Reactions from Sunday's Game

It has taken me a while to get this one written. Not necessarily because of the harshness of the defeat, but it easily could have been. This was one of those losses that you just have to step back for a while and assess the damage. Cable said it was simply a beat-down and you have to take it for what it is and own up to it. You can't sugar coat it and push it off as maybe a matter of being unprepared. We game planned for it and still got pushed around. Here are some things I took away from the game:

Run Defense was atrocious. Let's start with the obvious. When the opponent averages 6.7 yards/carry it's going to be a long day. The Texans dominated the line of scrimmage and none of the linemen and backers could get off their blocks. That's all you need to know about that.

The Raiders' fight is bigger than it has been in a long time. When the Raiders got down 31-14 early in the 4th Quarter, the teams of the past would have folded like origami. They showed a lot of mental toughness and drove down the field twice to bring it within a TD. The defense also had a big part to play when they stopped them on two consecutive drives. This is a team that is not going to be out of many games this year.

Murphy was not completely healthy. Murph admitted after the game that he was very uncomfortable out there when the hitting started. He was fine in pre-game warmups without pads on and decided to give it a go. His clavicle he injured last week started to bother him and he failed to mention it to anyone. It was evident when he dropped a first down pass from Gradkowski to essentially end the game on 4th down.

The growth of the wide receivers are allowing Miller to impact the game. Houston was forced to gameplan for DHB and Murphy which allowed Zach Miller to line up with single coverage. He took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed 11 catches for 122 yards. If the receivers can garner this much respect the rest of the year, it will open up a lot of opportunities for the whole offense.

We were much more disciplined throughout all phases. We were only flagged for two penalties all game and they both came after halftime. If this is an area we can clean up for good, it will help us in the red zone. It showed with vast improvement over the last couple of games converting all three trips into touchdowns.

Darren McFadden will only be limited by injury this year. He has shown his ability to be implemented into all phases of the offense. The only thing stopping him from having a truly breakout year is staying healthy. We will know more the extent of his hamstring injury later in the week. So far this season, he is averaging about 140 yards of offense/game, which would put him in third place in the NFL among running backs.

Janikowski was unphased by the disaster in Arizona. He made his only attempt without even a hiccup. It was only one kick, but he should bounce back just fine. He's never had a problem with being a head-case in the past.

Gradkowski wills this team to win. If it weren't for the drop on 4th down to Murphy, which bounced off his hands and into a Houston player's hands, and another tipped pass for an interception, he would have had a pretty impressive day. He was knocked around and beaten up and still had the opportunity at the end to win this thing. We were completely out of the game by the start of the 4th Quarter. He just never gives up and always keeps it close.

Short and intermediate passes mixed in with screens will slow down a pass rush. We were sacked 4 times in the first half and none in the second half. Part of that had to do with getting the ball out of Gradkowski's hands quicker. It was the exact same thing that happened in Tennessee. We went to more screens and quicker developing plays. Maybe implement these more often earlier in the game and it will keep the defense off their toes.

Those were some of the main points. What did you take away from the game? What would you like to see more of or see done differently for this week's matchup versus the Chargers?