The Oakland Raiders look well on their way to being the worst team in the NFL after a heart-breaking 23-20 loss to the undefeated Atlanta Falcons. Taking the majority of the blame for that loss is Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer. The San Jose Mercury-News reports that Palmer said this to the media following the game: "We had a great game plan, and I let the team down, I let the fans down. Making the mistake I made was crucial. It's my fault." Palmer did go 23-of-33 for 353 yards, a touchdown and an interception. His interception against the Falcons was ...
The odds were stacked against the Oakland Raiders headed into a Week 6 game against the undefeated Atlanta Falcons. Everything except the fact that the Raiders were coming off the bye seemed to favor the Falcons. Of course, games are played on the football field and not on the stat sheet, and the Raiders played their most inspired football of the season on Sunday. Despite great play by the defense, the Raiders just made one too many mistakes and the Falcons kicked a last-second field goal for the 23-20 win. The loss drops the Raiders to 1-4 on the season ...
Coming off of a week bye, the Oakland Raiders took on the undefeated NFC South Atlanta Falcons. While this Raiders team showed they could hang with (and at times lead) a top tier NFL team, they also showed areas in need of improvement.Here are some of the Oakland Raiders' biggest winners and losers from a hard fought loss to the Atlanta Falcons. WinnersOakland Raiders Rushing gameThe Oakland Raiders rushing offense more than doubled their NFL-worst average with 149 yards. You would think with that sentence alone, that would mean a big day for McFadden. However, he had another rough game with 70 ...
If the Oakland Raiders were not 1-3 coming into Sunday's game against the now 6-0 Atlanta Falcons, their 23-20 heartbreaking loss might not have stung as much.But that was the reality, making the loss feel like multiple bee stings.Winning on Sunday would have put the Raiders right back in the thick of things in the AFC West.The Raiders didn't play perfectly against the Falcons. They did improve, though. They were able to pressure quarterback Matt Ryan and this helped out a very thin secondary; see how that works? Don't give the quarterback all day to throw and suddenly your defensive ...
I had a feeling the Raiders would put forth a great effort. They did, but typical Raider mistakes were their undoing as Matt Bryant's 55-yard field goal with one second left Oakland a stunning 23-20 loser against the Atlanta Falcons. Too many times the Raiders had opportunities to make plays but failed to capitalize. There were plenty of nice things, but 12 penalties and an absolutely killer Carson Palmer pick-six to Asante Samuel were the difference in a game that was much more competitive than most people expected.As always, I targeted five keys for the Raiders to spring an upset against ...
Even though his club lost the deciding game of the AL Division Series last night, Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane is pleased with their performance and hopes to take the same roster into battle next season.The morning after the Detroit Tigers knocked the A's out of the playoffs with an 6-0 shellacking, Billy Beane met with reporters and optimistically discussed the team's offseason plans. Beane was impressed by the Athletics' surprising 94-win season and he's confident the same group of players have what it takes to succeed again next year:"I think we're in great shape...The satisfying thing about the crowd's response ...
The Oakland Raiders have one of the worst pass defenses in the entire NFL. It could be the worst, considering safety Michael Huff and veteran special-teamer Pat Lee are starting at cornerback and Matt Giordano at free safety.It’s hard to see things going well for the Raiders in Atlanta against Matt Ryan, who has thrown 13 touchdowns passes to just three interceptions and completed 68.3 percent of his passes. No team has successfully slowed down the Falcons through five games, but there is a silver lining. The Falcons have played several terrible pass defenses, meaning they are probably more beatable ...
The Oakland Athletics season ended when Justin Verlander's brilliance just proved to be greater than any magic in the East Bay. The Detroit Tigers may have moved on, but Oakland fans got a great show.In fact, since June 10, the Oakland Athletics have been the most exciting team in baseball with the most regular season wins. They won with homers, great pitching, speed on the bases and of course 14 walk off victories.And for their troubles, the Athletics played in front of 1,679,013 fans.Only the Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians and Tampa Bay Rays drew worse.Now the Rays drawing that badly ...
The Oakland A's came out of nowhere this season to win the AL West with a 94-68 record, which was largely the result of a 51-25 showing in the second half that featured plenty of walk-offs and plenty of all-around craziness.But it turns out there was a limit to Oakland's 2012 magic. The Athletics' season was one for the books, but it came to an end on Thursday night in Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers. Justin Verlander's right arm proved to be too much for the A's to overcome.When the game ended, something ...
For the second time in less than a week, Justin Verlander and Jarrod Parker squared off in an American League Division Series contest. And once again, the reigning AL Cy Young and MVP bested and outlasted Parker and the Oakland A’s to move on to the ALCS. Parker’s performance was comparable to that of Game 1 last Saturday, as he pitched well enough to keep the A’s in the game until the late innings. However, as was the case in that start, the 23-year-old’s mistakes were rare but costly. With the season on the line, Parker had a strong start ...