OAKLAND - It started with a season-opening 27-0 loss to the San Diego
Chargers. Four more losses compounded the misery. Fourth-quarter
letdowns against the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Chargers in
successive games made things even harder to stomach for the Raiders.
Raiders coach Art Shell persevered through it all. He stressed the
growing pains of a team that has endured three straight losing seasons
and now is acclimating itself to a new coaching staff and a new
offensive scheme.
Things are heading in the right direction, Shell said as recently as
last Monday.
Then came Sunday's topper against Houston, a game in which the Raiders
held the Texans to minus-5 yards net passing ... and still lost 23-14 in
a hailstorm of turnovers, penalties and missed field goal attempts.
"That's unheard of," Raiders free safety Stuart Schweigert said.
"As I said to the team, this is probably as low as I've ever been all
year long," Shell said after his team dropped its fifth straight game
despite limiting the Texans to 124 yards of total offense.
The Raiders (2-10) now are tied for the league's worst record with the
Detroit Lions, and at this rate, it won't be long before Shell gets hit
with a barrage of questions about how he thinks Notre Dame quarterback
Brady Quinn would look in silver and black. Quinn is regarded as a
favorite to be the top pick in the NFL draft in April.
The Raiders, though, showed Sunday that what ails them transcends the
quarterback position.
Try three fumbles, two interceptions, seven penalties, three missed
field goal attempts, and punt and kick coverage teams that paved the way
for the Texans to turn a 14-7 halftime deficit into a nine-point victory.
"You can't do the things we're doing in games and expect to win,"
Raiders defensive tackle Warren Sapp said.
That translates to any level of football, Raiders running back Zack
Crockett said.
"When you have so many mistakes in a game like we had, you're not going
to win a Pop Warner game," Crockett said. "As always, we've got to go
back to the drawing board."
Raiders quarterback Aaron Brooks passed on doing a formal press
conference after the loss. Instead, he issued a statement in front of
his locker stall.
"I'd like to commend the defense for such a hell of an effort every
week," Brooks said. "You can't ask for no more out of them guys. I
appreciate what they try to do for us, and I know they're just doing
their job, but ... "
Brooks' statement passed as a blanket apology for an offense that is
ranked last in the league in points scored, passing yards, total yards,
yards per play, red-zone touchdown percentage, you name it.
On Sunday, running back ReShard Lee fumbled on a play the Texans (4-8)
recovered the ball and returned it for a touchdown, Brooks got
intercepted twice in Texans territory and sacked five times, and tight
end Randal Williams fumbled twice in the fourth quarter.
"Offensively, I don't have any words," Brooks said. "I was raised and
taught that if you didn't have anything nice to say, don't say it all.
So I'm not going to say anything at all. I just want to commend the
defense for an outstanding effort."
The Raiders still might have won the game in spite of their offense were
it not for Texans backup running back Ron Dayne channeling the Dayne who
won the Heisman Trophy at Wisconsin.
Dayne rushed for 83 yards in a second half in which the Texans completed
no passes. His effectiveness helped eat up the clock and get kicker Kris
Brown closer for his four field goal attempts.
Brown missed his first attempt. However, he converted three straight in
the fourth quarter in breaking a 14-14 tie.
Houston's three field goals came as a result of a 58-yard punt return to
the Raiders 21 early in the quarter and after fumbles by Williams in
Raiders territory left the Texans offense with little to do but run off
a few plays before Brown trotted on to the field.
All three came after the Raiders' Sebastian Janikowski had missed three
field goal attempts.
"He's just got to make those kicks," Shell said.
Nine times the Raiders reached Texans territory. They scored only once.
Their other touchdown came on a 35-yard fumble return by linebacker Kirk
Morrison.
Shell replaced offensive coordinator Tom Walsh with John Shoop on
Tuesday. The play-calling featured more quick passes and plays designed
to get the ball in the hands of wide receiver Randy Moss more than in
recent games. Not even that yielded better results.
"At some point, our defensive performance is going to count for
something," cornerback Fabian Washington said. "And it's going to feel
good. We're going to dominate a team when it comes together."
Until then, no one can be certain if the Raiders have hit rock bottom.
"We got to find a way to get this thing turned around," Crockett said.
"I don't know if we can get any lower than this."
