In Al we trust...a Raiders dynasty

[Aurabolt127]

Tuesday, August 12th. Oakland Raiders release RE Jay Richardson. Unable to deal him, and running out of patience, he had to go. Brian Smith was signed and provides an immediate upgrade. Also, CB Demario Minter was signed to help my atrocious corners while we assess our options.

Wednesday, August 13th. The Oakland Raiders trade CB Fabian Washington to the Detroit Lions for the Lions 2009 6th round pick and their 2010 7th round pick. And with that, the last of the old zone corners are gone. Hall, for all his character issues, now is the sole leader of the secondary...

Raiders also announce the release of QB DJ Shockley and the signing of QB John Navarre. Navarre is a big kid with a big arm...he'll try to stick on as the 3 in Oakland. Shockley was horrific in his lone preseason appearance, and it seems the pro game is just too much for him.

Week 2 Oakland and Tennessee play to a 10-10 tie!
Culpepper tossed a TD to Madsen, but tossed 2 picks. The running game was dead - with Bush and Tampa combining for 25 carries and 31 yards. Defense got 6 more sacks and a DeAngelo Hall pick. Not really a loss, not really a win...guess the team is learning at least.

And just like that, tragedy... Jerrod Mayo tore his triceps and had to go to IR. WR Harry Douglass and RE Trevor Scott also suffered 2-3 week injuries. Rookies!!! Not sure how to address Mayo. Time to look through FA.

Wednesday, August 20th. Raiders release WR McFoy, FS Eugene and add WR Tab Perry, LB Akeem Jordan, SS Archuleta. I decided to bring in some veteran talent at WR to see if we can push my rookies and make things a little easier on my QBs. Jordan is young (22) but already has a year in the league. For now, he's penciled in as my replacement for Mayo. Luckily in the 4-2-5, I have the ability to be selective with which 2 LBs are on the field depending on the situation. I also moved Dominique Barber to FS for the preseason to replace Hiram Eugene and see how he does.

Preseason game 3, Arizona vs Oakland. Arizona wins 17-6. Completely lackluster and embarrassing performance. Defense only got one sack and DT Brian Young is out for 7-9 weeks...I have to let him go. I was pretty excited about him too. DT Quinn Pitcock was signed to fill the void. I hope he stays healthy...

Preseason Promise Of course the expectation is to finish under .500, and while that's probable I can't be that pessimistic and instead tell him we're going to finish above .500 - He laughs, I leave his office and take a leak in the potted plant outside his office. His secretary gives me a thumbs up.

Game 4 - Seattle 17, Oakland 14. Out of nowhere Culpepper goes 8/9 for 135 yards and 2 tds and a perfect passer rating. Russel looks shaky and we lose, but that awesome start gives me hope!

So, at the end of the preseason here's how it looks:

0-3-1
Approval Rating 38
Cap Room $22.64 million this year, $21.18 next year. Looks good in 2010 with $45.85 but that's a long ways away.

Terdell Sands still out 3 days, is going to miss Denver. No loss of sleep there.
Jerod Mayo (IR)

Lord Davis wants me to crush the Broncos in week 1, win 3 out of my first 4. Fire the GM. Resign LT Mark Wilson. Bring back Rob Ryan. Have an approval of 60 or higher at the end of the year.

I tell him that I'm reasonably sure we have a realistic chance of accomplishing a majority of his requests and run for the elevator.

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Final roster tweaks as we hit our first game:

I decided to keep Tampa and Washington behind Fargas and Bush. They're pretty even, and I'm sure one of the two above them is going to get hurt.

Tab Perry was cut (and signed with Tampa Bay) when Mark Bradley popped up in FA. A superior player to Perry, I hope he'll "mentor" my young trio of receivers. Curry will probably never suit up. Higgins better pray he never fumbles.

I also had to let my two UDFA rookie CBs go, they were zone cover guys at heart, and their POT was 67 with man coverage scores that would max out at 57. Porter seems like a bad pick in the 2nd round now, 72 pot, but we'll see. Minter is going to have to start, with Porter as the 3 and free agent rookie King as my 4. Waddell is on as my 5, because he and King can return kicks if Higgins starts fumbling.

Kickoff vs Denver tomorrow...

[Aurabolt127]

Week One

Oakland vs Denver

It's a beautiful, rainy night in Oakland as the 2008 season kicks off.

