Run-first Raiders can surprise Broncos with pass

By Anthony Carroll  |   Friday, September 05, 2008  |  Comments( 47 )

Oakland Raiders
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As a safety, 31-year-old Denver Bronco Marlon McCree’s first responsibility should be to prevent the big play in the passing game. Like much of the Broncos team and coaching staff, though, McCree knows that the Oakland Raiders won’t be coming out firing when the two AFC West rivals meet Monday.

But that doesn’t mean Oakland quarterback JaMarcus Russell can’t strike game-winning gold through the air. After all, the Broncos are wholeheartedly committed to stopping the Raiders rushing attack -- an attack that gained 375 yards against them last season -- not to stopping the second-year signal-caller.

“I can assure you that won’t be the message they send this year, I’ll tell you that,” McCree told the Rocky Mountain News on Wednesday. “They won’t be able to (run). If they do, it’ll be a message that comes back to them that says, ‘Return to sender.’”

The Bronco ‘D’ certainly has stopping the rush on its mind after what happened last season.

Denver finished the ’07 campaign ranked 30th in the NFL against the run (142.6 yards allowed per game) and lost its last matchup against the Raiders in December after letting the silver and black carry the ball 41 times for 175 yards. Veteran running back Justin Fargas gained 146 yards alone in the 14-point victory.

“I’ve been hearing about us not being able to stop the run since I’ve been here, man, and as a unit, we want to go out and prove that we can,” defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson said. “That’s where it starts.”

The team’s defensive coordinator, Bob Slowik, predicts that Oakland “might run the ball 40 times.”

Last season, no team averaged over 35 rushes per game, with the Raiders’ sixth-ranked ground assault notching a mean of 31.8 reps per outing. However, with the addition of rookie speedster Darren McFadden and the return of formerly injured bruiser Michael Bush -- a second-year man -- no one with a headset on Denver’s sidelines believes Oakland is incapable of a 40-rush effort.

That’s particularly good news for the player doing all the handing off, the 23-year-old Russell.

That is, of course, if Oakland can find a way to establish some success on the ground early enough in the contest.

Sophomore head coach Lane Kiffin will almost certainly use the 260-pound QB very cautiously in only his second NFL start. But when a frustratingly successful rush offense gets going early, opposing safeties -- ones like McCree -- become much more susceptible to the play-action pass.

“It’s 11 guys running to the ball. If we could have more guys than that, there’d be guys on the sideline trying to tackle people, we’ve got everybody trying to stop that ball,” McCree added.

That type of run-first aggression is certainly something to be concerned about for Oakland, whose offense is built to run the ball early and often.

However, it’s also a great opportunity.

Freezing McCree on his heels for just a split-second could mean a game-changing play through the air for the Raiders.

And, in the end, all those 1-, 2- and 3-yard runs will certainly look worth it.

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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