Jaguars team that has underperformed all season long, and with the game taking place in Oakland.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Darius2005-17.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>The Raiders loss last week to the Chiefs hurt, and Oakland came out for the game looking hungry. On their first offensive possession, they strung together an eight play drive that ended with a one yard touchdown pass from QB Kerry Collins to WR Randy Moss. The Raiders defence followed up with an interception by LB Sam Williams on the Jaguars QB Byron Leftwich. The Raiders followed that up with one play, a 45 yard touchdown pass to WR Jerry Porter, and just like that the Raiders were up 14-0. It all went downhill from there.

Jacksonville, criticized all season long for their inconsistency, brought it all together after the second (and last) Oakland touchdown. Using a good balance of passing plays and running plays, the Jaguars proceeded to take advantage of a tiring Raiders defence, and started to grind them down. The Jacksonville defence also started to attack the Oakland passing game, and stopped the run when required, despite a strong game by Raiders RB Lamont Jordan, who finished the game with 152 yards rushing.

“The key to the game for us was keeping them [the Raiders] out of the end zone,” said S Donovin Darius. “They came out hard and got up on us 14-0, but we had nothing to lose today, and we played like it. They were pushing hard on us, but all we had to do was keep them out of the end zone, and the offence took care of everything else. It sucks that our season is over, but it was nice to end it this way.”

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Taylor2005-17.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>Jacksonville got a fantastic performance out of RB Fred Taylor, who ate the Raiders defence up for 157 yards rushing and two touchdowns, as well as another 43 yards receiving. Leftwich also had a solid game, going 22 for 33 with one touchdown and one interception. The entire Jaguars offensive line were magnificent, particularly the play of C Brad Meester and T Mike Pearson, allowing Taylor to have such a great night and keeping Leftwich sack-free.

Other than Jordan, the only other strong Raider performance was by Porter, who finished the game with 122 yards and a touchdown. Porter had to step up and be a contributor, as Randy Moss was a non-factor in the game, collecting only 10 yards receiving, though he did have a touchdown. Moss’ game is disappointing, as he was chasing the single-season receiving yards record for most of the season, and his contributions have fallen off as the season hit the stretch run, including missing a game with a road rage incident.

The loss allowed the Kansas City Chiefs to win the AFC West, which means the Raiders will play in the Wild Card round of the playoffs in Pittsburgh next week. “We screwed ourselves,” said Raiders Coach Jorge Shank. “We have looked bad here the past few weeks, and now we have to head into Pittsburgh and try to win the game there. I don’t know if it is a lack of focus or if the players are getting tired, or what. Whatever it is, we have to get it sorted out now, because there are no more second chances. If we come out like this next week, we will be going home for a long off-season.”

Box Score
<PRE>Attendance: 55,900 (62,500). Weather: 64 degrees, fair. 1Q: 10:00 OAK - Randy Moss 1 pass from Kerry Collins. 1Q: 10:00 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 1Q: 06:57 OAK - Jerry Porter 45 pass from Kerry Collins. 1Q: 06:57 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 1Q: 01:25 JAX - Seth Marler 36 field goal. 2Q: 11:31 JAX - Matt Jones 16 pass from Byron Leftwich. 2Q: 11:31 JAX - Seth Marler extra point. 3Q: 11:27 JAX - Fred Taylor 1 run. 3Q: 11:27 JAX - Seth Marler extra point. 3Q: 01:56 JAX - Fred Taylor 2 run. 3Q: 01:56 JAX - Seth Marler extra point. 4Q: 08:39 JAX - Seth Marler 22 field goal. Game MVP: JAX 28 Fred Taylor Jacksonville 3 7 14 3 - 27 Oakland 14 0 0 0 - 14 Team Statistics JAX OAK First Downs 27 17 Total Rushes 34 24 Rushing Yards 174 170 Yards Per Carry 5.1 7.0 Pass Attempts 33 23 Completions 22 11 Passing Yards 269 169 Yards Per Attempt 8.1 7.3 Sacked 0 2 Yards Lost 0 22 Interceptions 1 1 Fumbles/Lost 0/0 1/1 Total Plays 67 49 Total Yards 443 317 Yards Per Play 6.6 6.4 3rd Down Plays 6/10 4/9 Avg. YTG on 3rd 5.9 8.1 4th Down Plays 0/1 0/0 Penalties 6 8 Penalty Yards 32 50 Avg. Drive Start OWN 29 OWN 29 Time Of Possession 35:37 24:23 Jacksonville Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 28 Taylor 28 157 5.6 45 2 33 Jones 3 12 4.0 8 0 7 Leftwich 1 -1 -1.0 -1 0 22 Toefield 1 3 3.0 3 0 18 Jones 1 3 3.0 3 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 7 Leftwich 33 22 269 8.1 24 1 1 0 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 28 Taylor 6 43 7.1 11 12 0 11 Williams 4 50 12.5 9 20 0 18 Jones 4 44 11.0 0 16 1 82 Smith 3 48 16.0 6 22 0 84 Lewis 3 57 19.0 4 24 0 83 Yoder 1 16 16.0 0 16 0 87 Wrighster 1 11 11.0 5 11 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 84 Lewis 2 20 10.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 84 Lewis 1 16 16.0 0 18 Jones 1 29 29.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 2 Hanson 2 85 42.5 43 2 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Marler 2 3 36 3 3 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 20 Darius 6 1 0.0 1 3 0 99 Stroud 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 27 Mathis 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 75 Wiley 3 1 1.5 0 0 0 51 Ayodele 3 3 0.5 0 0 0 43 Wright 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 97 Hayward 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 37 Grant 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 58 Clements 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 98 Henderson 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 30 Washington 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 84 Lewis 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 73 Rogers 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 35 Cooper 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 59 White 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 63 Meester 0 0 0 0 5 0 72 Pearson 0 0 0 0 4 0 65 Naeole 0 0 0 0 2 0 37 Grant 0 0 1 0 0 0 79 Williams 0 0 0 0 1 0 51 Ayodele 0 1 0 0 0 0 67 Manuwai 0 0 0 0 1 0 33 Jones 0 0 0 0 1 0 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 21 152 7.2 31 0 5 Collins 2 15 7.5 10 0 20 Fargas 1 3 3.0 3 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 23 11 169 7.3 45 2 1 2 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 84 Porter 5 122 24.4 42 45 1 18 Moss 2 10 5.0 0 9 1 34 Jordan 2 22 11.0 12 12 0 81 Curry 1 13 13.0 2 13 0 43 Easy 1 2 2.0 0 2 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 18 Moss 3 77 25.6 0 85 Gabriel 1 21 21.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 4 158 39.5 47 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 0 1 0 2 2 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 55 Clark 11 3 0.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 6 0 0.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 5 3 0.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 4 3 0.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 4 2 0.0 1 22 0 30 Schweigert 4 3 0.0 0 0 0 33 Taylor 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 3 3 0.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 3 2 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 2 3 0.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 83 Anderson 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 91 Burgess 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 51 Brayton 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 45 Robinson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 84 Porter 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 96 Irons 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 2 1 70 Badger 0 0 0 0 3 1 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 2 0 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 2 0 84 Porter 1 0 0 0 0 0 61 Seubert 0 0 0 0 1 0 66 Walker 0 0 0 0 1 0 88 Dudley 0 0 0 0 1 0 </PRE>

