Teams Las Vegas Raiders - The Black Hole

[middy]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Exciting times for the Raiders, I consider myself to be a semi fan, it seems that by having all those high draft picks for so many years it all seems to be coming together. It's a shame Russel didn't work out, this team would be stocked. In saying that, i am a huge Gradkowski fan.

 

[Mooster7]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

I'm back as promised. You win. You were right, I was wrong. You are cool and I suck. You have big porno dicks, mine is small and pathetic.

That was a good game otherwise. See ya Week 16.

 

[Burzum]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Awesome game and win.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

commiserations mooster. we deserved to win that especially as we had to beat you and also the officials in that game.

 

[sherrinorburley]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Nice. Campbell to Ford was sweet, Janikowski the cherry.

3 zip in tha division.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Stat for the day...

Oakland’s Jacoby Ford: 148 Rec yds, 158 Kickoff Ret Yds Ford is only the 2nd player in NFL history to have at least 140 receiving yards and 150 kickoff return yards in the same game. The other was Gary Ballman, who on Nov. 17, 1963 had 161 Rec yds and 159 Kick Ret yds for the Steelers.

 

[GeeCats07]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Got the bye to prepare for Pittsburgh in what could be a very good game.

 

[Woodson]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Stat for the day...

Oakland’s Jacoby Ford: 148 Rec yds, 158 Kickoff Ret Yds Ford is only the 2nd player in NFL history to have at least 140 receiving yards and 150 kickoff return yards in the same game. The other was Gary Ballman, who on Nov. 17, 1963 had 161 Rec yds and 159 Kick Ret yds for the Steelers.

That game clinching reception to set up the FG was sensational! He was streaming then needed to hold his position 'mid-air' as he caught it and it almost flopped out.. the kid has tonnes of potential to be a genuine star for many years to come.

Relive the final minute.. I watched it all unfold on a stream.

[YOUTUBE]vbFlBjyxC8E?fs[/YOUTUBE]

 

[apex]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

won a bit of money on that game too.. made up for my fail attempt at a Bills/Lions double

 

[Woodson]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

won a bit of money on that game too.. made up for my fail attempt at a Bills/Lions double

Yet so close.. hold your chin up Apex. Good win against Sodapop in the ND btw.

 

[apex]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

thanks lol, mini-revival like the Raiders

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Great article on Richard Seymour...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/jim_trotter/11/10/raiders/index.html

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Greatness. It's a term that's easily understood but difficult to quantify in athletics. Is it measured by championships? Personal accolades? Individual statistics? Or is it something with broader context, like being able to improve the performance of those around you?

In the case of Raiders defensive tackle Richard Seymour, the answer is "all of the above." He won three Super Bowls in four appearances during his eight seasons with the Patriots; was voted to five Pro Bowls and four All-Pro teams during that time; and recorded 39 sacks with the team, tying for sixth most in franchise history by a defensive linemen.

Still, his greatest achievement may be the impact he has had on teammates since joining the Raiders before the start of the 2009 season.

"I can speak personally about it," says Pro Bowler Nnamdi Asomugha, one of the game's top shutdown cornerbacks. "Once he came in I felt like I had to step my game up. Before, it was like -- you never get complacent, you never get content -- but you get, I don't know, kind of comfortable when you're 'the guy' year after year after year.

"But when someone else comes in that's the guy, that has won championships, you're like, 'OK, I've got to step my game up even more.' It wasn't a thing of competition. It was: I have to do better than I was doing for him to trust me and respect me. I have to do more because of whom I'm surrounded by, a guy who is studying, a guy who really wants to be the best. Richard did that for me and didn't even know he was doing it. Anytime you're around greatness, you just want to be greater."

There are similar tales from the Raiders locker room, where Seymour, 31, has come to be viewed as a mentor, friend and standard-setter. During fellow defensive tackle Tommy Kelly's first six seasons, he was known as a player with great potential but limited discipline. For every sack or quarterback pressure, there were two offsides or a mental lapse.

