Matt Flynn Flops in 1st Raider Start vs. Redskins

Ok so welcome to the full recap of Week 4's showdown between the Redskins and the Raiders. Title of this full recap says it all. Just admit Raider Nation when we all found out that Pryor got ruled out, even though he was medically cleared, how many of you lost a bit of anxiety after finding out Flynn was the starter? I know I was one of them.

So let's talk about Matt Flynn shall we? Matt Flynn, 21 of 32 in the passing game for 227 yards. Impressive on the 2nd drive with a long pass to Denarius Moore and connecting a TD to Mychal Rivera. Not bad huh, looks like Flynn's stepping up right? Until the 2nd quarter, threw a pick 6 to Redskins defensive back, David Amerson, basically taking all that momentum away after scoring on an offensive TD and on a blocked punt and after that the Redskins never looked back.

To say it's all Flynn's fault is an understatement, but outside of Rashad Jennings, Denarius Moore, and Mychal Rivera, the offense was downright awful. You can credit the absence of McFadden, Reece, and Pryor, but you can tell the offense played uninspired when Flynn was at the helm. Offense went from dynamic under Pryor to predictable, one-dimensional under Flynn. And it was frustrating to see stalled drive after stalled drive, failing to cash in after forcing a critical turnover and also deferring.

Defense and special teams, I say, they came out to play. Aside from failing to stop no huddle plays from the Redskins and giving up 24 unanswered points, most of those points were not their fault. The defense as a whole only gave up 3 points if you negate Flynn's INT and fumble and Sebass' missed 51 yard field goal after forcing a fumble. The blame doesn't go towards the defense. Special teams aside from Sebass' missed field goal that could've given us a TD lead, they did a decent job, blocking a punt for a TD deep in Redskins territory and making a gutsy fake on 4th and inches involving Jacoby Ford and Taiwan Jones. Other than that, defense and ST competed when our offense couldn't get the job done.

So I'm gonna end this post, hopefully we get our guys healthy for next week against the Chargers. And Matt Flynn: you suck, career backup QB at best.

Week 4: RAIDERS vs. Redskins Quarter-by-Quarter Reaction

4th Quarter:

Score: WAS 24 OAK 14

How I feel about Matt Flynn's performance, the number of injuries, and how this game was played overall.

Stay tuned for the full recap.

3rd Quarter:

Score: WAS 17 OAK 14

Zzzzzzzzzzz. Pretty much how I'm describing the quarter. Absolutely no life from the offense, deferred in the coin toss, 2 stalled drives, forced a fumble, stalled drive, Sebass misses a field goal in the baseball dirt and the Redskins cash in on the missed field goal. 3rd quarter sucked, enough said.

2nd Quarter:

Score: WAS 10 OAK 14

That Flynn interception really pissed me off. Comfortable in his 2^nd drive, and to throw a pick 6 on his 3^rd drive was just inexcusable. After a Raiders 3 and out, old man Woodson making a critical 4^th and 3 stop sacking RGIII on a safety blitz; basically put the momentum back at 50-50. Overall, ugly 2^nd quarter, not sold on Flynn, going to move on to the halftime report.

1st Quarter:

Score: WAS 0 OAK 14

Not sold on Matt Flynn starting this game, even though TP was medically cleared to start, but it's obvious DA doesn't want to rush him back. I gotta admit though Flynn's second drive was impressive with a TD pass to Mychal Rivera, but a long pass to Denarius Moore to set Rivera's TD up. Impressive defense and special teams play, but now the Redskins are killing us with the no huddle offense which is why they're in our red zone at the end.

RAIDERS vs. Redskins Halftime Post

Welcome in to your Week 4 halftime report between the Raiders and the Redskins where the Raiders lead 10-14 going into the half.

Overall, the way this game is being played, really boring and excruciating to watch. Our three headed monster in the back field of TP, D-Mac, and Reece are all banged up in this game. Really frustrating to watch this.