Blade

10-28-2005, 03:35 PM

I was sitting at the conference table, eating a sandwich, when John Mackey finally walked in. He tossed his jacket onto an empty chair, then sat down in the chair opposite me.

“Hey Bear. Good couple weeks, eh?”

I allowed a small smile to creep onto my face. “Yah, it was about the best we could hope for at that point in the season. And the best part was, the top players were all on the field. It was legitimately the team that lost those games. I am not sure what it is, but it almost looks like the players are worn out. That is not a good sign for the future, but hopefully we can start to replace those players and bring in guys who play an entire season, not just part of one.”

“Moss especially. That guy looks like he has totally given up.”

I opened my notes and nodded. “He certainly has. He finished the season with a lot of yards, second most in the league, and number one in touchdowns, but for a guy who was looking to obliterate the single season receiving yards record, he certainly fell off in a hurry. It didn’t help his cause, though, to miss those two games.”

Mack just nodded, but avoided my look.

“We still had some good season performances from some other players, too. Collins finished first in the league in passing yards, tied for first in touchdown passes, and second in the league in quarterback rating. I am still not a big fan of his, but he may give us time to bring in a younger quarterback and develop him for a bit.”

“Well, we will have to see what kind of numbers he can put up without Moss,” Mack said. “I think it is easy for a lot of quarterbacks to look good by just throwing the ball deep and letting a guy like Moss do all the work to get to it.”

“Agreed.” I looked at my notes again. “Lamont Jordan ended up with a strong year. He finished fourth in the league in rushing yards, and was the go-to guy in a lot of our games. He has also shown some good ability as a receiver. While he is still not my ideal type of back, he is valuable, and I wouldn’t mind keeping him around, if it is affordable.”

“Yah, I can agree to that. He hasn’t done anything to hurt the team, on or off the field.”

“Our only defensive standout all year has been Danny Clark. He finished tied for sixth in the league in tackles, and finished fourth in assists. At times, he seemed to be the only guy willing to play hard out there. Should be a keeper, for now anyway. I really want to overhaul the rest of our defence, though.”

Mack laughed. “You always were a defensive guy, weren’t you?”

I just nodded. “As a team, there were some issues. We finished twentieth overall in rushing yards, which is surprising considering Jordan’s year, but we finished third in yards per carry. As such, you can see that we finished twenty-ninth overall in total rushes, but in general we did not run as many offensive plays as a lot of other teams in the league. We did finish first in passing yards, but again we were twenty-first or tied for twenty-first in passing attempts and completions. All in all, though, our offence was quite solid.”

I shook my head as I flipped my paper. “Defence, on the other hand, left something to be desired. We finished twenty-fourth in the league in rushing yards against, and allowed 4.28 yards per carry. We also finished twenty-fifth in passing yards against. These numbers break my heart, and that is why I want to overhaul the defence. Of course, I am not as choked up about it as I should be, since it has helped our cause this year.”

“Yes, Bear, yes it did. The stadium proposal is going well, and hopefully a quick exit from the playoffs will set the table for it.”

“Good to hear, Mack. Oh, here is an interesting stat. We averaged 22.2 points a game, and allowed an average of 22.0 points per game. It is no wonder we are only one game over .500. And we are getting worse in the penalty department, as we finished the year with the second most penalties in the league, only one lower than the top team. I am hoping that this all bodes well as we go up against Pittsburgh next week. We are definitely losing momentum.”

