RAIDERS-Steelers Halftime Post

OAK 14 PIT 21

Welcome in to the halftime post of the Raiders' critical matchup vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh where the Steelers lead the Raiders by a single TD 14-21 at the half.

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Michael Crabtree, 2 receptions, 41 yards, TD. This is why Crabtree needs an extension. After putting up 100+ yards against the Jets, he's followed up that performance in the first half against the Steelers by hauling in a TD by Carr on the Raiders' first drive. He could've had more, but Derek Carr lead him way too far out of bounds on two of those incomplete passes. Amari Cooper and the rest of the receiving corps struggled with drops and that's why Crabtree is leading the team in receiving.

Latavius Murray, 9 carries, 72 yards. While the passing game was up and down in the first half, I thought the running game was the only consistent going for this Raiders' offense. Going back to the first drive, Murray exploded with a 44 yard run and that was the difference maker as to why the running game was consistent for the offense in the first half.

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Secondary. Antonio Brown, 10 receptions for 180 yards in the first half. Enough said.

Bottom Line

Despite Antonio Brown's career day and bringing the Raiders' secondary back down to earth, lucky enough the Raiders are down by a one touchdown score. Even though the Steelers did it in an unconventional way, the Raiders are hanging around. The offensive play calling has to be better and this Raider offense is too good to have shackles on, but that's due to a lot of dropped passes; those have to get cleaned up in the second half. And the defense, the secondary only has one job, stopping Antonio Brown. This man-to-man coverage isn't working against him. Put safety help on him or something because he is just toasting Amerson and Hayden so far.

Lakers Get on the Win Column vs. Nets

In a battle of two win-less teams in the NBA, only one came out on top and luckily it was the Lakers on Friday night. Rookie, D'Angelo Russell finally hit his stride in living to the #2 overall draft status as he was the Lakers' top performer with 14 points on 6-9 shooting in the Lakers' 104-98 win over the Brooklyn Nets. It was a balanced, team effort as Kobe Bryant racked up 18 points, Julius Randle contributed 14 points, and Jordan Clarkson also had 16 points to round out the starters. Both Lou Williams and Nick Young lead all scorers off the bench with 10 points despite horrid shooting from the two.

Final Score: @ Brooklyn 104-98 [W]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20151106/LALBKN/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nba:scoreboard

Highlights:

Next Game: @ New York (11/08)

Lakers 0-4 After Loss to Nuggets

And the atrocious start continues. Jordan Clarkson was the Lakers' top performer Tuesday night, scoring 30 points on 12-19 shooting, but that wasn't enough to give the Lakers their first W this season as they fall to the Nuggets 120-109. This marks the 2nd consecutive year that the Lakers have started the season at 0-4. Julius Randle added 16 points on 7-14 shooting and Kobe Bryant added 11 points, despite a 4-11 shooting night. Lou Williams lead all scorers off the bench with 24 points; although shooting the ball poorly at 4-11, Williams made it up with a 16-19 performance from the free throw line.

Final Score: vs. Denver 120-109 [L]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20151103/DENLAL/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nba:scoreboard

Next Game: @ Brooklyn (11/06)

Julius Randle's Career Night Can't Save Lakers vs. Mavs

Julius Randle had quite a day in his young NBA career as he was the Lakers' top performer with a double-double of 22 points and 15 rebounds on 9-17 shooting, but it wasn't enough to cover the Lakers' defensive liabilities against the Mavericks as they lost 103-93. Not a lot of Laker players had good shooting nights as Kobe Bryant had 15 points on 3-15 shooting and D'Angelo Russell continues his rookie woes early on, finishing with 10 points on 4-13 shooting. Lou Williams also had a bad shooting night off the bench, finishing with 13 points on 4-12 shooting.

Final Score: vs. Dallas 103-93 [L]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20151101/DALLAL/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nba:scoreboard

Highlights:

Next Game: @ vs. Denver (11/03)

Raiders Defeat Jets Behind Derek Carr's 4 TD Performance

Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' week 8 matchup vs. the New York Jets where the Raiders gain early leverage in the AFC playoff picture as they beat the Jets 20-34 lead by Derek Carr's career day of tossing 4 TDs.

