Raiders Win Streak Ends

By MikeBullock  |   Monday, December 14, 2009  |  Comments( 4 )

Oakland Raiders
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Warren Sapp was right; the Raiders are at their worst after a win. Especially if the main bright spot to their season, quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, goes down with a torn MCL in the first half and head coach Tom Cable sends JaMarcus Russell in to replace him.

This season, Oakland’s post-win performances have culminated in a scoring deficiency of minus ninety six points. Other than the Jets debacle, these were all performances captained by Russell.

Reports coming out of yesterday’s game noted the team in general seemed to give up when the overpaid and overplayed QB trotted onto the field after Gradkowski went down. In a post game press conference, Coach Cable admitted to putting serious consideration into sending Charlie Frye in to replace Gradkowski before ultimately deciding on Russell. Why anyone would think Russell would do anything other than underachieve as he has all season is mind boggling.

Looking at other recent young signal callers who have been benched, then returned to the field later to reinvigorate their team and career, we can see former Texas great Vince Young and what he’s done for the Tennessee Titans. It might be easy to make an argument that such a result might come from Russell returning after time on the bench as well. However, Young returned with a different offensive coordinator, and some different players around him in key positions, most notably running back Chris Johnson.

Another crucial difference is what Young was able to achieve before landing on the bench in the first place. Prior to being replaced, Young’s completion percentage was 61.7 percent. Russell has never had a completion percentage over 54.5. While Young wasn’t a superstar by any stretch of the imagination, he certainly wasn’t under the duly earned ire Russell has brought on himself.

While miracles do happen, if Russell gets the nod next weekend, the good money will land on Denver, a team playing for their playoff lives.

Certainly, all the Raiders’ woes can’t be blamed on Russell, who has done little to help the team, but is certainly not the only problem in Oakland. Yesterday marked the highest penalty yardage total since week one of 2005. The running game is once again anemic, hampered by the season ending surgery to left guard Robert Gallery. The offensive line play is simply offensive and the defense continues to prove they don’t mind giving out big plays and big points.

While nearly two thirds of the league is currently playing for the post season, the Raiders should start looking ahead to the off season. The December 27th game against Cleveland is a winnable affair, and the matchup between Rob Ryan’s defense and his former team could get interesting, but if Russell starts, expect Ryan’s D to have an uncharacteristic great outing.

Regardless of the outcome of that, or the Denver and Baltimore games, Oakland has too many issues that need to be corrected. Owner Al Davis no longer has the answers, Coach Cable never had them and Russell never understood them. Time to find someone who does…
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