By Judy Asman
OAKLAND,Calif.(RushPRNews)10/19/08—It’s been a long road to Sunday’s win by the Oakland Raiders. Early-season Kiffin drama aside, the Raiders experienced a devastating loss last week against the New Orleans Saints (3-34). Raider fans might have gone into today’s game with low expectations, with no help from the upcoming appearance by legendary Brett Favre, who’d helped the New York Jets win three out of five games since the start of the season.
But as Raider-faithful filled the Oak-town stadium—with Black Hole die-hards in silver and black regalia—what happened in today’s game looked suprisingly familiar—almost retrospective of a winning Raider team.
Raiders defense was aggressive and decisive. On offense, JaMarcus Russell no doubt benefitted from Tom Cable’s dissecting of last week’s game and identifying what Cable reportedly called “the good, the bad and the ugly” of Russell offense. The Russell under Kiffin seemed hesitant, unable to let go of the ball and not a receiver in sight when he did. But on Sunday, Russell held the ball for what seemed like two seconds, taking a quick glance for an opportunity, then acted, and in the end completed 17-of-30 passes for 203 yards and one touchdown.
Yes, the Raiders showed up. They played football, and it’s been a long time coming.
As for Cable, who has both an exciting and challenging task of leading the young Raider team in post-Kiffin-Davis dysfunction, he coached a good game. His timeout call with 8 seconds on the clock might be perceived as a blunder. But had Jay Feely made that field goal, Cable’s call would have been right on. While the former Atlanta Falcons offensive line coach gave Feely another chance—to which the kicker answered with a 52-yard field goal and a tie at 13—the Raiders pulled off their second win of the season in a compelling overtime.
Thanks to more excellent defense in post-regulation, six plays and 42 yards, iron-foot Sebastian Janikowski helped the silver and black clinch the game with a franchise record 57-yard field goal, with 2:30 left on the clock.
NEXT WEEK: The Raiders head East to take on the Ravens at Baltimore on Sunday, October 26.