Mack looked at a newspaper that I had tossed on the table earlier in the day. “Hmmm, Pittsburgh finished 10-6, huh? What do you think of our chances?”

I thought for a moment, taking another bite of my sandwich. “Well, they have a strong team, though Roethlisberger had a tougher season this year than he did last year. We have to play them in Pittsburgh, and we have been playing like garbage. So, all signs point to us losing. That said, this team has surprised the Hell out of me this season, and they can explode at any time, so it could be a flip of the coin. Plus, we did beat Pittsburgh earlier this season, not that that means a whole lot now.”

Mack tossed the newspaper back down. “Well, let’s hope that we have one more crap game in us, and we are in the clear!”

Mack turned and walked out as I muttered, “Let’s hope.”

MizzouRah

10-31-2005, 09:21 PM

Enjoying this one immensely.

Blade

10-31-2005, 10:52 PM

Enjoying this one immensely.

Thanks!

I have been caught up in Civ IV lately, but I did get some more games done, so posts are forthcoming...

Blade

10-31-2005, 10:55 PM

Roethlisberger, Steelers Defence cost Pittsburgh Playoff Game Against Raiders

Oakland (10-7) 27 – Pittsburgh (10-7) 20

Pittsburgh, PA (Wild Card Week) – All season long, the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to win games thanks to their defence and their running game. Against the Oakland Raiders in the opening round of the playoffs, it was their defence, and QB Ben Roethlisberger, that cost them the game and ended their season.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Williams2005-WC.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>The game was largely a see-saw battle, as both teams took turns trading scores. Pittsburgh was able to establish the run game that was so effective for them during the regular season, as they were led by RB Duce Staley, who finished the game with 154 yards on only 23 carries. He also contributed a touchdown. The Raiders also were able to establish their running game, as RB Lamont Jordan collected 111 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

“It was a grinding game, for sure,” said Jordan. “Typically, I don’t mind that kind of game, keeps me involved. But we were worried about it today, because that is exactly the type of game Pittsburgh likes to play. But we showed that we can play the same way and not back down.”

Both teams kept things close, as the game was tied at 20 with 4:34 left in the game. The Pittsburgh defence was able to hold off the Raiders from getting any points on their next possession, forcing a punt. Roethlisberger stepped out onto the field, hoping to get the Steelers into field goal range, and instead threw an interception to LB Sam Williams, who took the ball down to the Steelers 10-yard line. Three plays later, QB Kerry Collins found WR Jerry Porter in the end-zone for a 3 yard TD pass, and the Raiders were up by seven with 1:29 left to play. Roethlisberger tried to lead his team back, but they were unable to get a first down, turning the ball over on fourth down, giving the Raiders the win and putting the Steelers out of the playoffs.

“It is heartbreaking,” said Roethlisberger. “To have a real shot at the end to kill off enough clock and get into position to win the game, but to instead turn the ball over and give the other team the win, it is just heartbreaking. It is going to be a long off-season, knowing that my mistake cost us the chance to move on.”

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Porter2005-WC.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>Throughout the game, the Steelers defence was not as strong as it had been all season, as they surrendered 132 yards rushing, allowing Oakland to string together a number of key drives, keeping the game close. The Raiders defence was not much better, as they allowed Pittsburgh to gain 400 total yards. The Raiders defence has been a concern all season, and they are looking to have even more difficulty, as cornerbacks Fabian Washington and Denard Walker both went down during the game. Walker will miss next week’s game, and Washington is lost for the rest of the playoffs with a torn quadriceps muscle. After the game, Oakland GM Barrett Blade signed CB Eric Warfield to a one year contract worth $700,000 to try and fill the hole left in the secondary.

The Raiders offence looked good, though, as they were led by another efficient outing by Kerry Collins, who went 20 for 32, with 237 yards and two touchdowns. Receivers Randy Moss and Jerry Porter had good games, collecting five catches each, with Moss gathering 73 yards and Porter gathering 88 yards. Both had a touchdown. Oakland’s offensive line had a great game, allowing only one sack.

“There are a lot of great things to build on for next week,” said Raiders coach Jorge Shank. “The offence looked very good, which they have been all season long, but the offensive line is gelling awesomely right now. That is going to be huge for us. We need to work on our defence, but I am not overly worried about the yards we are giving up. So long as we can keep the other team off the scoreboard, or at least limit the damage to field goals, we should be alright.”

The Raiders advance now to the AFC semi-finals, where they will travel to Indianapolis, a team favored to win the Super Bowl. They did face each other earlier in the season, during Week 5, where the Raiders beat the Colts 30-24.

