Raidertopia

The Raiders lose to San Diego for the 13th straight time.

13!

I never thought I’d see the team so bad and for so long. Post-game comments included these gems:

“I did a pretty good job,” Russell told reporters.

“I thought he did some really good things that way today,” Cable said. “Very much seemed to be in control today. A couple of throws hed probably like to have over again but for the most part he gave us a chance to win today and that’s what you ask your quarterback to do.”

That’s what it has come to in Raiderville. That’s how low the bar has been set for a number one overall draft pick that’s supposed to lead this team. The most pathetic thing is that these comments came after he threw for a whopping 109 yards passing (81 net yards). The longest pass play went for 15 yards. He had one bad interception where he said “it didn’t hurt too much”. I guess he forgot that it led to a San Diego touchdown or he just missed that while he rested his fat ass on the bench in his ski cap. He was lucky that at least one more wasn’t intercepted and that he didn’t lose his fumble.

The season is half over.  JaMarcus Russell has 2 touchdown passes.

Two touchdown passes in eight games.  I would be willing to bet that just about every other starting QB in the league has two in a quarter.

I didn’t think it was possible, but this inept offense is on pace to be worse than the infamous Tom Walsh B&B offense.

This team is maddening to watch.  They’re not even entertaining.  The QB is horrible.  The WRs can’t get open and when they do, they can’t catch.  The return game is non-existent.  The defense folds when they need a stop and they allow way too many third down conversions.

The defense still cannot stop the run.  Tomlinson is officially over the hill, but has all three of his TDs against the Raiders this year.

I generally like the speedy, active linebackers (Howard and Morrison), but they cannot fill a gap to save their lives.  The Raiders need a stout, strong linebacker like Brian Cushing that can fill a hole, shed blockers, and tackle well.

Chris Chambers is a veteran WR who was just released and who could instantly help the Raiders (if Russell can get him the ball….did I mention that he can’t hit the side of a barn?), but I’ll be surprised if they sign him.

I’ll also be surprised if Al Davis hires a take-charge GM before he dies.  He needs to do this to rescue the franchise, but he’s a stubborn old man.  In his head, doing that would just be an admission that he was wrong and his critics were right.

So much for “Just Win, Baby”.

First, I’ve got to say, those throwback uniforms were stellar.  Can the Raiders wear those every week?Makes those USFL-style Bronco and Patsy unis look like a joke.

Like any good Raider fan, I can’t let it go.  I’m talking about the most recent horrendous call that may have cost the Raiders a big win.  What is fuelling me know is the NFL’s attempt to justify it with the supposed rule that they applied.

First, let me say that if the defense, and especially the defensive coordinator, had done their jobs there wouldn’t be as big a controversy.  They allowed San Diego to drive 89 yards in the last 2 minutes to win.  They used the vaunted prevent defense with linebackers playing back 15 yards to allow scatback Sproles to get the ball in huge, open spaces.  What were they thinking?

Back to the rule.  Nancy Gay shows here anti-Raider bias once again with the sarcastic blog title, Sorry, Raiders Fans: Rule Book Backs Reversal of Louis Murphy TD.

No, sorry Nancy. That rule was mis-applied.

First, the rule

“A player is in possession when he is in firm grip and control of the ball inbounds. To gain possession of a loose ball that has been caught, intercepted or recovered, a player must have complete control of the ball and have both feet completely on the ground inbounds or any other part of his body, other than his hands, on the ground inbounds.

“If the player loses the ball while simultaneously touching both feet or any other part of his body to the ground or if there is any doubt that the acts were simultaneous, there is no possession. This rule applies to the field of play and in the end zone.”

Thanks for that reprint, Nancy. It seems that the “a player must have complete control of the ball and have both feet completely on the ground inbounds” part was plain to see.

So why doesn’t it stop there?

Because Nancy and the NFL are just reaching t find something….anything….to justify the bad call.

They decide they can use Note 1 of this rule:

“A player who goes to the ground in the process of attempting to secure possession of a loose ball (with or without contact by a defender) must maintain control of the ball after he touches the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone.

The problem with this part of the rule is that it does NOT apply here. Murphy had total control going to the ground (both feet, a hip) and even controlled the ball until the tail end of his time ON the ground, when he started to get up to celebrate.  The snapshot above shows Murphy with the ball secured AFTER two feet, a hip, and even an elbow touched the ground.  In the video freeze frame, you can see his left hand starting to push himself back up to get to his feet and celebrate, where I admit, he then lets the ball slip out of his hands…well after the play is completed, using plain common sense.

