MVN: Most Valuable Network

Russell is every bit as good as he was supposed to be

Going into last night's game, there was plenty of concern over how good the Raiders really were.  Last week, they faced an opponent that wasn't as good of a litmus test for how far they've come since last season.  Both teams were in the bottom third of the league and it was still the first preseason game, so neither team played their starters long.

This game was going to be different, they were facing a team that had made the playoffs last year and had just gotten done whipping another of the past season's bottom third teams, the Rams.  By now, you probably already know that the Raiders lost 17-16, but unless you watched the game, you probably don't know how much better the Raiders look this year...so far.

Three plays mark this game in the win category for the Titans.  Three plays, and some questionable defensive playcalling in the final two minutes resulted in the Raiders loss at Tennessee.  Make no mistake about it, Jeff Fisher isn't thrilled with his team this morning, and Lane Kiffin may not be as down on his team as you'd think.

I had originally planned on finishing this earlier in the day, but I had to review the game a few times before I could be objective in my assessments.  The poor play is what stood out, but there were some very good performances by players that never got their name called.  Here are a few things that still stand out about the game.

Coaching

I think that this game showed that the Raiders coaching staff is doing some really positive improvements with the team.  There were uneven performances along all of the groups, but for every single guy that didn't do his job well, there were three others picking up their game.

Up until the last couple of minutes of the game, I really liked the playcalling.  Lane Kiffin's staff made smart and aggressive choices throughout the game and the team really looked ready.  Other than the score, this was a game that the Raiders won in nearly every aspect of the game.

QB

JaMarcus Russell - Is there anything that hasn't been said about this guy that I could say?  I don't think so.  He's quickly living up to his hype.  The throw to Miller in the endzone was so improbable that you could probably say that only a handful of people in the WORLD could've made that, yet he did.  He still needs work on his accuracy and is blitz recognition at the line, but we already expected those types of growing pains.  The one run/sack that he took was more JaMarcus than it was the line.  Griffith called out the blitzer, and JaMarcus didn't adjust anything.  Griffith and Green both blocked who they had to, but there was just too many guys and Russell should've known to pass in the direction of the blitz.

Andrew Walter - Another great performance for this guy.  If you have an Andrew Walter jersey, you'd better get all of the wear out of it this year, because I think the Raiders are going to get some offers for him before he leaves.  And he will leave his first chance that he gets.

RB

Justin Fargas - He did his job.  When he had to block, he did, when he had to run, he did.  I really like what he brings to the offense.  He's still, by far, the hardest runner on the team...maybe in the league.

Darren McFadden - I think that we all know how special this guy is going to be, but he's a rookie and he's not perfect.  The 11 yard run that he made through traffic in the first quarter, zig zagging through the defense, was a thing of beauty.  He still needs to improve in some minor aspects with his blocking and avoiding the rush, but I'm sure that will happen sooner than later.

Michael Bush - He had a couple of plays that he hesitated on, and paid for with the number of yards he picked up on those runs.  He blocks well, runs well, but I'd like to see him run a little harder when he's in a short yardage situation.  He's too big and talented not to be able to pick up an automatic two yards, and I'm not getting that impression yet.

Louis Rankin - He's a good back, that made the mistake of not staying in bounds towards the end of the game.  So he was yanked.  I only hope that there is a way to keep him wearing silver and black, because I think he could be pretty good.

Adimchinobe Echemandu - He continues to make good runs.  With the number of teams that are lacking a second or third running back, it surprises me that the Raiders have five guys that can come in and get yards.  Echemandu couldn't put the ball in the end zone, but I think that the Raiders should've put another back in after his long run.  A less tired back would've punched it in.

Justin Griffith - He's a smart player and he understands what he needs to do, but for the second straight week, I've seen him miss an assignment in blocking.  This week, it was a running play that got blown up and resulted in McFadden getting downed in the backfield.

Oren O'Neal - Let's not be so hard on this guy for the fumble.  Yes, he should've held on to the ball, but when Mario Henderson and Seth Wand don't do their jobs, you've got bigger problems than your fullback coughing one up.  Henderson pushed his man into O'Neal, while Wand just whiffed and the two guys converged on the unsuspecting fullback to make the play.  That's not to say that O'Neal had a good game because he didn't.  He should bounce back from it though.

