Thoughts, 28.09.09

Today, I'm going to provide one of the most shocking sights ever to reach the corneas of Man:

via www3.pictures.zimbio.com

The unwavering fear brought on by a great pass rusher. So wakeless and stifling is it, that the mere sight of his hand will inspire you to, eh, well...

BAD THOUGHTS (MY FINGERS HURT FROM PLAYING MY GUITAR TOO MUCH):

The First: Scoring from within the 20.

The Broncos were in the "redzone" 6 times, but only managed to score a touchdown twice, settling for 3 field goals and failing to score on 4th down all the other times. There's a flipside to this, of course, which I'll get to later, but you need to score more than that. Raiders fans may be crushed when they look at the scoreboard, but I think that team was lucky. The score should have been in the 30's, but they faced a team that's still learning (imagine that, dominating games and still not even being at their best). Expect improvement.

The Second: Injuries.

Unfortunately, you can't really rely on me here, but this is a list of players that (may have) suffered injuries:  Alphonso Smith, an ankle injury, he didn't finish the game; Peyton Hillis, head injury (may be wrong); Ben Hamilton, hamstring (may be wrong); Ryan Harris, shoulder (take a guess what goes in here). Brandon Marshall appeared to be limping slightly after one play and ended up missing the next play (or the one after that). It's probably nothing, but you never know...

The Third: The Broncos had 5 penalties for a loss of 30 yards.

The fourth: I had one worry in the entire game when the Raiders were on offense, and that was when they scored their only points. Keeping them to a field goal was good, but Russell was taking his team down the field on that drive (seriously), handing the ball off (credit to the running backs not the Muffin Man) and connecting on throws when he needed to. It was unnerving to see the Raiders do that, but fortunately it was only one time.

GOOD THOUGHTS (BUT WHO CARES WHEN I CAN HEAR THE SWEET MUSIC IT PRODUCES):

The first: The gameplan.

This, I believe, will be one case where the final score doesn't matter except for who had more points. The team's gameplan was solid: Score points, and then close out the game. While I'd prefer higher redzone-conversion, they got points in the end and then just focused on winning the game. I can't say how much I respect this sort of philosophy. They didn't try to run up the score. They didn't try to dominate the game. They didn't try to be flashy (mostly). They just wanted to get in, score, and get out with a minimum of fuss.

To me, this speaks volumes. I'm probably wrong, but I don't see an arrogant team, I see a team with perspective. With eyes on the long-term goal.
Some teams may see lesser opponents and try to crush them, get some respect or whatever in the league. Not so here (despite the score). They didn't risk making mistakes (or they tried to) and giving away the game, they didn't try to show how great they are, they just did their job. Win the scored when they needed to, they kept their opponent from scoring when they needed to, and then they controlled the clock when they needed to (36:15 versus the Raiders' 23:45).

I love it. This team is a winner. Plain and simple.

The Second: Controlling the time of possession required good running, and they delivered. Buckhalter finished with 108 yards; he had a few long runs (the O-line was opening some holes, and he was racing through them and past the gawking linebackers) and got yards when he had the ball. He did lose some effectiveness in the end of the game, though.
Knowshon was, simply put, effective. He didn't have any long runs, but he almost always got enough (the times he didn't he failed to follow his blockers and was running on 1st and 10 and only got 9) and either ran hard or made a man miss. 89 yards and a touchdown isn't too shabby, and I expect to see more as he makes up for the time he lost in training camp.

The Third: Matt Prater was 3 of 3 from 48 yards, 21 yards, and 24 yards. He also booted several touchbacks. Someone is always asking for his head on a stake, so a performance like this is always good to see, if not because of his contribution to the team but simply for his self-confidence and to continue quietening the naysayers.

The Fourth: For those interested, Marshall had 5 catches for 67 yards;  those fearing he may be losing relevance can rest easy after this game, he played well. Personally,  though, I'd prefer this look: Gaffney had 4 for 39; Graham had 2 for 33; Scheff had 1 for 14; and Eddie had 1 for 4 yards.
Especially in the second half, passing didn't figure high in the gameplan, so I wouldn't make much of these stats.

The Fifth: 16 points in 3 games.

I like that. It's the Raiders, sure, but giving up a mere 3 points to a team that managed to score 31 on you last year is pretty dang good. This defense is stifling opponents. And as the offense begins to gel and force other teams into more and more passing situations, it's going to get even better (although perhaps not Fields, as this may mean he'll be on the field less. According to the Dude, anyway. :| ). Watching the shifting puzzle force Russell into taking a timeout (immediately, I's be addin') is beautiful. Stopping supposed threats (a la McFadden and Bush) for losses is sweet. Watching passes smoothly sailing into their waiting hands is a joy. And seeing the quarterback get hammered is downright amazing.

I love me some neckbeard -- I mean defense. Yeah!

THE RANDOMNESS WITH WHICH MY FINGERS PRESS THE FRETBOARD WHILE MY EYES SKIM THE SCREEN AND PROVIDE YOU WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS, OR: I REALLY MEANT TO SAY DEFENSE:

1. I have to admit, I don't mind wearing costumes. In fact, if I have the excuse for doing so, I'll wear anything. After seeing some of Oakland's fans, though, and I just want to add quickly that I prefer not to comment on another fanbase's attire of choice, but I just have to ask, how silly do they look? There's a certain coolness in wearing something ridiculous and being aware of it, it means you have a sense of humour, but it's something else to dress like that and try to be taken seriously.

2. One of Buckhalter's good runs displayed perfect zone-blocking running. He took his time getting to the hole, and as soon as it opened, burst through it, going for the first down and more. Beautiful.

3. It only took a single minute for Richard Seymour to lose all my respect. After a play, he leaped on Clady's back while he was one the ground.  After some seconds, he finally got off him and tried to take his hair with him, yanking on it aggressively. It was disgusting.  Predicably, Clady immediately tried to get back at him, but the referees eventually calmed him down. I guess Seymour makes a better Raider than I initially thought.

4. This probably means nothing, but it was still cool to see McD going out onto the pitch to high-five Moreno after his touchdown.

5. On Doom's first sack (he had two), he would've tossed his man aside had he not tried to take Elvis with him. As has already been said elsewhere, he's surprisingly powerful for his size.

6. I'm not the first to say this, but sand on a football pitch is hideous.

7. RETIRED!!!! For some guy called Elway. Apparently he was pretty good.

8. DJ led the team with 7 tackles and one forced fumble. And, no, despite how much I talk about him, DJ isn't my favourite player. Honest.

9. The Broncos only punted twice. Both times were in the 4th.

10. The only thing sweeter than hearing the silence in the stadium was hearing the Raiders fans booing their quarterback.

CIAO!

And, now, the second-most shocking thing ever to drift past the human pupil:

via www2.pictures.zimbio.com

The reaction of a Raider when a Bronco comes running at him. He becomes so encapsulated with terror, that a rare condition called "Bluritis" develops on his upper, middle, and lower extremities. It's a defence-mechanism, which prevents predators commonly known as Buffoonus commentatorus from identifying their names when they get smacked with a stiff-arm and promptly collapse on their posterior extremities.

Try not to stare too much, it's rather embarrassing.