Yet Kelly has been a consistent force this season. In Sunday's 23-20 overtime win over the Chiefs, he had three tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hurry, and a forced fumble. The week before against the Seahawks, he had three tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hurry. Slowly, he is shedding the underachiever label that has dogged him for much of his career.

"Big Rich brings the example," says Kelly. "He don't talk it; the résumé talks it. You already know what he means because of the Super Bowls and Pro Bowls. He commands respects, and he gives you respect. So it's easy to follow the example of somebody like that."

For the first time since 2002, the Raiders are playoff relevant in November in part because their effort and work habits are starting to match their talent level. At 5-4 they are above .500 this late in a season for the first time since going to the Super Bowl eight years ago, and many of the players point to the 6-foot-6, 310-pound man with the slow words and Southern drawl as a big reason.

During Game 1 of the World Series on Oct. 27, Seymour and Asomugha sat behind the Rangers dugout and spoke about nothing but football for almost 30 minutes. Even when third base Juan Uribe launched a fifth-inning three-run homer to push the Giants' lead to 8-2, setting off fog horns, water cannons and mass delirium in AT&T Park, the two never flinched. Their conversation was too deep and meaningful.

"Everyone is standing up going crazy, and we're just sitting there talking Raiders football," says Asomugha. "We're talking about our futures, our careers, where we've come from in the league, and how we've met on this middle ground. We're talking about him not having five, six, seven years left and wanting to get back to the Super Bowl before he retires, and me wanting to win now, me needing to win now, after some of the most difficult years of my career."

The conversation seemed unthinkable at the start of last season. After being traded to the Raiders on the Sunday before the season opener, he failed to immediately report. There was speculation that he wanted no part of the losing and dysfunction that had taken place in Oakland the previous six years, during which the organization employed five head coaches, signed free agents to megadeals only to cut them after one season -- or sometimes, in the case of cornerback DeAngelo Hall, after only eight games.

After a few days the Raiders sent a letter to Seymour threatening to place on a reserve list that would prohibit him from playing at all in 2009 if he did not report within five days. The truth, says Seymour, was that he was caught off guard by the deal and needed time to prepare his family for the change. Some of his kids had just started a new school and decisions had to be made about whether he and wife Tanya would uproot the family for what might be one year in Oakland, where Seymour would be in the final year of his contract.

"There was never a point that I wasn't going to play football," Seymour says. "But there was a lot going on. My family comes first. I may be a football player, but that does not define me. Once I got to Oakland, I saw that the Lord was really leading me out here for a reason. He was taking me out of one place and putting me in another where I could really have an impact on a lot of young guys. That's something that I've always wanted to do my whole career, what I believe my calling was. I feel like I'm at a place where I was designed to be, so this is fulfilling. I feel like I'm at that place right where I need to be.

"From the outside, people can look at it and say he's going from a team that's won the most games this decade to one of the teams that has lost the most. But I think it takes a special person that can move from that environment and still have a positive effect on others without being discouraged himself. Now I'm not saying they've all been great days. We've had our share of road bumps and issues throughout the way, but that's a part of growing.I'm a firm believer that people can say things to you or do things to you and think that they're putting you in a position to fail, but at the end of the day that situation can be a blessing. And this has been that for me."

It's also been a Godsend for coach Tom Cable, who has a respected, proven winner to carry his message into the locker room. It's interesting now to hear Oakland defenders not only talk about the importance of the little things -- like practicing with tempo, being in the right gaps, playing with effort on every snap -- but actually do those things.

When the Raiders trailed the AFC West-leading Chiefs 10-0 late in the second quarter and appeared to be on the verge of surrendering a back-breaking touchdown just before the half, Seymour gathered the players and told them they would be defined by the moment. In the past it was just the type of situation where the Raiders might have buckled. After all, losing has a way of becoming habitual when it's all you've known during your time in the league. But Seymour looked guys in the eyes and told them that if he were a general manager, this was the type of situation that would tell him about players. Would they fight when times were hard, or would they quit.

The Raiders forced an interception.

"He always says to just make sure you're always playing hard, no matter what the situation is," says rookie defensive end Lamarr Houston. "Don't ever get comfortable or complacent."