Box Score
<PRE>Attendance: 64,200 (64,500). Weather: 45 degrees, fair. 1Q: 09:34 OAK - Steve Christie 45 field goal. 1Q: 00:14 PIT - Jeff Reed 19 field goal. 2Q: 09:44 OAK - LaMont Jordan 1 run. 2Q: 09:44 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 03:51 PIT - Hines Ward 4 pass from Ben Roethlisberger. 2Q: 03:51 PIT - Jeff Reed extra point. 2Q: 00:19 OAK - Steve Christie 28 field goal. 4Q: 14:13 PIT - Duce Staley 2 run. 4Q: 14:13 PIT - Jeff Reed extra point. 4Q: 10:05 OAK - Randy Moss 14 pass from Kerry Collins. 4Q: 10:05 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 4Q: 04:27 PIT - Jeff Reed 47 field goal. 4Q: 01:21 OAK - Jerry Porter 3 pass from Kerry Collins. 4Q: 01:21 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. Game MVP: OAK 5 Kerry Collins Oakland 3 10 0 14 - 27 Pittsburgh 3 7 0 10 - 20 Team Statistics OAK PIT First Downs 22 24 Total Rushes 25 36 Rushing Yards 132 222 Yards Per Carry 5.2 6.1 Pass Attempts 32 25 Completions 20 18 Passing Yards 237 184 Yards Per Attempt 7.4 7.3 Sacked 1 1 Yards Lost 6 6 Interceptions 0 2 Fumbles/Lost 0/0 2/1 Total Plays 58 62 Total Yards 363 400 Yards Per Play 6.2 6.4 3rd Down Plays 4/9 4/10 Avg. YTG on 3rd 7.0 4.4 4th Down Plays 0/0 0/1 Penalties 5 7 Penalty Yards 31 50 Avg. Drive Start OWN 31 OWN 30 Time Of Possession 27:19 32:41 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 23 111 4.8 19 1 5 Collins 2 21 10.5 22 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 32 20 237 7.4 26 2 0 1 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 34 Jordan 6 55 9.1 19 18 0 18 Moss 5 73 14.6 12 23 1 84 Porter 5 88 17.6 12 26 1 43 Easy 3 7 2.3 5 3 0 83 Anderson 1 14 14.0 5 14 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 18 Moss 2 52 26.0 0 25 Walker 1 14 14.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 3 120 40.0 43 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 2 3 45 3 3 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 36 Gibson 8 3 0.0 0 0 0 55 Clark 7 1 0.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 7 0 0.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 3 5 0.0 1 0 0 59 Grant 3 3 0.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 3 0 0.0 1 31 0 93 Kelly 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 27 Washington 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hamilton 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 87 Whitted 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 2 3 0.0 0 0 0 25 Walker 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 94 Gbaja-Biamila 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 1 0 1.0 0 0 0 85 Gabriel 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 96 Irons 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 70 Badger 0 0 0 0 4 1 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 4 0 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 4 0 55 Clark 0 1 1 0 0 0 61 Seubert 0 0 0 0 2 0 43 Easy 0 0 0 0 1 0 30 Schweigert 0 1 0 0 0 0 Pittsburgh Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 22 Staley 23 154 6.6 19 1 36 Bettis 9 45 5.0 11 0 39 Parker 3 8 2.6 3 0 7 Roethlisberger 1 15 15.0 15 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 7 Roethlisberger 25 18 184 7.3 33 1 2 1 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 89 Bradford 6 89 14.8 9 33 0 83 Miller 4 42 10.5 23 18 0 22 Staley 3 21 7.0 5 12 0 36 Bettis 2 11 5.5 8 8 0 86 Ward 2 17 8.5 4 13 1 35 Kreider 1 4 4.0 4 4 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 80 Wilson 1 4 4.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 21 Colclough 4 110 27.5 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 17 Gardocki 2 80 40.0 45 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 3 Reed 2 2 47 2 2 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 51 Farrior 10 1 1.0 0 0 0 94 Wallace 7 1 0.0 0 0 0 55 Porter 6 2 0.0 0 0 0 98 Hampton 3 2 0.0 0 0 0 91 Smith 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 43 Polamalu 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 67 Von Oelhoffen 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 21 Colclough 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 27 Williams 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 58 Gildon 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 23 Carter 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 57 Barrow 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 89 Bradford 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 81 Thompson 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 28 Hope 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 24 Taylor 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 83 Miller 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 79 Essex 0 0 0 0 4 1 73 Simmons 0 0 0 0 5 0 77 Smith 0 0 0 0 4 0 22 Staley 2 0 1 0 0 0 35 Kreider 0 0 0 0 3 0 62 Peko 0 0 0 0 2 0 64 Hartings 0 0 0 0 1 0 </PRE>

Blade

10-31-2005, 10:57 PM

It had been very difficult. Being the GM of the Raiders, I had to be at the playoff game, for appearances sake. As did Mackey. So there we were, sitting in a skybox, watching the game, jumping up and cheering for every Raiders’ score, though we were cringing internally.

Then came that last interception. I don’t think I have ever cursed as much as I did at one person, internally of course, but if looks could kill, Ben Roethlisberger would have dropped dead at that moment. Then came the touchdown. Mackey and I jumped up, cheered, but exchanged a look that we both understood.

Crap.

After the game, we went down to the locker room, congratulated the team, then left for the private air-strip where Mackey’s jet was waiting. We boarded the jet and took off for Oakland.

Sitting in seats across from each other, we started to discuss what this meant for our plans.

“Are we cursed, or is the team just damn lucky, Bear?”

I rubbed my forehead. “I don’t know. I am going with lucky for the moment. But Pittsburgh did not step up their play for the playoffs, and we took advantage. And Roethlisberger killed any chances with that stupid interception…”

I had to stop and calm down. I am sure my face was quite red, though Mackey seemed not to notice.

