Miami Heat
By Charles Ybarra
Sunday, November 16th, 2008 at 8:12 pm in Oakland Raiders.
Another week, another step closer to getting a high draft pick.
Is there any other way to look at this mess of a year?
I can’t stop thinking about the fact that we actually have more to work on this year then last year. Can anyone else remember when we were at LEAST in the top 5 in NFL rushing?
Cable was supposed to CONTINUE making our ground game a dominant force, not neglect it.
Darth Raider as the Oakland Raiders Coach next year, I can see it now…
It’s not like we’re a joke already…
It all seemed too familiar after Dan Carpenter nailed a 38-yard field goal with 38 seconds left to cap a 61-yard drive, and the Dolphins earned their fourth consecutive victory Sunday by defeating the Raiders 17-15.
Johnnie Lee Higgins scored on a 93-yard punt return with 4:30 left to give the Raiders their first lead. Chad Pennington then moved the Dolphins down the field in 10 plays, completing a 7-yard pass on fourth-and-5 to Ted Ginn Jr. to keep the drive alive.
“It was my first fourth-and-5 with a minute or so left in the game,” said Ginn, a second-year pro. “It was probably Chad’s 20th. He’s cool, calm and collected. He went out there and got the job done.”
Oakland (2-8) lost its fourth in a row, and Tom Cable fell to 1-5 as interim coach.
“This is good for us,” Cable said. “It hurts because we lost, but we’re getting closer. We’ve just got to keep pounding away, and we’ll get a break one of these days.”
I’m only afraid that most of the Raider Nation will still be asleep by the time that happens.
The Raiders generated only two field goals on offense, and scored when Jay Richardson sacked Chad Pennington for a safety. They haven’t registered an offensive touchdown in 13 quarters, and reinforcements failed to provide a spark.
Quarterback JaMarcus Russell returned after missing one game with a knee injury, and he went 15-for-22 for 156 yards, but Miami had six sacks. His last pass was a completion to the Oakland 30 before time ran out.
Russell, keep working on getting to the next level, we all still believe in you.
(well, most of us..)
Teammate Darren McFadden, nursing a toe injury that has hampered him most of the season, played for the first time in four games as a reserve. He carried only three times for 13 yards, and the Raiders totaled just 70 yards on the ground.
“You can’t have an offense that doesn’t score points,” running back Justin Fargas said. “We have to pick up our side of it.”
Ginn had a 40-yard touchdown run on an end-around for the Dolphins. They ran for a season-high 222 yards, including 101 by Ronnie Brown in 16 carries.
The Raiders went 2-for-11 on third-down conversations and were out gained 382-186. Still, they nearly pulled out a win thanks to Higgins.
The Dolphins’ punt coverage unit ranks second worst in the NFL, and he found a gaping crease. The closest would-be tackler was the last line of defense, punter Brandon Fields, who slapped Higgins’ heel in an unsuccessful diving attempt to prevent the score that put Oakland ahead 15-14.
“We keep putting ourselves in these dogfights,” Porter said. “You don’t want them to come back and bite you. When you’ve got a team down, you’ve got to figure out how to put them away. Having last-second wins is not something you want to be hoping for every time.”
The Dolphins drove 93 yards on their opening possession and scored on the run by Ginn, who broke one tackle and juked past another defender. Their other touchdown drive covered 64 yards in the third period and was capped by Patrick Cobbs 10-yard run for a 14-5 lead.
The Raiders drove 75 yards late in the first half, but with first-and-goal at the 5, they committed two penalties, lost 5 yards on a broken play and settled for a field goal and a 7-3 halftime deficit.
Sebastian Janikowski had a chance to give Oakland an 8-7 lead in the third quarter, but his 46-yard field goal attempt deflected off the right upright.
The Force almost knocked it in, but even the great Lord of Sith can do so much.
Russell was informed after the game of a death in his family, the Raiders said.
He didn’t talk to reporters.. God be with you, Jam.
Shane Lechler also continues to be one of Oakland’s few bright spots. He averaged 52.7 yards on six kicks, four inside the 20.
Looks like another lonely trip to the Pro Bowl for you, kid.
Nnamdi would make a great travel passenger, but I forsee the NFL screwing #21 again due to our crappy record.
Eh, who knows? Maybe Asomugha will get lucky.
Denver’s next??!?! Please playuh players, cook up something special for me. Bring the pain or remain out of the game!!
Have a great week,
-DR
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November 17th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I went to the game yesterday — ugh — what a blow from last year. It just felt like “WTF?” Everytime we had them against the ropes — bam — we’d let them off. Then we had the lead — and again — we HANDED them all those first downs.
