Oakland will face the Philadelphia Eagles today, and since the game is blacked out, we’ll have live updates throughout the day. So, if you like you can just refresh this page or bookmark it and I’ll update you on the events of the day.
This will not be a play-by-play accounting of the action. For that, you’ll have to go to NFL.com or someplace that does some sort of game tracker.
12:14pm
Raider fans have already booed JaMarcus Russell while he’s out on the field warming up. I just got the list of inactives for the game, so here they are:
Raiders
- RB – Darren McFadden
- FB – Luke Lawton
- WR – Chaz Schilens
- WR – Nick Miller
- OT – Langston Walker
- OT – Cornell Green
- OG – Robert Gallery
- LB – Ricky Brown
Lineup change – RB Gary Russell will start in place of Luke Lawton at fullback.
Eagles
- QB – Kevin Kolb (3rd QB)
- WR – Brandon Gibson
- WR – Kevin Curtis
- OG – Mike McGlynn
- OG/OT – Todd Herremans
- CB – Dimitri Patterson
- LB – Joe Mays
- DE – Jason Babin
Lineup change – WR Jeremy Maclin will start in place of Kevin Curtis.
12:59
The Madrigal Singers just gave a great rendition of the National Anthem. The Raiders are celebrating Filipino heritage today. There are people protesting Michael Vick around the coliseum. I didn’t see it myself, but I keep hearing that the group is pretty large. Earlier, there was a plane flying around the stadium with a banner that said, “Dog hater go home.“
Oakland wins the toss and elects to receive.
1:08
Three plays and two yards for the Raiders offense. On third and 10, Cable chose to hand off to Michael Bush for a couple of yards. As the offense left the field the chorus of boos began. It’s nowhere near a sellout crowd. On the punt, DeSean Jackson gained about 15 yards on the return after juking the gunner.
1:10
Trevor Scott comes in and sacks Donovan McNabb on third and eight. Thomas Howard was also on the play. So even though the offense wasn’t successful on their first possession, the defense was.
1:13
Russell holds onto the ball too long and even though he is able to avoid the first rusher, he spins into the second and get’s sacked for a loss of 10 yards.
1:15
The Raiders go three and out again, but since Zach Miller caught a pass for nine yards on third down, there was no booing as they went off the field. Lechler’s punt took an odd bounce towards the sidelines and went into the end zone for a touchback. The Eagles will start their drive on their own 20 yard line.
1:19
After giving up 22 yards on a screen to Brian Westbrook, the Raiders defense took control. Kirk Morrison got into the backfield and grabbed Michael Vick for a four yard loss on a reverse, then he crashed the line on an off tackle and took the runner down at the line. With the Eagles faced with third and 11, McNabb got into a shotgun formation and Trevor Scott, barely touched, came through the line for his second sack of the day. On the punt, the Raiders fair caught the ball at their own 18.
1:23
Russell is picked off on the first play of the series. Russell’s pass was on target over the head of Louis Murphy. Murphy let the pass slip through his hands and the deflected ball fell into the hands of Asante Samuel who is tackled at the Raiders’ 30 yard line.
1:27
David Aker’s attempted 44-yard field goal was wide left and the crowd’s electricity got a jolt from that. The Raiders will begin their next possession at their own 34. There is 6:57 left in the first quarter.
1:31
The Raiders fail to get a first down again. They were able to get to within one yard of their first, first down of the game. As the offense left the field, the boo-birds came out again. Not sure if they were booing the decision to not go for it at their own 43 or if it was about Russell, who didn’t make a bad play. Lechler came on with a beautiful punt that landed at the Eagles’ three and bounced back to their 11 where the ball was downed by Jon Condo.
1:37
McNabb makes the pass of the game when he hits a sprinting DeSean Jackson, who was blanketed by Chris Johnson, for 51 yards. that would be as far as the Eagles would get as McNabb got blasted as he was throwing on third down. Akers came on for the 45 yard field goal and made it this time. With 2:27 left in the first quarter, the Eagles are up 3-0.
1:39
The Raiders’ kick return team is still having issues as they are unable to return the ball to their own 20 yard line. They start the drive on their own 14 yard line. On the first play of the series, Russell avoids a bunch of pressure and hits Zach Miller over the middle. Miller, about to be tackled, gets a block from Louis Murphy and then sprints down the sideline. As another defender closes in on the tight end, Murphy again makes another block and frees Miller for the 86 yard touchdown. Murphy also makes a block at the three yard line as Miller crosses the goal line. Janikowski makes the PAT and the Raiders are up 7-3.
1:43
The Eagles start at their own 22 yard line and McNabb throws an interception to Stanford Routt who returns it for the touchdown score–but there’s a flag on the play. The officials call a bogus pass interference call on Routt and Tom Cable throws a fit. Whatever Cable said or did, he got called for unsportsmanlike conduct. Cable’s neck is REAL RED. He’s very animated.
