Friday, August 29, 2014

2014 Fantasy Football Team

Team name: GUTZ

QB: Matt Ryan (Falcons)
WR1: Julio Jones (Falcons)
WR2: Vincent Jackson (Bucs)
WR3: T.Y. Hilton (Colts)
RB1: Eddie Lacy (Packers)
RB2: Alfred Morris (Washington)
TE: Antonio Gates (Chargers)
K: Justin Tucker (Ravens)
DEF: New England

Bench:

MAURICE JONES-DREW
Heath Miller (Steelers)
Martellus Bennett (Bears)
Andy Dalton (Bengals)
Doug Baldwin (Seahawks)
JAMES JONES


Raiders 2014 Regular Season Preview: Make or Break for Dennis Allen and Staff, Last Season in Oakland?

Alright Raider Nation, welcome in to your 2014 regular season preview for the Oakland Raiders presented by yours truly. All 4 preseason games are in the books and a lot is on the line heading into season 3 of the McKenzie-Allen era. The way the Raiders headed into the offseason, they added a lot of guys that display veteran leadership, what it takes to win, and motivation to prove they have something left at the tail end of their careers, then in the draft they focused on building towards the future and selecting the best player available that can help them now. During the first three preseason games, the Raiders didn't look like they were ready enough to face the difficult schedule ahead of them, but after last night's win over the defending Super Bowl champs might've boosted some confidence that hey the team doesn't care if the opposing team is one of the NFL's elite, Super Bowl contender, or Super Bowl champ, they will compete their hearts out to prove experts wrong.

Let's look at the Raiders' offense. A much better QB situation, healthy, bigger offensive line, potential dynamic running back duo, and solid receiving corps. The way the offensive line was built displayed the identity on offense that the Raiders are going to be a run first team and they will run it until the defense can stop them. Yes, the loss of Jared Veldheer still hurts because Donald Penn is known for his run blocking rather than his pass protection; let's not forget Penn gave up a high number of sacks for the first time in his career, but he's only a short term solution. It's obvious this team is grooming Menelik Watson to play that left tackle spot in the future and rookie guard Gabe Jackson is an absolute steal and I'm hoping he beat out Barnes for that left guard spot. Overall, the O-line is a lot better than last season to say the least. At the QB spot, man even though it's better, it's a tough decision for DA to decide who the starting QB is, but the way I saw it in the preseason, it should come down between Derek Carr and Matt McGloin. Yeah we traded for Matt Schaub, but Schaub hasn't done much in the preseason to convince us that he has his confidence back, he hasn't even thrown his first TD as a Raider yet, but Carr has and that's saying something. Looking at Carr's performance last night, I think out of the QBs in this draft class, he's more ready based on his drive to win and his leadership around the offense. I think being passed up in the first round and being unfairly compared to his brother David is going to give Derek the job because the way I saw him play against the Seahawks looked like he has something to prove, he wants to prove he can help the Raiders win now rather than later. Moving on to the running backs, MJD, DMC; almost 4 years ago, these two put on a rushing clinic in Jacksonville and when healthy, they can be a deadly 1-2 tandem. Out of the two, DMC has a lot more on his shoulder. 1 year contract, maybe the last time they'll let him don the S&B, injury-plagued seasons, MJD taking away his spot, no excuses for McFadden to injure himself and stay off the field for a long period of time or he can kiss his 2nd string position goodbye to Latavius Murray. Receiving corps-wise, they say the Raiders need a primary go to guy. I say look at the Saints offense or the Packers offense, they don't revolve around a #1 receiver, sure Brees has Graham, sure Rodgers has Nelson, but they distribute the ball evenly to each receiver in the passing game. Streater, D. Moore, Jones, Holmes, Butler/Little, and Rivera and hopefully Ausberry as security blankets, the receiving corps will be fine.

