Reactions to Sunday's Game

Sunday's game was much too familiar to the week prior against the Steelers. The Raiders were unable to stop anything defensively and couldn't get the running game on track. The offense suffered from lack of productivity out of the running game and therefore was not able to be balanced like they needed to be in order to be successful. The Dolphins just kept the ball to themselves for most of the game, controlling it for almost 42 minutes. That is a recipe for disaster for your defense. Here are some points I took away from the game:

Nnamdi was not healthy at all. Asomugha attempted to gut it out, but it was obvious that he was not fully recovered from the ankle sprain. He admitted that he was unable to make a cut on that foot and it showed at the line. He couldn't use his patented bump-and-run coverage on the receivers and he had to move laterally instead of turning on the ankle. He also had to be off the field quite a bit and McFadden struggled mightily in his place.

Zach Miller was not healthy. He basically did not show up at all and was unable to get open or be effective in any phase of the game.

McFadden has lost his aggressive running style. Run DMC has been held to 18 yards on 16 carries over the last two weeks. That is a far cry from the guy who led the NFL in rushing yards/game through the first nine weeks. It looks as though he isn't hitting the hole with as much intensity and aggression as he was earlier in the season. This is true for the entire team. They must up the intensity this next week if they don't want to get blown out in San Diego.

The bye week didn't do us any favor. Whatever momentum the Raiders had before week 9 was lost somewhere between the end of the KC game and the beginning of the Pittsburgh game. This is not the same team that enjoyed a 4-1 stretch. They need to find that team and in a hurry if they don't want their season to be a loss.

Jacoby Ford is a playmaker. Whatever shortcomings he had as a receiver coming out of Clemson, has disappeared. He has been the only one on this team that has decided to do something with the opportunity he has been given. He was drafted only on his speed and return ability, but has shown that there is promise as a WR. He fights for the ball like no one I've seen in someone that small in a long time. Some people just have a special gift for making big plays and based on what I've seen, he's one of those guys.

We're starting to make mediocre teams look like juggernauts once again. Long gone were the days that I thought we would see this team look so bad against such a mediocre football team. The Dolphins don't have anybody that you have to game plan against and really didn't have anything going for them coming into the game. Once again, like so many times in the past 8 years, we allowed a plain team get healthy against us. We are once again the team that everyone wants to see coming up on their schedule. This is a regression from where we should be this late in the season. If things don't get better in the final 5 weeks of the season, we may never get out of this rut. Cable probably won't have a job at the end of the year either.

There is more I could say on this game, but I will refrain at this time. We now have two straight road games and could very easily find ourselves at 5-8 when we get home to face the Broncos. Let me know if there is anything I missed that needs pointing out. Feel free to say what's on your mind.