FanPost

Return of the Defense

You don't know the power of the Dark Side!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ok, maybe after Sunday...you truly knew.
It feels good as gettin' gravy doesn't it, Nation?!?!? I swear after seeing a Darth Vader-Darth Raider montage near the beginning of the game, I knew it was going to be a damn good day.
This team was one of the best at run stopping, take aways and overall pressure and we still survived. CHI's Defense was truly one of the best we've played so far and we overcame the difficulties. I'm glad our Raiders can still defeat these types of teams...meaning: the playoff caliber types.

Carson Palmer aka CP30; this was one of your finest moments of the season..301 deadly yards!
Doubters, then and now?!?!?!?
I'm not sure if you all realize what he does on a consistent basis, kids!!! Maybe I'm simply here to tell the Raider Universe that this guy is for real. Several times he had the posture of type A Quarterback. If you notice like the Lord of the Sith, Master of all Evil does, you'll notice most of his throws are thrown in a small window that only few can toss in.. (You may have to visit the Dark Side End while in the red zone to TRULY see).
He also occasionally looks away from the Receiver before he makes the throw. Check out that bomb to Louis Murphy on Sunday and you'll know exactly what the Hell I'm talking about.
Sure, we would like more TDs and less in the INTs category, but the 1st rule for all new comers is to be competitive. To witness Carson come from sitting on a Couch, waiting for a trade, to making a playoff run in the middle of the season is truly remarkable. Keep the faith, fans..I don't believe he's even scratching the surface yet.

Marcel Reece ; you're playing out of your mind right now! If Coach puts you outside of the formation and they STILL have a Linebacker on you? That's a solid rap, kid!! My main man had 92 yard for simply surprising others by his quickness. There's no telling how opponents try to contain him in the future. This guy might be the fastest Full back I have ever seen.

Defense, I believe the entire squad gets the Lord of the Sith award.
Tyvon Branch was outstanding with 8 tackles and a sack. Everytime the team needs a big play, it seems like this kid is in the mix of things. He'll still be remembered by yours truly for forcing Matt Schaub to cough up a pick weeks ago. I swear I have never seen a Safety fly that quick to a Quarterback in all my life.
Hue Jackson was correct during the beginning of the season when he praised T-Branch for being the most improved. Keep fighting until the League notices you, T.
PICKS, PICKS PICKS!! Wimbley, Routt and Huff got their free Christmas presents early and boy, did it feel good. They say picks come in bunches so hopefully these kinds of plays will transpire in the weeks to come.
SACKS, SACKS,SACKS!!! Branch, McClain, Wimbley and Seymour all got their kill total up and came up big on several plays. We have been spoiled these past couple of years with this round of players. You guys sure as Hell can't stop the run, but DAMN can you SACK THE QB!

Lastly, Jano and Shane..you guys get the SITH ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.
Sea-Bass hit a record breaking SIX Field Goals for the tough win against Da Care Bears. Sebastion has been lights out for a while now and I'm not sure all realize just how much he has done for this team. Since we can't get in the Red zone, enough, #11 is responsible for getting us over the hump in quite a few games now. He also holds the record for scoring the most points in Raider history! Yeah, I think it's time for a little more respect, Oakland...ya think?!?!?!
Shane, what can I say? You never let us down. Devin Hester was capable of making it a game changer..
IF he received the ball. GREAT JOB!!!
I think that was the one knock against you when you were compared to the great Ray Guy...
you just couldn't execute the infamous "Coffin Corner" play. Well...let it be known that Mr. Shane Lechler CAN execute just about every damn play the great Guy could.....
at least, for now.

