Frenzied Raiders need Fargas more than ever

By Anthony Carroll  |   Friday, October 03, 2008  |  Comments( 59 )

Oakland Raiders
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OK, so Tom Cable is the new head coach of the Oakland Raiders. It’s a topic that’s been (justifiably) talked about ad nauseum over the past few days.

Cable, like any one of the Raiders’ last five head coaches, is an interim coach. (Except he actually has the label “interim” before his title; it’s not implied this time).

Yet, when the Raiders return to the field on Oct. 12, it’ll still be the same cast of players out there attempting to win games. The playbook will be the same, the cast of assistants hasn’t changed and team owner Al Davis is still ultimately running the show.

Oakland suddenly won’t be winning games because of a drastic change in philosophy. The Raiders will win games on the field -- by executing plays.

Perhaps one of the most forgotten tools for Oakland’s on-field success is the team’s 2007 leading rusher, Justin Fargas, who’s missed the last two weeks with a groin injury. Fargas ironically fell to the ground during a Week 2 win on a non-contact, non-rushing play. The 6-foot-1 halfback grabbed the inside of his leg while running a streak down the sidelines, collapsed to the ground, left the game and hasn’t been talked about since.

“I take a lot of hits and I’m fine all game. Then, [I’m] just running by myself and get hurt,” Fargas pointed out after suffering the injury three weeks ago.

Since, the Raiders have dropped two straight contests in which they’ve headed into the fourth quarter with leads. More so than ever, the return of Fargas is crucial for early season damage control in Oakland.

“I already had a good impression of Coach Cable,” the sixth-year halfback told the Press Democrat on Wednesday. “Anybody that’s been around him or sees the way he coaches or approaches the game, he’s a guy that you say, ‘I’d play for that guy.’ I always felt that way. So now that he’s our head coach, it doesn’t change.”

For the Raiders, Fargas brings a dimension to Oakland’s offense that no other running back on the roster currently does. The best description of it: Downhill, I-don’t-care-who’s-in-front-of-me running.

Rookie rusher Darren McFadden, who’s dealing with an injury of his own (turf toe), has been relying on his quick cuts and good vision to find holes this season. Second-year halfback Michael Bush has employed a different strategy: pounding the ball straight ahead. Neither, though, seems to bring the energy that Fargas does when he touches the ball. The 220-pounder gained 1,009 yards on the ground last season through making a habit of keeping his legs constantly moving and dashing/diving/leaping forward to gain extra yardage.

In last week’s 28-18 loss at home against the AFC West rival San Diego Chargers, Oakland was forced to punt or kick a field goal on five different occasions after failing to pick up a first down on third-and-5-or-fewer situations -- situations that seem all the more viable with Fargas in the lineup.

The 28-year-old has spent the bulk of this week’s practices on the sidelines, but expects to return to the field when Oakland meets New Orleans in Week 6.

The longtime Raider may not be the youngest or flashiest of the team’s ball carriers, but he knows how to keep the chains moving.

New coach or old, the Raiders need the feisty ball carrier to return. Or else Tom Cable is doomed.

OK, fine, so he’s doomed anyway.
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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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