1:46
The Eagles are moving the ball down the field and are at the Raiders’ 48 yard line, thanks in large part to the bad call. End of the first quarter with the Raiders leading 7-3.
1:50
The Raiders’ defense is on fire! They stopped the Eagles at the 48 yard line and even blitzed McNabb on third down. the ball was punted to the Raiders’ 13 where Johnnie Lee Higgins called for the fair catch. Raiders will start their first possession of the second quarter.
1:56
The Raiders finally gain their first first down of the game. On the next play, Fargas runs 10 yards for their second first down. Then, Russell runs out of the pocket on first and 10, before a defender can get to him, he pulls a three-stooges spin move and gains the third first down of the game for the team. On the next play, Russell throws to Miller for 15 more yards and puts the Raiders on the Eagles’ 32.
1:57
Samuel gets called for unnecessary roughness when he begins bumping Louis Murphy after an incomplete pass. The ball is moved to the Eagles’ 12 yard line. Nnamdi Asomugha is wearing a visor on his helmet and has received eye drops on the side line. It’s possible he got poked in the eye, but he’s been playing and there is no word on any injury.
2:03
On third and nine, Samson Satele is called for holding, but Russell is roughed also. The offsetting penalties require a replay of the down. Russell calls a timeout and the Raiders sit close to the Eagles’ 10 with a third and nine play on the horizon.
2:07
The Raiders try an end around to Darrius Heyward-Bey who gains no yards. Janikowski comes on for the 29-yard field goal. The Raiders lead 10-3 with 7:50 to go in the first half. Jason Peters of the Eagles left the game earlier with a knee injury, but results were negative. His return is questionable.
2:09
Janikowski kicks to Quintin Demps of the Eagles who misses catching the ball in the end zone. The ball flies out of the end zone for the touchback.
2:19
On a series where the Raiders defense has had two plays in which only 10 men were on the field, they have hurried and harassed McNabb anyway. Even with the pressure McNabb has been able to avoid sacks by throwing while in the grasp of a defender. Nnamdi Asomugha did have an ‘eye observation’ on the sidelines and is back in the game after missing a series. The Eagles have the ball at the Raiders’ 27 with a third and ten play to come. They took their final timeout with 4:30 to go in the half.
2:22
Richard Seymour sacks McNabb for a loss of eight yards and takes the Eagles out of field goal position. The punting unit comes on and the Raiders again can’t get their players on the field in time and call a timeout–their second of the half. The punt goes into the end zone after an Eagle almost downed the ball at the Raiders’ one. The ball slipped through the defender’s hands and went out of the end zone for the touchback.
2:23
The Raiders get a first down on a third and two play in which Russell tosses the ball to Tony Stewart while being dragged down by an Eagles’ defender. On the very next play, Russell proceeds to throw into coverage to Zach Miller and gets picked off. The ball is returned to the Raiders’ 40 at the two-minute warning.
2:25
CORRECTION! – The Raiders did have a first down in the first quarter.
2:29
The Eagles make good use of Russell’s interception throw by driving 25 yards to the Raiders’ 15. On first and 10, McNabb signals for his fourth timeout of the quarter and gets flagged for a delay of game. Richard Seymour sacks McNabb at the 25 making it third and 20 from the 25. Asomugha has not played on this series. Akers comes onto the field with 11 seconds left in the half and kicks the field goal, making the score: Raiders 10, Eagles 6. There is six seconds left in the half.
2:33
The Eagles squib kicked it to the Raiders, Sam Williams recovered and downed it at the Raiders’ 37. Fargas rushed for 20 yards on the last play of the half. At the half, the Raiders lead the Eagles 10-6.
2:47
The Eagles will start at their own 24 after Janikowski’s squibb kick was returned nine yards.
2:51
The Eagles pulled out their secret weapon, Brian Westbrook, and drove down to the Raiders’ 30. Asomugha hasn’t returned from the locker room. The Eagles have a third and 12 situation and they aren’t able to convert as McNabb overthrows Jeremy Maclin on the left sideline. Good coverage by Stanford Routt. Akers comes on for the field goal and boots the attempted 47 yarder wide right. The Raiders will take over at their own 37.
3:00
The Raiders drive to Philadelphia’s 40 and on fourth and one, they attempt a play action pass to Louis Murphy. The ball is thrown low and behind a wide open Murphy who traps the ball for the incompletion. The ball is turned over to the Eagles on downs.
3:02
The Eagles weren’t able to do anything with the good field position, thanks in large part by Jay Richardson’s 14 yard sack of McNabb. Richardson came through the middle of the line and chased McNabb, grabbing him by the jersey and flinging him to the ground. The Eagles punt to the Raiders’ Johnnie Lee Higgins, who was hit right after catching the punt. The Raiders will start at their own 14.