“Ok, so what do we do now? We need to make sure that we do not win the next game. If we make it to the AFC Championship game, fan support could shoot through the roof!”

I took a deep breath before speaking. “Mack, I think we still need to stay out of it. Being in the playoffs, we are going to be under a lot of scrutiny, and we don’t want any outward appearances of not being a part of this team and the goal of the Super Bowl. Besides, look at who we are playing. The Colts, a damn good team, and we are without our two starting cornerbacks. That looks good for us losing.”

Mackey shook his head. “We beat them earlier this season.”

“But Manning went down when it counted. It was easy to win with him out of the game. Really, let’s just hold up. I think that things will work out.”

Mackey looked at me, a bit of a cold look in his eye that unnerved me somewhat. “Alright, Bear, but if we pull out a win, it will not be good for us. At all.”

I only nodded and prayed that I would be right.

JeeberD

11-01-2005, 10:23 AM

Bah, stupid Roth! :mad:

Blade

11-02-2005, 11:02 PM

Christie Misses Field Goal, Vanderjagt Doesn’t, as Raiders Ousted From Playoffs

Oakland (10-8) 27 – Indianapolis (13-4) 30

Indianapolis, IN (AFC Divisional Semi-Finals) – The Indianapolis Colts have been favored to win the Super Bowl since the start of the season, but their hopes were nearly dashed as they met the upstart Oakland Raiders for the AFC Divisional Semi-Finals. It was a game that the Colts should have controlled, but mistakes kept the Raiders in the game until the very last play.

The game started off with the Colts’ star receiver, Marvin Harrison, returning the opening kickoff 63 yards to set up the Colts offence on the Oakland 27-yard line. Indianapolis then opened the scoring with a 35-yard field goal. It seemed that the Colts would be in control of the game as their defence forced the Raiders to punt as the Oakland offence could not get anything going, but that changed in a hurry as Colts’ QB Peyton Manning threw an interception to CB Renaldo Hill, which Hill returned 29 yards for the touchdown to give the Raiders the lead.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Hill2005-SF.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=RIGHT>The Colts were able to get things back with a long 17-play drive, but Raiders defence held in their own red zone, forcing Colts’ K Mike Vanderjagt to settle for another field goal, this one from 24 yards out. Oakland continued to take it to the Colts with a long drive of their own, ending in a five yard touchdown run for RB Lamont Jordan, pushing the Raiders’ lead to 14-6. The Raiders momentum continued as their defence forced a Colts’ punt, which WR Jerry Porter took for a 58-yard punt return touchdown, and the Raiders were surprisingly ahead 21-6.

“We were in tough early,” said Manning after the game. “We thought we came out strong, but we made some early mistakes which got our team down. We were trying to remain positive on the sidelines, but it is tough when you spot the other team a 15 point lead early.”

Despite the dejection creeping in on the Colts’ sideline, Manning and the rest of their offence came out for the next series, hoping to spark the team again. They were able to do so by stringing together a strong nine-play drive which ended on a big 35-yard touchdown pass from Manning to WR Reggie Wayne, closing the Raiders’ lead to 21-13. Afraid of a momentum shift, the Raiders came back with another drive which ended in a 40-yard field goal by K Steve Christie, which allowed Oakland to take a 24-13 lead into the dressing room at halftime.

“We knew we had played them well in the first half,” said Porter. “We had them on the ropes, and we had done so by playing smart and getting the big plays when we needed to. But we knew that they would be coming out for the second half all fired up, and it seems that we were not ready for that.”

As the second half opened, the Raiders did what they could to continue to control the ball with an eleven-play drive, capped off by a 24-yard field goal. That was when Indianapolis came to life. Not wasting any time, Manning started to use his arm to find holes in the Raiders defence, and RB Edgerrin James came on to pound the ball on the ground. They quickly found the end-zone on a 6-yard touchdown run by James to close the score to 27-20 for Oakland. Oakland was unable to get any offence going after that, as the Indianapolis defence was dominant in stuffing the Raiders’ running game, not allowing them to maintain ball possession.

As the fourth quarter got underway, Indianapolis was able to tie the game at 27 on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Harrison. The teams then traded turns with the ball, before Oakland was able to get into field goal position with 3:39 left in the game. Christie attempted the 54-yard FG, but missed it short, giving the ball back to the Colts. Manning and the rest of the Colts offence were able to string together a drive that killed the clock, giving the Colts a chance to win the game with 4 seconds left. Vanderjagt hit the 32 yard field goal, and the Colts won as the clock ran out, sending the Colts to the AFC Championship, and the Raiders home.

<IMG SRC="http://members.shaw.ca/affl/images/Dynasty/Vanderjagt2005-SF.gif" hspace=5 border=1 ALIGN=LEFT>The Raiders were not able to control the game using the run, as Lamont Jordan only collected 55 yards rushing, though he did add a touchdown and another 47 yards receiving. WR Randy Moss was virtually invisible, gathering in 42 yards. His production has fallen off for the Raiders over the last few weeks of the season, and it was Jerry Porter who tried to pick up the slack with 102 yards receiving. Defensively, the Raiders got good performances out of LB Danny Clark, with 13 tackles and 3 assists, and CB Renaldo Hill, with two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. Despite that, the defence as a whole still gave up 415 total yards, including 169 on the ground.

