There was a bunch of controversy during the Raiders-Broncos game when one (presumably Raider) fan decided to literally scorch the retina of Brandon Marshall with a laser pointer. The game was halted as they tried to find the douche bag responsible but to no avail. But then, the play immediately following that bizarre incident, something even stranger happened. Immediately following a nice play by Tommy Kelly to force Knowshon Moreno into losing a yard, the world got a glimpse of Tommy Kelly that might be figuratively, if not literally, scorched into their retinas forever. What happened, you ask? Well, let's just say that Tommy is trying to challenge Visanthe Shiancoe to become the 2nd NFL football player this decade to be offered a spot in a porn flick.
GuJo: "Oh!" Steve Tasker: "Whoops." GuJo: "Whoa."
As disturbing as those images are, the reactions by GuJo and Tasker were beyond priceless. Then again, unlike Al and Cris who said nothing upon seeing the bottom of Devin Hester, there actually was a reaction here, so maybe that's what made it funny, but regardless, this is hilarious once you get past the fact that we just saw way too much skin of a huge man. Good times today up in Denver........goooooooooood times.
The pigeon in the Eagles-Raiders game had many fine moments for them, including getting in the way of Brent Celek on a completion, but this one on a kickoff return has to be the most bizarrre. Watch as the pigeon lines up with the Raiders and then flies down the field with the Raiders! I'm serious.
Seeing as I could not strangle that damned pigeon during the game, I'll settle for laughing and watching as his Australain friend learns a lesson or 2 about being on the field during a cricket match.
You know, one day I'm going to look back at this game and laugh my ass off, because I'm sure truly to the casual fan, the pigeon is really funny, but for now, I just want to strangle that thing and/or fire a football right at it and send the damn thing into another universe. And this is coming from someone who, to a certain extent, cares about animals! But if you do me wrong, you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be pissed off at you. Case and point, the Raiders Pigeon.
Several things. First of all, what the hell kind of performance was that? You come into Oakland and you lay that kind of a turd??? Seriously? Where was the effort? Where was the passion? Where was the heart? The answer: there was none. The Eagles showed up expecting to walk all over the Raiders and that's the kind of team that showed up. They expected to win without trying. JaMarcus Russell even threw them 2 INTs and they still could not win.
Where was the wildcat this game? The Eagles' wildcat offense, when used, has been semi-effective and I have a feeling it would have worked in this game. McNabb had an off game and threw it on practically every play and even when it had gotten to the point that it was clearly visible that McNabb was struggling, Reid kept having him throw the ball. No wildcat, no change of pace, no Micheal Vick. I'm not saying it would have changed anything, but with the Raider D-line dominating like they were, it damn sure would not have hurt to try to change things up a bit.
But through it all, the Eagles really should have won that game. Even though Russell did make some plays (more so than normal at least) and Fargas was decently effective, the Raiders are a horrible football team and played like that horrible football team. David Akers missed 2 40+ yard field goals. That should have been a gimme. Make those 2 FGs then bam, the Eagles win.
And then there were the officials. Look, I can't blame the pigeon for one, that was just a freak occurance which would have been a little more mildly amusing had the game not been what it was, but the officials were in the back pocket of the Raiders or something because that was an abortion. Take for instance one of Akers' 5 FGs attempted. HE WAS BODYSLAMMED INTO THE GROUND!!!!!!! People have gotten penalized for innocently pushing the kicker. Akers gets bodyslammed, and there was NO FLAG! And maybe there was a running into the kicker, I did not see that, but the bottom line is is that when your kicker is fucking bodyslammed, that's a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down!!!!!!!! And chances are, a few plays later, your game-tying touchdown is scored and it's a brand new ball game. Complete incompetence on the part of Morelli and I would not mind the Eagles saying a few things that get themselves a $25,000 fine.
However, it should not have come to that. The Eagles should not have been so overly confident, Reid should not have gotten all pass heavy, and despite the injury to Peters, the Eagles should not have allowed 6 sacks to the Raiders. If the Eagles play like they can play, they win that game and they win it big. The defense was not great, but the bottom line is is that they held them to 13 points. If you can't score 13 points on the Raiders, then I guess despite all of the missed calls, you deserve to lose.
