Rebuilding the Raiders - "Russell Rulz"

[Winnipeg59]

Week Six @ New Orleans Saints

You know it's coming. You prepare for it. But there's really nothing like experiencing it firsthand. The Saints and the Drew Brees air show!

Practice this week focused on stopping the QB with coverage, improving the man blitz (if and when needed for a different look) and also involved improving our run blocking.

Game Highlights/Summary:

While the pass attack did come, our defense seemed up to the challenge early and we, as always, bent but did not allow anything of consequence.

FB Griffith ran one in from three yards to open the scoring and then shortly after that HB Fargas, on a substitution I actually called to spell McFadden, romped sixteen yards to the left and straight into the end zone for another major!

In the second quarter we pushed a K Jano field goal, but that was quickly followed by our THIRD interception of the half and he was given another change and put it through.

We were swarming in the secondary through the first half, although we did eventually give up a late TD on a nice Brees pass with 1:56 left on the clock.

Raiders 17-7 at the half

Giving up a late touchdown always stings, so I knew we had to work hard to put that behind us before we came out for the second half. Frankly, I don't think we fully did that. And with adjustments in the locker room, the Saints came out firing on all Brees cylinders in the second half!

Again we traded blows and bent a little in the 3rd, but held on until finally they did get a FG on us with half a minute left in the 3rd. I didn't know this at the time, of course, but I think that was their big push for the day!

Our new TE Dunn went out of the game with a leg injury just into the 4th, but on that same drive QB Russell hit WR Carter with a beautiful pass to the left on a WR read play and he took it 32 yards for the score. One of the best plays of the day most definitely and a huge confidence booster for both.

Then with just 3:08 left in the game HB Fargas was again able to push it in on a stretch play to the right from 13 yards. Apparently has hasn't enjoyed sitting behind the rookie so much in the early going and wanted to prove a point with every carry. Point taken!

From that point on, it was time to give the 2nd string some reps in a game situation.

Final Score: RAIDERS 31 - Saints 10

Jamarcus again played his best game I thought. Improvement each time out is going to payoff in his development!
- 15/21 (114.8rtg) for 188 yards and 1 TD
- McFadden carried the ball 16 times for 58 yards
- Fargas had his best game with 11-36 yards and 2 TDs
- Griffith also had his TD
- WR Walker 5-75 yards and a TD
- WR Shields 3-25
- Routt, Wilson, Hall and Burgess each had an INT in the game

Team Stats:
262 yards of total offense with 91 on the ground and 171 in the air.
We definitely improved our 3rd down conversion, going 6-13 for 46%.
And a telling stat was the almost double time of possession!

The Raiders are now 4-1 and sitting on top of the AFC West.

[Winnipeg59]

Contract News

The Raiders are pleased to announce a new deal with RT Mark Wilson. We have agreed to a -year/15.64-million dollar contract, plus a 4-million dollar bonus!

This fulfills another goal set out for us at the beginning of the season and the fans are excited that we've bolstered our offensive line.

We would also like to announce that we have come to terms with the following Raiders to keep them in the family:

C Wade - 1.24mil/2 years (no bonus)
LG/LT Terrell - 1.6mil/2 years + 250k
C Morris - 1.6mil/3 years (no bonus)
WR Carter - 800k/2 years (no bonus)
LE Smith - 8mil/3 years + 3.5million
RG Grove - 800k/2 years + 500k
FS Eugene - 780k/2 years (no bonus)
CB Routt - 5.1mil/3 years + 1million
MLB Hartwell - 1.06mil/2 years (no bonus)

TRADE OFFERS:
The Raiders turned down an offer of draft picks from several teams (including the Colts) for OLB Williams.
And we also rejected an offer for FS Huff. In fact I didn't even take that call!

Talks are continuing with Williams, MLB Morrison, DT Babineaux and others.

