Pre-Season Game 2...... Cards Vs. Raiders

Wonder what just happened? Don't. Want to know why? Its pre-season and you can only learn so much with players who put in 80% effort because they do not want to get injured and those who have secured a starting role on the team and do not feel the need to go the extra mile in games that don't matter.

I do not put much weight on these games, and my thought is that neither should you. But, for s*its and giggles, I think I should touch on what I saw and give my two cents.

Offense-

Better, but still not where it needs to be. I saw a lot of the vintage Texans offense on display.  A few bootlegs, some misdirection and even cut backs. Inconsistencies reside at the Wide Receiver level and Offensive line, but for the most part the team was able to move the ball with some level of purpose.


Carson was able to avoid some pressure and get the ball on the hands of his wideout's, but as I mentioned, there are a lot of inconsistencies there. DHB dropped a sure touchdown in the end zone and a few other balls that should have been caught.














 Mike Goodson has his debut and subsequently failed miserably. 2 fumbles lost by him alone and looking like he had absolutely no ball control skills. Scary to think this cat could be our back up to McFadden. Not really a chance I think we should take if this keeps up.

Streater looked good at Receiver. 7 for 43 yards and could potentially be our starter opposite DHB should Ford and Moore be out for substantial time. No different than last year, early injuries derailing our hopes of having a great tandem running the sidelines.








Defense-

"That boy is scared" was something you could read from the lips of Tommy Kelly after the sack on Kevin Kolb in the end zone for a safety. That was for the most part the way the game went. The defense (1st team) stood their ground and just about put Kolb on his ass every other play. Aside from poor starting field position, thanks to our special teams and offensiv

e fumbles, the defense held their own forcing 4 turnovers, 3 by way of fumbles and 4 sacks.










Special Teams-
Sucked a big one and this could get bad. A blocked punt, huge return and some other missed responsibilities could spell disaster should this not get taken care of quickly.

What does it all mean? Work, work and more work...........Post game Vids coming soon.

Chaotic View

Seeing is Believing - Special Teams

Read an interesting story yesterday about the love affair between Brien Schneider, the beloved special teams coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2 years under Lance Kiffin, and the now head coach of the Seattle Sea Chickens, Pete Carrol. Sounded like something out of a fairy tail book and went something like this.

One day, long long ago, in Raiderville, a visiting prince rode into town with his Trojan Army, riding a Stallion of Maroon and Gold, to observe the great practice before the hand to hand combat to come. This Prince was alone, and looking for some "Special Love", and found a maiden who was a team builder and had many followers. This Maiden's name was Brian Schneider. Fearless leader of a special team, who used bravado and his enthusiastic voice to win the hearts of many, and when Pete observed Brian in action, thus began the courtship of Pete Carrol who would stop at nothing to win his prize.

Back to the story some other time. Anyhow, the year good ole Lance was fired (we all know the story), Brian was left there floundering in the breeze. Pete saw his opportunity and brought him to the Land of Troy for an 8 month stint with the Trojans, and when Carrol went to Seattle, Brian followed in his footsteps.

This year, Seattle is proving on Special Teams why the courtship was so important. They are starting with an average field position of the opponents 32 yard line, and I believe we all saw the beat down Leon Washington single-handedly, gave to the San Diego Super Chokers, scoring 2 touchdowns in the game,  one 99 yards and the other 101 yards. They are 4th in the league with the opponents starting field position.

Now, our special teams isn't chopped liver, OK not all of it. We have 2 of the best kickers probably to play the game in terms of skill in Sea Bass, and with stats in Lechler.Our kickoff teams are also very good, but we are in the cellar with a 20.1 average starting field position, and this needs to change dramatically, starting this weekend.

You knew the stats were coming. These are our current leaders:

Kick Returns

Ranked 27th in the NFL

Jacoby Ford

360yds

Ret   Yds    Avg   TDs

17    360    21.2    0

Punt Returns

Nick Miller

118yds

Ret   Yds   Avg    TDs

11    118   10.7     0

Kicking - 

Ranked 3rd in the NFL for Kickoff Yards

Sebastian Janikowski

15FG

Att   Made   Pct   Long

20    15        75*  54

Punter 

Ranked 15th in the NFL

Shane Lechler

Punts   Yds   Avg   IN20   IN20%

31      1520  49.0    13       41.9*

*WOW

We once challenged Devon Hester and he did nothing to us. You think Leon Washington and a rookie, Golden Tate, out of USC are gonna scare this team? I'd say bring it on.

It could be this kind of day.

Stay in your lanes, pursue the ball as a team and get some damn helmets on the ball carrier. Field position will play a key role in our time of possession and our ability to stay out of long drives. Lets see what the Raiders and John Fassel have up their sleeves this weekend.

As always, just a

Chaotic View