It may not of been pretty, it may not of been exciting or pleasing to the eye, but boy howdy did we get the damn job done! Great shot kids, that was one in a million!
Sometimes all you have left is the "will to win"!
There we were, starting early in the 3rd quarter; with the scoreboard shining Jaguars 20, Raiders 6. All looked as bleak as Padme's death and the Death Star's fate combined!
The Raiders’ passing AND rushing offense still looked horrible, they gave up 10 points off turnovers, discipline was still killing them (thanks linemen) and the defense was still acting like they were playing in wet cement.
There were bad blocks executed and ongoing bad play calls. Fans were begging for Greg Knapp's head like children beg for Halloween candy.
Did I mention time of possession and 3rd down percentage rate were NOT in our favor? It seemed like another ugly loss was following a pretty loss played just last week. Finally, the Oakland Raiders had just about enough.
Then came the second half. Enter Denarius Moore for the touchdown and start playing the Rocky music! Carson Palmers offense moved extremely well and effectively after only totaling 127 yards of offense in the 1st half. Sure, the ground game could STILL not correct itself (Darren McFadden could only rake in 53 yards rushing), but CP3 wouldn’t go down without a fight.
There were key catches made by Marcel Reece, Darrius Heyward-Bey, and Rod Streater that were the critical to the ball game. This goes ESPECIALLY for Streater's grab near the Dark Side End Zone in the 4th quarter. His defender actually had a hold of both legs at the time while making a beautiful "hands only" catch– Wow!
After the fumble was caused by my MVP, Lamarr Houston, in overtime, the Lord of the Sith, Master of all evil knew that the win was inevitable. My main man had 1 sack, 5 huge tackles with 3 assists. Where has THAT been all season, sir? Keep it going!
Offense: this offensive line will be the death and life of the team for the rest of the season. If they play well, #3 will find targets and we will complete more 3rd downs thoroughly without error. If the fat men tire and play sloppy, the offense will continue to struggle with 3rd down plays, in the running game, and with time of possession. Carson will also probably start throwing more INT gifts again. It's that simple.
I feel the Nation might as well stop asking for power blocking schemes since it hasn't happened thus far. We are simply not getting enough push and will continue to not get enough push until this scheme is destroyed or new men are hired. I would not count on either happening this year.
To Hell with schemes, maybe it's just our starting linemen in general (this means you, Jared Veldheer and Willie Smith).
Defense: That's a great way to build from last week! Run stopping was a success (MJD being injured early helped), hurries and sacks were piled on (3 total) and even pass D continued to improve; with the Jags only totaling 181 yards passing. Tyvon Branch and Miles Burris had some good tackles and continued to raise Hell among the opposing offense. Hell, even Rolando McClain was decent with 4 tackles. Congratulations to all!
Notes from NFL.com game summary:
Carson Palmer wasn't going to apologize for a mistake-filled win by the Oakland Raiders a week after they lost what might have been their best-played game of the season.
Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 40-yard field goal after Cecil Shorts III fumbled on the opening possession of overtime and the Raiders overcame three turnovers and a 14-point deficit to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 26-23 on Sunday."An ugly win is better than a pretty loss," Palmer said. "I know that. I'm just proud of the way we fought, because it wasn't pretty.
"We did not play up to our standard and play the way we're coached. But we hung in there and defense played great giving us the ball back. It's just good to get out of here with a win."
It's the exact opposite feeling the Raiders (2-4) had a week ago when they took the undefeatedAtlanta Falcons down to the final second on the road before losing, 23-20.
So even though this win came against the struggling Jaguars (1-5), who were missing star running back Maurice Jones-Drew and quarterback Blaine Gabbert for much of the game, Oakland was pleased with the outcome.
"We're definitely very fortunate to come out with a win," defensive tackle Richard Seymour said. "We're not satisfied. We understand that we have to play better, that we have to get better as a team. We can't play that brand of ball against really good football teams and expect to win. We understand that we have to play better. We'll take the win; we'll take any win in this league. In my book, there's no such thing as an ugly win. Any time you get a win in this league, it's a big deal."
Palmer threw one TD pass and ran for another to force overtime for the Raiders (2-4) before they won it after Lamarr Houston forced a fumble by Shorts thatJoselio Hanson recovered at the Jacksonville 21.
After one play to center the ball, Janikowski came on to kick the winning field goal and end a rough day for the Jaguars.
To read the entire game summary, Click here.
Hold your heads up high this week, Nation. Who knows, maybe we'll continue to improve against the hated Kansas City Chiefs next week.
I know the Chiefs not doing too well this year, but both squads always throw out their records when battling one another. Trust me, both teams will be fueled by pure, angry, hostile hatred!
May the Force be with us all!
-DR
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