Could the Oakland Raiders make it two wins in a row?  They haven’t been able to do it all season, however under the direction of quarterback Bruce Gradkowski the team seems to be moving on a new and improved path.   

Sunday afternoon under threatening skies, the Raiders took on the Washington Redskins in an effort to continue their winning ways and get their first back-to-back win this year. 

Oakland was first up on the board off a 33 yard Janikowski field goal for the early 3-0 lead.  The Redskins were able to take the lead 7-3 as the first quarter came to an end.  A short pass down the middle from the Redskins Jason Campbell to Fred Davis gave Washington their first touchdown of the game. 

The first Oakland series of the second quarter gave the Raiders back the lead when Justin Fargas vaulted into the end zone from the Washington one yard line for the touchdown, 10-7.  The Redskins marched back down the field however the Oakland defense kept them out of the end zone. and they were forced to go for the field goal.  The 46 yard kick by Gano was good and the game was tied at 10.  The tie was broken when late in the second quarter Redskin quarterback Jason Campbell once again found Fred Davis for a 17 yard touchdown and the 17-10 lead.    

A devastating announcement came in as the third quarter commenced and #2 JaMarcus Russell took the field.  Bruce Gradkowski had taken a hit late in the second quarter and MCL sprains in both knees had taken him out of the game.  The Oakland get up and go got up and went as the rhythm of the game turned up side down for the Raiders.  Russell picked up right where he left off-he was awful.  Throwing into inadvisable coverage, his indecisive nature pushed the Raiders back time after time.  At one time late in the third quarter Oakland was looking at a 3^rd and 36.  What should have been at least 3 points for the Raiders turned into another disappointing drive. 

Oakland was able to creep closer when Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 54 yard field goal trailing 13-17 as the third quarter neared the end.  That was about all Oakland could muster for the remainder of the game. 

The final quarter brought out what looked like a demoralized, deflated team.  Washington was able to extend their lead to 24-13.  Minutes later, Russell threw an interception that the Redskins turned into another score and a 31-13 lead.  Then Russell fumbles deep in his own territory and on and on.  It was as ugly as it gets as the sacks began to mount (6 sacks) on Russell as he used up all of Oakland’s timeouts.  Why wasn’t quarterback Charlie Frye given a chance to play at this point?  Chances are he couldn’t have done any worse than Russell and wasn’t anyone curious about what their third man could do in a game situation? 

Washington tacked on another field goal for the 34-13 final.  Wasn’t it Russell himself who said the next time we saw him on the field he would be a different player.  Well, he’s not.  It’s been about four weeks since he’s taken the field and absolutely nothing has changed.  He still looks overweight, sluggish and still making some shaky decisions. 

“We had an opportunity to try and take another step forward and we did not do that.  Too many penalties and not enough flow offensively,” said Head Coach Tom Cable after the game.  He refuses to pin any of the blame on Russell for this loss.  “Whoever goes in there, we’ve got to rally around him.  It was a tough situation,” he said.  He declined to discuss who would be starting next week if Gradkowski was unable to play.  

When Gradkowski is on the field, this is a different team.  This lends truth to the argument that one player can make a difference in a teams performance, especially when that player is expected to lead.  Quarterback Bruce Gradkowski has settled into the Raider offense bringing them out of the funk that has persisted all season.  The return of Russell in this game seemed to throw them back into that funk. 

Chances are that Russell will be playing next week and it’s just a shame that the Raiders had to suffer another setback just when things looked like they were turning around.  Injury happens to all team’s but it’s especially difficult when it’s the quarterback.  Next up for Oakland will be rival Denver next Sunday.