Re: Rebuilding the Fear - Oakland Raiders M13 CCM
Offense Holds Steady Until Defense Can Clamp Down
Saints Push Raiders in First Half, But Wilt Under
Physical Attack. Raiders Win 34-20.
The Raiders were initially thrown off guard by the Saints ground attack. Ahmad Bradshaw returned from his injury and was running through the Raiders defense without problem. He had racked up over 100 yards in the first half alone.
But all did not go well for Bradshaw in that first half. He got crushed by Bobby Wagner flying through a lane and gave up the ball. Maeweather was there to fall on it to create the turnover.
Martens led the ensuing drive down the shortened field and finished it with an 8-yard pass to Moore for the touchdown.
Andy Dalton fired back with a deep pass to WR Clifton Faulk, who beat Smoke by a step for a 63-yard completion. That set up a run a couple plays later by Danny Woodhead for the touchdown, using a few nifty moves to get around Olsen and beating Branch to the pylon for the score. That gave the Saints a 17-10 lead in the second quarter. Earlier in the drive, Bradshaw's day came to an end as Davarius Bullock tracked him down from behind. Bradshaw landed very roughly on his wrist, and he was taking out of the game.
Martens continued to make his throws, picking up chunks of yards to Moore and Green. This time, it was Karl Kruger who was the recipient of the touchdown pass after the Saints were looking like they would hold as they stopped Caulder cold on two attempts. The touchdown got the Raiders even again at 17-17.
The Saints picked up a field goal before the half ended, taking a 20-17 lead into the locker room.
The Raiders received the ball first in the second half, but went 3-and-out on their possession. Darnell Dockett was getting into a groove with his pass rush, making life difficult.
The Saints didn't manage anything with their possession as it looked like both defenses made some adjustments at halftime.
Martens' arm got a little bit of a rest after throwing 31 first half passes as the Raiders turned to the ground game to try to get it going. Caulder struggled in the first half, but Spiller had a little more success. Caulder got the call first and found a little room, but helped keep the drive going. He and Spiller tried to lean on the Saints defense, while Martens set up play action off the runs.
Finally, later in the quarter, the combination of a fresher defense and the running got the Raiders in position to score. Spiller's number was called in another situation inside the opponent's 5 yard line. Spiller found some room and punched it into the end zone. This gave the Raiders at 24-20 lead.
Run game closed down, Dalton returned to the air. The Raiders tried to bring pressure, but it wasn't getting to the QB for much of the game. This time, Wagner was closing in, and Dalton fired the ball downfield. Tyvon Branch snatched the wild pass. The Raiders couldn't turn the possession into points, however.
Next Saints possession, Dalton came out throwing again. He was having success this time with Jimmy Graham being a match up problem. The veteran tight end nearly picked up 100 yards on the day on 9 receptions. However, the coverage held up on the next play as Dalton tried to go to Clifton Faulk deep. Patrick Peterson undercut the route and picked off the pass.
This time, the Raiders were able to capitalize. Caulder started pounding and finding more room and bigger runs. He never broke one, but he wore down the defense. Martens found his third touchdown pass, hitting Akia Green underneath and the receiver pushed his way across the endzone. This put the Raiders up 31-20. The team would add a FG after some more Caulder runs on the next possession.
With under 2 minutes left, the Saints had to take chances. Dalton couldn't find a way to try to make a miracle happen, and Raiders kneeled on the ball to end the game.
The pass coverage was significantly better in the second half. After the first half, Dalton had hit 78% of his passes. He finished the game with 56% completion percentage. It was mostly the coverage as Branch got the lone Raiders sack in the game. Not much else was getting through the Saints' protection scheme all day.
"It's good to know that we do stand a chance against a solid passing team without having to get constant pressure, " Branch spoke, "We figured out the route combinations they were running and us DBs got together to work out how we wanted to handle it, and it worked out pretty well."
In fact, the blitzing was doing more harm than good in this one, leaving gaps in pass and run coverage. Meanwhile, the Raiders protection held up well, aside from Darnell Dockett picking up 3 sacks. Even then, they were to a degree coverage sacks where Martens didn't want to force a pass. While he took those sacks, he avoided interceptions.
The Raiders head into their bye with a 2-game win streak and back over .500 at 4-3.
Box Score:
Saints Push Raiders in First Half, But Wilt Under
Physical Attack. Raiders Win 34-20.
The Raiders were initially thrown off guard by the Saints ground attack. Ahmad Bradshaw returned from his injury and was running through the Raiders defense without problem. He had racked up over 100 yards in the first half alone.
