Too Little, Too Late For The Oakland Raiders

“We got ourselves into a huge hole in the first half.”--Head Coach Tom Cable

By Barbara Mason 12/14/08
Raiderdrive.com/Bay Area Sports Drive

One could not have asked for a drearier day at the Oakland Coliseum Sunday.  It was well suited to the mood of the die-hard Raider fans, who despite the weather, came out to support their team.  This game against the New England Patriots was touted to be yet another drubbing in the litany of drubbings this season.  While the Pats are not anywhere close to where they were last season they still have a reasonable team, a team able to take care of Oakland.  It’s just a relief that Raider fans have not taken to wearing paper bags over their heads.  Thankfully that seems to be a Detroit Lions thing.  That’s just plain rude, especially to the players who still do give a damn.  Surprise, surprise—not all of them do in the opinion of many.  Some of the things the team has done on the field this year have made the staunchest of fans want to crawl into the nearest cave and hibernate well into spring.

The Raiders clearly need a lifeline.  They are the NFL’s version of one of the sinking “big three” in the auto industry. They need a bailout, they need direction, and no one wants to admit it. It’s just too much of a chore to be associated with the organization right now. 

As expected, the New England Patriots were first up on the scoreboard.  Their first possession culminated in 7 points and they never looked back.  The Patriots scored three times before the Raiders had even found the end zone.  There were some bright spots for the Raiders, just not enough bright spots to win a game.  Late in the first quarter, quarterback JaMarcus Russell hooked up with Johnnie Lee Higgins for a 56-yard sprint and their first score of the game, trailing 21-7. 

At the half, it was New England 35 and the Raiders 14.  One look at the half time stats explains the lop-sided nature of this game.  New England had 21 first downs and the Raiders had 5. On third down efficiency, it was 86% for the Pats and 20% for Oakland.  Total net yards on the New England side were 331 yards to the Raiders 130.  The rushing stat was an unbalanced 160 yards to the Raiders 46.  It was a 35-14 half time score thanks to a 91-yard return by Oakland’s Justin Miller for six.

The Patriots went right to work in the opening minutes of the third quarter for a 42-14 score.  From that point on, New England just seemed to toy with the Raiders.  While Oakland did find the end zone for the third time in the game when Russell connected with Ronald Curry for 10 yards, for all intensive purposes it was over and with ten minutes left in the game the skies opened up.  Fans hurried from the stadium in droves.  Another disappointment. 

It’s just been a story of too little; too late all season for the Oakland Raiders as they dropped this one by a 49-27 score.  It’s been a saga of fumbles, interceptions, dropped passes, penalties, blocked kicks, a spotty running game, an inconsistent passing game and a questionable pass rush.  It’s just tough to be a Raider fan right now and it’s probably equally as tough for some of the players.  It’s just that the fans don’t get to pick up that generous paycheck each week.

Digging themselves into a hole is something that Oakland has done all year.  The second half stats were much improved for the Raiders but the damage had been done.  Oakland had twice as many first downs in the second half as New England and more total net yards.  “We got ourselves into a huge hole in the first half,” said Head Coach Tom Cable after the game.  “We had trouble getting them stopped and we traded big plays with them on kickoff returns.  It was just too big of a hole for us to overcome.  We played them straight up in terms of points in the second half but too much damage in the first half,” he said. 

He felt that there was some great effort on the part of the team.  The question could be asked-- is the effort consistent with 14 weeks of football and is this where the team should be at this point of the season?  Cable thought that it was the first time the offense had some rhythm and balance.  He also thought that once JaMarcus settled into the game, he made some really good decisions. 

The Oakland Raiders will play their last home game next Sunday as they take on the Houston Texans for game 15 and end the season in Tampa Bay.