“The team played hard, and we came so close,” said Raiders coach Jorge Shank. “We were not expected to make it this far, so it is a testament to the team and their play that we did so well. That said, this is a bitter pill to swallow. We are going home, and there is we will not be preparing for any games next week. I am not sure if it has sunk in for some of the guys, but it will next Sunday. All we can do is get ourselves ready for next year.”

The Raiders did indeed perform better than many experts expected, but now they are faced with more questions. The new ownership and management of the team made some bold moves before the season started, and it is expected that more will be forthcoming, as they seek to bring in some pieces to complete the team.

“We will have to evaluate things now that the season is over for us,” said Raiders GM Barrett Blade. “We know that we are not a Super Bowl contender yet, as we have some glaring weaknesses, and there will need to be changes. Our performance this year is heartening, but we are not there yet. We will get there, though.”

Box Score
<PRE>Attendance: 57,200 (60,300). Weather: 68 degrees, fair. 1Q: 12:45 IND - Mike Vanderjagt 35 field goal. 1Q: 06:06 OAK - Renaldo Hill 29 interception return. 1Q: 06:06 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 12:50 IND - Mike Vanderjagt 24 field goal. 2Q: 08:00 OAK - LaMont Jordan 5 run. 2Q: 08:00 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 06:28 OAK - Jerry Porter 58 punt return. 2Q: 06:28 OAK - Steve Christie extra point. 2Q: 02:56 IND - Reggie Wayne 35 pass from Peyton Manning. 2Q: 02:56 IND - Mike Vanderjagt extra point. 2Q: 01:04 OAK - Steve Christie 40 field goal. 3Q: 09:10 OAK - Steve Christie 24 field goal. 3Q: 06:00 IND - Edgerrin James 6 run. 3Q: 06:00 IND - Mike Vanderjagt extra point. 4Q: 11:39 IND - Marvin Harrison 18 pass from Peyton Manning. 4Q: 11:39 IND - Mike Vanderjagt extra point. 4Q: 00:00 IND - Mike Vanderjagt 32 field goal. Game MVP: IND 32 Edgerrin James Oakland 7 17 3 0 - 27 Indianapolis 3 10 7 10 - 30 Team Statistics OAK IND First Downs 15 25 Total Rushes 18 40 Rushing Yards 55 169 Yards Per Carry 3.0 4.2 Pass Attempts 28 34 Completions 20 20 Passing Yards 206 252 Yards Per Attempt 7.3 7.4 Sacked 1 1 Yards Lost 9 6 Interceptions 0 2 Fumbles/Lost 0/0 0/0 Total Plays 47 75 Total Yards 252 415 Yards Per Play 5.3 5.5 3rd Down Plays 4/11 9/15 Avg. YTG on 3rd 6.8 7.4 4th Down Plays 0/0 1/1 Penalties 5 7 Penalty Yards 35 60 Avg. Drive Start OWN 25 OWN 34 Time Of Possession 24:55 35:05 Oakland Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 34 Jordan 18 55 3.0 10 1 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 5 Collins 28 20 206 7.3 28 0 0 1 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 84 Porter 7 102 14.5 23 28 0 34 Jordan 6 47 7.8 12 14 0 18 Moss 4 42 10.5 10 16 0 43 Easy 2 8 4.0 5 5 0 83 Anderson 1 7 7.0 1 7 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 84 Porter 1 58 58.0 1 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 85 Gabriel 2 55 27.5 0 18 Moss 1 24 24.0 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 9 Lechler 4 181 45.2 58 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 6 Christie 2 3 40 3 3 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 55 Clark 13 3 0.0 0 0 0 36 Gibson 10 0 0.0 0 0 0 53 Foreman 5 5 0.0 0 0 0 30 Schweigert 5 2 0.0 0 0 0 59 Grant 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 26 Routt 4 1 0.0 0 0 0 54 Williams 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 33 Taylor 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 95 Jasper 2 0 1.0 0 0 0 22 Hill 2 2 0.0 2 44 1 98 Hamilton 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 37 Warfield 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 91 Burgess 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 52 Morrison 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 99 Sapp 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 18 Moss 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 85 Gabriel 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 76 Gallery 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 65 Sims 0 0 0 0 1 1 62 Treu 0 0 0 0 1 0 66 Walker 0 0 0 0 1 0 83 Anderson 0 0 0 0 1 0 76 Gallery 0 0 0 0 1 0 Indianapolis Individual Statistics Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD 32 James 39 158 4.0 12 1 18 Manning 1 11 11.0 11 0 Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd 18 Manning 34 20 252 7.4 35 2 2 1 Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD 87 Wayne 6 107 17.8 32 35 1 88 Harrison 4 45 11.2 4 18 1 32 James 4 24 6.0 12 14 0 83 Stokley 3 44 14.6 4 23 0 23 Mungro 2 23 11.5 6 16 0 82 Horner 1 9 9.0 3 9 0 Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD 87 Wayne 2 8 4.0 0 Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD 88 Harrison 4 137 34.2 0 Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20 17 Smith 3 132 44.0 56 1 Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att 13 Vanderjagt 3 3 35 3 3 Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD 94 Morris 6 3 0.0 0 0 0 28 Jackson 6 0 0.0 0 0 0 42 David 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 21 Sanders 5 0 0.0 0 0 0 93 Freeney 3 2 1.0 0 0 0 50 Thornton 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 75 Tripplett 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 51 Gardner 2 2 0.0 0 0 0 20 Doss 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 77 Simon 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 36 Pritchett 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 32 James 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 53 Hodge 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 80 Hartsock 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 30 Harden 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd 71 Diem 0 0 0 0 2 1 63 Saturday 0 0 0 0 6 0 78 Glenn 0 0 0 0 4 0 69 Ulrich 0 0 0 0 2 0 67 Zimmerman 0 0 0 0 1 0 </PRE>

Blade

11-02-2005, 11:05 PM

I finally had a smile on my face as John Mackey walked into my office for our meeting. He was similarly smiling as he climbed into the chair on the other side of my desk.