Well, the finish that we wanted was there. There's still a lot more room to improve in closing out games, but the Raiders finished better this game and they earned a convincing victory against the Jets in what is a matchup that could possibly shake up the playoff picture in the fight for a wild card spot. Despite the injuries the Jets had on offense, this was still a good win because the Raiders' offense absolutely shredded the Jets' top ranked defense and they didn't even need Amari Cooper to have a big game since they know Darrelle Revis was going to keep him in check. So, it is what it is.

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There were a lot of positives this game, I don't even know where to start!

Derek Carr, 23 of 36 passing, 333 yards, 4 TDs. So far, the Raiders are 3-0 this season when Derek Carr throws for three or more touchdown passes. With a Jets defense that loves to blitz and with a stingy secondary, this sets the bar out of all of Carr's performance this season. Like I said, he just continues to level up his game week after week. Under this offense, Carr is just nothing short of amazing. He's commanding the huddle, changing up the plays when he sees an exploitable matchup, and just going through his reads like it's nothing even with pressure coming in his face. This game is a definite bar setter for Carr.

Michael Crabtree, 7 receptions, 102 yards, 1 TD. Darrelle Revis got held up with Amari Cooper all game long and that opened up Crabtree to have an excellent game. Crabtree absolutely delivered. That 36 yard run was probably the highlight of the game because by having a good defense, we thought the Jets would be sure tacklers. But one missed tackle by the Jets defense allowed Crabtree to cut loose for that TD. Crabtree has been reliable all game long and he definitely turned it up a notch since his partner-in-crime in Amari Cooper was going to be challenged by Revis.

Latavius Murray, 20 carries, 113 yards. So, the Jets had a top 5 run defense huh? That run defense was non-existent today against the "Tay Train." Though I'll give them credit for stopping Murray in run plays up the middle, but everything else from running to the edge, waiting for the pull from the guards to break a run, Latavius Murray burned that top 5 Jets run defense in every other category besides running up the middle. No problem for the run game to get going at all.

Taiwan Jones, 2 carries, 5 yards, 1 reception, 59 yards, 1 TD. Taiwan Jones has found a role under Bill Musgrave and it's the same role that Percy Harvin had when Musgrave called plays in Minnesota. When Jones is on that field, besides Marcel Reece, he gives this offense a new dimension because of his speed and elusiveness. On a simple screen pass, Jones eluded two Jets defenders and absolutely torched them 59 yards to the house for the Raiders' last TD of the game. I'm very glad he's found a role after the previous pathetic excuse of a coaching staff tried to convert him into a defensive back.

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There were not a lot of negatives this game, but I guess clock management needs a little more work for the Raiders. There's some questionable pass plays in which the Raiders could've just run the ball and kill some clock, but the Raiders wanted to be more aggressive and the Jets did have two timeouts left. It's not too much of a negative, but it's a learning curve for the Raiders' offense to clock out opposing defenses.

Conclusion

Overall, this was a satisfying win and the margin of victory is a type of margin that upholds the Raiders' domination of this game throughout. I'll say this proudly, Derek Carr and the offense are legit. There are too many weapons on that side for everyone to be underutilized and Bill Musgrave has done a masterful job in utilizing them to the best of his ability in his game plans. The defense though has a couple of pieces left till they are legit, but they are holding their own out there thanks to the tutelage of Jack Del Rio and Ken Norton, Jr. This season is a significant sound of progression and why not push for playoff aspirations now? They knocked off the Jets this week to gain leverage and they look to build on that by facing the Steelers next week in Pittsburgh as the Steelers are also pushing for a playoff spot and gain some leverage. But no matter the end result, the Raiders are finally looking like a legit football team. It has been so long that there is some optimism and this team is giving us a reason to believe. I'll see you guys next week for the Steelers game.