As I said in my 1st quarter reaction, I'm not sold on Flynn starting and picking up a W against this Redskins team. He showed signs of life throwing a long pass to Denarius Moore and connecting to Mychal Rivera for Rivera's first NFL TD. Everything high and mighty for Flynn until that pick 6 in the 2nd to bring the Redskins back into the game. At that point, I was livid by the fact that he didn't see that play coming when we all saw it come from a mile away and after that, sacked a couple of times, putting up weak drives.

I could go on and on about Flynn in this post, I think the only positive so far, special teams. Defense is up in the air after getting killed by Washington's up tempo hurry up offense. Special teams, a blocked punt for a TD and a fake putting Jacoby Ford under center and faking it to Taiwan Jones. Other than that, this is awful the way this game is being played. We're banged up, let's see what kind of adjustments the coaching staff makes in the third quarter.

Raiders Still Fight in Defeat Against Broncos

Alright so welcome in to the post game for the MNF Divisional showdown between the Raiders and the Broncos in which the Broncos beat the Raiders 21-37. This Raider team, the word "QUIT" doesn't exist in this team. Even though we were being blown out early in the game, this team managed to haul in great poise and muster a little bit of offense to make this score the indicated final score rather than a 25-30+ point defeat.

Let's start off with the positives, Terrelle Pryor slow start early in the game, but he is showing his doubters that he can throw the ball besides running. Pryor completed 19 of 28 passes for 281 yards and 1 TD to Denarius Moore for that 73 yard TD reception. This is the first game where Pryor was really showing great confidence in the pocket though he was sacked 3 times mainly due to our offensive line crumbling from the suffocating Denver defense. Hopefully Pryor is ok after suffering that vicious hit late in the game, couldn't remember the defender's name who decked him while he was scrambling to the end zone, but other than that, it was a slow start for Pryor early, but he picked up real late to lessen the embarrassing margin. Our receivers had one of their better games of the season and their best so far and Denarius Moore had his best game for the season hauling in 6 catches for 124 yards and the 73 yard TD. Big positive from our receivers making plays when Pryor was trying to make a play.

On the limbo, our defense, not so great early, but managed to slow Peyton Manning and the Broncos O 3 TD passes from Manning and 1 TD run from Ronnie Hillman. If it weren't for stalled drives, the Broncos would've blown this game wide open and our defense managed to slow that high powered offense as much as they could as well as getting two turnovers to put us in good field position so that's another positive point because without those turnovers, we wouldn't be able to put more points on the board.

The negatives, all credit where it's due, the Denver defense totally shut down our running game and gave our O-line a hard time to protect Pryor. So it's no surprise that O-line was struggling to create holes for McFadden to run and the Denver defense never gave us room to run the ball.

Other than that, I'm glad we put up a fight. I know I easily get mad because it's a division rival and I love to hate the Broncos, but we competed against a team that's heavily favorited to win it all this season. Hopefully after 3 games into the season, teams will start looking at us as a competitive team rather than a given win. We have the Redskins next so Pryor vs. RGIII will be a good one and I hope we sell out that game.

MONDAY NIGHT DIVISION SHOWDOWN SPECIAL: RAIDERS @ Broncos Quarter-by-Quarter Reaction

Q4:

Score: OAK 21 DEN 37

This game was painful to watch in the beginning, but we put up a better fight to put the margin of defeat a lot closer. A lot of experts had us losing by 30+, we proved them wrong somewhat. Those 14 points in the fourth look like garbage points, but the score is the score. Nothing else to say so stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: OAK 14 DEN 30

Even though the game is out of reach, who knows still a two possession game. But I gotta say this is probably the game in which nobody will sleep on the Raiders this year. As much as how much Peyton Manning and the Denver offense is picking us apart, impressive job, even though the score says other wise, showing that this Raider team is not going down without a fight in contrast to the past 11 incarnations of this team. At least that this game shows, that this is a game. We'll see how the fourth goes.

