Catfish
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- Aug 14, 2006
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On a night in Oakland, the normally reliable #1 Offense was the unit that failed to impress. Despite playing an entire half, that unit could only manage to put three points on the board. Meanwhile the Defense kept the team in the game by not allowing any of the bad field possessions to become touchdowns for the Raiders.
There were several things that contributed to the poor offensive showing for the 'ones'. I thought most importantly, it was the excellent play of the Raiders Kalil Mack who pressured Cardinals QB Carson Palmer to the point of frustration that caused the most disruption to the #1 Offense. It was clear, that on this night, not even normally solid Jared Veldheer was able to corral, or contain Mack, who had to be getting into Palmer's head. Mack was simply everywhere, and thankfully, while the 'ones' could not shut him down, Earl Watford who was playing with the 'twos', came on in the second half and was finally able to corral the 'Mack Attack'. There was also some poor play by the Cardinals running backs who never seemed to get a block on Mack in their own backfield, and some indecision or late decisions on when and where to release the ball on Palmer's part that contributed to the lack of production by the offensive 'ones'. Thankfully, as badly as Palmer and his unit played, the units run by Stanton, Sims, and Thomas played very sharply, and each contributed with sharp play and crisp throws that led to scores in the red zone.
The defense not only kept pace, but contributed a score of its own, when (bubble sitter), defensive back Brooks picked off a disrupted Raider screen pass and returned it 81 yards for a touchdown. It was a play that seemed to ignite the entire team which came back to win the game despite the funky performance by Palmer's offensive unit. I thought that the defense, spurred on by stellar play from Okafor, and Campbell played well. Okafor displayed that pressure off the edge that this defense has been looking for, and contributed three tackles, (two for losses), during his time in the game. Callais Campbell was solid, and also got some pressure into the Raiders backfield. Despite poor field position, the defensive units played well enough to hold the score down until the offenses run by Drew Stanton, Phillip Sims, and Logan Thomas could each contribute scores of their own.
The two minute drill by Tomas, was quite remarkable, once he got through the first two plays where he was pressured, tackled while having his head spun around by a Raider face mask penalty, and then sacked by taking a tremendous shot to the legs from behind. He pulled himself to his feet and managed to shake of the effects of that tackle, and aided by two tough pass receptions, with yards after the catch for first downs by bubble sitter TE Momah, and with tough runs by RBs Williams and Grice was able to march the team from its own nine yard line, steadily down the field during the final two minutes of the game for the winning score. Despite all of Thomas' many critics, his two minute drill was tough, brutal, and not to be denied. The only thing beautiful about it was that he was able to do exactly what was needed of him during that pressure packed two minute drill to win the game.
I thought that despite the funky performance of the #1 Offense, this was a very good performance by all the other units, under very (game like) conditions. After the game, Bruce Arians did not seem to be overly concerned by the poor showing by Palmer's unit, and noted that Johnathon Cooper had a fine game starting at the right guard position. The best thing about the game, was that the team seemed to come out of a hard fought contest without any apparent serious injuries to add to what has been a frustrating pre-season from that stand point thus far. I would be surprised to see the ones playing at all in the game at Denver Thursday night.
There were several things that contributed to the poor offensive showing for the 'ones'. I thought most importantly, it was the excellent play of the Raiders Kalil Mack who pressured Cardinals QB Carson Palmer to the point of frustration that caused the most disruption to the #1 Offense. It was clear, that on this night, not even normally solid Jared Veldheer was able to corral, or contain Mack, who had to be getting into Palmer's head. Mack was simply everywhere, and thankfully, while the 'ones' could not shut him down, Earl Watford who was playing with the 'twos', came on in the second half and was finally able to corral the 'Mack Attack'. There was also some poor play by the Cardinals running backs who never seemed to get a block on Mack in their own backfield, and some indecision or late decisions on when and where to release the ball on Palmer's part that contributed to the lack of production by the offensive 'ones'. Thankfully, as badly as Palmer and his unit played, the units run by Stanton, Sims, and Thomas played very sharply, and each contributed with sharp play and crisp throws that led to scores in the red zone.
The defense not only kept pace, but contributed a score of its own, when (bubble sitter), defensive back Brooks picked off a disrupted Raider screen pass and returned it 81 yards for a touchdown. It was a play that seemed to ignite the entire team which came back to win the game despite the funky performance by Palmer's offensive unit. I thought that the defense, spurred on by stellar play from Okafor, and Campbell played well. Okafor displayed that pressure off the edge that this defense has been looking for, and contributed three tackles, (two for losses), during his time in the game. Callais Campbell was solid, and also got some pressure into the Raiders backfield. Despite poor field position, the defensive units played well enough to hold the score down until the offenses run by Drew Stanton, Phillip Sims, and Logan Thomas could each contribute scores of their own.
The two minute drill by Tomas, was quite remarkable, once he got through the first two plays where he was pressured, tackled while having his head spun around by a Raider face mask penalty, and then sacked by taking a tremendous shot to the legs from behind. He pulled himself to his feet and managed to shake of the effects of that tackle, and aided by two tough pass receptions, with yards after the catch for first downs by bubble sitter TE Momah, and with tough runs by RBs Williams and Grice was able to march the team from its own nine yard line, steadily down the field during the final two minutes of the game for the winning score. Despite all of Thomas' many critics, his two minute drill was tough, brutal, and not to be denied. The only thing beautiful about it was that he was able to do exactly what was needed of him during that pressure packed two minute drill to win the game.
I thought that despite the funky performance of the #1 Offense, this was a very good performance by all the other units, under very (game like) conditions. After the game, Bruce Arians did not seem to be overly concerned by the poor showing by Palmer's unit, and noted that Johnathon Cooper had a fine game starting at the right guard position. The best thing about the game, was that the team seemed to come out of a hard fought contest without any apparent serious injuries to add to what has been a frustrating pre-season from that stand point thus far. I would be surprised to see the ones playing at all in the game at Denver Thursday night.