I still love my Raiders — Al on the other hand — use your force DR and banish him to another galaxy. Sorry guys, don’t mean to jump on the “Bash Al” bandwagon, but watching what’s going on here in Miami after they cleaned house (kudos to Parcell). From 1-15 to now 6-4? Wow… our Nation can only hope.
So, Darth thank you as always. Nation, for us dire hards — we need to keep the faith (I say this wearing a Dolphin jersey — a lost bet). And I agree, higher draft pick, here we come!
November 17th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
rob ryan does it again, single handedly play calls the other guy right back in the game,he did it against the bills the chargers and now miami the trend from last year continues. look, lets be real miami played better and deserved to win but it still is sickning to see a defence have its balls cut of by its coach untill ryan goes we will keep finding ways to lose
November 17th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Until our 79 y/o owner kicks the bucket, we’re screwed.
The three-year study called LADIS (Leukoaraiosis and Disability), coordinated by the Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences of the University of Florence, involved 639 men and women between the ages of 65 and 84 who underwent brain scans and walking and balance tests. Of the group, 284 had mild age-related white matter changes, 197 moderate changes, and 158 severe changes.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I just got back from Miami. Nice city but dam there fans are weak. There tailgating sucks and that stupid song they play after they score a touchdown. awful!!! I sat in section 123 and those Dolphin fans are weak. They only cheer for there team when there pa tells them to cheer. We had this game, but It show us how bad our O-line is and how slow our wide outs are. J-Marcus is not very accurate with his throws. Our Defense blew it again. The D-line sucks. They are too slow. No pass rush what so ever. The Safety we got was a coverage sack. As I seen the players our O-line needs to hit the weight room the are so big but weak. It just hurts to be a Raiders fan in this decade.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
This team is no better offensively than the 2006 Raiders. The biggest mistake we have made this season was firing Kiffin. I even sent a letter to the Raiders expressing my support for coach Kiffin, and that the Raider nation was behind him. You see us Raider fans have forgotten how far we had come with Kiffin. We improved over 7 points more a game offensively and most of all were much more competitive. With the exception of 3 games last year we were in every game till the last 5 minutes. That was a lot better to watch. The players have quit on the fans, and there is ABSOLUTELY no excuse. Al needs to step down and until he does I will not waste any more of my money buying Raider stuff. I still watch every game, and I live in Nebraska, but I still watch every game, but I won’t waste my money on Al. He has done a terrible Job on improving our scouting dept. or our coaching situation. The fact of the matter is, Al Davis has made not just a few mistakes, but hundreds of mistakes over just the past 5 years alone. The Raider nation has little hope in sight. I am a member of the Raider nation that flies across America just to watch my beloved Raiders play, but its not worth it when the players don’t believe, the coaches don’t believe and worst of all the fans don’t believe.
I have no confidence in my Raiders anymore, I knew we would lose Sunday even after we were winning. Why? Because that is our identity at this point in time. We know we can’t win, and I don’t know how long it will take to change that, but I know it starts with Al. There are a lot of Al Davis fans on this website for some reason. I am here to say the facts don’t lie, we are a PATHETIC organization and have been since the day Tim Brown left. I only hope Al steps down or Passes away, because right now in my mind he is no better than the devil for what he has done to the Raider faithful.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I agree with you, Slvrnblk00. Miami fans — ugh — I’ve lived in Miami all my life, and been a RAIDER fan all my life. But what I noticed this year (AND HEAR THIS MR. DAVIS) is there were not as many Raider fans in Dolphin Stadium. Last year you could see patches of SILVER and BLACK — this year there were a few.
And Timbrown4ever — you said it well. I think the Nation will continue to watch…but not support Al Davis. There’s a big difference.
November 22nd, 2008 at 7:15 am
Yes the Raiders are on the route to another high pick, but where do you go with it ? So many holes, so little money and picks…. My guess would be Crabtree from Texas Tech or the Macklin kid from Mizzou. But with our wonderful owner, who knows ???
November 22nd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
i still have hope that it turns around sometime in the near future. Another HIGH DRAFT PICK is the mantra again. shane and nomdhi havent quit number 21 is leaving for a championship. he will get his money from the championship team that signs him. he is deserving six years in the league and losing all the time… c’mon mr davis oooops said the bad word sorry. these two deseve better. where does the organization go from here who wants to coach this team… dont think harbaugh would even think about it. i dont know iam at a loss for words…. just kep the faith until the next home game i think there are amore fans at a HS football game…
November 24th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
are you for real you guys are not raider fans you disgrace the raider nation by saying you are part of raider fans you need to get off the bus and stay in nebraska and any body who thinks like you does not belong in raider part of raider nation.so kick rocks homie