Cable’s cojones in the right place

By Os Davis  |   Sunday, November 30, 2008  |  Comments( 19 )

Oakland Raiders
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Though few positives may be had for Oakland Raiders fans after Sunday’s 20-13 loss to the AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs, at least loyalists can take solace in that stale play-calling certainly wasn’t to blame for the loss.

Maybe somebody on the Raider coaching staff flicked on the computer recently, surfed the Internet and happened to trip over something sports-related. With essentially anyone with an opinion on American sports noting the efficacy of the Oakland offense in inducing sleep with its steady inside run-inside run-incomplete pass rhythm, perhaps assistant offensive line/interim offensive line coach James Cregg, O-coordinator Greg Knapp or even Tom Cable himself wised up a little after a comment or 2,000 and finally consulted the dusty pages of the playbook.

Say what you want about the Raider loss – and may much be said indeed – at least this was some exciting ball. And you know what? Most of the time, Cable et al were making the correct decision. Roll the replay!

• First quarter, 9:43 remaining, first-and-10, Kansas City 30. In a stunning display of creativity, the Raiders run one of the best derivations on the hook-and-ladder in years with JaMarcus Russell, Ronald Curry and Darren McFadden moving that ball around like the Harlem Globetrotters – and forward, for a Chief-surprising 16 yards and a first down deep in the red zone.

Even better, Cable & Co. chose to chase the round-the-horn play with Johnnie Lee Higgins’ excellently executed end around. Set back-to-back, this made for a sequence that might have confounded nearly any NFL team and displayed some nice game planning. If anyone in fact puts together the 2008 Raider highlight reel, these two plays should probably be included.

• Second quarter, 12:09 remaining, fourth-and-10, Kansas City 25. This one, by contrast, makes the anti-highlight reel. Talk about immediate serious damage to the reputation: Shane Lechler and Sebastian Janikowski have consistently been the Raiders best at their respective positions this season – sterling All Pro-level (well, at least in Lechler’s case) cred dented by this Bad News Bears stuff.

In terms of sideline decision, though, it’s not bad. No, really, even if you factor in the supposition that maybe Janikowski should’ve just been allowed to knock in the three. By going with the tragically underused fake, Cable sought to have his troops deliver what might have been an early knockout (or, given the Raiders’ propensity to blow the late lead, an early knockdown) punch.

Sure, 10 yards is a lot to make up; but the field position the Chiefs would get after, say, a carry that Janikowski gets a hold on, is mediocre at best against an Oakland ‘D’ that was looking pretty decent. The truth is, if someone on the Raiders’ left side had distracted Maurice Leggett (say what you want about Kansas City playing safe against the kick; the right side was covered), Janikowski would’ve been looking at open field, fumble or no. A defensible call by Cable here, but an ‘F’ for effort.

• Second quarter, 7:25 remaining, first-and-10, Kansas City 46. Wow, what a bootleg, eh? Everybody on the Chiefs’ side up to and including half the state of Missouri went right as Russell chugged left then forward for a crazy 17 yards.

Unfortunately, just when it seemed both players and playbook-handlers were peaking, they, well, peaked.

• Second quarter, 5:10 remaining, fourth-and-3, Kansas City 22. Nope, still don’t get this one. After a dogged drive began to splutter to a crawling halt, Cable chooses not to have Janikowski kick it from even closer than the last fourth-down opportunity? Weird. Was this punishment for the fake field goal debacle? If so, Cable ended up punishing the entire team with a lame incomplete pass in the end zone (!) to Curry.

Gotta like the cojones of this call (especially after the Chiefs call timeout to change formation), but after passing up on the easy three once, wouldn’t you take the field goal here? It’s still the first half, man! A couple of points for style, but many thousands minus for excessive mule-headedness.

• Fourth quarter, 4:51 remaining, fourth-and-7, Oakland 24. Maybe it was a busted play thanks to blanket coverage deep, but kudos should go out to anyone based on entertainment value alone: The simultaneously humorous and edge-of-your-seat scary scamper by Russell surely gave more than a few Oakland denizens more than a few gray hairs.

Plus, though it seemed elementary, Cable remembered that two scores were necessary and time was of the essence. Recent memory recalls both the Detroit Lions’ Rod Marinelli (on more than one occasion) and the Chicago Bears’ Lovie Smith slipping this fact. Wouldn’t put it past the Philadelphia Eagles’ Andy Reid or the Cleveland Browns’ Romeo Crennel, either.

In any case, the right call was certainly made here, to Oakland’s benefit.

• Fourth quarter, 2:53 remaining, fourth-and-7, Kansas City 33. The field goal was probably the right thing to do, but seeing Janikowski launch the 51-yarder made one think about the non-attempts earlier again. Again, a correct choice, if a default option.

Better was the decision to have Janikowski knock the hell out of the kickoff to make the Chiefs play from the 20 with three Oakland timeouts; apparently, Herm Edwards either didn’t agree or erred on the side of caution and submissively let Cable have his way by protecting for the onside kick.

• Fourth quarter, 2:30 remaining, third-and-3, Kansas City 27. Unfortunately, the game-ending call for the Raiders was on the defense and may be considered even sadder by the prospect that even this was probably the correct call: With the Oakland linebackers mostly keying on Tony Gonzalez, who was in the throes of another monster game at the Raiders' expense, Dwayne Bowe was free to snag a little Tyler Thigpen 12-yarder for the dagger.

In the end, the Raiders certainly did not need this loss; some speculated (does anyone in the Raider Nation know this for sure?) that the team had been eliminated from playoff contention before Thanksgiving, but that doesn’t seem correct. Regardless, Oakland must find some sort of cohesion on which to build next season, particularly as it seems most of these players will be back while the interim head coach could well not be head coach.

After Sunday, it almost seems a shame ...
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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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