2. Defense – Despite giving up 33 points and over 500 yards to the Raiders, it could have been a lot worse. Most of those yards were gathered on a few plays and most of those happened late in the game. Darren McFadden ran for 111 yards but 49 of those were on one run.
3. Lawyer Milloy – You’re right. I am really reaching for a third good here.
The Bad:
1. Golden Tate – On the only big play Tate made, a nice catch and move to gain 22 yards, the play was called back because Tate was penalized for not lining up properly. I like Tate, I think he’s got amazing potential, but in this game he showed how far he has yet to go.
2. Michael Williams – Getting 21 catches in two games, I was excited to see how Williams did against the aggressive bump and run style of the Raiders cornerbacks. Now I know. One catch for 27 yards. Williams was pouting on the side line and showing a regression to the form that found him out of football after being a first round draft pick. The BMW turned into a Yugo in Oakland.
3. Injuries – Red Bryant, Colin Cole, Tyler Polumbus, Golden Tate. The beat goes on for Seattle. Supposedly Mike Williams hurt his knee, but I feel like it might have been more his ego than his knee that was hurt.
4. Olindo Mare – Maker of over a year’s worth of field goals, over 30 straight, Mare picked an awful time to miss. The Seahawks needed his foot to stay in the game early and he responded with two misses. Mare, you’re still a stud kicker but this was an awful trick to pull.
1. Drops – You can’t blame Hasselbeck for this one. Nor can you blame Offensive Coordinator Jeremy Bates. The right plays were called; the passes were put in the right places. Every single one of them seemed to end up on the ground off the tips of a Seahawks receiver fingers.
2. Deon Butler – He gave his best effort, I do not doubt that at all, but his best was not good enough. If anything, Butler was less than useless in Oakland. The flashes are still there. I’m a firm believer that if the ball hits you in the hands, you have to make the catch. Too many balls hit Butler’s hands but ended up on the turf.
Article comments
1 - Raider Fan
Haha...Really...Close? Even though the score was only 10-0 at the half...It was no where near close. A complete domination and saying otherwise is like the Los Angeles Times saying nothing is Obamas fault. Very Biased Russ. Face it...a whooping is a whooping.
2 - Football Fanatic
Ya, you really are grasping here. That game was nowhere near close. The Seahawks didn't get their 1st first down until 2 minutes left in the 1st half. They didn't convert a third down until the 4th quarter and were 1/16. The Raider's Defense owned the Seahawks and the Raider's offense wore down your D. If anything, the Raiders left points out on the field and are actually more like 50 points better than the Hawks.
3 - Russ Evenhuis
Thank you for your comments! I really do appreciate the feedback.
I did say that Oakland played well and executed better in the original article. However, you have to admit that luck played a huge part in this game. Unless you want to tell me that the Raiders practice pass plays that go off of three receivers.
The Raiders defense, particularly the defensive line did "own" the Seahawks and Seattle failed miserably to adjust to it. A failure I should have noted in the article. My bad there, a screen pass or draw play or two would have went well against that aggresive line.
The Raiders offense did wear out the Seattle defense, very true. That's why the score was 10-0 at the half, after Mare missed a FG, and Oakland only had 180 total yards at half. They may have ended with gaudy stats but that was more to do with time of possesion than Oakland being better.
Again, thanks for the comments and I appreciate them. Good luck to your team for the rest of the season!