Q2:

Score: OAK 7 DEN 27

Absolutely no chance in hell we’re catching up to them the way this game is being played. Aside from the Denarius Moore 73 yard TD reception, the offense has been terrible all around. Complete polar opposite from Denver’s offense. You know when Peyton Manning gets it going, sky’s the limit for the offense and he is just ripping the secondary apart. We did a good job hanging around with the offense in the 1^st quarter, but Peyton’s just turning it up with a lot of audibles and no huddles making things difficult. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: OAK 0 DEN 10

Ugly start on both sides. We've managed to keep pace on Manning's audibles and play calls after Denver's opening drive. The hard counts, we have to avoid biting the hard counts because that lead to two dumb penalties. So far, our defense is hanging, now our offense has to get it going and there are signs of life after that Pryor run for our first 1st down.

Monday Night Football: RAIDERS @ Broncos Half Time Post

Score: OAK 7 DEN 27

Welcome to the Monday Night halftime report special where the Oakland Raiders are currently trailing the Denver Broncos 7-27 at the half.

First off, just the score alone is already head scratcher. I don't mean to be skeptical, but take away Denarius Moore's 73 yard TD, our total offense would've been a walloping double digit number. Credit all goes to the Denver defense and Jack Del Rio's play calling, not only they have shut down Pryor, they've shut down McFadden, just our running game as a whole Denver has shut down. Our passing game, again take away the 73 yard TD, our receiving numbers would've been downright pathetic.

Next portion our defense. Peyton Manning has just ripped the heart out of this defense like a surgeon like he's done a lot in his longtime tenure in the NFL. Not to mention with a receiving core, like the two Thomas', Wes Welker, and Eric Decker, there's absolutely no chance for our secondary to beat the pass.

Other than that there's not a lot to talk about during the half because there are no positives after the first half. For Broncos fans, this is a clinic and the rest of us who are Raider fans, this is absolutely infuriating to watch. C'mon DA make adjustments and put up a fight! We'll see what kind of adjustments the Raiders make as the third quarter is about to roll on.

2013 Lakers Offseason Activity

09/20/13

Gain:

Signed draft pick, Ryan Kelly

09/16/13

Gain:

Signed D-League All-Star, Marcus Landry

09/05/13

Gain:

Signed Xavier Henry (NO)

09/03/13

Gain:

Signed FA Forward, Shawne Williams

07/26/13

Gain:

Signed Undrafted Forward, Elias Harris (Gonzaga) to a 2-year undisclosed deal

07/13/13

Gain:

Signed Wesley Johnson (PHX) to a 1-year $1 million deal

07/11/13

Gain:

Nick Young (PHI) agrees to a 1-year $1.2 million deal

Loss:

Metta World Peace - Amnestied

07/09/13

Gain:

Jordan Farmar agrees to a 1-year deal (Welcome back to LA Jordy!)

07/08/13

Gain:

Chris Kaman (DAL) agrees to a 1-year deal

07/05/13

Loss:

Dwight Howard - Agreed to sign with the Houston Rockets

07/04/13

Loss:

Earl Clark - Agreed to a 2 year $9 million deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers

(Pre Free Agency)

06/29/13

Loss:

Chris Duhon - Waived
Devin Ebanks - Waived
Darius Morris - Waived
Andrew Goudelock - Waived

06/26/13

Gain:

Jodie Meeks - Team Option Exercised

Oakland Running Game Downs Jacksonville

The Oakland Raiders open their first home game in high fashion as they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars for Terrelle Pryor's first win as an NFL QB starter and to put Dennis Allen at .500 for the first time as a head coach.

Let's start off with the positives, the running game and the defense. Darren McFadden breaks open his first 100+ yards game for the 2013 season and torches the Jacksonville defense. Credit all goes to the offensive line, the first time I can gladly say that our O-line played well in the run game, creating all kinds of holes for McFadden and back up running back Rashad Jennings, also especially creating that big hole for Marcel Reece to run for the go ahead TD. The defense, we got banged up early in the game and certainly Tyvon Branch's injury hurts, hopefully MRI tests are negative and gets back on the field soon. Other than that, the defense came out flying, giving Chad Henne and the Jaguars offense all kinds of trouble and certainly Charles Woodson turned back the clock in his regular season return, 37 years of age and can still make explosive plays and that TD saving tackle on MJD was nice.