On the defensive side: pass rushers, pass rushers everywhere, in and out secondary. Losing Lamarr Houston was a big loss definitely, but the Raiders replaced him with three proven pass rushers in Justin Tuck, LaMarr Woodley, Antonio Smith, drafted a stud in Khalil Mack, moved Sio Moore to the weak side. Lack of pass rushing was a big concern last season, but that's what Reggie McKenzie emphasized on when retooling this front seven. On paper the front seven is great, Tuck, Sims, Smith, Woodley, Moore, Roach, Mack, I like that front seven. If the Raiders had this front seven and mixed it with last year's secondary, they would've been a top 10 defense for sure. And this brings me to the next topic, the secondary. The most concerning position in the secondary is definitely the cornerback position. D.J. Hayden, out for who knows how many games, Tarell Brown, got burned many times this preseason against first team offenses. Neiko Thorpe, T.J. Carrie will they make the team? Should the Keith McGill project speed up? Let's rewind back to D.J. Hayden. I'm not saying I'm completely giving up on the D.J. Hayden experiment, he's just on a trend of bad luck injuries since his heart trauma, but it's McKenzie's biggest reach to take him in the 1st round when the Raiders needed to fill more important roster holes. Unless Hayden comes back and becomes the shut down corner they drafted with little memorization of the playbook, he's been a disappointment so far and the depth the Raiders have in the cornerback position is putting big smiles on Rivers, Manning, Smith and their receivers' face because they know that the cornerback position is vulnerable and C-Wood and Tyvon Branch cannot guarantee safety help on time.

Onto the regular season schedule, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, that schedule probably came from Hell itself. From an expert view, the most possible wins are Cleveland and Buffalo and the rest of the schedule is all losses. From my view, this Raider team is competitive enough to snatch a few wins among the elite. The past Raider teams from the last decade would probably pack it in, call it quits, and lock on that top pick if they had a schedule like that, but this team has a lot of winning veterans on this roster and they will give the team a reason to not be afraid and keep playing their hearts out. It is a given Denver is still the AFC West king, but I am not scared of the Chiefs, they haven't done much this offseason, I am not scared of the Chargers, the Raiders proved they could hang with them. The NFC West is definitely a scary conference, but the Rams lost Sam Bradford, history has shown that Carson Palmer doesn't have a good track record against the Raiders, the last preseason game against the Seahawks is a confidence booster heading in to face them again with the 12th man, and Week 14 is a potential trap game for the Niners because both Seahawks games are sandwiched in between the Battle of the Bay game. Overall the schedule is difficult, but it is not impossible to overcome.

In conclusion, I believe in this team, the Raider Nation believes in this team. Reggie McKenzie has done a great job giving us hope with his offseason moves and draft strategy this year and now it's time for Dennis Allen to do the same. 4-12, double digit losses is not an option anymore. I'd say at best in order for DA to save his job, he needs to take the Raiders to a 7-9 or 8-8 record to clearly show that progress is being made under the new regime. I think we have a competitive Raiders team, we just need a few more pieces to even talk playoffs or the Super Bowl, but that's just my realistic point of view. This is potentially the last season in Oakland considering the Raiders one year lease at the coliseum. If the Raiders are seriously considering shocking the football world this season after nearly 12 years of futility and frustration among us fans and give the city of Oakland a lasting memory, they need to compete their hearts out and they need to, above all else, "just win baby." GO RAIDERS! ALL IN!

Week 1 @ NY Jets, Q-by-Q reaction, Halftime Post, and Full Recap on Sunday, September 7, 10:00 AM Pacific Time

Friday, August 22, 2014

Raiders Squander Starting Lineup Dress Rehearsal vs. Packers




Alright welcome in to a preseason special of the full recap between the Raiders and the Packers. Charles Woodson, James Jones, and C.J. Wilson return to Lambeau Field to face their former teammates and it seemed that the Packers didn't seem to miss them at all as they beat the Raiders 21-31.

First off it's great to be back covering some football. I mean I too am in preseason mode, there's a random thick grey bar hanging around in the Q1 section of the Q-by-Q reaction and the halftime posts are still a tad late to beat the start of the 2nd half. You know me, I like to get these things done on the blog in real time, so this was a great way to shake off some cob webs. As for the game itself, the first team, great opening drive, but later in the game, they got outplayed not just by the first stringers, but also the second stringers. Not counting the 2nd team or 3rd team snaps, the way I saw the first team offense against Green Bay's second team defense, it looks like they're not ready to face what's ahead of them in the tough schedule.

The Positives

Maurice Jones-Drew, 3 carries, 45 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD. Highlight of the night for the Raiders was MJD's 40 yard rushing TD to the house on a 3rd down conversion. He made a lot of tacklers whiff and it caused him to go down hill on the open field. He's shown so far in the preseason that he's still Maurice Jones-Drew and he's still deadly if you underestimate his size or allow him to be so open in the backfield.

