For Raiders, moral victory or Pyrrhic loss?

By Os Davis  |   Sunday, September 21, 2008  |  Comments( 54 )

Oakland Raiders
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Poor Lane Kiffin. Everything was in the bag in this one with five minutes left. Oakland Raider game balls were in the making for recently much-maligned guys like Johnnie Lee Higgins, Tommy Kelly and DeAngelo Hall, and the silver and black not only kept it close despite a publicly anticipated blowout, but nearly took down the playoff-bound (mark my words; you’ll see) Buffalo Bills.

This week, then, all it seems Raider Nation will have to look forward to are more stories about Kiffin’s inevitable departure and reminders that their 2008 season is over way prematurely. The disrespected young coach will surely be held accountable – rather than, ironically enough, the defensive coordinator greedily awaiting his superior’s departure – for Buffalo’s fourth-quarter comeback.

And yet in Week 3, as perhaps in each of the last seven or eight regular-season games (OK, maybe not the Week 1 Denver Broncos debacle), Kiffin provided his boss ample enough reason to keep himself employed. Fighting off detractors from without and even an anonymous in-house “Raiders source” who dissed Kiffin last week in favor of Rob Ryan, Kiffin came up with a game plan to deceive the Bills that worked beautifully.

Sure, Kiffin still had Darren McFadden and Michael Bush running the ball on third-and-long more often than not, but gone Sunday was the plethora of three-back sets the Raiders were supposed to be showing. And even when JaMarcus Russell couldn’t get it done on a particular play for an incomplete pass, the discipline of NFL existence finally seems to be settling in with the second-year man, who has finally learned the importance of throwing the ball away when the play breaks down.

And hey, how about that zone blocking displayed by the offensive line against Buffalo's Marcus Stroud-led defense? Sure, Stroud and fellow star Paul Posluszny got their half-dozen tackles each, but both these Pro Bowl-level players were kept off their game the entire time on the field; Russell was rarely rushed effectively and was sacked but once.

Speaking of defense, how about the Raiders’ own pass rush? The Raiders on Sunday reminded NFL observers just how green Trent Edwards is, as the third-and-out on the first Bills drive set the tone. Edwards was a pitiful 8 of 16 for 45 yards with three sacks taken in the first half. Of course, he also rallied the Bills to their late-game comeback with a heroic fourth-quarter performance.

And how about more on that defense? Sure! The secondary, led by DeAngelo Hall, played solidly for the first three quarters, while the likes of Kirk Morrison and Nnamdi Asomugha also pitched in.

And how about those special teams? You've gotta like Higgins setting the pace early, Sebastian Janikowski doing his fantasy owners proud (and even showing nice hustle when knocking Leodis McKelvin out of bounds on a second-quarter kick return), and Shane Lechler booming one well-placed punt after another.

So what has the Raider Nation on Monday morning? Another loss officially, but how could even the fuzzy-visioned Al Davis not have observed what Kiffin has managed to extract from this patchwork group of high draft picks, pricey free agents and thin bench? That despite the distractions and detractors, that Kiffin got Davis' club to within three seconds of a 2-1 record. Heck, if Edwards and Marshawn Lynch were human when the game was on the line, Oakland would have won.

How about it, Davis? Can Kiffin stick around for another week or two? We know you lost and all, but he deserves it?
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's ...
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