"From the first time he got here, he brought an air of, I've been through a lot of battles and I know how to prepare and I know what it takes to be successful," says Cable. "His role is constantly teaching in that locker room what it takes to be successful -- not cutting corners, staying through the course. It's a lot of hard work; there are a lot of setbacks that you go through. But you keep plugging until you get it right. I think he's brought that mentality that you just go to work."

In the offseason, the Raiders tried and failed to sign Seymour to a three-year extension. When they could not agree on the numbers, the South Carolina native signed a one-year deal for $12.4 million as an exclusive rights franchise player.

Some outsiders speculated that Seymour was hedging his bets, that he isn't totally committed to the Silver and Black. Again, they are wrong.

"We weren't able to come to terms in the offseason, but I'm optimistic things will shake out," he says. "I see myself retiring a Raider. I don't see myself leaving. I'm comfortable with it, I've got peace with it. Hopefully the powers that be feel the same way."

 

[Burzum]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Seymour is the best thing to happens to the Raiders in recent years.

 

[Southerntakeover]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Yeah, for all the talk about the first rounder given up to get him, hes been the driving force behind what appears to be a cultural change within the raiders locker room. You cant put a price on that.

 

[GeeCats07]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Also I can't say enough about the arrival of Rock Cartwright. He is another one who has brought leadership and enthusiasm to a team that was lacking it. His special teams play and pass blocking have been some of the 1%'s we have been missing.

 

[apex]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

let's not forget Hue Jackson and the improved play of Darren McFadden, everything is falling into place

 

[Oakland Raider]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Leapfrog in the bye week

 

[sherrinorburley]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Got the bye to prepare for Pittsburgh in what could be a very good game.

Very much like the AFL's 70's rivalry. Steelers(Hawks) and Raiders(Roos) should have been better today. Raiders got blanketed and even let BR (Don Scott) rush . Seymour went Crackers Keenan on the unlikeable Roethlisberger Next time.

Bring on the dolphins.

 

[GeeCats07]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

I'll take that loss IF we bounce back next week and play good football. At home, we should win. I got nothing against what Seymour did if BR was talking shit about us. He deserves a few good whacks anyway.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Instead of fining Seymour and shaking their heads, the NFL should be giving him a special bonus for slapping BB's big fat head around a bit.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Some after-game comments and observations...

http://www.ibabuzz.com/oaklandraiders/2010/11/21/raiders-not-ready-to-join-elite/

Quoting the section about Seymour and the dirtiness of the game in general...

– When Seymour yanked on the hair of Ryan Clady last year against Denver, he wouldn’t talk about it. Not so with his knockdown of Seymour in the first half.

“Well, first of all, I thought I let my teammates down,” Seymour said. “You never want to do anything to hurt the team. That’s first and foremost. It was a lot of ongoing (stuff) and you’re just out there to protect yourselv. It’s still no excuse. I’m not sure exactly what happened on the play. I just turned around, and he ran up on me quick. It was just a natural reaction.”

Roethlisberger was indeed taking a chance, running up on a player, particularly when his aim was to rub Seymour’s face in the fact that the Steelers had just scored.

“I just said, `Let’s get ready for the extra point,’ ” Roethlisberger said.

Roethlisberger also said, “I was not expecting that from him. Let’s move on.”

If that’s the case, Roethlisberger doesn’t know Seymour. As defensive coordinator John Marshall and defensive tackle Tommy Kelly both pointed out during the week, Seymour is not a nice guy on the field. He’s let his emotions get the better of him before.

If Roethisberger’s goal was to goad Seymour into in infraction that would remove the Raiders’ best defender from the field, he was successful. He’s also lucky he didn’t end up with a broken jaw for his troubles.

“I wasn’t around it but I heard Big Ben said something and I guess Big Rich didn’t like what he said,” Kelly said.

Raiders coach Tom Cable said he never saw the infraction (even though it was shown on the scoreboard at the stadium). Reminds me of the time Terrell Owens raced to the middle of the field and raised his arms at the Dallas star, instigating a brawl, and 49ers coaches insisted they never saw it.

Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin made no such claim.