Khalil Mack, 4 solo tackles, 1 assist tackle, 1 INT. The Big Mack Attack has showcased what he's got against a top-tier team. Yes, he's been a disappointment the last two preseason games as a lot was expected of him to make a Von Miller or Clay Matthews-esque impact right now. Understandably, he's still a rookie, adjusting to the pro level style, but this game should be a barometer for the Mack Daddy to see where he's at because he placed his stamp on why he's the 5th overall pick in this year's draft this game.

Brice Butler 3 receptions, 60 receiving yards, 2 receiving TD. Literally, Brice Butler is a dark horse to overthrow Greg Little and Juron Criner off to be that 5th receiver on the depth chart and make the final 53 man roster. His chemistry with McGloin is great and they've done this last preseason when they were still rookies, the trust was there even if it is against 2nd and 3rd team players. Don't sleep on Butler because he shows his stuff late in the preseason to convince coaches to keep him on the team.

The Negatives

Penalties. To be completely frank, it is not worth talking negatives about the Raiders unless you bring up penalties. Even though Green Bay committed more penalties, the Raiders committed penalties that hurt them the most. On first team, you had a chance to get them off on their opening drive on 3rd down and then you had two great defensive stops on 3rd down and you just kill them with idiotic extracurricular penalties. Sometimes when players get into their heads, they just got to know when to let it go (Frozen reference). I see Antonio Smith jawing at somebody even though C-Wood was trying to calm him down, Kaelin Burnett jawing at another player and then tapping his helmet hard. You can't do that when you successfully executed on all 3 downs on defense and DA has got to be livid about that.

1st team passing game. Embarrassing that the Raiders' 1st team offense were getting beat by the Packers' 2nd team defense every time in the passing game. I honestly don't know what's going on, you could blame it on Schaub getting the ball out too late or the O-line clamping down, but the receivers were dropping catchable balls and they weren't trying to fight for the ball against the defensive man in front of them or trying to outmaneuver them in their routs. I sincerely hate the media saying that this team doesn't have a go to guy, the receivers have talent, they just have to find a way to get rid of the man in front of them and burn them for a big, explosive play.

Conclusion

Overall, the first team didn't leave a lasting impression during the 3rd game of the preseason. The question for DA is do you keep playing the first team or give them a rest for the final preseason game to get ready for week 1 against the Jets? Most likely they'll pull them out because usually the fourth preseason game is for remaining 2nd string and 3rd string players on the roster to scratch and claw their way in. However, the last preseason game is another good test, getting the defending champion Seahawks at home because they're going to see them again up in Seattle going up against the deafening 12th man. I won't cover that game, but I will post my regular season preview for the Raiders after. Be sure to check out my collaborations with my good friend Stillmattic on his blog: http://bleachzealot.blogspot.com we're just about to wrap up our Bleach Kombat fight night posts collab. I've been working with him on his blog since the end of the NBA regular season in April. If you guys are also into Bleach or Anime/Manga in general, my friend bust his @$$ to provide you with some entertaining content and some of his own in depth perspective on Bleach. He's more dedicated to his blog than me if you ask. Other than that, I'll see you guys again for Week 1 against the Jets. I'm out.

Dress Rehearsal Preseason Week 3: RAIDERS @ Green Bay Packers Q-by-Q Reaction


Q4:

Score: OAK 21 GB 31

Score in garbage time always tries to cover up how terrible the game went. McGloin and Butler, they've been cooking it up last preseason and they're doing it again this preseason, just fantastic chemistry even if they're playing against a 3rd string defense. Good to see GAIII run it up for the two point conversion doing his daddy proud carrying on that legacy in the S&B. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: OAK 7 GB 25

Schaub needed that TD from James Jones to give the Raider Nation a reason to have trust in him and didn't happen after the score was reversed after the review. The 2nd-3rd stringers took over this quarter, little scoring was expected. Usually heading into the 4th, both stringers want to go guns blazing to secure a spot on the roster.

Q2:

Score: OAK 7 GB 22

Arguably the story of the quarter, Sio Moore's neck injury. You don't want to see a stud of a player like Moore be carted off on a stretcher in the preseason. Overall, rough first half, passing game has been extraneous so far, and penalties are killing the team yet again. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:


Score: OAK 7 GB 8


Both teams engaging each other in a chest match with both scoring on their opening drives. MJD showed a vintage big run in the opening drive for the Raiders. Didn't like how the Raiders ended the quarter on two penalties for 15 yards because they were doing a great job on defense and special teams. Two dumb penalties have marred the Raiders' impressive sequences on defense after they allowed a score on the Packers' opening drive. You can't do that, especially against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, even if it is preseason.

