The game was an absolute train-wreck. I don’t blame the personnel, though. This game, and the way the Raiders lost it, felt similar to the Super Bowl loss against Tampa Bay.
It seemed like Tony Sparano and the Dolphins coaching staff totally out-brained Hue Jackson, Chuck Bresnahan and Al Saunders. Let’s also throw linebacker coach Greg Biekert into the mix, because their play was horrible.
First of all, the decision to play Rolando McClain after he mad mugged a camera while getting stuffed into a police car was … questionable. Even if he didn’t fire a gun next to someone’s head while they begged for their life, he didn’t need to act like a jackass while he was getting ARRESTED.
McClain’s lucky they let him leave the state to play in the game. Raiders fans weren’t so lucky, though.
McClain and Aaron Curry were the moron brothers in this game. The middle of the field is where lagging offenses are reborn against the Raiders, and where almost any quarterback in the league can look like a great runner.
McClain led the team with 8 tackles, but don’t be deceived. He was playing mop up most of the time and missing plays the rest of the time. That was a really hollow 8 tackles. Same with Curry racking up 5.
And how long will he put up with Richard Seymour’s antics? Richie Incognito is on the all-time Fat Punk List along with Tony Siragusa, the patron saint of Fat Punks. But did Seymour really need to punch him in the head?? He wasn’t even clever or sneaky about it.
So stupid. It’s been that way all season long with Seymour. And his play doesn’t outweigh the liabilities.
Jackson talks a great game about how the Raiders are getting smarter and it’s a bunch of crap. Jackson was a real tough guy when he benched Quentin Groves in favor of Curry, but he can’t pull the trigger with a guy who’s made a bunch of expensive penalties all season long? If you want to make an example of someone who doesn’t follow the rules and is hurting the team with his play, don’t do it to Groves … do it to a golden calf like Seymour. If you don’t think that would send a ripple through the locker room, you’re crazy. He should park Seymour’s ass on the bench, or make him the biggest special teams player on the field. “Hey Rich, you are starting this week, buddy. You will be on the field for every punt, kickoff, and extra point. You won’t be out there for field goals, because I don’t want you to screw up SeaBass’s career season.”
5 Things that were revolting this week
1. “Reggie Bush Is A Hard-Nosed Running Back” — Yep, you heard right. He looked like an absolute bruiser against the Raiders. This is a guy who they thought was too soft to play in the NFL. Well, he carried the ball 22 times for over 100 yards, and I’d imagine quite a few of those yards came after the first hit … he was putting his head down and putting licks on people. Reggie Bush!
2. Michael Bush — again, I can’t blame the player. I’m going to blame the coaches. Apparently the rest of the league got the memo about how creatively un-creative the Raiders’ play calling is. “Bush is really strong, so put at least six guys in the box. Oh, and he doesn’t run outside the tackles so good…”
3. Khalif Barnes is not very good — Barnes got beat up all day, and he committed at least three penalties that I remember. He did the offense no favors, but did the Dolphins plenty. With two minutes left in the second half, Pancho Barnes derailed a promising drive with a holding penalty that brought back a completion to DHB that would’ve put the Raiders on the Dolphins 20.
After that, the wheels fell off and Lechler came out and punted the ball all the way to the Dolphins 6. Probably the highlight of the game.
4. This team still sucks in the second half — After another uninspiring halftime speech by Coach Talky Talk, the Raiders came out and gave up a 77-yard return to the Dolphins after SeaBass booted the ball to the back of the endzone.
Shortly after that, Stanford Routt put them inside the 5 with a silly pass interference penalty (the Raiders lead the league in illegal contact penalties, in case you were wondering), and Reggie Bush scored a touchdown on a play that Curry and Matt Giordano basically ran away from. Not even basically. They ran away from the play, after Bush started running toward the left guard. 20-0 Dolphins.
The Dolphins put 21 points on the board in the 3rd quarter — two more touchdowns in the third quarter than the Raiders scored last week.
5. 10 minute drill — The Raiders entered the game with Darren McFadden, Denarius Moore, Jacoby Ford, and Taiwan Jones out … let’s not test the depth of the roster at skill positions any further by attempting mathematically impossible comebacks in the fourth quarter.
IN CLOSING:
The Dolphins are a team on a roll. That’s their fourth victory in five games. But at the end of December 4th, those two fourth quarter touchdowns mean nothing. The Raiders are now tied for first place in the AFC West with the Denver Broncos.
No secondary on the planet is going to cover several receivers for over six seconds, and the Raiders put absolutely no pressure on Matt Moore, putting their secondary in that very position. I also don’t understand why every quarterback in the league can run for a first down — or at least get their kicker closer — against this team.
Wait, maybe I do; because that same idiot who grinned like a jackass at a photographer while having his large frame stuffed into a police cruiser … IS ALSO OUR MIDDLE LINEBACKER!! Well, newsflash, he’s no Ray Lewis or Junior Seau. Tradition says the middle linebacker is the quarterback of the defense. I wonder how long people will see his statistics and still believe he’s effective. Something has to give, or the season ended last week against Minnesota.
All I can hear in my head is Jim Mora screaming “Playoffs??!?!?” But it isn’t nearly as funny as it usually is.
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The Raiders Sports Guy, Francis Mayer, has extensive experience in radio as a producer in Bakersfield, as a former morning show host at 106.1 KRAB and now producing a local morning news show. He and BASG played on the same Babe Ruth baseball team as 13-year-olds, and Francis still talks about that time he struck out the side in his only pitching appearance of the season. He’s also a fan of the Oakland Raiders and Minnesota Twins, a strange pairing of teams that’s never been fully explained.