“I haven’t seen a quarterback get punched since I’ve been in this league after a play like that,” Tomlin said. “It was unfortunate. I’ve got big-time respect for Richard Seymour as a football player. The guys’ got an 11-year resume that’s pretty impressive. (The game) got away from all of us today.

“I’m not going to let that play cloud my opinion of Richard Seymour. I think he’s an awesome football player and professional. It just got away from us, all parties involved, today.”

Steelers guard Chris Kemoeautu said he and Seymour had been going at it “exchanging words and punches the whole game, but if he had something personal with me, he should have taken it out on me, not Ben.”

More Kemoeatu:

“We knew how physical it was going o be and we weren’t going to take any BS from them. If they were going to try and push us around after the whistle, we wer going to try and get the last push in. If it was going to exchange words, we were going to get the last word in.”

– Pittsburgh wound up with 14 penalties for a franchise 163 yards, the Raiders seven for 55.

“We had to give it everything we got, whether it was eye-gouging or spitting on each other. A lotof that was going on this game. It’s uncalled for, but in the heat of battle, it happens,” Kemoeatu said.

– Considering the climate in the NFL, particularly when it comes to protecting quarterbacks, the Raiders are probably holding their breath that there is no suspension to go along with what will be a hefty fine for Seymour.

Asked if Seymour should be suspended, Pittsburgh’s Harrison said, “I don’t see why not. They’re trying to suspend guys for hits when that’s within the whistles _ some hits that guys can’t even stop from doing . . . you tell me what the next step is for a guy who, blatantly outside the play, when it’s already said and done, and a guy is celebrating with his teammates, you punch him in the face.”

 

[sherrinorburley]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Harrison's a tosser, as is their qb.

Celebrating with his team my arse.

 

[GeeCats07]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Today was pathetic. How many points will we go down to the Chargers by? 20? 25?

 

[sherrinorburley]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Another speed bump don't worry, will beat the chargers for the second time this season

 

[Exe Gesis]

Re: Oakland Raiders: "The Black Hole"

Justifiably scathing article by Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune...

http://www.ibabuzz.com/oaklandraiders/2010/11/28/raiders-revert-and-it-hurts/

Brought back some bad memories, didn’t it?

The same team that went into its bye week at 5-4 and full of hope is either a shell of itself or has simply reverted to what it has been starting in 2003.

The Raiders were out-blocked, out-tackled and blacked out. They were inferior in both the passing game and the running game. Had it not been for Jacoby Ford and and a couple of early Miami failures in the red zone, a 33-17 loss to the Dolphins Sunday at the Coliseum would have been _ and probably should have been _ much worse.

If you’re looking for some positive reinforcement, check out another site. Having had no problem saying how good the Raiders have been during their three-game winning streak, putting flowers on this pig is not an option.

News, notes and observations from the Raiders’ most disappointing game of the season:

– Even up to the time when press box announcers are supposed to announce lineup changes, Jason Campbell was the alleged starter. Asked a media-relations member and was told, “We have no changes to announce.”

If only the Raiders could only get over on an opponent the way they did with the media. What an incredible waste of time for a team that claims to put all its emphasis on winning to act in such a moronic fashion.

Sure fooled everyone with that Bruce Gradkowski switch. Gradkowski said he learned he was starting “at the beginning of the week.” Campbell said he found out Tuesday. Cable said he realized Gradkowski would start Wednesday once he was 100 percent healthy.

Because, you know, it was always going to be Gradkowski’s job once he was healthy. Cable has contradicted himself on this several times, but no matter. Coaches aren’t obligated to tell the media the truth except when it suits their purposes, and now that Gradkowski is hurt, it doesn’t really matter.

Not that it was handled with aplomb. If the Raiders were actually trying to go out of their way to look ridiculous, they couldn’t have done any better.

It’s apparent Gradkowski (surprise!) is down for awhile, re-injuring his throwing shoulder. He didn’t want to talk about or think about it, but said it felt like it did following the first San Diego game. And he returned five weeks later.

So now Campbell is back in the saddle, unless Kyle Boller is warming up in the bullpen. I heard second-hand Sunday night the reason Campbell was benched is that he’s not right for the Raiders as currently constituted, considering his issues with a pass rush and the club’s problems at wide receiver.