But all did not go well for Bradshaw in that first half. He got crushed by Bobby Wagner flying through a lane and gave up the ball. Maeweather was there to fall on it to create the turnover.
Martens led the ensuing drive down the shortened field and finished it with an 8-yard pass to Moore for the touchdown.
Andy Dalton fired back with a deep pass to WR Clifton Faulk, who beat Smoke by a step for a 63-yard completion. That set up a run a couple plays later by Danny Woodhead for the touchdown, using a few nifty moves to get around Olsen and beating Branch to the pylon for the score. That gave the Saints a 17-10 lead in the second quarter. Earlier in the drive, Bradshaw's day came to an end as Davarius Bullock tracked him down from behind. Bradshaw landed very roughly on his wrist, and he was taking out of the game.
Martens continued to make his throws, picking up chunks of yards to Moore and Green. This time, it was Karl Kruger who was the recipient of the touchdown pass after the Saints were looking like they would hold as they stopped Caulder cold on two attempts. The touchdown got the Raiders even again at 17-17.
The Saints picked up a field goal before the half ended, taking a 20-17 lead into the locker room.
The Raiders received the ball first in the second half, but went 3-and-out on their possession. Darnell Dockett was getting into a groove with his pass rush, making life difficult.
The Saints didn't manage anything with their possession as it looked like both defenses made some adjustments at halftime.
Martens' arm got a little bit of a rest after throwing 31 first half passes as the Raiders turned to the ground game to try to get it going. Caulder struggled in the first half, but Spiller had a little more success. Caulder got the call first and found a little room, but helped keep the drive going. He and Spiller tried to lean on the Saints defense, while Martens set up play action off the runs.
Finally, later in the quarter, the combination of a fresher defense and the running got the Raiders in position to score. Spiller's number was called in another situation inside the opponent's 5 yard line. Spiller found some room and punched it into the end zone. This gave the Raiders at 24-20 lead.
Run game closed down, Dalton returned to the air. The Raiders tried to bring pressure, but it wasn't getting to the QB for much of the game. This time, Wagner was closing in, and Dalton fired the ball downfield. Tyvon Branch snatched the wild pass. The Raiders couldn't turn the possession into points, however.
Next Saints possession, Dalton came out throwing again. He was having success this time with Jimmy Graham being a match up problem. The veteran tight end nearly picked up 100 yards on the day on 9 receptions. However, the coverage held up on the next play as Dalton tried to go to Clifton Faulk deep. Patrick Peterson undercut the route and picked off the pass.
This time, the Raiders were able to capitalize. Caulder started pounding and finding more room and bigger runs. He never broke one, but he wore down the defense. Martens found his third touchdown pass, hitting Akia Green underneath and the receiver pushed his way across the endzone. This put the Raiders up 31-20. The team would add a FG after some more Caulder runs on the next possession.
With under 2 minutes left, the Saints had to take chances. Dalton couldn't find a way to try to make a miracle happen, and Raiders kneeled on the ball to end the game.
The pass coverage was significantly better in the second half. After the first half, Dalton had hit 78% of his passes. He finished the game with 56% completion percentage. It was mostly the coverage as Branch got the lone Raiders sack in the game. Not much else was getting through the Saints' protection scheme all day.
"It's good to know that we do stand a chance against a solid passing team without having to get constant pressure, " Branch spoke, "We figured out the route combinations they were running and us DBs got together to work out how we wanted to handle it, and it worked out pretty well."
In fact, the blitzing was doing more harm than good in this one, leaving gaps in pass and run coverage. Meanwhile, the Raiders protection held up well, aside from Darnell Dockett picking up 3 sacks. Even then, they were to a degree coverage sacks where Martens didn't want to force a pass. While he took those sacks, he avoided interceptions.
The Raiders head into their bye with a 2-game win streak and back over .500 at 4-3.
Box Score:
| New Orleans Saints at Oakland Raiders | |||||
| Jan 1, | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| New Orleans Saints (3-2) | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Oakland Raiders (3-3) | 3 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 34 |
| Team Stats Comparison | ||
| NOR | OAK | |
| Total Offense | 394 | 439 |
| Rushing Yards | 147 | 171 |
| Passing Yards | 247 | 268 |
| First Downs | 16 | 25 |
| Punt Return Yards | 34 | 12 |
| Kick Return Yards | 97 | 88 |
| Total Yards | 525 | 539 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 0 |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 3-12 (25%) | 10-21 (47%) |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 2/1 (100%) | 4/1 (83%) |
| Penalties | 6-59 | 3-26 |
| Posession Time | 23:28 | 36:32 |
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