Rebuilding the Raiders

[BrnwsBucksFanNC]

Week 4 Evaluation

This game was not as close as it looks by the score. 14 of the Rams points came from INTs returned for TDs and the Rams FG was set up on a Bellows fumble. The penalties are still a concern but you cant argue with a 4-0 record.

The bad...Turnovers...turnovers...did I say turnovers?? They kept the Rams in this game. I cant have many 3 turn over games and still continue to win. RB James once again baffled me, on the 3rd down play that I pulled him after, he was wide open and caught the ball at the 1st down marker but turned and ran backwards until someone tackled him. 3rd Downs...only 4-12...you cant win many games converting 33% of 3rd Downs.

The good...Luckily Woodson and the Rams had a worse game than the Raiders did. They ended up with (-1) yards rushing and a total of 138 yards in offense. There 3rd Down conversion rate was worse as well as they converted 16%. My defense is relentless as they got 14 TFLs and forced 3 Turnovers. But we still have work to do.

[BrnwsBucksFanNC]

Random Personnel Issues

We traded RG Jake Scott to the Detroit Lions for their 2011 4th and 7th Round picks. I also had offers from the Chiefs and the Broncos but I was not going to let him go to a rival. I signed Rookie LG Thomas Lane out of Stanford for 900k to take his roster spot (79/81). I moved him to RG to back up Weaver.

As of the end of the week no one was interested in LT Wilson, even when I offered him.

K Janikowski is a mystery. His legs are shot yet he continues to kick the ball out of the back of the end zone, at least during the 1st half. His OVR/POT is back to an 89 but he misses one 46 yard attempt and then hits another one. I will say that as the game goes on his kicks get shorter so I am still not sure what I will do about him.

[BrnwsBucksFanNC]

Week 5, Oct 3, 2010 at Seattle

This game didnt start too well for the Raiders as the Seahawks were able to move with ease down the field. Even though they were called for a hold and a clip, QB Hasselbeck was able to find TE Wrighster for a 4 yard TD pass. Raiders 0, Seahawks 7.

QB Scott was able to start the Raiders off well, but the drive stalled after C Nick Mangold was called for a False Start so Janikowski kicked a 31 yard FG. Raiders 3, Seahawks 7.

The teams trade punts twice as the game moves into the 2nd Quarter. The Seahawks are moving the ball again as Hasselbeck once again shreds the defensive backfield. However, MLB Simms put a stop to this drive when he hits Seahawks RB Marion Barber in the back field knocking the ball loose. Simms picks it up and takes it 56 yards the other way for the Raiders first lead of the game. Raiders 10, Seahawks 7.

Once again the teams trade punts,until Scott is able to keep the drive alive on a QB sneak on a 3rd and short. But the o-line takes a hit as G Ben Noll goes down with a left arm injury. This means the offensive line is down to 6 players as 2 were declared inactive before the game. The Raiders get into scoring position but the drive is stalled as T Marc Wilson is called for hold so the Raiders settle for a 46 yard FG. Raiders 13, Seahawks 7.

The Seahawks get the ball back on their 25 with 1:38 left in the half and all of their TOs. Hasselbeck hits 2 quick passes, a 15 yarder to Mathis and a 6 yarder to Taylor and then use their 1st TO. He then hits Mathis for another pass, this time for 20 yards and they call Time. Luckily for the Raiders the next pass is incomplete and on the following play Hasselbeck is sacked for a 6 yard loss putting the Seahawks in 3rd and 16. Hasselbeck is able to complete a 11 yard pass so the Raiders burn a TO to save some clock. The Raiders had used a TO on their first scoring drive after the holding call against Mangold. The Seahawks line up for the 47 yard FG and it is short!

The Raiders get the ball on their 37 with 1 TO and the clock at 27 seconds. Chudzinski is overruled but the HC and Hail Mary is called, Scott hits WR McKinley for 24 yards. The teams quickly line up again as the Raiders try another pass, but this one is knocked down by Dumervil. There are 15 seconds on the clock and on the 39 it is too long for a FG attempt, so once again the HC calls Hail Mary and once again it is WR McKinley who halls the pass down for a 39 yard TD with only 9 seconds on the clock!! The Raiders take a 13 point lead into the locker room. Raiders 20, Seahawks 7.