And what constitutes the end of a play, anyway?

Total stillness?

Louis Murphy said it best and the way most reasonable humans saw it:

“They told me I had two feet and my rear end was down,” Murphy said. “Honestly, when I fell, I was pushing myself to celebrate. I didn’t think I ever lost control of the ball.”

And whatever happened to undisputable video evidence needed to overturn a call? They were in that booth so long, Raider fans just knew it was going to be bad news. If it was so undisputable for those inept zebras, why were they searching so long? I say searching because they were probably searching the rule book for something to validate their scheme.

Want to hear the most hilarious quote?

Referee Carl Cheffers said in an interview after the game that the ruling was “pretty clear-cut.”

No surprise that the idiots (Florio, Mortenson) over at PFT and ESPN are backing the NFL’s ludicrous reading of the “rule”.

The NFL and their rules are a joke. They’re going to ruin a great game.

Halftime thoughts….

Wonder how the NFL is going to spin the horrendous call (a reversal on instant replay, no less!) that took a TD away from rookie Louis Murphy.  Inexcusable.  Really makes you wonder about those idiots.

Don’t worry, Louis, you’ll have plenty more in the future.

This game just better not come down to 4 points.

Have to say I like how this team looks.  Need to work on getting the ball to the WRs, but run game looks very good….and Richard Seymour is a difference maker.  Period.

This game should not be tied. Not even close.

I didn’t want to celebrate, or even blog about, the Raider win over the Texans last week because I was afraid of a face plant in Tampa Bay like the embarrasment in Baltimore after the NY Jet win or the collapse vs lowly Kansas City after the Denver route.

To my surprise, I received a late Christmas gift in the form of back to back Raider wins.  This one against a team fighting for the playoffs, in their house, across country, and the most unbelievable – after being down by 10 points with only 11 minutes left in the game!

As if the Raider win wasn’t enough, everything else went well this Sunday.  As a Raider fan of late, I’ve had to take pleasure in watching the teams I hate lose.  I know, it’s a little sad and hopefully that will change soon.

The team that is known by their obnoxious fans and mediots as “America’s Team” was absolutely blown out by Philadelphia 44-6 to miss the playoffs entirely.  Ha!  Super Bowl bound, my ass.  They haven’t won a playoff game in over ten years and yet they’re still media darlings.

Speaking of obnoxious fans and media darlings, even better was the 11-5 Patriots not making the playoffs.  Nawt fay-uh, they’re surely crying.  Perhaps this is kismet for all the cheating they’ve done in the past.   Maybe Belicheat is regretting not trying to do just a little more cheating this year to get them over the hump. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.  Ahhh….I think I’ll drink a Sam Adams to celebrate their demise.

Well, that pretty much completes my football weekend.  I think the only thing that might improve on it is if that crybaby Jay Cutler and the Broncos get knocked out of the playoffs tonight at San Diego.  I’m no San Diego fan, of course, but it’s definitely the lesser of two evils.

As a Raider fan, I went into this game with low expectations.  What, with the coaching turmoil and the many key injuries to Raider starters.  Then, I saw Gerard Warren in there playing like a monster, and Derrick Burgess starting, as well as Asomugha and McFadden.  Terdell Sands decided to play as big as his size.  Jamarcus was starting to air it out a bit more.  Not only that, the Raiders were absolutely dominating San Diego through the better part of three quarters.  At that point, my attitude was reversed and I fully expected a Raider win.  After all, they couldn’t lose another game like last week at Buffalo where they had a two score lead going into the fourth quarter and were in control, could they?

They did.

Optimism can be cruel.

Raiders go down 28-18, although that was padded, along with Tomlinson’s deceiving stats, with a late, 40 yard TD run.  By the way, nice tackle attempt on that run, Michael Huff.  Still pales in comparison to the pathetic attempt bySam Williams that cost the Raiders two points on what should have been a stuffed two point conversion.  What was Williams doing in there, anyway?

Shame on me for dreaming about a .500 record going into the bye.  Shame on me for thinking about being only one game back of first in the AFC West.  Shame on me for believing the big win, that would end a five year streak of losses to San Diego,  would stabilize the head coaching situation.

I should’ve known better.  After all, I’ve been a Raider fan for this cursed, last half decade of football.

So long Lane.  We hardly knew ye.