Greetings my fellow members of the Silver and Black Pride community! I am pleased to bring to all of you the 12th installment in the series, Talkin' With Tyvon, from Raiders starting strong safety Tyvon Branch.

This week's installment is the short-week Thanksgiving edition as Tyvon answered some question following the Raiders victory against the Bengals and in his preparation for the Cowboys on Thursday. 

The Community is invited to pose some questions for Tyvon in the comments section and he will do his best to get as many of them answered as quickly as possible:

Hello Raider Fans!!! It was a good weekend to be a Raider. We have to carry it over into this Thursday's game at Dallas. Happy Thanksgiving as well....I am assuming this game will be available to all of Raider Nation-so cheer hard. The Cowboys are coming in hot, so it should be a great matchup. Although this was a short week, we had an opportunity to rest up a bit and watch some film, and I feel we are ready to go. I doubt I have time to answer questions before the game, but go ahead and post them and I will do my best.....GO RAIDERS!!!!

TB

SABP: Congratulations to you and the team for a great victory against the Bengals. It seemed that there was an extra amount of emotion and energy with the defense on Sunday. Was that in part due to the fact that the offense was able to move the ball around with some consistency led by a highly energized Gradkowski?

TB: As a team, we felt we had a great control on the game. The crowd was in it the whole time and that really got us pumped. Getting down early is hard on a team, but this week we were right there and it helped.

SABP: You once again led the team in tackles and were all over the field in multiple sets and coverage's. On the play in the 2nd quarter where you blitzed Cason Palmer and forced the fumble, can you describe for us what went into that play and how it developed?

TB: We had a blitz on there and I came free and it happened that I got there at the right time. Plays similar to that develop so quick and it is important to read run or pass and then find the ball. On a pure safety blitz such as that, you only have a split second to make that play.

SABP: The previous two Raiders victories were followed by blowout losses the next week even though the team was excited and motivated. What will you and the team do differently this time to try and take that momentum from Sunday and bring it to Dallas?

TB: Well this being a short week might help. We did not have too much time to think about much except Dallas. Hopefully getting back out there will allow us to execute and come home with a W.

SABP: You and the team have a very short week this week being on the road with a Thanksgiving Day game in Dallas. What will you and the team do differently this week, as far as preparation, compared to a normal week with a Sunday game?

TB: We will go straight into preparing for Dallas, and not have the usual time off. We have a longer week next week so that will give us an extra day to recover. The short week should not adversely affect us, we are football players and this is what we love to do. We just have to be ready for all of their offensive weapons.


Thanks Tyvon, Happy Thanksgiving and good luck against the Cowboys.