“We are damn lucky, Bear. Last second of the game to lose that damn thing, and that was with our kicker missing that field goal a few minutes earlier.”

My smile grew a little wider. “I know it. There is no way we should have hung with them for that long. But it is over, and now we can concentrate on the off-season. Quite a Super Bowl, though, huh? Indy beating the Eagles 30-24. Was a pretty good game, and fun to be at.”

“Yah, I saw it. I wanted to go, but, well, you know…obligations to my company and such.” Mackey pulled a folder out of his briefcase and tossed it on my desk. “Here is our balance sheet for the year. Not bad, Bear. We pulled in a $47,400,000 profit. Not too shabby at all.”

I nodded. “Good to hear. Definitely better than losing money, anyway. Especially with the ticket revenue being lower than it could have been. Oh well, that is one of the things in our favor anyway, and why we are in position to be able to look at moving the team.”

“Yah, my team is going hard core into the stadium proposal. We will have a nice presentation ready when the time comes. So, now that the season is over, it is your time to shine again. Getting ready to make some moves?”

The smile left my face as I thought about all of the work that needed to be done. “Yes, I am. There are a ton of evaluations I am going to have to make, starting with our staff. I have to see what is available for scouts out there, and I still haven’t made up my mind on our coaching staff. They did well, all things considered, but I am not sure if they are the type of guys we want on board.”

“Well, I trust your judgement, Bear. Going to be shopping some players around too?”

“Yah. I am hoping we can find some more takers, now. Moss’ stock may have dropped somewhat with his play at the end, but that may help our cause with the fans against any backlash they may dish out. But the cleaning will really start now. We may not have a very competitive team next year, depending on what moves I have to make, but if we can get a framework in place, I will be happy. Plus, I am excited for the draft. A real chance to bring in some players that we like. It will be a fun time, that is for sure.”

Mackey nodded. “Good. Well, I will leave you to it. We have some big things happening shortly, and it will solidify our future for this team. Oh, and Bear? All in all, great start this year.”

He held out his hand and I shook it. “Thanks, Mack. This is just the beginning.”

Team Summary:
<PRE>2005 Summary for Oakland Raiders Record: 10-8 Winning Pct.: .555 Oakland Raiders Team Rank Rushes 407 29 Rushing Yards 1852 20 Yards Per Carry 4.55 3 Pass Attempts 513 21 Completions 300 21 (T) Passing Yards 4139 1 Yards Per Attempt 8.06 2 3rd Down Conversions 39.8 24 (T) Points Per Game 22.2 9 Turnovers 21 7 (T) Turnover Margin +4 11 (T) Opponents Team Rank Rushes 490 26 (T) Rushing Yards 2099 24 Yards Per Carry 4.28 17 (T) Pass Attempts 569 31 Completions 323 26 Passing Yards 3813 25 Yards Per Attempt 6.70 16 (T) 3rd Down Conversions 43.6 21 Points Per Game 22.0 26 Turnovers 25 18 Week Team Versus Oppnt 1 27 at PIT 20 2 17 BUF 13 3 20 TBY 23 4 27 at HOU 30 5 30 at IND 24 6 24 DEN 7 7 27 NOS 26 8 19 at SDO 37 9 28 at CAR 23 11 31 SDO 28 12 14 at DEN 16 13 20 KCY 10 14 17 at ATL 32 15 20 TEN 3 16 21 at KCY 34 17 14 JAX 27 $$WC 27 at PIT 20 $$CS 27 at IND 30 Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int 5 Collins QB 510 300 4139 8.11 31 10 **Team --- 513 300 4139 8.06 31 10 Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD 34 Jordan RB 326 1563 4.79 8 **Team --- 407 1852 4.55 11 Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc YAC TD 18 Moss WR 153 85 1528 17.9 352 12 34 Jordan RB 67 51 402 7.8 166 3 84 Porter WR 54 29 484 16.6 102 3 81 Curry WR 54 27 418 15.4 58 2 85 Gabriel WR 54 25 400 16.0 55 3 83 Anderson TE 34 24 212 8.8 60 2 87 Whitted WR 33 17 281 16.5 82 1 **Team --- 513 300 4139 13.7 981 31 Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn 55 Clark ILB 122 48 2.0 0 0 4 53 Foreman ILB 72 33 0.5 0 0 10 22 Hill CB 67 20 0.0 2 3 13 36 Gibson S 62 20 0.0 0 0 5 30 Schweigert S 61 32 1.0 0 4 8 54 Williams OLB 51 14 5.0 1 1 1 98 Hamilton DE 41 12 8.0 26 0 0 59 Grant OLB 39 21 1.0 5 0 3 27 Washington CB 34 14 0.0 0 3 10 45 Robinson S 31 10 0.0 0 0 2 91 Burgess DE 31 13 6.0 14 0 0 25 Walker CB 29 6 0.0 0 0 2 26 Routt CB 28 12 0.0 0 0 2 92 Washington DT 27 8 1.0 4 0 0 52 Morrison ILB 26 10 0.0 0 0 3 33 Taylor CB 25 4 0.0 0 0 1 51 Brayton OLB 25 6 0.0 0 0 1 99 Sapp DT 19 14 2.0 7 0 0 **Team --- 896 316 37.0 75 11 66 </PRE>