On the limbo, I wouldn't analyze too much, but it's obvious that the receiving corps is on the limbo. They didn't do too much until Rod Streater and rookie tight end, Mychal Rivera started making plays when it matters, so the receiving corps gets a pass, but they have to step up more, no pun intended, especially Denarius Moore, who has fallen off the #1 Wide Receiver conversation.

Big negative though, the red zone offense. Aside from the Marcel Reece TD run, the red zone offense kinda sucked after, but I've seen a lot of stalled red zone drives in my tenure as a Raider fan so I think it's natural that it's a big problem. We had 3 red zone opportunities to blow this game wide open, but a lot of ticky tack plays in trying to get into the end zone and we gotta improve on that instead of relying on Sebass to negate the stalled drive. He missed a 32 yard chip shot early in the game and that shows that the red zone offense needs to step up especially when we have Denver coming up on the road.

Like I said in my Quarter-by-Quarter reaction, I'll take the win, it's not a great win, but it still a win regardless. We got a tough test heading into high altitude against Denver and it'll be likely that Peyton Manning will find every way to pick our defense apart. As long as we compete and keep him off the field, we can make this divisional game a lot closer as opposed to how many experts see it.

Week 2: RAIDERS vs. Jacksonville Jaguars Quarter-by-Quarter Reaction

4th Quarter:

Score: JAX 9 OAK 19

I'll take the win, it wasn't a great home opener, it was a good opener. We basically dominated the Jaguars in every statistical category, but both teams struggled to find the end zone. Other than that, good win and happy for Terrelle Pryor to get his first win as an NFL pro QB. Stay tuned for the full recap of this game.

3rd Quarter:

Score: JAX 3 OAK 13

Only a field goal by Sebass at the 3rd, but man McFadden with impressive runs making the Jaguars pay. Even though he lost his 101 yards, once the O-line paves big holes for him, he's off to the races. The red zone opportunity needs to improve and hopefully extend the score to a comfortable lead.

2nd Quarter:

Score JAX 3 OAK 10

Really low scoring, looking like this game goes down to which defense has the most gas left in the tank the way this game is going. The defense started to really get banged up, especially in the secondary with Mike Jenkins and Charles Woodson giving us a little scare, turned out to be fine. Sebass, I don't know now if its King's holding or something, but missing like a 32 yarder, a chip shot, not happy about that. Moving on to the halftime report.

1st Quarter:

Score: JAX 0 OAK 7

Welcome back home to the black hole Charles Woodson, getting a roaring ovation as he came out of the gate. Defense came out flying in that quarter both in the run and the pass, I'm very impressed with the way our defense started and hope they continue that even though we lost Tyvon Branch early. Overall great opening drive by the Raiders on punt return by Philip Adams to give us good field position and the go ahead TD run by Marcel Reece.

Raiders vs. Jaguars Halftime Post

Score: JAX 3 OAK 10

As I said in my Quarter-by-Quarter reaction, the way this game is going is gonna go down to the wire on which defense has the most left in the tank.

Let's start off with some of the positives, the offense has been the PRM (Pryor, Reece, McFadden show), Pryor didn't finding other receivers till late in the 2nd. McFadden and Reece have been the workhorse for the offense with Reece scoring the opening drive on a 11 yard go ahead TD run preceded by a wildcat run by McFadden. As I said last week McFadden needs to get going and Olson has found ways to get him involved more with 41 yards on the ground and 23 yards in the pass. The Jaguars defense has kept Pryor in check, even though TP had 1 explosive run, but other than that they contained him for 39 yards. Another positive the defense, came out real flying aside from the injuries to Tyvon Branch and Mike Jenkins early in the game. Sio Moore, glad to have him back has been flying everywhere along with Tracy Porter and Charles Woodson. I mean Woodson still got it at 37 with that flying goal line tackle to MJD.

Negatives so far, Sebastian Janikowski and receiving corps. Sebass missing a chip shot and that hurts until he made a 46 yarder even though he almost missed it. The receiving corps needs to step up as well and make plays while the Jags' defense is containing Pryor in the run so we'll see how the 3rd quarter goes as the Raiders' offense opens up for the opening drive.

