Do Not Forget Who We Are!

I must apologize for the delay in this issue, but with the "breaking news" of the week, I had to check out all my sources to be sure no Raiders were named in the "water pill" drug test failure. I must say I have heard nothing of a Raider teammate being investigated. Yea! Now, I can write my article.

I have heard from most of my loyal readers (and some new ones, too) and all are chomping at the bit for for this issue. Everyone is ecstatic over the Raiders overtime victory against the Jets, last Sunday. I must say that while I am happy, I am cautious. I do not like the way things developed during the game and I surely am not happy with what was said in the post-game press conference.

In the 4th quarter, with seconds remaining, the Jets positioned themselves for a field goal which would send the game into overtime. Raiders Head Coach, Tom Cable, waits behind the official for the moment before the snap...to call a timeout. A TIMEOUT! When I saw him duck down to ear level with the ref, I shout "NO!!!" Anyone who has played kicker or coach, knows that it is stupid to call a timeout at the snap of the ball in an attempt to "ice the kicker." Doing so gives the kicker a second shot at the kick and takes most of the guess work out of the kick. If he was thinking pull it left and he misses too far left, he can come back, not pull so hard and make the kick. If it is right, he can pull more to the left next time. If you want to "ice" a kicker, just call timeout after they break the huddle or line up. Yes, Mike Shanahan  did this to us against the Broncos, but I bet you if it ever happens again, Sea Bass will not miss. The Jets kicker hit the upright and missed the field goal. That would have been game over in regulation, but because the Raiders coach called timeout, they got a second chance and made the field goal, sending the game into overtime.

During the press conference, Tom Cable said he called the timeout "Because the Broncos did it to us." WHAT! Just because someone does something stupid to you and gets lucky does not mean you follow suit. We are the RAIDERS! We play Raider football. That should be the message. Hopefully, he has learned his lesson. Also, in the press conference he made the statement, "We are 1 and 0." It was later repeated by Russell in his portion of the press conference. BAD IDEA! Cable has the team in the mindset of each Sunday we are going to be 1 and 0. As a player, I can tell you that may work for 2, maybe 3 weeks, but then you run the risk of your players looking at things from a "We are undefeated" attitude. As they when 3 in a row, they will go back to not working as hard, because they will think "We got this. We can win 1 game." and that is a tougher problem to fix, than teaching them to work hard during the week and leave everything on the field on Sunday. (Commitment to Excellence) This "We are fine as long as we go 1 and 0 each week." thinking will bite the team in the butt at a time when they still have a chance to win the division.

The Raiders fought against the Jets like the Raiders of the 70's, giving Brett Farve headaches by not allowing his WR's to get open and they Raiders rose victorious. JaMarcus Russell showed, once again, he is a future star.  The defense played to their expectations. The Raiders have one of the best, overlooked, defenses in the league.

This week, the Raiders travel to Baltimore to play the Ravens. They will defeat the Ravens. The Ravens defense is suffering due to Ray Lewis playing injured. Their offense is not playing their best. When Ray Lewis is less than 100%, they suffer because they have nobody who can carry them the way Ray can. They Raiders will be able to run all day on that Raven defense. They Raiders defense will be in the Ravens backfield more that the QB. My main reason for saying this is simple...the Raiders are underestimated by everyone on the Ravens, except Ray Lewis. He has spent the past week trying to keep his teammates from looking past the Raiders, because he knows how good they are and how they can defeat his team, any team, that does not take them seriously.

I must go, now. I will try to post the next edition, sooner.

Raider-Man, out.