And not that you would ever release information like this but, in case you're reading this thread and would like to "insider info", I do not plan on renewing the contracts of RG Welbourn as he seems injury prone at age 34. He was just put in IR.
Plus the demand from backup SS Baker was 6.72mil/3 years + 2.5million in bonus, so I will let him go to free agency at the end of the season and look at alternatives or a draft pick at that position.
And I am debating whether to go with the two huge contracts next year and not re-sign DT Babineaux, who I believe has maxed out on his potential.

[Winnipeg59]

Week Seven vs. New York Jets

The 4-1 Raiders, the leaders in the AFC West (never gets tired), entertain the New York Jets!

Game Highlights/Summary:

Based on the amount of rain that fell in the bay area on the weekend, you could just imagine how ugly this game might get. I hope we have our ground game firing, because I might be a little tentative about putting the ball in the air.

There is NO better way to start a football game! WR Johnnie Lee Higgins takes the opening kick-off to the house! 93 yards, untouched. 7-0 before the uniforms even had a chance to get soaked.

Pretend it's raining.........

This was, of course, a great way to start, but also suggested we might be in for a long afternoon as both teams get ready to slip and slide all over the place.

The rest of the opening quarter was simply trying to feel your way around the field. And obviously things were degrading with every play. A bright spot came with 3:06 left in the first as LB Morrison picked up a fumble. Unfortunately we weren't able to do a whole lot with it.

The second was simply ugly. The rain pounded the field and the field could not keep up. We simply traded blows and longed for a dry locker room at half-time! This ain't baseball!

Raiders 7-0 at the half

The third quarter featured more of the same. A couple of quickly rain-soaked heavyweights trading blows.

LB Morrison is having the "second" game-of-his-life with a beautiful interception that he returned to the Jets 10-yard line. The big guy simply could not zig and zag enough on the wet track to take it all the way, but on any other day...

LE Smith went out of the game with an injury and will be evaluated after the game!

We were able to take the ball down to the 2 and were faced with a 4th down situation that prompted a "defining moment". Because this was going to be an ugly afternoon, we did gamble that the offense knowing where they were going was the edge to take in it. And we did! HB McFadden touchdown!

Late in the third QB Russell hooked up with FB Griffith for a nice touchdown swinging out of the backfield for the catch and run. And even later, QB Russell was able to walk the ball over the goal line on a sneak from a yard out, just like we called it! We were in control.

C Wade also left the game with an undisclosed injury.

In the fourth quarter the Jets were able to march all the way down the field. That was because we fumbled the ball inside their 10. Brutal!

With 6:08 left and after surrendering (or rather, in spite of) that touchdown, we did make the call to sub the 2nd string for some more reps in a game.

The only downside was that we did get into field goal range and (coach's fault) P Lechler lined up for it and shanked it from the 20. I caught more than a few players snickering behind me.

Final Score: RAIDERS 28 - Jets 7

Jamarcus, because of the conditions, only threw when he had to and, as a result, had a very good line.
- 7/11 (132.3rtg) for 124 yards and 1 TD
- Jamarcus also ran one in from 1 yard out for a second TD
- McFadden carried 18 times for 108 yards and 1 TD
- Griffith with a second TD in as many games, this one threw the air 33 yards
- Morrison with another outstanding day (must be itching to return to the table about his contract) with 10 tackles and was all over the field
- The defense, as a whole, produced 3 INTs and 1 fumble
- And of course, the JLH Kick-Off return for 6!

Team Stats:
295 yards total offense. 177 on the ground and 118 through the air.

The Raiders remain atop the AFC West with a 5-1 record, locked in a battle, it would seem, with the Broncos!

[Winnipeg59]

Contract News

The Raiders are very excited to announce the signing of P Shane Lechler to a 3-year/4.51-million dollar contract with a 1-million bonus!
* He was actually asking for 3-years/6.51-million and 2.5-million bonus! Sorry.

This is yet another goal set out for us at the beginning of the season that has been fulfilled. A nice contract for a punter, but...

We would also like to announce that we have come to terms with the following Raiders to keep them in the family:

WR McFoy - 830k/2 years (no bonus)
DT Babineaux - 880k/2 years (no bonus)
* There was some thought about just going with the big contracts at DT, but Babineaux came at just too good a price for essentially another year.

