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Post by Shaggzfate on Sept 8, 2013 15:20:47 GMT -5
So far we've learned a few things. While we lost the game against the Colts, we by no means looked bad. Pryor needed to throw the ball away instead of taking the sack. I don't blame him for the last interception, the Safety was in perfect position behind the corner when he threw it. Yes he does need to be more aware, but in a split second he wouldn't have seen Bethea.
Our line needs to give him more time. Bottom line he had 3-5 seconds tops per snap before he had a defender after him. Granted Pryor was able to turn on the burners most of the game, but he needs more time to make his checkdowns.
Mcfadden needs to step it up as well, he's still running cautious. We can't afford that right now, he needs to punish the defenders like he use to. Also when he didn't drag his foot, he needs to be more aware of where he's at in times like that.
Pryor is a gem. He kept us going, extended drives and got us into position to make a game out of it. He is our QB of the future, Al's last gift to the Raiders. His accuracy is already improved over what it was last year, and will continue to get better. Rookie mistakes are what led to his INT's, and he needs actual playing time to remedy that, no amount of time sitting on the bench will fix this, just playing the game will.
Our defense needs more work on the line, we had a few holes open up that shouldn't have, especially early on. However, we are making tackles which means a lot. Before a lot of our guys would wiff and not wrap up, but today they did a good job stopping players on first or second contact, none of that nonsense we had where a player could get hit 5 times and not go down.
RM and DA know what they are doing, and it's starting to show. Given a little time it'll come together, especially next year when we have a ton of cap room to bring in players to fit our top needs.
We are not the worst team in the league, and we proved that today. We gave the colts, a team who many are calling for the playoffs, a run for their money. If we can stay in games like we did today, we will be better off. Don't expect the world out of us right now, but we are far from worst.
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Post by Shaggzfate on Sept 9, 2013 18:37:37 GMT -5
I'll probably be the only one really posting here, but that's fine. A few more things have happened after yesterday. One is Pryor stepped up like a man big time, taking the teams loss squarely on his shoulders, acknowledging his faults, and doing what you want your #1 QB to do. This and his performance solidified him as this years starter for Oakland. Of course, a few bad games in a row can shake that, but I don't see Pryor messing up that bad. I'll be bold and venture a guess that he'll also be our starter next year as well. espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9655591/terrelle-pryor-oakland-raiders-start-week-2-jacksonville-jaguars?ex_cid=espnapi_publicHere is what a few colts players had to say about him: "It's not fun watching Terrelle Pryor run around and do his thing," Colts quarterback Andrew Luck said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "I'm sure for everybody else watching, it's pretty electric." “He’s a problem,” Colts linebacker Robert Mathis said. “He’s a very athletic guy. He can make you pay with his arm, too. We were able to get him under control at the very end, that’s all that matters.” “They did a nice job with their scheme," Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. “Those things are easier said than done. It’s hard, especially in the opener. You watch the tape and you watch the preseason, and it’s really hard to gauge and know exactly what you’re going to get. We knew we had a heck of a football player coming here, a talented guy, a great athlete.” “Use all your bullets, throw the gun, throw the belt holder, too,” Mathis said about trying to defend Pryor. Where do I see this going? Well for one we can now set up DMC off of Pryor alone. We had a few plays where they faked it to him and Pryor got a huge run, but we didn't have too many in reverse, but I can see that happening very quickly as people start to bite on him more. We also need to keep someone in the flats at all time as a type of nuclear option for Pryor to throw to, or have in the vicinity to throw the ball away at. Defensively we are a new group, we are still trying to find ourselves, I don't expect anything major out of them until about week 4 when they should gel together. But I'm a lot more happy about this year after one week of play than I've been all offseason, and even then I've been touting that we'd do better than everyone expected. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So this is where I ask you, the non-raider fans, does this one week change where you place the Raiders for the year? I understand it's only one week, and I know we have a huge hill to climb, but the promise shown is amazing.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2013 19:53:52 GMT -5
Im not impressed.
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Post by cantonhall34 on Sept 11, 2013 1:01:09 GMT -5
I'm not so sure just yet on Pryor. I'm just not a believer and never have been, even in his college days (where hopefully he has left his entitlement attitude). He seems to have some good athletic ability of course (everyone knows that) but I'm not convinced YET that he can be the long-term solution there, and certainly not after one game. He at least has seemed to get some things done, but is that a "bad Colts Defense" or was he just that good in the game? I don't know the answer to that right now. Vince Young is an apt comparison in my mind when it comes to him.
This week nearly EVERY game was close. Only a few were really "easy" wins. I think with the league starting off so tightly this year it could be a sign of things to come and Oakland could be able to steal some games that they wouldn't otherwise. I think they showed that they can compete with a pretty good team (at least right now we think the Colts are) and that might be the best news from their week one performance.