The Raiders get the ball to start the 2nd half and are able to run 2 plays before RB James coughs it up on the Raiders 23 and it is recovered by DE Dumervil. The Raiders defense stiffens though and hold the Seahawks to a 31 yard FG. Raiders 20, Seahawks 10.

The rest of the second half was a defensive battle with the only scoring done by the Raiders as Janikowski hit s 42 yard FG. However SS Steltz did get 2 INTs and DE Bake ended the game with 3 sacks. T Wilson left halfway through the 4th Quarter with a left leg injury so we juggled the o-line to keep them from getting exhausted.

The final score saw the Raiders once again with a win, beating the Seahawks 23-10 and taking a 5-0 record into their Bye Week.

[BrnwsBucksFanNC]

Week 5 Evaluation

This was an ugly game as well. Hasselbeck tore my defense apart with the long ball. He had 8 passes of over 20 yards. I could not get any pressure up the middle again. I am not sure what is going on with the DTs. But we are 5-0 so cant complain too much.

The bad...Turnovers again...3 of them. I cant keep doing this and expect to win. The offensive line had a tough game so I need to keep an eye on them. My pass defense was on vacation this week...Hasselbeck was 23-41 for 397 yards! Mathis had 8 catches for 140 yards and Taylor had 6 for 133. RB James once again goes down with a blast of hot air. He had 47 yards, but 24 of them came on 2 carries the other 23 came on 14 carries, plus the costly fumble. Penalties once again were drive killers. 6 for 68 yards...I am not sure how to fix that at this point...

The good...we won! The defense once again saved us. It is ironic that the offense does everything it can to give games away but the defense pulls it out. I dont like playing like this because one day the defense will not be able to do it...but I have to take what is coming to me.

RT Wilson has a quad bruise and is out for 4 days (once again cant play the whole season)
G Noll has a bruised elbow and is out for 5-6 days.

MLB Simms was named Defensive Player of the Week!

[BrnwsBucksFanNC]

Contract Status

Since my Bye week was last week I have started negotiating new contracts. Here is a list of my players and where I am with negotiations. If it is blank they have not talked to me yet. I will update as they come to the table.

POS	Name OVR/POT	Age	Exp	Low Offer	High Offer	Resign?
QB	Mathias (69/91)	22	R			If price is right
HB	Fargas (71/72)	29	7			Probably not
HB	Ball (76/81)	22	R	11.8m/6 2.0m	13.8/6 5.0m	No
FB	Pryor (78/85)	24	1	760k/2 0 bonus	810k/2 100k	Yes
FB	Myers (83/86)	23	R	1.7m/3 0 bonus		Signed
WR	Hixon (75/80)	23	3			Probably not
TE	Miller (84/87)	23	3	20.4/5 3.5 bon	24.4/5 7.5 bon	Want to, at low
TE	Jennings (69/78)	24	1			Would like to
TE	Doleman (65/78)	22	2			Maybe
C	McCamey (79/81)	24	1	680/2 0 bonus	780/2 100k bon	Would like to
RG	Lane (79/81)	23	R	4.78/6 1.0 bon	6.78/6 2.5 bon	No
LE	Anderson (85)	23	3	22.04/6 4.0 bon	26.04/4 10.0	No
LE	Bake (82/86) RFA	24	2			Want to, at low
RE	Ricahrdson (84)	25	3	6.25/3 1.0 bon	8.25/3 2.5 bon	No
OLB	Kehl (76/78)	24	2	3.62/3 500k bon	4.62/3 1.5 bon	No
MLB	Carpenter (81/82)	24	4	3.2/6 500k bon	4.2/6 1.5 bon	Want to, at low
CB	Minter (75/76)	26	3	860/2 0 bon	1.26/2 500k bon	Want to, at low
SS	Steltz (85/87) RFA	24	2			Want to, at low
K	Janikowski (89)	32	10	2.3/2 500k bon	3.3/2 1.5 bon	Might
P	Bryan (82/93)	23	R	2.0/3 yrs 0 bon		Signed