A confession from "behind the curtain" (or front office, whichever way you care to picture it). My cap space is now into the RED for next season. I still have some important signings that I would like to make, especially at LB. So, I do hope a decent record this year will mitigate my financial picture at the end of the season, IF we can keep this streak alive of course!

[Winnipeg59]

FYI - I was going to post these within the thread, but instead posted where they should be. The sliders I'm playing with in this thread are here.

[Winnipeg59]

Week Eight @ Baltimore Ravens

The stakes get higher every week, but boy is it nice to remain in the drivers seat in the AFC West! The overachieving Oakland Raiders take their 5-1 record into Baltimore.

Game Highlights/Summary:

Question: What do you run when you're 3rd and 31? Quickly in this game we unfortunately had to ask that question. I'm not sure if it was a travel hangover or we were thinking a little too much about our record when we took the field, but we started extremely slow and the Ravens D was laying in wait.

The first quarter was a heavyweight slug fest as each teams defense basically ran rampant and did some damage. I was curious when we would string together a couple of passes and/or runs of consequence. Maybe in the second?

Early in the second (and I'm actually kind of proud to say it was a play I created during the week with the play creator - but don't worry, I was stuffed when I tried to run it twice more in this one) HB McFadden took the ball to the outside and broke into the open for a 70 yard touchdown to open the scoring.

The rest of the half we spent continuing to slug it out with our defensive squads.

Raiders 7-0 at the half

In an almost carbon copy of our previous game, except for the much better weather in Baltimore and the fact it opened the third quarter instead of the game, WR Higgins took the second half opening kick-off all the way back down the field for a 90 yard return major! Unbelievable! This guy is on fire!

Oddly enough, and despite trading shots throughout the rest of the game, I think that went a long way to permanently shifting things in our favour. The defense seemed to actually relax a little and were all over the Ravens from that point on. Sure, their run game and Flacco had their moments, but again we flexed but did not allow anything to head down field.

K Janikowski missed a very tough 48-yarder midway through the third. We were lucky enough to, a few series later, completely back the Ravens up to their 2-yard line, then tackled Flacco for a safety (first one of the year). and toward the end of the third, P Lechler pinned them again near the eight. Everything seemed in our favour!

Midway through the fourth HB McFadden took another in from seven yards out on a stretch play to the right, but the extra point dinged the upright and fell out.

Shortly after that I rewarded the second string team with some additional minutes. Never know when that might come in handy and with the game pretty much out of reach, these were roughly 9 1/2 valuable minutes too!

A late game highlight was CB Hall taking back a short pick-six with 1:47 left. At that point the third team went in for some time on-field. That also included several players playing out of their normal positions of course.

The last minute was actually quite eventful with all of our subs enjoying some time. CB Asomugha, actually playing the safety position with the third team, took back a pick six from just outside our goal line. A very nice pick!

And finally the Ravens had an answer. Too little, too late and really, our fault entirely thanks to some sloppy tackling. Chris McAlister took the subsequent kick-off all the way back, but with only :24 left on the clock it simply did not matter.

Final Score: RAIDERS 36 - Ravens 7

Jamarcus did not have his best day.
- 8/21 (47.9rtg) for only 71 yards
- McFadden ran 17 times for 89 yards and 2 TDs
- Smith had 3 sacks and played a great game at LE
- The defense, as a whole, intercepted Flacco 4 times (Hall and Namdi with pick sixes)
- And of course, the second JLH Kick-Off return for 6!

Team Stats:
182 yards total offense. 140 rushing and only 42 passing. And by that line, it's special teams that clearly made the difference in this one!

The Raiders hold on to top spot in the AFC West now with a 6-1 record! Outstanding...

[Winnipeg59]

THIS JUST IN!

CB Deangelo Hall has been name AFC Defensive Player of the Week!

Thanks to his outstanding defensive play and a pick six in the Week 8 Baltimore game, he was a no-brainer for the weekly award.

[Ueauvan]

my franchise with the raiders had 25m and 20m+ in first 2 seasons as cap penalties. the contracts that JR and the DTs had really is horrid