Edweirdo's Oakland Raiders Report

Collins has taken every snap so far. Statistically, he has been solid: 6 TDs / 0 INTs and an outstanding 7.85 ypa. The somewhat low 54.7% completion percentage is not unusual for a Coryell QB, with all the throws downfield. Yet Collins has not looked like a QB sporting a 94.7 QB rating. Collins struggled vs KC at home with his accuracy (Greg Papa commented on it all night). At times Collins has had poor pocket awareness and has been blindsided by blitzing DBs. The forced fumble in NE, when Collins made an ill-advised last second effort to throw the ball, essentially sealed the game for the Pats. At, at times, he was too predictable, either looking downfield for Moss or checking down to Jordan. But there has been noticable improvement in the past 2 weeks. Collins has been hooking up with TE Anderson for big plays. And his downfield bombs to Moss have been nothing short of spectacular.

I was expecting more out of this group, esp in the ground game. It was noble and professional of Jordan to publicly shoulder the blame for the struggles of the Raiders ground game. But the bottom line is that there are often defenders in the backfield when Jordan gets the handoff and a lack of running lanes between the tackles. Sims and Stone have been the most consistent so far. Walker has had made some great plays (e.g. vs NE, he pulled from his LG spot to pick up the blitzing 3-4 LOLB on the other side of the line), but he's been called for holding, and he fell for stunts vs NE and is sometimes caught lunging instead of keeping his feet and balance. He's still settling in at OG. After very impressive rookie campaigns, both Gallery and Grove have not started the season as I had expected. I had read in the offseason that Gallery struggled against speed rushers and the bull rush. I thought that was hogwash, but, well, he has struggled at times vs both and gotten flagged in pass pro. Grove has been a bit of a mystery. The OL seems to be playing better as a unit over time. Really, the run-blocking is the concern here.

Jordan had 2 solid efforts in NE and vs KC, and he redeemed himself after getting shutdown in PHI by steamrolling the Cowboys run D, who had not let a RB rush for 100 yards in 14 games. At times Jordan has run too much east-west instead of taking the tough yards inside. I'm not questioning his toughness, he just seems to like bouncing runs to the outside. Against the Cowboys he seemed to run much more decisively. Jordan has been very solid in blitz pickup and has shown the hands, elusiveness, power, and vision that the Raiders signed him for. My only concern for Jordan, as the season wears on, is how fresh he will be in the 4th Q of games. Crockett has played well both at RB and FB. This guy hasn't seemed to age one bit.

Moss has been brilliant. Anderson has been huge the past 2 games, making tough catches in traffic and racking up major YAC. He has been one of the best 2nd day picks we've had in years. Shame on me for ever questioning the pick. Porter has played OK, but he has dropped some catchable balls. Gabriel came back to give us a huge TD in PHI, and Whitted has been solid as the #3 WR.

Hamilton has been his usual incredibly-consistent run-stuffing self at LDE, as has Washington at LDT. One thing that really stands out about Hamilton: his awareness; he has batted down or tipped several passes so far this season, because he gets his hands up as soon as the QB releases the ball. Sapp has really come back strong this season. He's getting pressure from the interior of the line. He may not be the force he was for the Bucs, but he is playing very well. Kelly showed promise as a rookie, and already as a 2nd year player, he has been a huge boon for the Raiders. At 6-6 300 lbs, he is unusually big for a 4-3 RDE, but he can get after the QB, plays with leverage, and consistently blows up outside runs to the weak side. A great example was the TFL on 2nd down near the end of the Cowboys game that essentially forced the Cowboys to throw the next 2 downs. That was the defensive play of the game. The Raiders have been moving Kelly inside on passing downs to leverage his pass rush ability. Jasper has been a very good DT in the rotation, and like former Raider Rod Coleman, he can disrupt and penetrate. Burgess has provided a spark as a situational pass rusher. I'll have to watch him more closely, but my impression is that he is more of an edge speed rusher than a technician. Regardless, he gives the Raiders the first double-digit outside sack threat we've had in a long time. Grant's presence on the roster continues to aggravate me. He had a stupid roughing the passer call late in the game in PHI, and teams run to his side of the field with great success when he's lined up at RDE. Overall, the DL has been very stout against the run, holding star RBs Dillon, Holmes, Westbrook, and Julius Jones to under 100 yards on the ground. But this group needs to pick up more sacks. It also needs to avoid the dumb penalties (e.g. offsides, roughing the passer) that are keeping drives alive.

Let's start with Clark and Morrison, who are 2 true 4-3 LBs. Defensive captain Clark is having another productive year for the Silver & Black. I went back and watched a lot of the 3rd-and-short downs, and on many of them Clark either made the tackle or blew up the blocker and screwed up the design of the play. He has finally gotten the D to play as a family, and the difference has been noticable on the field. Morrison has been my favorite pick of the Raiders since I starting actively following the draft in 2002. He was the 7th leading tackler IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE after 4 games and is a fundamentally solid football player. I've been very impressed with how he well he uses his hands to fight off and defeat blockers. Clark and Morrison have been a terrific duo at LB. Brayton struggled at SLB as a starter with coverage duties, and he is now splitting time at SLB on 1st down and DE on other downs, which makes sense. Morrison has supplanted Irons at WLB. Irons has had more success than Brayton in coverage, but the bottom line is both men are 6-6 280 and look like it in coverage, even though Irons did play LB at Notre Dame.

Aside from 2 deep balls against the Cowboys, Woodson has been superb. Ryan has been moving him all over the field, Woodson contained TE Gonzalez and Terrell Owens, had a huge forced fumble on Samie Parker late in the KC game to give the Raiders a chance to win, and has been terrific in run support. Woodson should be getting his 5th trip to Hawaii if he continues to play at this level. Asomugha has been steady to excellent over the first 4 games. Deion Branch burned him in NE in the season opener, but since then, Asomugha has been very good, esp in shutting down Keyshawn Johnson. Routt's play has been very up-and-down. He committed huge penalties downfield at NE and vs KC (the 2nd call was bogus because the ball was uncatchable, but regardless, he should never have grabbed the receiver), and as a result he was benched for 1st rounder Fabian Washington. Washington has played well over the past 2 games. Both rookies have been willing and able in run support (something Buchanon never was) and play with fire. Hill was having a good year until he missed that tackle against Crayton vs the Cowboys. Gibson has been strong in run support, but he has been inconsistent in coverage and flagged for too many penalties. Schweigert has been solid at FS and had a HUGE forced fumble deep in the red zone in PHI to maintain a 1-score deficit.

Lechler has been brilliant. Janikowski's critical misses vs KC and in PHI changed the complexion of those games. Rookie KR/PR Chris Carr has made some huge plays but he needs to use better judgment when fielding punts. His critical fumble fielding the 1st punt vs KC put the Raiders in the hole the entire game. The coverage units have struggled at times but are much better compared to previous years.

As far as I know, the Raiders are the first team in NFL history to face both Super Bowl teams in the first 3 games of the season, and on the road to boot. So Turner, Ryan, Raye, and Avezzano really had a tough test. The coaches have made adjustments (Ryan has ditched the jumbo 6 man front with Brayton and Irons) as the season has progressed. At times the passing game seemed too predictable (Collins either throws downfield to Moss or checks-down to Jordan), but I don't know if that is because of the play-calling or Collins' decision-making. Penalties continue to kill the Raiders. Despite the rough 0-3 start, Turner kept the team together.