The Final Quarter-Behind The Stats
Oakland Vs Philadelphia

By Barbara Mason 10/18/09
Raiderdrive.com/Bay Area Sports Drive

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the Oakland Raiders, guess what?  It didn’t, in fact the Oakland Raiders put on quite a show Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia Eagles.  Coach Tom Cables hopes for this game were for his team to “make it a football game.”  The Raiders did exactly that. 

While Oakland did squander a number of opportunities, they also  suffered a few bad breaks at the hands of the referees in the first half.  An incidental contact that usually does not draw a flag was called on Stanford Routt as he romped into the end zone for a touchdown after intercepting Donovan McNabb.  The 10-6 lead for Oakland at halftime should have been more like 14-6.

The Eagles are the highest scoring team in the league and the Raider defense kept the lid on them through most of the game, this time finishing the game for the 13-9 upset.  There would be no repeat of the San Diego game.

POSITIVES

The defense showed more blitz early than they have all year.  Philadelphia who blitzes more than any other team in the league was outdone by the Oakland defense.  The Raiders sacked McNabb a remarkable 6 Sacks. The Raider linebackers had a great game as a group.

Wide receiver Zach Miller had a banner game.  It was his 86 yard catch and run touchdown that gave Oakland their sole touchdown of the game.  He finished the game with 6 catches for 139 yards.   

Justin Fargas who hadn’t played a lot this year due to injury finished with 87 yards on 23 carries as the Raider running game came alive.  Michael Bush contributed 22 yards on 5 carries.

Gary Russell had an 18 yard catch and run,  rounding out the successful offense that the Raiders delivered in this game.  It was his final play that secured the win for Oakland.  He had 5 catches for 55 yards.

Everyone showed up today even quarterback JaMarcus Russell who had his best game of the year.  He did miss a golden opportunity on a wide open Louis Murphy that more than likely would have resulted in a touchdown but let’s just leave that one alone.  He was 17 of 28 attempts for 224 yards and one touchdown.

There were only three penalties in this game and that’s some great discipline.  There were 18 first downs for Oakland, 325 total net yards, 116 of those rushing and that’s a major improvement.

The Raiders dominated the line of scrimmage.  That’s an impressive list of positives for the Oakland Raiders. 

NEGATIVES:

It’s nice when it’s hard to find very many negatives; a breath of fresh air for the players and fans alike.  There were a few and I would list kickoff and punt returns as two of them.  Johnnie Lee Higgins had a couple of fumbles.  That’s about it and that’s not bad at all.

SNAPSHOT:

While it’s only one game, it was sweet indeed, and the fact that it was at home made it all the sweeter.  The fans finally got their money’s worth and it helped to erase a lot of the misery that had gone before. 

How will the Raiders respond next week as they take on the New York Jets who took a tough loss against Buffalo in overtime this weekend?  If Oakland continue to improve they will be fine but we have seen declines after solid games like this before and so there will be a lot to prove.  But for now, Sunday was a great day for the Oakland Raiders and the Raider Nation!