JaMarcus Russell followed up his solid outing in Denver with an
up-and-down performance at home. At times, he looked in full control of
the offense and showed off his stellar arm with nice tosses. On play
action in the first half, he executed a nice 28-yard pass on a corner
route to Miller and he repeated his accuracy with a 21-yard toss to his
tight end on a crossing pattern. Other times, he overthrew Ronald Curry
on what could’ve been a score on 4th and 3 in the 2nd quarter and was
not able to connect with his targets. Johnnie Lee Higgins could’ve
adjusted on one seam pattern that should’ve led to a score and Miller
dropped a big gainer after a big hit. It was good to see him use his
legs more and take off on a couple big runs.
RUNNING BACKS — C-
More is expected out of this bunch. And today, they didn’t provide the
Raiders the support needed to beat a team that is 31st in the league at
stopping the run. Justin Fargas had 18 carries for 82 yards and his
first touchdown of the season, but his fumble in the 4th quarter, on
Oakland’s first play after the Chiefs took a 17-10 lead was a
back-breaker that put them behind 10-points. Darren McFadden was used
again in varying packages, but Oakland still has to find a way to get
him more touches during a game. He again drew a pass interference call
and was incorporated into the passing attack with 50 yards receiving on
3 grabs. As a flanker he hauled in a 13-yard slant and on a 3rd and 7,
was wide open on a seam pattern for 20 yards.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS — D-
Oakland gets nothing from this bunch and this has contributed to
Russell’s inability to put up better numbers or perform up to his
abilities. Higgins should’ve been aware of the coverage and ran a post
pattern for Russell on one route in the 1st half. Ashley Lelie was
non-existent after his best performance as a Raider last week and the
only receiver to record a catch was Ronald Curry, who ended with that
lone reception for 0 yards (he flipped that toss to McFadden on a hook
and lateral play on their opening drive).
OFFENSIVE LINE — C+
They were average at best. Kwame Harris was not a turnstile today, but
he did get flagged twice – once for holding at the end of the 1st half
and a false start as the game wound down. Raiders have not been as
physical along the interior since Jake Grove’s injury and 132 yards
rushing today were highly disappointing after compiling 300 yards
against this opponent in their first meeting.
DEFENSIVE LINE – D
They played well in the 1st half, holding Kansas City to 26 yards
rushing. But they regressed in the 2nd half and never put enough
pressure on Tyler Thigpen to disrupt his rhythm or facilitate more
mistakes. Oakland cannot win games when 1 sack is recorded (Tommy Kelly)
the entire game and 119 yards are allowed on the ground in the 2nd half,
while the offense struggles.
LINEBACKERS — C
Thomas Howard is playing extremely well and is flying to the football.
But the rest of the unit appears lost at times and out of position. Kirk
Morrison’s play has been sub par and Jon Alston is not a starting
caliber linebacker at this level.
SECONDARY — C
Chris Johnson continued his solid play. His interception and 44-yard
return to the KC 1 yard line inthe 3rd quarter gave Oakland life and set
them up for their only touchdown of the game. Nnamdi Asomugha took on
Tony Gonzalez (who torched the Raiders with 8 rec. for 110 yards), and
was beaten twice for 34 yards. Gibril Wilson started the game on the
hall of fame bound tight end, but the Raiders slowed down his production
with their top corner. Wilson dropped a poorly thrown ball by Thigpen
that should’ve been interception. Instead, the drive continued and the
Chiefs scored to take a 17-10 lead (the drive started in the 3rd
quarter, elapsed into the 4th, and went for 91 yards on 16 plays).
SPECIAL TEAMS — D
Higgins was shutdown and Justin Miller could not provide a spark on kick
returns. Shane Lechler had a miserable day punting and was part of that
botched fake field goal that led to a Maurice Legget 67-yard fumble
return for a touchdown.
COACHING – D –
The team was overconfident and the blasé approach in leaving points on
the field hurt the Raiders. Oakland still has only 1 touchdown in the
first half of games this season. They struggle to generate points, but
the staff called a fake punt on 4th and 10, thinking their hefty kicker
could run for a first down and deep in KC territory, bypassed an easy
field goal, instead calling a pass that fell harmlessly incomplete in
the back of the end zone on 4th and 3 in the first half. Some of the
play calling was refreshing by Greg Knapp. The screen to Curry, which
then turned into a hook and lateral that McFadden ran for 16 yards was
exciting. ‘Wildcat’ formations a bootleg in which Russell kept for 17
yards, the utilization of McFadden and a reverse to Higgins were
pleasant surprises and nicely executed at times. But the overall
approach against a lowly team and leaving the points on the field for a
team that has been the lowest scoring in the NFL is mind-boggling.
EXTRA POINTS
* Thigpen is now 1-6 as a starter.
* Kansas City snapped a 2 game losing streak against the Raiders,
but extended their winning streak to seven games in Oakland.
* Oakland had 3 successful drives in the first half, but came away
with only 3 points.
