History is Made; Raiders Lose; Two Players Ejected

Many positives and negatives in this game between the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns, more for the Browns than the Raiders this time. We can start with a positive for Sebastian Janikowski with his 61 yard field goal to end the half; the fourth longest field goal in NFL history. Charlie Frye made his second start in a row and ended up with a career game with 333 yards, but made three interceptions which initially made it impossible for the Raiders to come back.
The penalties for the Raiders is the most disappointing part of this game. Accumulating 133 yards in penalties, the Raiders literally assisted the Browns all the way down the field to throw the dagger touchdown to make the score 17-9 to end the half. Also, how does two players from the same team get ejected from a game? Stanford Routt and Tony Stewart had themselves ejected for flagrant personal fouls after the whistle was blown.
The season is almost over, the Raiders obviously do not have any hope for the rest of this season, however, my concern is the quarterback position for this team. There are so many questions, I do not even know where to start. As for the draft, I hope Al Davis can see past his selfish ways, and make a pick that can benefit this team. An offensive or defensive lineman would be great, also another wide receiver would be good too.
Baltimore is next week, can we stun the Raven's chance in making the playoffs? We shall see.

Raiders Win on Road, Russell Leads Comeback

It's been two weeks, and last week's loss does not really have significance unlike the week 15 game between the Denver Broncos in Mile High.
With the injury to both of Bruce Gradkowski's knees during the Redskin game, Tom Cable made the decision to Start Charlie Frye, the former Cleveland Brown starting quarterback who threw 19 touchdowns in 2006, but then only played 3 games in three years.
We will get to the Jamarcus Russell and his glorious comeback drive, however, the player that Oakland fans should be thanking is Michael Bush and his dominance in running the football. His 18 carry 133 yard performance is a great boost for this Oakland Raider team that has had a tough time in maintaining a strong offensive line.
The 23 yard touchdown burst for Bush was the moment this team had chance to win this game. The second moment in which the Raiders had a chance to win this game was in the 4th quarter; 4th and ten, Jamarcus is in for Frye who suffered a concussion in the game. WIth no timeouts and one and half minutes left, Russell saves the game by throwing a first down to TE Tony Stewart for the first down, which then led up to the ten yard touchdown pass to Chaz Schilens to take the lead.
I say that Russell should take some of the credit for this win as well as Bush, however, this is something Oakland fans want to see every week, not occasionally. Next week will be the chance the Raiders have been looking for in winning consecutive games. We shall see, stay tuned for an interesting season.

Gradkowski Throws TD Late, Beat Defending Champions

The most obvious thing you can say about this two game winning streak for the Oakland Raiders is who knew? Who knew that sitting Jamarcus Russell would give this Raider team so much confidence? Bruce Gradkowski has become the answer, and is now 2-1 as the starting quarterback. The Oakland Raiders these last three weeks have often looked like the legendary teams of the past, especially with the come from behind wins verse the Bengals and Steelers. There were even glimpses of the Gradkowski throwing the side-arm pass, which Rich Gannon made popular when he was playing in the NFL.
Gradkowski finished with 308 yards on 22 of 30 passing and three touchdowns. Bruce's performance really came in the clutch when he took his team and passed for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to win the game with nine seconds left. One of the more impressive games the Raiders have played. However, Gradkowski's performance would not have been validated unless Louis Murphy's four catches for 128 yards.
The team is young and has a long way before they can contend with these elite teams, but it will only take time, and Bruce Gradkowski seems like he is the right fit for this team at the moment, unless Al Davis has anything to say about it. What we know for sure is, when we win your job is safe.
Our next game is verse the Washington Redskins, which recently just came of from a heartbreaking loss in overtime to the undefeated New Orleans Saints. Review will be available soon.