Update: To add salt to the wounds of the Eagles, the Phillies actually managed to outscore them tonight. Yep, the Phillies outscored a football team playing the Oakland Raiders. Phillies 11, Eagles 9.
And thanks to the Phillies, this night has been salvaged after all. What a win and what a performance by Clifton Phifer Lee on the mound. 11-0 Phillies won Game 2 and they now lead the NLCS 2-1.
It's my week to host the live blog and seeing as the Phillies also play tonight, I'm combining both events into one live blog just for the sake of laziness in not wanting to create 2 live blogs.
I've got Vikings-Ravens, Browns-Steelers, Bills-Jets, and Raiders-Eagles, with my attention being focused on the obvious 2, Vikings-Ravens and Raiders-Eagles. Here are is your information for Game 3 of the NLCS. Enjoy the games and leave comments!
Game 3: Dodgers @ Phillies 8:07 (Kuroda, 8-7 vs. Lee, 14-13) (TBS - Chip Caray, Ron Darling, and Buck Martinez, SR: Craig Sager)
The Phillies game must have unconsciously knocked me into a state of senility as I have resorted to basically screaming my NFL picks in a vlog. Enjoy!
For those too lazy to view the video, here are the picks written down.
Cincinnati over Houston Green Bay over Detroit Jacksonville over St. Louis Minnesota over Baltimore New York Giants over New Orleans Pittsburgh over Cleveland Carolina over Tampa Bay Kansas City over Washington Philadelphia over Oakland Arizona over Seattle New England over Tennessee New York Jets over Buffalo Atlanta over Chicago Denver over San Diego
Holy Hell! It's Week 6 already! I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that I will in fact be around this week for the live blog. The bad news is I will NOT be around next week (for at least the first part of it; I'll probably make the tail-end of the late games and SNF). That week that I won't be around does fall at a good time, though, because the Eagles have an MNF showdown with the Redskins that week, so fear not, my fellow friends, you won't miss any of my inane cheering for my beloved Eagles!
With that being said, here is the maps and list of announcers for this week's games and for the first time this year, I get 2 CBS games at once! It's CBS with the doubleheadr this week, so without further ado, are you ready? Here is your Week 6 broadcasting schedule! (games I get are in bold; all times eastern)
New York Giants @ New Orleans Saints 1:00 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Troy Aikman) Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers 1:00 (Fox - Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa) Carolina Panthers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00 (Fox - Dick Stockton and Charles Davis) St. Louis Rams @ Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 (Fox - Ron Pitts and John Lynch)
Philadelphia Eagles @ Oakland Raiders 4:05 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan) Arizona Cardinals @ Seattle Seahawks 4:05 (Fox - Chris Myers and Brian Billick)
Baltimore Ravens @ Minnesota Vikings 1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf) Cleveland Browns @ Pittsburgh Steelers 1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots) Kansas City Chiefs @ Washington Redskins 1:00 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Rich Gannon) Houston Texans @ Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 (CBS - Don Criqui and Randy Cross)
Tennessee Titans @ New England Patriots 4:15 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms) Buffalo Bills @ New York Jets 4:15 (CBS - Dick Enberg and Dan Fouts)
Sunday Night Football Chicago Bears @ Atlanta Falcons 8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth)
Monday Night Football Denver Broncos @ San Diego Chargers 8:30 (ESPN - Denver Broncos @ San Diego Chargers)
Too bad the Eagles don't have a Fox early game because that would mean that I get 3 games at the same time, something that did happen a few times last year. Oh well. I know I'm about to re-go over something I've explained over 1,000 times, but it seems like everytime something like this comes up that they don't get how this is possible or they are unsure of what's going on. I am in a college in a small town not near any big city, therefore, I pick up 2 different CBS affiliates, KYW Philadelphia and WYOU Scranton. This week, those affiliates are not airing the same game at 1:00 ET, therefore, I get both games. However, for some strange reason, when it comes to Fox, I only get WOLF Wilkes-Barre (sometimes listed as WOLF Scranton or WOLF Wilkes-Barre Scranton) and I do not get WTXF Philadelphia, thus the occasional discrepencies there, although not once in my time here as that station not shown an Eagles game when they are on.