We receive, and drive 69 yards for the score, a slashing 7 yard Fargas TD run. Daunte Culpepper was 3-3 for 53 yards on the drive. Broncos DT Albert Haynesworth is impacting my run game already, stopping Bush for 2 losses on the drive. 7-0 Oakland.

Broncos first play from scrimmage is a Jay Cutler pick by Thomas Howard! We're in business on the Denver 20. Just like that Culpepper hits Fargas for a 20 yard touchdown screen pass! 14-0!

The number of defensive plays we have "unlearned" is alarming, as is my secondary as Cutler drives the Broncos down the field and hits TE Tony Scheffler for a 15 yard TD to cut the lead in half. 14-7.

Next drive a holding penalty negates a nice 31 yard completion to John Madsen. A Culpepper sack, followed by an overthrown bomb and we punt. End of 1st quarter.

Teams exchange punts and then Denver manages to get close enough for a 30 yard field goal. Their running back Selvin Young is hurt, The Great Dayne is in. 14-10.

A couple of big runs (13 by Fargas, 11 by Bush) and Culpepper gets his big play to Madsen, a 50 yard catch and run and just like that the Raiders score again! 21-10.

Just under 2 minutes left in the half and Denver's drive stalls at the Oakland 24. Rian Lindell's kick is wide left. We play this last drive of the half pretty conservative, and punt it back to Denver with 16 seconds left. a 4 yard run by Ron Dayne and that's the half.

Denver's first drive...what can I say? 3rd quarter curse. Derrick Burgess sacks Cutler, and then Cutler hits Brandon Marshall on 3rd and 17 for a 78 yard touchdown. 21-17.

And it continues. We drive down, and Culpepper makes a poor throw that's picked off in the endzone by John Lynch, who races back the length of the field for the touchdown... Denver leads 24-21.

28 seconds left in the third. Albert Haynesworth will not allow us to run in the end zone this time. Culpepper hits Madsen for a 5 yard TD anyway. 28-24.

With 4:14 left in the game, Denver is relentless as they cap off their drive with a 4 yard Dayne TD. 31-28 Denver.

With 1:41 left Janikowski hits the upright. Granted, it's a 51 yarder in the rain, but I'm severely disappointed. Now with only 2 timeouts left (thanks to the stupid "they can audible, but we can't" feature, a game that we owned for 58 minutes is about to slip away.

That's it. What should have been a block in the back on my CB is unable to be called, and 3rd string RB Anthony Thomas runs for 16 on 3rd and 8 and a few knees later we've got a loss and some explaining to do.

Final Denver 31, Oakland 28

Culpepper 10-19 182 yards, 3tds, 1 int
Fargas 18-124-1
Bush and Tampa had 31 and 27 yards, respectively
Fargas caught 3-52-1
Madsen 2-55-2
Burgess had a sack and Howard had a pick.

Luckily I had a few defining moments go my way, and even though I entered the game with a 39, I wake up Monday morning with a 50.

Denver's injuries are minor, Selvin Young and Webster will be back Sunday, Stokely will miss one week. I didn't have any injuries, thank goodness, and for what it's worth, Terdell Sands will be back this week, leaving Mayo as my only injury.

I noticed Bengals CB Leon Hall is unhappy now that he's 3rd string behind Nnamdi and Joseph - and I desperately need secondary help so with that in mind...

Oakland announces that they have acquired CB Leon Hall (83) from the Cincinnati Bengals in exchage for the Raiders 2009 2nd round pick and 2010 4th round pick. Quotes Hall, "Glad to be somewhere I'm wanted. I'll make Oakland proud to have me, and thankful they let Nnamdi rot in Ohio." In a corresponding move, CB Michael Waddell was released.

[Aurabolt127]

Up next, the 0-1 Raiders play the 0-1 Kansas City Chiefs.

Newly acquired CB Leon Hall will start opposite DeAngelo Hall. 2nd round pick Tracy Porter will play nickel back with rookie free agent King at 4. Last week's starter Minter will slide into the 5th/reserve corner spot, but his return ability is going to keep him active this week. Until his injury, Broncos WR Brandon Stokely owned Minter. Once Stokely was out, Minter was more effective, and he understands this demotion is more to continue the evaluation of the secondary.

Terdell Sands, although healthy, will be a healthy scratch as he gets back "into shape" after missing much of the preseason. 3rd QB John Navarre is also a healthy scratch for the second week, as expected.

