Kiffin’s not-so-exciting ‘O’ is the right way to go

By Anthony Carroll  |   Friday, August 15, 2008  |  Comments( 52 )

Oakland Raiders
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Aside from a handful of fourth-down gambles and mass substitutions, what you saw from the Oakland Raiders last week will probably mirror what you’ll see Friday.

And for the rest of the 2008 campaign, for that matter.

With that, Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin can only hope the wins -- like the one Oakland enjoyed last Friday -- accompany the strategy.

It was run, run, run for the Raiders in their opening preseason meeting with the San Francisco 49ers exactly one week ago. The offensive approach came with a bit of frustration, though, as it seemingly “held down” second-year passer JaMarcus Russell. The 6-foot-6, 260-pounder attempted just five passes on the day, completing only two for 13 yards. Second-string QB Andrew Walter attempted nine more passes than Russell and third-stringer Marques Tuiasosopo threw for more yards.

NFL.com recapped Russell’s debut as a “struggle.” Call it more of a nurturing.

Kiffin did what the Raiders are built for, and showed no reluctance in making it obvious to his opponent. The 33-year-old’s offense ran the football 10 times in the opening two drives of the game, which consisted of only 16 plays. During one stretch of the second series, halfbacks Darren McFadden and Justin Fargas ran the ball on seven of the team’s eight consecutive plays.

The result was a dominating overall effort on the ground.

Oakland rushed for 248 yards on 41 carries (6 yards per try), a remarkable single-game effort. Even if you exclude undrafted free agent Louis Rankin’s 72-yard scamper in the early fourth quarter, the Raiders would have achieved 176 yards rushing -- a number 11 yards greater than the Minnesota Vikings’ top-rated per-game rush average during the ‘07 regular season.

Finishing in the top three in rushing during the regular season is nothing short of expected for the Raiders in 2008. Finishing first is anticipated by those who know the team best.

The Raiders are built to run. They have an inexperienced QB, an O-line coach who’s two years into developing a zone blocking scheme and three backs in Fargas, McFadden and Michael Bush, all of whom can make the chains move.

Though only one preseason game deep into the 2008 campaign (soon to be two), the way Kiffin utilized his first-team players against San Francisco is likely the way he’ll continue to use them. That means Friday against the Tennessee Titans (on national TV) and well into the regular season.

That’ll present a bit of a challenge for the young Kiffin, who, when the offense doesn’t seem to be working well, will be the first person to be blamed. There’s also the argument that the Raiders didn’t pay the big-armed Russell $61 million to hand the ball off.

With the AFC West seemingly on the decline and the young Raiders finally looking ready to rise out of the cellar, though, Kiffin understands his team’s strengths and limitations.

If underutilizing Russell and being predictable with his running backs earns wins, it’ll only be opponents of the Oakland Raiders that will be begging Kiffin to stop in 2008.

Anthony Carroll can be contacted at

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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal ...
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CommentsComments: 52  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Double H		03:56 AM
08/15/2008
As long as we don't get behind by more that 1 TD we should do alright as we aren't built for comebacks...If we can mirror what ...
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No.2
The Shape		05:58 AM
08/15/2008
I don't like to hear that Russell wasn't sharp in camp. I would expect Kiffen to take the run first approach anyways. A balanced ...
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No.3
11:03 AM
08/15/2008
The season hasn't even started yet. This is the time to try and fail, and try and succeed. Kiffin needs to test the passing ...
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