OAKLAND – In the third quarter Raiders fans started chanting, “Russell
sucks!” They were speaking about Oakland starting quarterback JaMarcus
Russell and, although their language fell short of polite, no one could
disagree with the sentiment. Russell had thrown two interceptions in the
first quarter which led to 10 Denver points.
In both cases his passes were too high. And that seems to be a pattern.
He often throws high.
Coach Tom Cable took the blame for the first interception and maybe
that’s appropriate. But the crowd, generally favorable to the home team,
no longer is in favor of Russell. Fans boo whenever he runs on the field.
They think he sucks.
Is there evidence to justify this harsh assessment?
Well, his passer rating for the game was 22.6. That is a very bad passer
rating. It is something a quarterback feels ashamed of, although Russell
did not show shame after the game. In the second half, he threw for
exactly one yard. Think of that. A yard is a mere 36 inches and Russell
couldn’t even pass for, say, 37 inches.
He is now in his third year and should do better, especially because he
had plenty of time to throw against the Broncos. He is still a beginner
and fans are paying big-league prices to watch a beginner who still
makes dreadful mistakes.
Rich Gannon, who used to be a pretty good quarterback, says Russell’s
mechanics are all messed up. Because of that and other things the
Raiders tried to ban Gannon from their facility and said he was an
unpopular player. By the way, the Raiders have threatened to ban me, as
well. For that story read my Cohn Zohn blog.
When the game was over, reporters chatted with Nnamdi Asomugha, de facto
spokesman for the players. He is spokesman because he speaks
thoughtfully and he can back up his status with great play.
Someone asked about Russell.
Q: “A classic case of the quarterback getting too much blame when things
don’t go well?”
This was what you call a softball question. It allowed Asomugha to
defend his quarterback, say something like, “JaMarcus did many good
things out there.” But this is what Asomugha said, unprovoked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know that he played that well of a game, so I
don’t know that it’s one of those situations where a guy has a good game
but you don’t win so he takes the blame. I don’t know if it was that
situation. But of course, I don’t know his reads and that type of stuff.
I don’t know if that was the case.”
This was a team leader not exactly defending a teammate. It was a team
leader expressing dissatisfaction, although not quite as rudely as the fans.
So here’s what I want to say. The fans were out of line to single out
Russell in their chant. They were being narrow-minded. The fact is the
entire Raider team was bad, and that may indicate they will be bad on a
long-term basis – more of the same boring dreary thing. They are 1-2
after playing three games in the division.
That is not good. They could not beat the Broncos at home, and the
Broncos are no big deal. They could not stop the run – they always have
trouble stopping the run. They could not put pressure on Denver
quarterback Kyle Orton. They rarely put pressure on the quarterback.
Maybe the fans ought to adjust their derogatory chant to include the
entire team.
During the second half several fights broke out in the stands and the
cops showed up and led four or five people out of the stadium in the
section directly below the press box. Out of nowhere, a woman threw a
cup of beer in a cop’s face. Perhaps she was frustrated with the game.
They cuffed her and led her out.
I never condone violence of any kind, but I must admit the fights in the
stands were more interesting than the Raiders’ effort. At least the
fights didn’t suck.