Season Awards:
<PRE> 2005 Awards List Award Player Team Player of the Year Fred Taylor JAX Front Office Bowl MVP Peyton Manning IND Coach of the Year Not Yet Awarded Legend of the Game Not Yet Awarded Offensive Player of the Year Fred Taylor JAX Defensive Player of the Year Brian Urlacher CHI Offensive Rookie of the Year Cadillac Williams TBY Defensive Rookie of the Year Demarcus Ware DAL All-League First Team Quarterback Michael Vick ATL All-League First Team Running Back Fred Taylor JAX All-League First Team Fullback Fred Beasley SFO All-League First Team Tight End Alge Crumpler ATL **All-League First Team Wide Receiver Randy Moss OAK All-League First Team Wide Receiver Andre Johnson HOU All-League First Team Center Mike Flynn BAL All-League First Team Offensive Guard Rick DeMulling DET All-League First Team Offensive Guard Steve Hutchinson SEA All-League First Team Offensive Tackle Tra Thomas PHI All-League First Team Offensive Tackle Willie Roaf KCY All-League First Team Punter Craig Hentrich TEN All-League First Team Kicker Adam Vinatieri NED All-League First Team Defensive End Jason Taylor MIA All-League First Team Defensive End Simeon Rice TBY All-League First Team Defensive Tackle Seth Payne HOU All-League First Team Defensive Tackle Cornelius Griffin WAS All-League First Team Inside Linebacker Brian Urlacher CHI All-League First Team Outside Linebacker LaVar Arrington WAS All-League First Team Outside Linebacker Julian Peterson SFO All-League First Team Cornerback Chris McAlister BAL All-League First Team Cornerback Mike McKenzie NOS All-League First Team Safety Donovin Darius JAX All-League First Team Safety Sammy Knight KCY All-League Second Team Quarterback Daunte Culpepper MIN All-League Second Team Running Back Edgerrin James IND All-League Second Team Fullback Jim Kleinsasser MIN All-League Second Team Tight End Bubba Franks GBY All-League Second Team Wide Receiver Rashaun Woods SFO All-League Second Team Wide Receiver Terrell Owens PHI All-League Second Team Center Todd McClure ATL All-League Second Team Offensive Guard Mike Wahle CAR All-League Second Team Offensive Guard Chris Gray SEA All-League Second Team Offensive Tackle Marvel Smith PIT All-League Second Team Offensive Tackle Flozell Adams DAL All-League Second Team Punter Mitch Berger NOS All-League Second Team Kicker Matt Stover BAL All-League Second Team Defensive End Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila GBY All-League Second Team Defensive End Kevin Carter MIA All-League Second Team Defensive Tackle Jimmy Kennedy STL All-League Second Team Defensive Tackle Russell Davis ARI All-League Second Team Inside Linebacker Ray Lewis BAL All-League Second Team Outside Linebacker Keith Bulluck TEN All-League Second Team Outside Linebacker Derrick Brooks TBY All-League Second Team Cornerback Patrick Surtain KCY All-League Second Team Cornerback Sam Madison MIA All-League Second Team Safety Tony Parrish SFO All-League Second Team Safety Darren Sharper MIN **League's Fastest Man Randy Moss OAK League's Strongest Man John Tait CHI </PRE>

Balance Sheet:

Television Contract: $34,200,000
Ticket Revenue: $46,010,000
Suite Revenue: $23,020,000
Concessions: $3,970,000
Parking: $2,400,000
Advertising: $14,590,000
Total Revenues: $124,190,000

Player Salaries: $42,310,000
Player Bonuses: $4,780,000
Training: $6,540,000
Coaching: $13,140,000
Scouting: $4,800,000
Maintenance: $5,220,000
Stadium Payments: $0
Total Costs: $76,790,000

Profit: $47,400,000

Blade

11-02-2005, 11:06 PM

Hi all,

Now that I have the first season done, I would like to ask for feedback again. What can I do better, what should I stop doing, anything else you want to see, and other general feedback?

Let me have it, and thanks for reading!

TonyR

11-03-2005, 08:59 AM

I think you're doing a great job with this dynasty Blade. I like the mix of game reports and owner/gm reactions.

JeeberD

11-03-2005, 09:39 AM

All I ask is that you keep up th good work, Blade... :)

StanGunner

11-03-2005, 03:01 PM

I concur. Good style. Keep it going.

Izulde

11-03-2005, 03:28 PM

I frankly think it's fantastic the way it is. :)

MizzouRah

11-04-2005, 12:06 PM

Nicely done!

In fact, a few players later and Oakland could win the SB. ;)

Blade

11-04-2005, 06:48 PM

Thanks for the comments guys!

I have started the Season Two thread here:

FOF2K4: A Team of Our Very Own - Season Two (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?t=44240)