RAIDERS @ Packers Halftime Post

Score: OAK 7 GB 22

Alright welcome in to a special preseason halftime post between the Raiders and the Green Bay Packers where the Packers are romping on the Raiders 22-7 at the end of the half.

The Positives

Maurice Jones-Drew, 3 carries, 45 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD. So far the play of the night for the Raiders, MJD taking it to the house for a 40 yard TD run. For that one drive alone, he showed flashes that he may be small, but with his size he is elusive to opposing run defenses. Obviously MJD is a lock to win the starting running back position since McFadden is being utilized to be a short yardage back.

LaMarr Woodley, 1 sack, 6 yard loss. Woodley is starting to come alive to do what he does best and that's getting after the QB. Woodley got a sack on Rodgers and applying constant pressure for the pocket to clamp down so the Packers' potent passing game doesn't get set.

Khalil Mack, 5 tackles, 1 INT. If there's a preseason game for a rookie to show what they're made of, it's the 3rd preseason and Mack is picking it up a notch after two slow preseason starts to his rookie campaign. He'll get better from here since he's playing a majority of snaps from 1st to 3rd string.

T.J. Carrie, 2 tackles, 1 pass deflected. Carrie in my opinion has been a constant so far in this preseason and I like that he's battling hard to prove he's more than a 7th round pick and a punt returner.

The Negatives

Penalties. It's been shooting the Raiders in the foot and it's shooting them in the foot again...still. It all triggered with back to back 15 yard penalty plays on defense and special teams. It's always a killer, especially on defense where they stop the offense on 3 straight downs and once they get a stop, they commit a stupid penalty and it's always frustrating to see that.

Passing game. No separation from receivers whatsoever and they are not coming back to the ball. You know it's embarrassing when even the 2nd string defense of the Packers are putting tight coverage on the 1st team receivers on the Raiders. 3rd preseason game in and the passing game is still a problem and that's not good.

Bottom Line

Expect for Derek Carr to start at the 2nd half, however I won't be surprise if DA keeps Schaub and some of the 1st team receivers on the field to let them continue to get in sync in this dress rehearsal. Defense is decent, just needs to cut back on the penalties. Let's see what happens in the 2nd half.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Blog Changes 08/07

Alright, we're just around the corner of this time of year where I'm going to cover regular season games for the Raiders and later, the Lakers as football season is just right around the corner in early September and then followed by basketball season in late October. The first Raider preseason game is tomorrow and since I usually announce this kind of stuff before the first preseason game, here are a couple changes or things I'm going to retain.

Football

  • I will continue to do Q-by-Q reaction, halftime post, and full recap for all 16 Raider games (provided the home games are all sold out) and it's going to be the same format: The Positives, The Negatives, Bottom Line/Conclusion.
  • For the Raider preseason games, I'll just pick only ONE preseason game to do Q-by-Q, halftime post, and full recap for warm ups. That preseason game will be the third game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. I'm choosing that game because it'll televised on CBS and it'll mark the return of 3 former Packer players to Lambeau Field (C-Wood, James Jones, and C.J. Wilson).
  • I will continue to do Q-by-Q, halftime post, and full recap of the Super Bowl regardless of which team advances and I will still do a Super Bowl preview prior to that.
Basketball


  • I will continue to do Q-by-Q reaction, halftime post, and full recap only for Laker games that are nationally televised (TNT, ESPN, ABC, NBA TV) and it's going to be the same format: The Positives, The Negatives, Bottom Line/Conclusion. Any other games that are not nationally televised will follow the old quick recap post.
  • Considering I have CSN Bay Area, I will continue to do Q-by-Q, halftime, and full recap whenever the Lakers face off against the Golden State Warriors in the regular season. 
  • I won't cover any preseason games.
  • For NBA TV games, I will ONLY do Laker games that are scheduled beforehand to be on NBA TV, that means NO Fan Night games.
  • I will continue to do Q-by-Q, halftime post, and full recap of the NBA Finals regardless of which team advances and I will still do a NBA Finals preview prior to that. 
Applies to both

  • I will do regular season previews after the preseason as well as Season in Review posts after the regular season has ended.


Continue to follow up on my Fight Night collaboration with my friend, Stillmattic on his blog, http://bleachzealot.blogspot.com with Bleach Kombat posts. I'll see you guys on the 22nd. Here's to another year of covering Raider and Laker games.

- MechG