3:12
The Raiders aren’t able to get farther than their own 41 yard line. Justin Fargas has looked great in the process, running well and caught a screen pass for 10 yards. Russell was hit hard on one play causing backup Bruce Gradkowski to begin warming up on the sideline. On third and eight, Russell avoided pressure and made a sharp pass to Zach Miller who dropped a nice one-handed grab. Gerard Warren came out to pat Miller on the back, but Lechler still had to come on to punt. On the return, DeSean Jackson was forced out of bounds by Isaiah Ekejiuba and looked to be injured on the play. The Eagles will start at their own 25.
3:19
The defense forces McNabb and the Eagles to go three and out. McNabb overthrew an open Jeremy Maclin on the right sideline with Chris Johnson covering. On the punt, Johnnie Lee Higgins flubs the return and loses about 10 yards because of it. The Raiders start their drive from their own 18.
3:23
At the end of the third quarter, the Raiders are faced with a third and two from their own 40 and lead the Eagles 10-6.
3:26
Russell was sacked on the first play of the quarter for a loss of five yards. DeSean Jackson came back into the game to return the punt from his own six to the Eagles’ 14. 14:25 remaining on what could be an upset.
3:30
The Raiders’ defense may have had one of their best series of the season. On first down, Tyvon Branch broke up a pass to Brian Westbrook. On second down, Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard stopped Westbrook for no gain on a rush around the right end. On third down, with Raiders’ in his face, McNabb aired it out to Maclin, but Routt was blanketing him and broke up the pass. The crowd is really getting into this game now. The Eagles punted out of bounds to the Raiders’ 40, where they will begin their next series.
3:35
Nnamdi Asomugha is on the sidelines, but he hasn’t played yet.
3:40
The Raiders’ drive stalls at the Eagles’ 27. The drive consisted of a good run by Fargas for 14 yards and a great screen pass to Gary Russell for 18 yards. On the screen pass, Russell really did a nice job of making the read on a jailbreak. In the end, Russell threw the ball out of bounds on third and seven–causing the fans to boo him off the field. The pass went to nobody and was well out of bounds. Sebastian Janikowski came on for a 46 yard field goal giving the Raiders a 13-6 lead. The Eagles will start from their own 23 after a 25 yard return by Quentin Demps from his own end zone.
3:43
It didn’t take long for the Raiders to get the ball back. On third and seven, both Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard blitzed and sacked McNabb for a loss of eight. On the punt return, Higgins attempted to gain more yards and fumbled the ball, but he fell on it at the Raiders’ 26.
3:47
The Raiders have the ball on their own 26, and have called their second time out of the half. On the second down play, Russell did a good job of getting away from pressure and threw it to Murphy who let the ball go through his hands again. The ball was almost picked, but luckily for the Raiders it fell to the ground. On first down, Fargas was held up and stripped, but like in New York, forward progress was called. On third down, a pass to Miller over the middle fell to the ground after Miller was unable to come down with a one-handed grab. The Raiders punted to Jackson who returned it to the Eagles’ 31.
3:53
McNabb starts the drive with a 42 yard pass to tight end Brent Celek with Howard getting beat on the coverage. The drive ended at the Oakland 27 when Chris Johnson leveled Leonard Weaver for no gain on a short pass to the right flat. It was the hit of the day as the entire press box and stadium erupted with “Oooooo”. Akers kicked a field goal that was almost blocked, but the kick was good and the Eagles inched to within a 13-9 deficit. The Raiders will start their next drive from their own 20 with a little less than six minutes remaining.
3:58
The Raiders get to their own 43 before having to call on Lechler. Lechler punts it to the Eagles’ 20, where Jackson calls for the fair catch. The stadium is getting loud as the drive begins with 3:42 left on the clock.
4:03
The Eagles get to midfield before they are faced with a third and 10. The stadium is rocking as McNabb gets into the shotgun formation and the defense has been blitzing on nearly every play this drive. McNabb gets out of the pocket and scrambles for six yards before Michael Huff upends him. The Eagles go for it on fourth down. McNabb passes to DeSean Jackson, but the ball short hops into his arms and is ruled incomplete. The Raiders take over with 2:14 to go and the Eagles have two timeouts.
4:05
After two hard runs for no gain by Justin Fargas, the Eagles have used the rest of their timouts with 2:02 remaining. The Raiders, with third and 10 from their own 44 yard line, fake the run and Russell hits Gary Russell on a screen for 12 yards and the first down. At the two-minute warning, the Raiders have the ball at the Eagles’ 43 and there is 1:55 left. The game will end with the Raiders pulling off the upset 13-9…unless something unforeseen happens. I have to go down for interviews, so this will be my last post of the day. Thanks to all of you for following along.
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