Week 8: Early Playoff Implication Game? RAIDERS vs. New York Jets Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

NYJ 20 OAK 34

Another 4th quarter, another 4th quarter of some antsy moments since the Raiders were keeping time on the clock for the Jets to knock on the door and come back with the way the defense was playing soft again. But, thank goodness Geno Smith had some bad clock awareness. He took a sack from D.J. Hayden and a sack from Khalil Mack to keep the clock rolling for the Jets to run out of time. But nonetheless, the Raiders can hang that elusive double digit victory on the wall. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

NYJ 13 OAK 31

I'm lovin' this after this quarter. The Raiders are in no way shape or form, playing conservative. They gave up a TD though, but whatever. But every time, the Raiders offense have answered back by putting together solid drives and they tacked on three more points to extend the lead this quarter. Next, they can't give up 23 unanswered points. Luckily, the offense is driving again to tack on more hopefully.

Q2:

NYJ 6 OAK 21

It was a matchup between the Raiders' red hot offense and the Jets' stingy defense. And I gotta tell ya', the Raiders are doing a good job neutralizing the Jets' biggest strength in blitzing and bringing the heat. The Raiders offense throughout the first half have outplayed the Jets' defense and that's a sign of consistency that us Raiders fans wanted to see after their big outing last week against the Chargers. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

NYJ 3 OAK 7

The first quarter, the Jets controlled most of the time of possession, but the injuries to Jets' center Nick Mangold and Ryan Fitzpatrick are huge pluses in favor of the Raiders. On the first possession, the Raiders tested the stingy Jets defense and they handled that drive with ease. Although they got a huge break because Amari Cooper made a catch on a deflection from Michael Crabtree. But great awareness by Cooper on that play as he was at the right place at the right time to prevent a potential INT. So far, the momentum favors the Raiders with the Jets' injuries on the offensive side of the ball and the drive they fielded together before the end of the quarter.

RAIDERS-Jets Halftime Post

NYJ 6 OAK 21

Welcome in to the halftime post of the Raiders' matchup vs. the New York Jets where the Raiders picked up where they left off last week in San Diego, leading the Jets 6-21.

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Derek Carr, 14 of 18 passes, 178 passing yards, 3 TDs. Last week against the Chargers, Derek Carr finished the game with 200+ passing yards and 3 TDs; this week he has 3 TDs at the half. All I can say is, we have our franchise quarterback and he continues to get better every week. Last season, the Jets gave Carr all kinds of fits under Rex Ryan and this season with another defensive coach in Todd Bowles and the same personnel plus a better secondary, Carr is handling them the 2nd time around. Carr continues to show us new things week after week.

Michael Crabtree, 5 receptions, 62 yards, 1 TD. All the attention is on Amari Cooper, so they sent Darrelle Revis to try and neutralize Carr's favorite target. Have the Jets forgotten that the Raiders have Michael Crabtree on the opposite side of the field? We figured with that scenario, Crabtree was going to have a monster game and that prediction is living up to standards as Crabtree just can't go down and managed to slip in for a 36 yard TD and he's been reliable on third down situations.

Andre Holmes, 2 receptions, 54 yards, 2 TDs. Wow, Andre Holmes was literally the forgotten man the past few weeks, but he's stepping up big time. Basically, Holmes is the only familiar target Carr has from last season and he has resurrected from the grave. Credit to Musgrave though. He used rookie tight end Clive Walford as the X-factor for the Raiders' offense and now this week, it's Andre Holmes who has that mark and he has answered the challenge since Cooper and Crabtree got their hands full against Revis and Cromartie.

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No negatives.

Bottom Line

All I can say is, please close out the game the right way. The Raiders have another big lead coming out of the first half and last week, they got too conservative, allowing the Chargers to creep back into the game. The Raiders have to do this right and put the pedal to the metal because that Jets defense is light years better than the Chargers defense last week and they have a knack to keep the team's hopes alive. Let's see what happens.