You have to feel bad for Chaz Schilens.
A Raider fan favourite for what he can do when he actually is on the field, the big, fast, dynamic wideout may yet again be sidelined with an injury.
With considerable size, speed, great hands, and a productive career at San Diego State, the only knock on Schilens coming out of college was that he was injury prone. It was enough of a concern that a player with his measurables and tangible production at a top tier Division I school dropped to the seventh round in the 2008 draft.
Midway through the season, with Schilens ...
Saturday night was another breath of fresh air for Raiders fans, as the Raiders won convincingly in Chicago 32-17.
Most impressive was the fact that the Raider defense did an exceptional job holding down Chicago's first team offense even without the services of Chris Johnson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Richard Seymour and Big John Henderson.
A couple things to note: Stanford Routt looked remarkably competent in pass coverage, and it took all of one preseason game for rookie Lamar Houston to command a double team from the opposing offense.
This spells success for the emerging Oakland defense. When Richard Seymour returns, it will be virtually impossible ...
When the Oakland Raiders took to Soldier Field Saturday in Chicago to face the Bears, they did so without many key offensive players. Chaz Schilens, Darren McFadden, and Darius Heyward-Bey all sat out against the Bears.There were even more defensive players that didn't play, but I'll leave that for my colleague Elias Trejo to explain in the companion article to this one that discusses only the defense. "Oakland Raiders Defeat Chicago Bears: 10 Observations About The Defense." Be sure to check it out.Back to the focus of this article—the offense.Ultimately, there were some good things, some bad things, and some ...
I am certainly not a perfect man, and am prone to being wrong on a regular basis, like anyone who has strong opinions.
I wrote an article last Friday voicing concerns that Coach Tom Cable was perhaps being too cautious with our players, holding them out of practices for seemingly benign reasons and putting the pads away in favour of shorts and shells for the majority of practices.
I was concerned that as this team has been terrible at tackling and all the fundamentals that go along with it, it would be prudent to work harder on our weaknesses.
Of course, personnel has ...
The Raiders beat the Bears 32-17 on Saturday and are now 2-0 in preseason play. The Starters played pretty strong in the first half but there were some let downs.
Overall it was a solid performance by the Raiders as a unit as they out played the Bears the whole game.
Let's take a look at 10 things that stuck out about the defense during Saturday's game against Chicago.Begin Slideshow
No, I don’t expect Darren McFadden to put on a bunch of weight and start sippin’ sizzurp. He is, however, starting to enter Bust Territory. In two seasons, McFadden has run for a mere 856 yards with five rushing touchdowns. He has salvaged some of his reputation by adding 530 receiving yards, but 1,386 total yards should be a single-season output for a guy that ran for 4,590 yards (nearly 5,000 total yards) with 41 touchdowns at Arkansas (plus two receiving and seven passing) and became the fourth pick of the 2008 draft. McFadden missed his second straight preseason game ...
The safety position has been a major concern for quite some time for the Oakland Raiders.Tyvon Branch led all DBs in tackles last season but didn't record any INTs, which is probably what left him out of the Pro Bowl.Michael Huff had more INTs last year than he has his entire career and was drafted with high expectations.They say Mike Mitchell was a reach last year, but injuries held him back most of last year as he tried to prove the media wrong.Let's take a look at the Raider safeties fighting for roster spots. They are in no particular order.Begin ...
On Saturday evening, the Oakland Raiders went up the Chicago for a preseason game against the Bears. I saw a tale of two Oakland Raider teams during this preseason contest.
I don't mean the first and second units either.
The first unit was two different units on Saturday night.
On offense, there was the unit the took the ball down the field and scored on the opening drive (11-5). Then there was the unit that couldn't protect the quarterback and turned the ball over (5-11).
On defense, there was the unit that stuffed the run and didn't even allow Jay Cutler to complete one ...
Intelligence, intensity, integrity, stamina and fierce determination are some of the qualities needed in the Oakland Raiders in 2010.
It's almost as if the Raiders should play football as though their career depended on winning. Yes, their careers do depend on winning.
Earlier articles were written to encourage the players to do their own self-study to determine their strengths, weaknesses and points of vulnerability.
Similarly, a study of the opponents' systems, strategies, plays, intelligence, intensity, integrity and stamina must be done on an ongoing basis.
So, a series of articles are discussing test models to determine reliable and simple measures of the places of vulnerability of the ...
Raiders Studs
Jason Campbell completed all five of his attempts on the Raiders first possession for 89 yards and capped off the drive with a one-yard running touchdown. Campbell amassed 170 yards passing in the first half. For that, Campbell gets the proverbial ‘thumps up.’
Louis Murphy and Zach Miller, the two top receiving threats from 2009, played well. Murphy let one pass go through his hands on a third down, but besides that he was solid.
Hue Jackson, for his play-calling, particularly the two screen passes to Marcel Reece (40 yards) and Michael Bush (28 yards).
Stevie Brown makes the cut for intercepting Dan ...