TE

Zach Miller - We are going to be hearing, "Russell passes to Miller over the middle," quite a bit for a long time.  In my opinion, Miller might be the best draft pick the Raiders have made since coming back to Oakland.  Let's all hope he continues to play that way, because he is the prototypical Raider tight end.

Darryl Strong - This was the first time that I've taken notice of the tight end from Pitt, since the Raiders signed him.  He first came in as a fullback, and later played tight end.  He made some great catches and really looked like he belonged on the field.

WR

Javon Walker - Walker played hard on every play.  That is the positive.  The negative is that his playing speed is still a little slow and his hands are not capable as of right now.  He dropped, what I thought was a beautiful slant pass and also wasn't quick enough to get a quick comeback pass to him.  I'm pulling for him, but I'm thinking that the Raiders ought to think about dropping him on the depth chart.

Ronald Curry - He played with the same talent that we seen from him at the end of 2006.  You remember, don't you?  It was the reason that everyone thought he was poised for such a big year last year?  Then he got a case of the dropsies and really never recovered...until last night it seems.  On two different receptions, he juked defenders out of their you know what for extra yards.  Anytime a guy with two bad achiles and a knee can do that, it's impressive.  Actually, anybody that can do that is impressive!

Chaz Schilens - He softened the blow for me having to watch Lavelle Hawkins leave the Raiders secondary in the dust.  At least one of the Raiders receiving draft picks is playing, and playing well too.  The pass that he caught from Walter in the second quarter which nearly caused him to call Lane Kiffin, "Daddy," after being sommersaulted on his head, was what you want to see from your receivers.

Todd Watkins - You have to think that he is now a front runner for a spot on the roster.  He continues to make plays.  If the Raiders cut him, I'm going to have to think that the conspiracy against the Raiders is not from the league, but from the Raiders themselves.

Johnnie Lee Higgins - If the Raiders can pluck a kicker who makes 56 yard field goals and a punter that can punt the ball 80 yards in the air right off the street, can't they find a return man too?  He doesn't have to be a milk man either, I'd take a UPS or FedEx guy.  Maybe their is some 'postal', postal worker out there than can run the 40 in 4.3, catch the ball, and NOT make stupid mistakes.  Anyone, anyone, Bueller?

I hate to rant, but his play often reminds me of that first urination that I take to start the day.  No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to get it all in the bowl.  That's how Higgins has performed in the NFL.  It looks like he tries awfully hard, but he just performs like he's still half asleep.

His first return, he stumbles and makes a good return.  His second return, he fair catches in traffic.  Good so far.  Then he doesn't fair catch when he's about to be plowed, forcing Hiram Eugend to block the guy in the back.  We all know about the return that tied the game...for Tennessee.  This guy's a mess, and then he can't even run the correct route when he's pretending to be a receiver.  Time to cut our losses folks, unless this is his only bad game of the year...right?

Offensive Line

Kwame Harris - Was that really the Kwame Harris that we've been hearing can't block?  What happened to the guy?  I'd like to know, because he was the star of the offensive line.  He was blocking Kyle Vanden Bosch and Albert Haynesworth, and he was doing it well.  So well, that Haynesworth got pretty upset with him at one point.  I didn't see the Charmin softness that we've been told to expect.

John Wade - He settled down and played pretty good as the game wore on, but was that a byproduct of the lack of conditioning on the Titans defensive front?  Let's put it this way, maybe by the time he started looking alright, Albert Haynesworth was already full, because he ate Wade up that first quarter.  It wasn't just Haynesworth either.  Wade made a pathetic attempt at blocking on a screen that didn't go and when pulling on a toss he missed a block there too.  Before Jake Grove ever entered the game, he'd already been promoted to starter probably.

Mario Henderson - See Johnnie Lee Higgins above, just substitue' tackle' for' receiver' and 'Henderson' for 'Higgins.'  That's what I think of this wasted pick.  If I were Andrew Walter, I would've considered punching this guy in the nose after letting/causing me to get a bloody one on National TV.  Maybe he should've punched whoever made the decision to have Henderson protect his blind side.

Cornell Green - The first time that I heard Javon Kearse's name called was when he was being interviewed on the sidelines.  Freak?  Nah, not really.  Good job by Green most of the night without any glaring deficiencies.