And though Tre Tampa had 5.4 ypc and 27 yards last week, Coach C is sticking to his promise to give Tampa and Chauncey Washington a turn as the 3rd back in one game each to see what they can do in live action. Expect Chauncey to get about the same 5 carries Tre got, depending on how the game goes. Considering the health history of Fargas and Bush, it's vital to know what the Raiders have in their two young backs.

Kickoff (depending on my schedule) is scheduled for tomorrow. Hope to see you there!

[Aurabolt127]

Week Two

Kansas City vs Oakland (in KC)

(didn't want to end the day's gaming on that disappointing loss. Gonna try to finish up on a more positive note.)

After a failed possession by both sides, the Raiders drive and Culpepper hits Zach Miller for a 26 yard td on a beautiful 1 handed catch with 5:41 left in the first! Oakland up 7-0.

Another nice drive ends the quarter with a Janikowski field goal and Oakland goes into the 2nd quarter leading 10-0.

Damon Huard is determined to give Kirk Morrison a pick, as he's had 3 passes dropped by him already. If Kirk could catch, Matt Ryan would be in the game for the Chiefs by now. (trying to keep my guys all over Gonzalez.) Leon Hall just dropped one now. So close!

Chiefs get close, but settle for a 28 yard field goal by Rob Bironas. Oakland still leads, 10-3.

Ugh, the dreaded defining moment where it wants me to go for it instead of kicking a field goal. I kick it anyway, and take a 7 point hit to my approval, but I'm up 13-3. Wow. In the time it took me to type that, Kansas City gets a 98 yard TD return by Bryant Johnson and I'm only up 13-10 - but I'm up, so take that, defining moment! 13-10.

Nice 2 minute offense ends with an 11 yard TD from Culpepper to Miller. Michael Bush literally drags a guy into the endzone for the 2 point conversion and we're leading strong, 21-10.

18 seconds left and the Chiefs hand it to Larry Johnson to run out the clock. This is scary - this is exactly where I was at last week at the half.

And the third quarter curse is strong...Chiefs first drive of the 3rd quarter and Jesse Chatman breaks two tackles behind the line of scrimmage and turns a dump off pass into a 23 yard TD. 21-17.

OLB Geno Hayes hurt his leg and will miss the rest of the game. Robert Thomas will man both backup OLB positions for now.

Tipped pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown! What the HECK!!! Two weeks in a row?? KC leads 24-21. This is scary....KC watched too much tape from last week I think!

Culpepper floats one and Greg Wesley grabs it. That's frustrating. Culpepper is looking past open guys now and forcing it. At least we slow them down enough they have to settle for a field goal. Chiefs up 27-21 now with 8:11 left.

Pass interference gives them the ball on the 4 and Larry Johnson takes it in. They go for 2...but don't get it. Chiefs up 33-21. 4:38 left.

Fargas gets hammered and fumbles after catching a short pass. They've got the ball on our 23...another game we let slip away... It's just for pride now. Lord Davis is going to pissed. A loss plus I will have failed the fast start goal.

Larry Johnson takes it in from 5 yards out for the nutshot. 40-21.

Decided to stick JaMarcus Russell in for the last two minutes. He takes the snap, drops back and throws a pick. KC has the ball on the 20.

They refuse to just take a knee as we're under a minute and keep rushing LJ up the middle. We finally stop them on the 2. 4th down. With seconds left they add a field goal just to add salt to the wounds. 43-21.

Culpepper 12/24 196 2-2
Fargas 12-40
Washington had 3-20, Bush had 28
Miller had 7 catches for 144 yards and 2 TDs.
Burgess had a sack. KGB better show up next week.

Huard had 133 yards passing, but LJ manhandled us for 33-146-2.

I can't believe that sequence of events in the 3rd again. Just like last week. We need to get a win next week or I might not make it to the bye week!

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So, with that devastating loss, the team is reeling. My approval is down to 37 now from 50 this time last week.

ROLB Geno Hayes will miss 2-3 weeks with a high ankle sprain. I'll just try and get by with Robert Thomas and Rod Wilson.

Up next, the Bills. Trent Edwards leads Marshawn Lynch, Lee Evans and DeSean Jackson in a homestand as they try to get their first win too. Also, I see that Randall Gay, who I contemplated signing in the preseason, is their starting CB along with McGee. Guess I'll see first hand if that was a mistake or not.

Similar inactives: Navarre, Washington, Curry, Sands, etc.

I'll hopefully have time for this one tomorrow...

[Aurabolt127]

Week 3

Oakland at Buffalo

Approval score 37

After two straight heartbreakers to open the season, the Raiders are reeling. Unbelievable consecutive third quarter meltdowns gave away two games that were surefire victories. Coach C has to find a way to keep the team focused after halftime and finish the game as strong as they started.