Pryor Has Monster Game as Raiders Fall Short Against Colts

Welcome to the newly reformatted full recap for the 2013 NFL season. Almost had the upset against the Colts, but Andrew Luck's 19 yard TD run and Pryor's game losing interception pretty much sealed it for us.

So let's start off with the positives, Terrelle Pryor, aside from his 2 interceptions and mistakes to put us in for the game winner, he did pretty good against this Colts defense. 217 yards in the pass and 112 yards in the run I mean he tired the shit out of the defense, the Colts didn't have too many answers to put out against TP. But yeah this is a huge confidence booster for Pryor, needs to work on game management a little, but he proved that he's an NFL-ready QB, especially playing on the road and this time against first team defenses, so props on Pryor for adjusting his game to the regular season standards. Rod Streater another positive, never took his eyes off Pryor, had 70 yards on 5 receptions and making big plays when it mattered.

Some people on the limbo, Darren McFadden and Denarius Moore. Run DMC only had 48 yards on 17 carries and 1 TD, if only he could've dragged that other foot, would've been a difference maker from TP's bomb, but he needs to get it going on the ground, at least crack one big run. Denarius Moore had a couple of drops but he made a TD and one big 4th down play when it mattered the most, so he gets a pass. The defense, they were already a negative on my part, but they get a pass, credit all goes to Jason Tarver for making the necessary adjustments in order to disrupt Andrew Luck and the Colts offense after a pathetic showing in the first half.

Negatives, it's no secret that our o-line is seriously banged up and thank goodness Pryor started to negate some of the o-line mistakes. They were struggling to create a lot of holes, that's why McFadden couldn't crack the 100 yard mark in the rushing attack. I am especially tired of seeing Mr. False Start #69, Khalif Barnes, every time there's a penalty called, 95% of the time it's gonna be called on him, makes me cringe all the time. Another negative, although not too much, Marquette King, I question his consistency as a holder and it showed today and I'm hoping he keeps improving that because King is a really talented Punter if only he could make his holds a little more consistent because we know Sebass and his cannon leg, he is capable of making long field goals look easy.

Overall, good effort, I'm not mad at all and hopefully this game serves as a learning experience. I'm expecting Pryor to be more comfortable in the pocket as the season rolls on and hopefully McFadden gets it going regardless of whoever's starting in the O-line. Morale victory this game, but at the end of the day a "W" is how a team is measured and we have that opportunity next week at home against Jacksonville.

Week 1: Raiders @ Indianapolis Colts Quarter-by-Quarter Reaction(s)

4th Quarter:

Score: OAK 17 IND 21

Game ends pretty much. TP taking a sack and a bad interception sealed the game, but it was a good effort, I'm not upset too much at least we showed some heart against a heavily favored Colts instead of giving up on the first few drives by the Colts. The game winning TD by Luck, obviously some controversy on that play on DHB holding DJ Hayden as well as a phantom penalty on us, called on Tracy Porter and he wasn't even near the play on the previous play, but it is what is and I'm not mad, we didn't push the "QUIT" button when the Colts were scoring at will on us in the first before we turned it up a notch in the 2nd half. Stay tuned for the full recap.

3rd Quarter:

Score: OAK 10 IND 14

Run DMC's TD is under review, but man what a show of life by the Raiders. The 4th and 1 stop from Jason Hunter and TP's monster game in the run and the pass. This is what the Raiders need, heart and they're currently showing that against the heavy favorited Colts. I am thoroughly impressed and hopefully there's inconclusive evidence on DMC's TD even though clearly he got out of bounds.

*UPDATE: Beginning of the fourth McFadden's TD is reversed.

2nd Quarter:

Score: OAK 7 IND 14

2nd quarter comes to end, better drive by Pryor, him and McFadden stole the spotlight during that drive and it's just what we needed at the right time. I thought the defense did a great job putting pressure on Luck aside from his early TD in the quarter, Jason Tarver made as much adjustments as he can without a true pass rush and we prevented Luck to score another one on us. Good 2nd quarter from the Raiders, could've put it within 4, but the inconsistency of Marquette King as the holder is what concerned me the most when we cut Kluwe because Sebass is capable of chipping in from 48 and I wasn't happy about that. So onto the halfitime report.