Defensive Line

Jay Richardson - He's may not be the sackmeister that Burgess is, but he's always creating havoc.  In fact, I thought he played a more controlled game than Burgess by not over-running the pocket and playing the run very solid.

Gerrard Warren - I don't know this to be accurate, I sure did watch and rewatch the defensive front to see, but Warren didn't look to be playing the under tackle spot on Friday night.  He was getting a good rush, and getting off of his blocks well to make plays in the runnnig game.  I liked what we saw from him against Tennessee.  Now only if he could play like that every week.

Terdell Sands - Once again, he made a great play on the pass by batting a ball, seemingly, out of Vince Young's hand.  After that play, Young can't seem to throw a football to save his life.  I don't think that Young was injured on the play, but his ego sure seemed to take a beating.  Sands wasn't perfect, but he was good and he even got pressure on the QB, which is kind of exciting when you stop and think about it.

William Joseph - I thought he played poorly when he got his chance.  There were a couple of nice runs by the Titans where he just got manhandled.

Kalimba Edwards - Continued to be horrendous in the run and nearly non-existent in the pass.  I guess that's what the Lions fans were talking about when they told us he'd be dominant one game and disappear the next.

Trevor Scott and Greyson Gunheim - I didn't see much from either of these guys, but when I did see them, it was for something positive.  Trevor Scott can play special teams.  If he makes the squad, he'll bolter the coverage unit.  Gunheim got his second sack of the preseason and he doesn't look half bad.

Linebackers

The Law Firm - They played like they should, great.  Both Howard and Morrison had one play a piece where they failed to read the run correctly, but other than that they were great.

Ricky Brown - According to Kiffin today, "It's his job to lose."  He played well against Tennessee.  The first play that he was out of the game, the defense let up a 23 yard run to the Titans' Chris Johnson.  Brown was good against both the run and the pass and so far, looks to be the best linebacker for that spot.

Robert Thomas - He looked worse than he did last week.  He continued to play like he was lost and kept getting himself out of position.  He has plays where he looks pretty good, but then he just seems to get caught out of position regularly.

Adam Archuletta - He didn't play much, but for the time that he was in, he kept showing up in a good way.  I liked what I saw of him.  He redirected a run by filling the hole and laying a vicious hit on the blocking fullback, then he was in on the Gunheim sack on a linebacker blitz, and he was pretty good in coverage.  He might just have a real chance.

DB's

Gibril Wilson and Michael Huff - As soon as the Raiders have these two playing with Asomugha and Hall, wow!  Huff needs to work on his hands a little and Wilson is not as sharp in his coverage yet, but I like what I'm seeing out of both of these guys.  Huff got another really good tackle and then proceeded to be the type of rover that we never saw when Schweigert was playing that position.

Stanford Routt - Besides a couple of penalties, he covered well and didn't get beat except for a pass out of bounds.  The second penalty, the delay of game, was a bogus call.  He jumped a little in anticipation of the snap and the receiver never moved.  Never saw the hands to the face penalty.

Chris Johnson - There were a few passes that could've been caught against him, but it looked like he's getting better and the Titans weren't able to complete that many when he was in the game.  Had Young been accurate on one deep ball, Johnson might have looked bad, but he still had decent coverage on that play.

Michael Waddell - See Johnnie Lee Higgins above, except substitute 'draft pick' for 'free agent', 'Waddell' for 'Higgins' and 'corner' for 'receiver. '

Nick Sanchez - For a rookie with only a few days with the team, I thought he did alright.  I'm looking forward to see if he improves enough to get more playing time in the next couple of weeks.  Remember that he was a college safety and the Raiders used him as a corner, playing zone.

[*UPDATE - I have been contacted notifying me of the error I made in describing Sanchez. He was a corner at Stanford described as a "A heady player." Thanks to Judy for letting me know the error of my ways :-)]

Hiram Eugene - His best play of the night was his block in the back to save Higgins from making another critical mistake.  He whiffed on a touchdown saving tackle when he attempted to knock out Hawkins, but instead missed.  He was also the guy that couldn't cover that final Titans play that went for 25 yards and set up the game winning field goal.

I'm sure that I missed someone, but I think that pretty much sums it up.  If you weren't able to see the game, put your questions in the comment box, and I'll try to get your answers if I can.

Just laying the wood here at TFDS