That was a crazy game to end a crazy sporting Monday. There is, like the first game, a whole lot to digest in that one. Here are a few of those things:
1. Oakland played very straight forward defense, but it was shockingly effective for much of the game – The Chargers are supposed to be a world class offense, but Oakland thoroughly outplayed them, and they did it without doing anything fancy. The defensive scheme really just looked like a basic preseason package, but they played it with intensity and burning desire, and San Diego couldn’t manage to overcome it to nearly the extent that they should have. Part of what helped the Raiders was Richard Seymour. He might not be happy to be in Oakland, but you’d never guess it by the way he played. He was a beast. The exception to that defensive strength, of course, was on the last drive when the Raiders played a tentative, pathetic prevent package when they badly needed to hold the Chargers.
2. Norv Turner is a lousy coach – Every year the guy has incredible talent, and every year they stumble out of the gate and underachieve, and that gives them problems through the year. Simply put, I am not at all convinced that Turner is anywhere close to good enough to be a head coach in this league anymore – especially not for a team that should be as competitive as the Chargers. He got lucky to win that one, but he got outcoached. No one other than Marvin Lewis should be outcoached by Tom Cable.
3. I may not be around to write the next couple of days because the Chargers might need me to come play offensive line – This is going to be an issue in a big way in coming weeks. The Chargers couldn’t catch a break, and they were ravaged by offensive line injuries. They didn’t have enviable depth up front anyway, and this certainly won’t help.
4. JaMarcus Russell is terrible – That was a heck of a late TD pass on 4th down, but there isn’t a lot to like beyond that. The guy can throw the deep ball, it’s just everything else that he struggles with. And I do mean everything. He can’t be relied upon, he doesn’t see things well in the short to mid field range, he doesn’t think on his feet, and his body language just doesn’t breed confidence. I’m not at all convinced that the guy will ever be a legitimate QB, but if he ever is it certainly won’t be for a while.
5. In this era no football field should have a baseball field on it – Enough said.
6. LT does not look like LT – LaDainian Tomlinson is the best of his generation, but that generation really looks like it has passed. He had 13 carries, but he wasn’t particularly effective, and he was standing on the sideline watching as his team charged down the field to score the winning touchdown. Despite his protestations that he has never been better, this story is not going to have a happy ending.
7. The Raiders aren’t good, but they are better, and they looked more fundamentally sound than they have in a long while. It’s progress, and that’s all you can hope for from a team with cupboards as empty as theirs are. They deserved to win that one yesterday, and that’s really saying something.
