Oakland Raiders Blog

Again, the NFL’s stupid rule on blackout’s rears it’s ugly head. The Raiders failed to sell out the tickets for this Sunday’s 1:15 PM PST game against the Denver Brocos (2-0) and therefore the game will be blacked out to viewers within a 120 kilometer radius of the game.

For more information, here’s the Wikipedia entry on NFL blackouts:

In the NFL, any broadcaster that has a signal that hits any area within a 75-mile (120 km) radius of an NFL stadium may only broadcast a game if that game is a road game, or if the game sells out 72 hours or more before the start time for the game. If sold out in less than 72 hours, or is close to being sold out by the deadline, the team can sometimes request a time extension. Furthermore, broadcasters with NFL contracts are required to show their markets’ road games. Sometimes if a game is very close to selling out, but not quite there, a broadcaster with rights to show the nearly sold out game will buy the remaining tickets (and give them to local charities) so it can broadcast the game (usually, this would involve no more than a few hundred tickets because of cost). Other teams elect to close off sections of their stadium, but cannot sell these tickets for any game that season if they choose to do so. As a result, if the home team’s game is a Sunday day game both networks can air only one game each in that market. (Until 2001, this rule applied whether or not the game was blacked out, however, this was changed because some markets virtually never aired doubleheaders as a result.) Usually, but not always, when each network can show only one game each in a market, the two stations work out between themselves which will show an early game and which will show a late game. This only affects the primary market, and not markets in a 75-mile (121 km) radius, which always get a doubleheader each Sunday.

In an otherwise sloppy offensive game between the Raiders and Chiefs, the Raiders prevailed late in the game beating the Chiefs 13-10 for the Raiders first win of the season.

The Chiefs out gained the Raiders with409 total yards on offense to the Raiders 166. While the Chiefs trailed the Raiders 6-3 for most of the game, the Chiefs took the lead with a 29-yard TD pass from Cassell to Bowe with 2:30 left in the 4th quarter.

Despite finding little success on offensive side, Russell led the Raiders down the field in a late impressive drive to take the lead. In a 9 play 69-yard drive, Russell connected with Todd Watkins for a big 28-yard completion and finally capped off the drive with a McFadden TD run.

Watch McFaddens TD Run (NFL.com).

After last week’s demoralizing loss to the Chargers, the Raiders came close to falling victim to the same late-game defensive collapse after Bowe’s touchdown. Instead, Jamarcus Russell made the plays when he needed to and the Raiders came away with the game despite mustering only 166 total yards.

Throughout the pre-season, the Raiders continued to draw criticism from arround the league for drafting Heyward-Bey, controversey around how the organization is run, coaches punching coaches, and continual remarks to being the worst organization, not just team, in the NFL. But Raider Nation is always here in support, and after years of rebuilding, the Raiders are here to turn their image around this year.

The Raiders now head into week 3 1-1, and look to host the Denver Broncos in the black hole.

Game Notes

• Safety Michael Huff picked off Chiefs QB Matt Cassell this week for 2 interceptions. Huff now leads the NFL with 3-interceptions.
• Greg Ellis led the defensive line this week with 2-sacks.
• The Raiders young receiving core struggled again for a second week. The Raiders totaled 99-yards passing. The Raiders receivers finished the game with 4 receptions (Watkins 1, Murphy 2, Heyward-Bey 1, Miller 0).
• The Raiders had 0 turnovers.

The Raiders put up a great fight against the Chargers on Monday night in hopes of ending an 11-game losing streak to San Diego stretching back to the 2003-04 season. For 57-minutes of the game, the Raiders were in line to pull off the upset. The Raiders dominated the game on defense holding the Chargers to 74-yards in the first half. The Raiders stopped the pass, contained LaDainian Tomlinson, and established an effective running tandem with McFadden & Bush. The game had the makings of a great upset from the start.

Led by newly acquired defensive lineman Richard Seymour, the Raiders defense contained the potent San Diego offense for the first three quarters until the final stand when the Raiders dropped the safeties and linebackers into prevent, and allowed Phillip Rivers and the Chargers to a final 79-yard game winning drive.

Despite the loss, the Raiders played a solid game and video highlights for the game can be found at the NFL Network.

Last season, the Raiders finished 5-12, and lost games to Miami, Buffalo, and Kansas City in similar fashion by playing a soft in the final minutes of the game. Perhaps, it’s time for the Raiders to believe in themselves and trust their players to do the right thing. Sure playing the team in prevent may be the safe route, but after the first three quarters, trust your players enough to allow them to play the same way they have all game; overpowering. Instead, playing back on the Chargers, Rivers and co. found numerous holes in the Raider defense that were non-existent earlier in the game.

The Raiders walked away Monday night with a very disappointing loss to open the season (though Cincinnati and Buffalo walked away with much tougher to bear late minute losses). But all-in-all, the Raiders showed lots of promise. The wide receiving core as well as Jamarcus Russell’s inexperience showed, but the Raiders defense and run game are the real deal.

So long as the team focuses around what they’re built for, the Raiders can potentially still pull out a solid 7-8 win season.

Next week, the Raiders take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead. Let’s get a win boys.

Game Notes

• Richard Seymour arrived in Oakland and started the game without participating in a single full practice. Seymour didn’t disappoint, contributing to a Raiders run defense that held both Tomlinson and Sproles to a combined 77-yards on the ground. Seymour also sacked Chargers QB Philip Rivers twice in the first half.
• Raiders return man specialist and slot receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins took a hard hit in the 4th quarter on a 3rd and long play and is questionable for week 2 with a shoulder injury.
• Rookie WR Louis Murphy caught a 4th-down 57-yard touchdown pass (first TD in his career) late in the game after having a TD catch overturned by officials earlier in the game.
• Raiders first round draft pick Darrius Heyward-Bey had 0-catches in a night where Raiders receivers only made 5 receptions.