Oakland wins the toss and elects to receive. Holding call on the return. We start on the 20, Michael Bush carries 3 times for 52 yards on the drive and seals the TD with a 15 yard run. BUT JANIKOWSKI MISSED THE PAT!
Oakland leads 6-0.

Buffalo mounts a nice drive with some strong running by Marshawn Lynch. But the pressure forces a few bad throws by Trent Edwards, and the Bills are forced to kick a short field goal. Raiders still lead, 6-3.

Another nice drive, but Janikowski misses a makeable field goal. There's almost no wind...so I'm thinking he's drunk or something. I'm less than pleased, but we're still up...but Buffalo is driving yet again. 47 yarder by Jason Elam and we're tied at 6.

Huge pass interference gives us the ball on the 1. Justin Fargas scores and Sebastian Janikowski sobers up enough to kick the ball straight - Oakland leads 13-6.

So first play of Buffalo's next possession and Marshawn Lynch busts out a stiff-arm fueled 61 yard touchdown run, and we're back to tied. Oakland needs to get focused! 13-13.

56 seconds left in the half and Daunte Culpepper hits Harry Douglas for a 15 yard TD. PAT is good, Oakland takes the lead again, 20-13.

No timeouts left, but a convenient facemask penalty gives Buffalo a first down on my 28. They hit the field goal as time expires in the half, and creep closer, 20-16.

Third quarter starts, and Buffalo wastes no time driving down the field...thankfully DT Quinn Pitcock sacks Trent Edwards, and the field goal on 4th down misses.

An awesome 8 plus minute drive ends in a Michael Bush 5 yard TD and the Raiders get a little distance finally, 27-16.

Again, freaking Marshawn Lynch has people bounce off his ankle from behind, and he takes the first play and busts a 65 yard TD! 27-23.

I need another 8 minute drive...NOOOOPE... Culpepper decides to run up the gut instead of throw to one of 2 open receivers on 3rd and 8 and Oakland punts. At least the 4th quarter started.

On our next possession, we stalled, but pinned them at the one, but that doesn't matter with Lynch. We went all in and he still spun, stiffarmed and roundhouse kicked his way for a 10 yard gain. They get down to our 45 before we stop them. 4:28 seconds left...can the Raiders mount a drive and finally get a win?

I'm not ready to celebrate yet, but with 1:52 left Justin Fargas runs in from 3 to increase the lead to 34-23. That drive was all runs except a short pass to Rucker. That one felt good.

Trent Edwards. Marshawn Lynch. 72 yard TD on a screen. Serious. They go for 2 and...DENIED!!! Onside kick is coming next. Recovered by Zach Miller. I'm not giving the game a chance to cheat me again - a few kneels and we're going home winners!!!

Final score: Oakland 34, Buffalo 29

Culpepper was 13-20 for 149 and a touchdown, but the story here is:
Justin Fargas - 18 carries, 128 yards, 2 TDs (2 catches for 17 yards too)
Michael Bush - 15 carries, 136 yards, 2 TDs
3 sacks (KGB, Burgess and Pitcock)

Buffaloooooosers
Edwards - 15/23 for 227 and a TD, 74 on the play to Lynch
Lynch - 19 carries for 235 yards and 2 TDs, plus 1 catch for 74 and a TD
DT Kyle Williams had all three of Buffalo's sacks.

Approval rises to 41! Yay!
We got through this week injury free too.

Up next is San Diego, 2-1 and coming off a 27-0 disembowling of the New York Jets. Considering what Lynch just did to me...I'm a little concerned.
They look stacked everywhere - I hope we can keep the run game going. 2nd round pick Tracy Porter continues to struggle with the Pro Game, so for the San Diego game DeMario Minter will man the nickel spot, sliding Porter to 4 and King to the 5. King's kick return ability will keep him active this week though. John Navarre still won't suit up this week (though I want to get him dressed for at least 2-3 games this year), neither will Terdell Sands. This is Chauncey Washington's week to play, so Tre Tampa is going to sit. Tre Tampa didn't run too well, which is a little shocking considering how well the rest of the team ran, but did make a nice 3rd down grab. His stat line was 4 carries for 9 yards with a long of 6. Chauncey needs a good week this week to keep the competition going though. I won't keep dressing 4 backs.

Hope to keep the momentum going. This is going to be our biggest test yet.