The Oakland Raiders had the San Diego Chargers right where they wanted them, but then, the Chargers marched down the field in the final minutes to win the game. This truly was a typical week 1 game. Horribly boring game, worse announcers, and a fantastic finish. Here are your highlights, oh, and I guess I should warn you that this video is over 6 minutes of Mike, Mike, and Steve. I can't just surprise my readers out of nowhere with such annoying, awful announcers.
Even though the refs did have a few big time calls in the game, the Raiders deserved to lose it. Russell needs to play better at QB and they need to avoid stupid penalties. They may have a star in McFadden, but JaMarcus Russell is proving time and time that he was not worth the 1st round draft pick.
New coach, same Raiders. All what you hear from football analysts is that the Raiders will only improve with Al Davis gone. I say BS. Al Davis has won three Super Bowls in his time as the Raiders owner. Davis knows how to make personnel decisions. What Davis doesn't know how to do, is stay out of the way of his head coaches.
After Davis fired Tom Florres in the late-80's, Davis has went out and hired young coaches who have a plan and know how to execute the plan. Davis hired a young Mike Shanahan, but he couldn't stay out of the way. Eventually Davis fired Shanahan and you know what happened to Shanahan after he was hired by the Raiders rival the Denver Broncos. Davis also hired a young offensive coordinator from the Philadelphia Eagles named Jon Gruden. The Raiders success earlier in this decade all goes to Gruden. But Gruden wasn't a "Yes Man" and was eventually traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Since Gruden left the Raiders have had a collection of "Yes Men" from Bill Callahan, Norv Turner, Art Shell, Tom Cable. Lane Kiffin could have been the next Jon Gruden or Mike Shanahan, but Davis wouldn't stay out of his way. Which leads us to where we are now.
The Oakland Raiders, a once proud organization, is now the laughing stock of the league. And it doesn't appear that Tom Cable is the right choice for the head coaching position. Especially after he knocked out his assistant coach. So their may be a new coach in Oakland, the situation hasn't changed. And I don't expect it to change.
The Quarterback: The Raiders brought in Jeff Garcia to compete/backup JaMarcus Russell. But instead of keeping Garcia around, the Raiders released Garcia in favor of Charlie Frye and Bruce Gradkowski. It's a clear sign that Russell is the quarterback and that no one behind him has a chance at the starting job.
Russell hasn't been bad, but he hasn't been good. Russell is at his most effective when the Raiders run the ball over seventy five percent of the time. Russell has confidence to be the starting quarterback, but he needs to show a better work ethic. Russell's teammates support him, now it's time for Russell to show that he is a leader.
Running Game: If their is one area that the Raiders should be affective at, it's the running game. Darren McFadden will be the every down back for the Raiders. McFadden was hurt the majority of last year with turf toe. McFadden this year seems to be healthy and ready for a breakout season.
Behind McFadden is Michael Bush, Justin Vargas, and Louis Rankin. Bush rushed for 177 yards in the season finale win over Tampa Bay. When healthy, Bush can be the Raiders sledgehammer. Vargas had been the Raiders every down back, now he will be the third down back. Rankin is the speed back for long yardage situations. The Raiders also brought in Lorenzo Neal to be the fullback. Neal has been the fullback for multiple 1,000 yard rushers.
Schedule: The schedule alone is brutal for the Raiders. They have to travel to Pittsburgh and Dallas late in the season. Philadelphia comes to Oakland early in the season. That's three loses right there. And that doesn't even counting a trip to play the New York Giants, a late season trip to Cleveland or their two games against San Diego.
Video: This video is great. In one of the NFL Networks Top Ten lists, they featured the greatest feuds in football. And the Raiders vs. The World was number one.
Prediction: 4-12, 3rd AFC West. Well look at it this way, the Raiders won't be as bad as the Denver Broncos. The Raiders though will be bad. Their defense is horrible. Even if Richard Seymore shows up, the Raiders still have problems along their defensive line. Then add in a difficult schedule and a malcontent as the head coach and the Raiders are once again at the bottom of the league.