[BrnwsBucksFanNC]

Random Thoughts on Contracts

I am not going to pay a back-up what I would pay a starter. I want to keep my 2 FBs. Just a side note, has anyone ever had FB JR Myers? He is a beast of a FB and could do a good job as a RB. He has really good progressions for a RB and great for a FB, so I glad I resigned him. I hope Pryor will resign as well.

Even though TE Zach Miller is asking alot, he is a great fit for my scheme. The irony is TE Jennings has had more catches this year, but Miller can catch just about anything. So if I can get him to sign offer #1 he will be back. I hope I can get at least Jennings to resign, but we will see what he wants.

DE Anderson and Richardson are back-ups now. Even though Anderson has better numbers than Bake, Bake does a great job! (3 sacks last week) I wish I could get his Learning to progress it is only a 27 but it can go to a 50...not that a 50 is great..but it is better than a 27!

MLB Carpenter I am going to try and keep. If you break his salary down that is less than 600k a year and he actually has some room to grow in his progressions and if I run into problems re-signing the starters he can fill in nicely.

Kicker Janikowski is the one who I am giving the most thought to. I have looked at all of the FAs for this year and Mason Crosby for the Packers is one I would love to get. Janikowski's KP is at 94 and his KA is 84, but can go to 85. Crosby's KP is a 96 and can go to a 99 and his KA is 82, but can climb to 94, plus his Learning is high enough that he has a chance to improve. If the Packers resign him then this is a mute point.

T Marc Wilson is complaining because he isnt starting. I cant get any takers on him so it looks like he will be cut at the end of the season.

[Byron Yatch]

In my experience, JR Myers is a 2nd rb for teams who run the maryland I, wishbone, or full house. He's the bruiser for the short yardage and fast enough to get 10-20 yards on any run even if he has to break tackles(after a couple years)

But He's not good enough as a blocker to keep at fb. Only a 65 impact block if I remember correctly. But as a 2nd rb in the maryland I, he'll clean up whoever the fb misses...

[BrnwsBucksFanNC]

Week 7 Oct 17, 2010 at Kansas City

Sometimes I REALLY DISLIKE my cable company. Once again, my connection timed out after I wrote up about this game. It was a good game...for me at least. I won 47-0. I got a Safety, 6 sacks, and Rivers scored on an INT.

It was 40-0 at half time and I benched the starters. The 2nd string defense held strong though as they kept the Chiefs out of the End Zone after a 1st and Goal from the 6. They were also helped by the Chiefs coming up short on a 43 and 52 yard FG.

In other news:

TE Zach Miller signed a 5 year deal worth 20.45 million with a 3.5 million bonus.
CB Minter also signed his offer of 2 years at 860k.
WR Hixon was given an offer of 2 years and 1.84 million with no bonus, he is considering the offer.
HB Fargas was offered a 2 year deal worth 1.68 million and he is considering it.

Due to high demands, QB Mathers will not be re-signed.

[BrnwsBucksFanNC]

Quote: Originally Posted by Byron Yatch

In my experience, JR Myers is a 2nd rb for teams who run the maryland I, wishbone, or full house. He's the bruiser for the short yardage and fast enough to get 10-20 yards on any run even if he has to break tackles(after a couple years) But He's not good enough as a blocker to keep at fb. Only a 65 impact block if I remember correctly. But as a 2nd rb in the maryland I, he'll clean up whoever the fb misses...

That is what I saw in the last game. As a short yardage guy he is great, but he missed 3 key blocks so I need to remember that. Thanks for the info.

[Winnipeg59]

Love the post of the contract rationale. It always interests me how other view signing players (and not signing).

Mind if I ask what set of sliders you use in the game? Just curious...

Keep it up. I'm lovin' your Raiders success.