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.
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.
“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
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