[Aurabolt127]

San Diego at Oakland, week 4

Huge day for the Raiders as we prepare to do battle with the Chargers for an important division win...plus the chance to get to .500.

Things start slowly, the teams circling each other, trading punts to start the game. Daunte Culpepper ends the Raiders second possession by throwing a pick to one of the Chargers linebackers. On San Diego's next possession, two straight LaDanian Tomlinson stuffs lead to 3rd and 16. Rivers delivers the game's first big hit - a 58 yard catch and run TD to Antonio Gates.

As we get into the second quarter, the Raiders begin to mount their best drive of the day. Michael Bush has runs of 9 and 11 yards, Marcus Monk catches a 28 yard pass on 3rd and 16, and on 2nd and goal from the 9 Michael Bush busts a run straight up the middle and as he gets to the goal line...

he's hit and fumbles. Eric Weddle picks it up and races the entire length of the field to give the Chargers a 14-0 lead.

On our next possession, Culpepper throws a pick. Unreal. San Diego's linebackers now have 2 picks in three drives. Ever have one of those days where you wish you could start over? Yup. That's today. Philip Rivers is perfect on 3rd and long twice, the second time being a 24 yard touchdown pass to Gates in the back of the end zone. 21-0. 6:19 left in the half. Still time to do SOMETHING.

Yeah, something. Culpepper throws his third pick. A pick six to "Felix Sesay" - who I'm pretty sure they made up just to destroy my soul. 28-0, and it's time to put JaMarcus Russell in.

Next drive. Michael Bush carries once for 11 yards. Hurts his leg and will miss the rest of the game. Russell is sacked, then hits John Madsen for 11 yards. Fargas picks up the first down on a nice run, then drops a wide open screen pass. A couple passes, a Fargas run and a failed sneak and we turn it over on the 1 yard line with 1:35 left. San Diego takes over on their one, and Tomlinson is dropped in the end zone by Kirk Morrison for the safety! 28-2! We're back in this!

Out of timeouts, the game got stuck in hurry up mode. The result - three straight sacks we couldn't get out of. 40 seconds left, and San Diego takes over. I'm not sure I can express my frustration. At least they just run one play and let the clock run out. At this point, it would be better to have tea with Hitler than be in that locker room at halftime.

First drive of the second half. First play. Justin Fargas hurts his left left leg. What, were left leg injuries on special? Only Chauncey Washington is left. Well, he wanted the opportunity to prove he's the man. Down 28-2, I'm not sure how many chances he'll get. Maybe the ghost of Marcus Allen can give him a boost - one USC/Raider to another.

Finally - with 7:10 left in the third quarter, JaMarcus Russell hits Mark Bradley for a 16 yard touchdown! Russell hits the 2 point conversion to rookie Will Frankin and it's 28-10!

Any thought of a comeback is crushed when Rivers hits Tomlinson for an 11 yard screen pass. 35-10.

Next drive and Chauncey Washington gets hammered and fumbles. With only him and my fullback to run it, I don't even get mad. I may have to give a few carries to a wideout at this point, or a TE. Chargers lose 8 yards on the next three carries and are forced to punt. That at least makes me a little happy.

Spoke too soon. We take the ball on our 5, and Russell is driven back to the end zone for a safety. 37-10. Again, we stop them, they punt, and we take over on our 3. This time Russell hits Harry Douglas and a short Washington run and we're able to get out of the 'deep end' and out to the 24 yard line. Sadly, the drive ends up going nowhere. After a few more plays and a punt, the Chargers mercifully take three knees and it's over.

37-10. Felt like 67-10.

JaMarcus Russell was 12-17 128 yards and a td. Once it was really over, I didn't go overboard in the passing game, but Russell looked good, and had at least 3 passes randomly dropped by people.

Daunte Culpepper threw three picks in the first quarter and a bit.

Michael Bush ran well before the injury, 6-47.
Justin Fargas was 8-19
Chauncey Washington was 10-21 as I tried to run the clock down late.
Harry Douglas caught 4 passes for 71 yards
Thomas Howard had one sack.

Philip Rivers posted a perfect passer rating, while going 9-10 for 183 yards and 3 touchdowns. The bright spot was that LaDanian Tomlinson had only 22 yards on 19 carries and fumbled twice.
Antonio Gates has 2 catches for 100 yards and 2 tds. sigh. Legadu Naanee had the other td.
The Chargers D had 8 sacks and 3 picks. My offensive line struggled to say the least.