Lane Kiffin needs to rally his Raiders and tell them to put this game behind them. Culpepper must study the film and figure out what he did wrong so he won't lose his job. Josh McCown should be back soon, and if he has another game like he id, he might get pulled. Daunte must perform well against KC next week.
Dominic Rhodes needs to get more reps in with the first-team offense. I have a feeling this guy will become a big part of our offense. Kiffin and Knapp need to sit down and figure out some ways to get him to spell Jordan for positive yardage.Jerry Porter, Ronald Curry, and Mike Williams need to step their game up. They were no where to be found for most of the game against the Chargers, which isn't good. They need to be more agressive, and get open and make plays. Porter especially needs to fully put his work in for those deep passes he has been getting.
Tom Cable must work hard with the O-Line this week and get them back in sync. it is very critical they don't flunk out like they did for the rest of the season. The O-Line needs to be pushed harder on pass blocking. It also wouldn't hurt to just go over the basics a few times early on in the week.
Defensively:
Rob Ryan has to do something. That performance by his defense was far less than stellar. He is relying on his LB's to make plays all too often. Maybe he can force Kiffin's hand on a possible trade to get a nice run stuffer but that is very very unlikely. Ryan will continue to work with what he has, which is a poor pass rushing and run stopping defensive line, and great pass coverage linebacker's. Along with some good CB's who can make some plays and some confused safeties.
I don't really know if Al Davis specifically tells Ryan not to Blitz, but it may be that way. Ryan needs to load the box, at least show blitz and have the D-Line get pressure on the QB to make bad throws into our good secondary. It wouldn't hurt to even have some plays designed for Huff to blitz, which could work extremely well on passing downs. Also, Ryan needs to address his interior linemen.
They MUST STOP THE RUN. Ryan has to figure out WHY his defense keeps failing to stop the run, which most of us all know that the D-line is unfortunately contributing to. Warren Sapp may have made a bad decision after all in losing that weight. He is often getting pushed around more and not making much tackles. Against the Chargers Sapp had an assist tackle, which aren't his kind of stats. he got pressure with some others on one play, which resulted in a defensive touchdown, but that's about it.
Terdell Sands was payed a nice amount of money to sure up that DT position beside Sapp and take down ball carriers. This year he has lost his starting spot to Gerard Warren, our best run stoppper, and looks very sloppy. He evn didn't get the start against the Chargers becuase Ryan moved Tommy Kelly over from end to start at DT. Sands was great last year as a spell man. Too bad he isn't panning out for Ryan because that's good $ wasted that could be going to Asomugha's or D-Burg's new contract at the end of the year...
How about D-Burg? When he ISN'T GETTING DOUBLE-TEAMED he has barely missed making a play on the QB, but hasn't been much of use against the run. I still think he is a force, but he needs to get better and get his fellow linemen on track. As for the rookie Jay Richardson, I think he's a good project. He could trun out to be a good player, but he too must get better. He was responsible for Howard's interception for a TD in Denver and helps against the run. He is a decent player but must continue to develop.
Morrisson & Howard, or should I say "The Law Offices Of Morrisson & Howard", are playing well, but not well enough. Against the Chargers they both were blocked sometimes even down-field. They have to be free to tackle the ball carrier if he makes it through the D-Line! Is Schweigart or Huff going to be able to tackle him? Sometimes they will, most of the time they won't, and don't count on Schweigart bringing down the ball carier on contact, for him it usually takes 5-6 yards for him to bring the RB down.
Can Kiffin get the Raiders a much-needed Division win? Their last one was the 2004 snow game agianst the Donkies. The answer is Yes. With a good game plan, and good defensive play, the Raiders should be able to defend their home ground and get their first division win since 2004.Bottom Line: Kiffin needs to have better play out of his Line and has to get momentum to build on as the game goes on. Get Rhodes 5-10 carries when he spells Jordan who should get 15+ carries a game. Daunte must play better and be smarter. Ryan must get his D-Line to get after the QB and make plays so the secondary can capitalize on bad throws.
GO RAIDERS AND LET'S BEAT THE CHIEFS AT HOME AND GET A MUCH NEEDED DIVISION WIN!!!
0 comments:
Post a Comment