Walter, Shell grow confident with first win

By Anthony Carroll  |   Tuesday, October 24, 2006  |  Comments( 30 )

Oakland Raiders
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The Oakland Raiders, in March, invested $8 million in what appears to be a season-long backup, quarterback Aaron Brooks.

The continued growth of Andrew Walter has made Brooks' return a mere afterthought, a small addendum on the coach's clipboard.

"The more he plays, the better he will be," head coach Art Shell commented on his young quarterback.

Walter, in Oakland's first win of the season, posted his most impressive outing since entering the NFL in 2005. The third-rounder completed 17-of-30 pass attempts for 263 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

"He is getting better each time out. He is growing," Shell said after the game. "He is understanding where the receivers are going to be, where he needs to go with the ball. So, that's been a big plus."

Led by Walter, the Raiders' offense, in Week 7, notched 395 offensive yards, completed 13-of-20 third-down attempts and controlled the ball for over 37 minutes. Beneath it all, however, the offense turned the ball over five times. Individually, Walter accounted for three of those turnovers, including two lost fumbles.

"We can't afford to leave points on the field," Shell stressed. "Yesterday, we felt we left some points on the field, but we've said that every week."

Luckily for Walter, who lost fumbles at his own 32- and 44-yard lines, Arizona was able to convert just 1-of-11 third-down attempts in front of the Raiders' top-rated pass defense. Shell, however, knows how fortunate his team was to win, even with the development of his quarterback coming along quicker than expected.

"We can't have five turnovers in a game and expect to come out victorious, like we did yesterday," he said.

Despite Walter's struggles hanging onto the ball, it was the Raiders' receivers who had the hardest time on the evening. Had Randy Moss and the receiving corps held onto six dropped passes, Walter's 56.7 completion percentage would have risen to 76.7%, and another touchdown pass would have been added to the board.

"We had some dropped passes yesterday," Shell commented. "We had some passes that would have raised Andrew's percentage up. We had 4, 5, 6 dropped passes."

Up 20%, to be exact.

Drops and all, Walter has steadily progressed in each of his four starts this season, improving in both completions and yardage from one game to the next. His 83.1 quarterback rating on Sunday was his best thus far this season, nearly double the rating he posted in his first NFL start against the Cleveland Browns just three weeks ago. Most importantly, though, Walter's confidence-level has remained steadily high.

"We won one. We have to make it two," Walter said after the game.

Art Shell isn't as modest in numbering his team's future wins, though.

"I don't think in terms of losses, I think in terms of winning all the time," he said on Monday. "I never go into a game thinking I can't win."

"We've had our share of losses now. We need to continue to win."

Want to be in the Oakland Raiders mailbag? Visit RaidersLive.com to submit your questions and comments for the Nov. 3 mailbag.

Anthony Carroll can be contacted at acarroll@realfootball365.com
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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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