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Post by EagleDomiKnation on Sept 11, 2013 7:43:19 GMT -5
Everyone is a Pryor Hater around here Shaggz, don't know why...he's Cam newton 2.0, same Height but 10 lbs lighter and faster than Cam. People forget Pryor was great a Ohio St. The #1 recruit out of HS but since he's not a prototype white QB people hate on him. I always liked the pick up by Oakland.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2013 10:40:18 GMT -5
Don't agree with your reason for people hating on him Eagle. But whatever.
I just picked up the Raiders Defense in a few leagues. So I'm hoping they smash the Jax in the black hole. No Gabbert, not sure if that's good or bad. LOL
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Post by saskabronco on Sept 11, 2013 11:01:25 GMT -5
So this is where I ask you, the non-raider fans, does this one week change where you place the Raiders for the year? I understand it's only one week, and I know we have a huge hill to climb, but the promise shown is amazing. I still keep them in the bottom 5 for now, but they may have jumped a spot or two on my overall power rankings. Prior caught the Colts off guard, but I expect teams to adjust and be ready for him. The issue with the Raiders wasn't QB before, I have plenty of respect for Palmer. I see the issue being the lack of not only depth, but starting caliber players throughout the team. They have a few solid players, but they need a full team and really don't have one. I think with Davis no longer running the team, they have the chance to start adding solid starters again, but the building process will take more than one decent QB. Despite being in our division though, I tend to root for the weak teams to improve, so I am rooting for the Raiders to work their way up the charts again. I don't want the AFC West to be a really weak division, I want the Broncos to win every year, but I would love it if they won the SB with the Raiders, Chiefs and Chargers all being solid contenders... that gets rid of all those people who disrespect a team, simply because the others teams in their division aren't that strong. Having said that, I would be OK seeing the Chargers suck for a few years, at least until Rivers is gone. I cannot root for that man (sorry craig440 ).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2013 11:13:48 GMT -5
LOL saska. I can't root for Peyton either, even though he is real good. Don't like Cutler either.
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Post by Shaggzfate on Sept 11, 2013 11:55:54 GMT -5
Thanks guys^^ Glad to be able to talk shop here. I agree cantonhall34, we need some time to let it all sink in, but honestly I don't feel the Colts have a bad defense, quite the opposite really. They were able to keep up with our speed guys, make plays on the ball, and did a good job holding up DMac, the only issue I seen was they couldn't contain Pryor, and for some reason they let slow as a mule in mud Musturd get wide open. Don't worry about it EagleDomiKnation, they are right, Pryor has a long way to go to prove himself to the majority yet. I've been high on the kid since he came over to the Raiders. He has matured a lot, and from everything I've seen the self-entilted arrogant streak is gone. He'll prove himself this year. He won't go without his faults, he'll still throw interceptions, but that's part of the game, he just needs to keep the TD to INT ratio skewed to the left instead of right. Here is my original article from back then: bleacherreport.com/articles/1175999-terrelle-pryors-2012-outlook-with-the-oakland-raiders?search_query=EbrightWe have had a lot of turn around saskabronco. Our defense will be heads and tails better than it was last year. Yes we got rid of the incumbent starters like Huff, Seymour, Kelly ect. But what we gained is so much more. Sure talent-wise those guys have the edge (for the most part) on the new crew, but they were beat down. They lost the drive, and it really shown through last year. What DA has done this year is to bring in competition which was a breath of life for the D, as no one's job was a given, and it's not the same situation as the year before where everyone knew what they had and what to expect (which at the time was bad, all bad). Justin Hunter is a diamond in the rough this year, he'll come through for us in a big way, though I don't have to tell Denver that. We have a new crew of DB's, so really the jury is out on them, they had a decent game last week, but failed when it was most important. Right now the O-line is what will kill us. They need to be able to hold up to the initial rush better. Sure after the play breaks down they did good with letting Pryor escape, but they need to do that from the start for DMac and open the lanes early. Pryor needs to keep finding his flaws and fixing them. If he can do what he has been doing since last year, he'll be better. That's where he has the edge on players like VY, he has the heart, he's been on himself to improve both offseason's he's had in the NFL, he's taking criticism to heart. How many times have you heard a pro level QB admit his fundamentals about throwing the ball were wrong? I know that's a confidence shaker right there, but over all he improved over his performance against SD. We have some exceptionally hard games coming soon, and we'll be able to see just how well Pryor has progressed then. Denver, Philly, NYG, and Houston will all push the team to their limits as far as competition goes. Don't get me wrong, I'm not sleeping on SD or the Chiefs, they just have a different style of play, which will allow the Raiders to hopefully stick to what they are comfortable with.
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Post by EagleDomiKnation on Sept 11, 2013 12:11:31 GMT -5
ShaggzfateThe fact that he turned down the ducks for Ohio St makes me a little more forgiving of his attitude I guess;)
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