Summary:
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Missing some of their biggest playmakers and unable to get the ball into the end zone for much of the day, the Oakland Raiders managed to hold off the Chicago Bears and their fill-in quarterback in large part because of their kicking game. Sebastian Janikowski kicked a team-record six field goals, Shane Lechler had an 80-yard punt and neutralized ace returner Devin Hester, and the Raiders took advantage of three interceptions from Chicago's Caleb Hanie to beat the Bears 25-20 Sunday. "Those guys are game-changers," quarterback Carson Palmer said. "There's not many punter-kicker combinations in the league ... there can't be a better one."
Janikowski made field goals of 40, 47, 42, 19, 37, and 44 yards to break the team record he shared with Jeff Jaeger. Lechler controlled field position all game with a 49.2 yard net average, pinning Hester and the Bears inside the 20 on three of five punts and booming the team-record 80-yarder over his head with a boot that generated "oohs" and "aahs" from the crowd and his teammates. The only remaining ties to the Raiders teams that won three straight division titles from 2000-02 were a major reason why Oakland (7-4) remained alone in first in the AFC West. "Our two kickers are fantastic," coach Hue Jackson said. "There's not another punter or kicker in the National Football League I would ever want to have on the football team. I said to the team when this was over, those were the two men who were here the last time this team was 7-4. Those guys have a lot to do with it. They did a tremendous job." Palmer threw for 301 yards and Michael Bush iced the game with a touchdown run in the fourth quarter to lead the Raiders to their third straight win against a Bears team missing starting quarterback Jay Cutler. Hanie struggled in his first career start for the Bears (7-4) in place of Cutler, who broke his right thumb last week in Chicago's fifth straight win to put a major obstacle into what had been a promising season. Hanie, who nearly led a comeback in last season's NFC title game, had thrown only 14 regular-season passes since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2008 and looked like a career backup for much of this game. Hanie completed 18 of 35 passes for 254 yards and three interceptions, including a crushing one late in the first half when the Bears were deep in Oakland territory and on the verge of taking the lead.
"I was a little antsy early on," Hanie said. "A little bit too amped, I feel like. Just kind of felt a little pressure and sailed it on him." But Hanie also threw two touchdown passes, including a 5-yarder to Kellen Davis with 2:11 to play that cut the deficit to 25-20. That was set up by an 81-yarder to Johnny Knox. The game ended when Hanie botched a spike play with four seconds left at his 46. Instead of immediately spiking the ball to stop the clock, he took an extra step back and hesitated, leading to a game-ending intentional grounding call. "We should have won that football game based on the way our offense played," linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "We didn't play well enough on defense. We gave up too many big plays, didn't get enough takeaways. That's why we didn't win." Bush was held to 69 yards on the ground by Chicago's strong defense and Palmer was sacked four times and threw an interception as the Raiders missed injured big-play threats Darren McFadden, Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore. But they made up for it on special teams, headed by Janikowski and Lechler. The Raiders did not shy away from the dangerous Hester, holding him to 7 yards on two punt returns. He didn't get a chance on the 80-yarder as Lechler sailed it over his head once he saw the returner creeping up too far. "I caught him in a vulnerable position," Lechler said. "It was going to be all or nothing and it was all." Hanie managed to drive the Bears into field goal range on that drive and Robbie Gould's 53-yard field goal cut Oakland's lead to 18-13 with 7:17 to play. The Raiders answered with Palmer throwing a 47-yard pass to Louis Murphy on third-and-4 from midfield to set up Bush's 3-yard touchdown run with 3:47 remaining.
Hanie's three first-half interceptions put the Bears in a 12-7 hole despite his 29-yard touchdown pass to Knox. The Bears had a chance to take the lead when they drove to the seven late in the first half. Hanie attempted a throwback screen to Davis that was tipped by Aaron Curry and went right to Kamerion Wimbley, who returned it 83 yards before being dragged down by a horse-collar tackle by Lance Louis. Oakland settled for a 19-yard field goal.
"We knew coming into this game that he lacked experience but we knew that he could still make plays, as you saw in the Green Bay title game last year," Routt said. "We knew he still had the ability to make us look bad and come out of here with the W if we didn't take care of business."
Notes:
Bush's TD gave Oakland's its first points in the fourth quarter since Oct. 9 at Houston. ... Knox had 278 total yards with 145 coming on his four catches and 133 on four kick returns.

Alright almighty Nation, let's go fishing for some Dolphins and come up big in Miami next Sunday!
Never underestimate their ability to stop the run (7th in the NFL) or stop us from scoring points! (6th Overall in the NFL) We need to maintain our 1st place lead and continue to compete in the awesome AFC conference.
Let's get it done, Raiders!!!!!
To pain, power and progression!!!!!!
-DR