Edweirdo's Oakland Raiders Report

Collins had one very good game, at home against the Bills. That was the only game this season where the Raiders put together 3 good quarters of offense in a game. Collins managed the offense very efficiently, almost Gannon-like. But aside from that, he's played poorly. Collins should have been picked off 5 or 6 times against the Chargers, but their DBs had alligator arms. The loss should have been much worse than the final score. Collins had 3 TDs at TEN but the reality is 2 of those TDs were gifts from rookie PacMan Jones, who can't tackle any better than former Raider Phillip Buchanon. And he had a horrific INT TD at the end of the 1st half of that game on a pass that should never have been thrown. Which brings me to a larger point: CBs are getting breaks on his short passes. Collins is not fooling anyone. The Chiefs game in a nutshell verified what I've always suspected: Collins has too many weaknesses to be a full-time starter. He can't avoid the pass rush, makes poor decisions under pressure, has poor mechanics under pressure (he throws off his back foot), overthrows open receivers, and lacks urgency in terms of getting the unit to the line of scrimmage late in games. Simply put, he can't manage an offense consistently. The one improvement Collins has made is checking down to Jordan at the right time.

This unit has been playing better. Treu has done a fine job in filling in (and now replacing) Grove as the starting C. Treu did get muscled by the Chargers NT Jamal Williams, but aside from that he's been solid. We haven't heard a peep out of Sims. He has done a terrific job protecting Collin's blindside. Gallery has played much better over the last 4 games. Stone has played well overall, although he has missed a block here and there. Walker was also playing much better, flashing some mobility as a pulling LG, but he may be done for the season.

Jordan has run the ball superbly, displaying the vision, balance, change-of-direction, and power that made him a hot free agent. He has been equally dangerous as a receiver, making the most of screens and check downs. Jordan has shown stamina late in games, something that I was concerned about after seeing him cramp up in NE to start the season. His pass protection was pretty solid until the KC game, where several times he went to chip a DE instead of identifying the blitzing LB. Foschi has looked good as the starting FB. Crockett has not run the ball much.

Moss has gutted out the last 3 games with injuries, but even in limited action he's made an impact. Porter finally had a breakout game in TEN, but you could argue that CB PacMan Jones just sucks. Gabriel had a big game, his 1st 100-yarder, against the Bills. He dropped 2 catchable balls but made up for it with some spectacular plays, including a 1-handed catch on a 3rd-and-long. Anderson has been picking up penalties and has cooled off after a good start to the season.

The grade would have been higher, but this unit was manhandled by the Chargers OL and badly gashed by LaDainian Tomlinson, who continues to show that he's the best back in the NFL. Still, the front 4 are doing something the Raiders have lacked for years: getting serious heat on the QB. Warren Sapp is reborn. He's back to his old havoc-wreaking ways from his comfortable 3-technique position. He had a monster game in TEN, picking up 2.5 sacks and a FF that resulted in a TD. He also played well against the Bills. Burgess has been consistently productive and earn the NFL Defensive Player of the Month in October. Jasper has also been effective in collapsing the pocket. These guys are feeding off each other. Kelly had a terrific effort in KC, pickup up 3 sacks and 2 FFs, one of which was recovered by the Raiders. The run D has not been as good over the past 4 games.

Clark and rookie Morrison have continued to be productive. Morrison is currently 13th in the NFL for tackles. Both were quiet in the KC game. What is lacking here are more big plays (FFs, sacks, INTs). SLB Brayton over-pursued Tomlinson and was burned for a long run. He has also been beat in coverage. Why Ryan insists on playing him at OLB is a mystery to me. Brayton took some snaps at DE vs TEN, and the impact was immediate: 1 FF on McNair and another time he bull-rushed the LT and allowed Sapp to come around for a sack for a huge loss.

Asomugha has been the anchor in the secondary. He is approaching shut-down status as a CB in his 1st full season as a starter. He has broken up a lot of passes deep downfield and been a productive tackler. Really the only weakness in his game are his hands, but aside from that he has been very solid. Fabian Washington has been terrific as a rookie, and despite his smallish size (5-10 190), he has tackled superbly. I've been impressed with his aggressive play. Hill has continued to play well overall. Schweigert has broken up passes with big hits and made some excellent open-field tackles but he also missed some key ones (e.g. RB Chris Brown's long TD run in TEN). But Stu has shown that he is a smart football player and a good draft pick. Routt and Cooper have made some nice open field tackles, but Cooper has been beat in coverage.

Jano has rebounded from a poor start to the season with reliable kicking. Lechler has been good not great; he's uncharacteristically had some short punts. Carr has been brilliant as the return specialist. ST coverage has been suspect at times.

Coming out flat against SD after a bye week (esp when SD had a short week to prepare) was inexcusable. Norv finally committed to the run against the Bills, but overall, he has not stuck with the run even when it was working (e.g. late in the game against KC). There has been very questionable clock management (e.g. waiting to call a timeout at the end of the 2nd half at KC). And at times the offense has run plays that made no sense (e.g. on a 3rd-and-1 at KC, Jordan was flexed out wide right, and Crockett was handed the ball with no blocker in front of him, and he was stuffed). Ryan has done a good job leveraging the strengths of his personnel (with the exception of Brayton). I think Ryan made a TERRIBLE decision blitzing when KC was at the Raiders 37 yard line with 19 seconds left. Larry Johnson got open and made it to the 1-yd line. Why blitz Ryan? Why???? Tynes had a long FG to tie the game as it was. The pressure was on the Chiefs.