– Campbell wasn’t pretending to understand the double-talk, on one hand being told Gradkowski would get the job when healthy, and on the other hand still getting the start against Pittsburgh.

“My thing was in the Pittsburgh game, well, he was healthy,” Campbell said.

– Behind the scenes, the Raiders are fighting the perception that Campbell is the favorite of Al Davis, while Gradkowski is preferred by Cable and Hue Jackson.

“You’re a competitor and you like to compete, but by no means are you understanding or anything,” Campbell said. “It’s kind of tough because you’re caught right in between something and you don’t know what’s going on.”

Must be all that great communication Cable has talked about with his quarterback.

– Darren McFadden has fallen and he can’t get up.

In the last two games, McFadden, who has looked every bit the No. 4 overall pick in 2008, has 16 yards on 18 carries. Yes, there are issues with the offensive line. Privately, the coaching staff is concerned that he’s not running as he did before.

Right tackle Langston Walker seemed to think opposing teams are simply taking him (and other Raiders running backs) away.

“If teams are smart, if they have good defensive coordinators, they are going to load up against the run when they play us,” Walker said.

– The more Jacoby Ford does, the more damning it is for Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Telling moment _ Gradkowski has Heyward-Bey in single coverage on his left, with the safety drifting cheating toward the middle. He sees this, drops back, and lets fly a deep pass down the right sideline toward Marcel Reece. It is intercepted by Yeremiah Bell. Gradkowski said he was giving Reece a chance, given what he’s shown as a playmaker. He never considered Heyward-Bey even after he saw the coverage.

Reece is an intriguing but undrafted wide receiver turned tight end turned fullback. Heyward-Bey is the No. 7 overall pick in the 2009 draft and the alleged deep threat of the future.

The coaching staff is starting to reduce Heyward-Bey’s time on the field. He had far fewer snaps than normal and when asked if Heyward-Bey was still nursing a sore hamstring, Cable said it was simply a factor of the wide receiver rotation.

Not sure if another Raiders receiver is capable of making the 44-yard touchdown grab from Gradkowski, smoothly hauling it in while turning to his left and stradding the sideline for the score. He later repeated his magic act of taking an interception away from a defender with his 52-yard reception to set up a field goal.

– Davone Bess of the Dolphins caught six passes for 116 yards, had three punt returns for 60 yards with a long of 47, and the Raiders had no interest in him as an undrafted free agent. He went to Skyline High, grew up within sight distance of the Coliseum and was a big fan of Tim Brown.

Bess doesn’t have the 40-yard dash time Al Davis prefers, but his skills as a receiver are off the charts. He had subtle pushoffs on at least two catches worthy of a 10-year veteran.

“I’m excited to come home and get to play in front of my home city, my family, my friends, all my close ones that supported me through this,” Bess said. “Just to get the W, that’s my focus. Just get the win.”

– It was almost comical to see the Raiders go into damage control mode, with players getting serious briefings about what to say and not to say if scheduled to take the podium. Players shrug their heads at this later and laugh when it’s brought up informally.

– Zach Miller is confirming that is original “arch injury” was a torn plantar fascia, a very slow-to-heal condition. He hurt his right leg later in the game. Cable called it a “fibula” injury. Miller caught one pass for six yards and is currently a shell of himself.

– When winning, every move a coach makes seems to work out, and then you have Walter McFadden.

McFadden had a good week of practice following a game in which Jeremy Ware got poor reviews from coaches against Pittsburgh. So McFadden was the nickel back, but for some reason, Ware was inactive even though Chris Johnson was out with a groin strain and Nnamdi Asomugha was playing with an ankle injury.

McFadden got torched for five catches and 113 yards, including four third down conversions and another on third down because of a defensive holding penalty. Asomugha, who had given up five catches for 87 yards all season, gave up four receptions for 65 yards and also had a holding penalty resulting in a Miami first down. He conceded afterward he couldn’t plant and turn _ sort of a prerequisite for playing cornerback.

With Ware inactive, it’s not like Asomugha had any choice but to stay in the game.