1st Quarter:

Score: OAK 0 IND 7

Alright first Q-Q reaction post for the 2013 season and for the most part, mixed reactions on my part. I thought Terrelle Pryor is holding on his own at the QB position taking us into Colts territory, aside from the bad interception in the end zone, I thought he did good and Streater is definitely proving to be the true #1 go to guy. On defense, the pass rush and the run D, obviously our concern because Andrew Luck had a lot time in the pocket to throw I mean he could take ages and still get a man open because we have no pass rush. Other than that, this was out of my expectations, I expected the Colts to just torch us from the beginning, but we had the ball and we managed to keep Luck off the field for the most part which is why it was 0-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Raiders @ Colts Halftime Post

Score: OAK 7 IND 14

Alright two quarters in the books and so far it's close than expected. So I thought the positives so far Terrelle Pryor, Darren McFadden, and Rod Streater, those 3 have been carrying our offense the whole game. TP2, passed for 114 yards and rushed for 56 yards including the 21 yard drive to put us in for a TD. The bad interception after going deep into the end zone on our first drive, I was really pissed off on that one and it was obviously a bad play call by Greg Olson because we know Pryor underthrows most of his deep passes twice to Rod Streater and one to Marcel Reece. As I said Rod Streater, proving to be the #1 go to guy had 3 receptions for 45 yards, he's growing up, I mean rapidly and hopefully he continues that.

Run DMC, we need to see more from him, even though he did score a TD on a 2 yard run, 21 yards on 9 carries, I mean we're back at the power blocking scheme and we need to see at least one drive where he is loose and to do that, the line needs to do a better job creating holes for him.

Most concerning though the defense, but I though they managed to hold off their own aside from Luck throwing 2 passes to Reggie Wayne already, but they're holding off their own, for now. We don't know what kind of adjustments the Colts will make, but for sure they'll turn it up a notch in the third.

My 2013 Fantasy Football Team(s)

Team 3: Matt's Awful Team

Starters:

QB: Tony Romo (DAL)
WR1: Demaryius Thomas (DEN)
WR2: Dwayne Bowe (KC)
WR3: Marques Colston (NO)
RB1: LeSean McCoy (PHI)
RB2: Stevan Ridley (NE)
TE: Rob Gronkowski (NE)
K: Phil Dawson (SF)
DEF: Arizona (AZ)

Bench:

RB: Montee Ball (DEN)
QB: Sam Bradford (STL)
TE: Jared Cook (TEN)
WR: Mike Williams (TB)
WR: Michael Floyd (AZ)
DEF: Pittsburgh (PIT)

Team 2: Paradigm Shift*

Starters:

QB: Matt Ryan (ATL)
WR1: Calvin Johnson (DET)
WR2: Victor Cruz (NYG)
WR3: Miles Austin (DAL)
RB1: Maurice Jones-Drew (JAC)
RB2: Darren McFadden (OAK)**
TE: Tony Gonzalez (ATL)**
K: Steven Hauschka (SEA)
DEF: Seattle (SEA)

Bench:

QB: Robert Griffin III (WAS)**
WR: Josh Gordon (CLE)
RB: Montee Ball (DEN)
RB: Benjarvus Green-Ellis (CIN)
WR: Malcom Floyd (SD)
TE: Heath Miller (PIT)

* = Defending Champion
** = Was on final Championship Roster

Team 1: TD Twister

Starters:

QB: Colin Kaepernick (SF)
WR1: Victor Cruz (NYG)
WR2: Mike Wallace (MIA)
WR3: Miles Austin (DAL)
RB1: Arian Foster (HOU)
RB2: Darren McFadden (OAK)
TE: Tony Gonzalez (ATL)
K: Robbie Gould (CHI)
DEF: Cincinnati (CIN)

Bench:

TE: Antonio Gates (SD)
RB: Montee Ball (DEN)
WR: Emmanuel Sanders (PIT)
QB: Josh Freeman (TB)
RB: Ben Tate (HOU)
WR: Rod Streater (OAK)