FanPost

Two Games In

Optimists and pessimists alike, lend me your ears. I don't care about the future (meaning years later) nor do I care about the past (meaning last year), the season so far is all I see. Two games in and quite frankly we are a pretty bad team. Defensively I would say just below middle of the pack, offensively we are hovering towards the abyss. Is the season lost? I don't know, it's only two games. Are the trends thus far a reason for concern? I would emphatically say yes they are. So, how does this get fixed and can it?

McFadden's rushing numbers are putrid. Without doubt, he is our most talented player on the field. And after watching him against Miami, I'm almost convinced the ZBS is not good for him at all. That is, unless he becomes a receiver. Because the Raiders and Palmer are racking up the yards like crazy. We are moving the ball, or at least the stats would suggest we are. Tragically, the points aren't coming though. Palmer has done great at not forcing throws so far, but he's become like Jason Campbell in the process. The check down is all that seems to be open. Our WR's, who knows where they go during the game. They make appearances for sure, and Moore played decently today, but overall they have all been pretty disappointing. So who gets the blame? WR's for not getting open? Palmer for not finding them? Knapp for calling the plays? Or is it the O line, who under the ZBS thus far looks like shit? And if the answer is all of the above, then we are screwed.

Knapp. The man of the hour. Instead of over using DMC, he decided to under utilize him this game. Why? Backlash from last week? Did he feel our advantage was in the passing game? From the 2nd half, did DMC get more than 3 first down rushing attempts? After two games, no one player is excelling in this system. Goodson looked good, and the TE's are actually performing well. No one else though. The obvious answer is to fix this. How does Knapp address the issue? Is he too prideful to give up on the ZBS? Is it too late to switch over successfully? Or do you all see the same potential Reggie and Allen see with the ZBS? Is Knapp the man to run it?

Tarver. I like his enthusiasm and his schemes. I am worried he doesn't have the personnel to execute it properly though. Our defensive line has all but disappeared in the 2nd half of these two games. Why? Our corner situation is glum to say the least. It is a glaring weakness. Consider this, a rookie quarterback targeted Pat Lee. When a rookie has no fear of you, should you be in the game? Given what I've seen from Big Ben, Cam Newton, Peyton Manning, Joe Flacco, Drew Brees, and Phillip Rivers, our corner backs are screwed. Is anyone available out there to fix this? Can it be fixed? And overall, after two games, how is Tarver's defense?

Fire sale. This is a hot topic. Again, I'm not calling in the flag or anything, but based off of two games where do you see the Raiders finishing the year? The trends aren't hot, and at times we look frightful out there. If, key word IF, things go down hill further should we consider dumping off players? If Reggie and Allen stay the course, IMO it will either be to fire Knapp or trade DMC. In this system he is a waste of wonderful talent so far. If we trade DMC, perhaps we still grab a #1. Should we do this IF shit gets bad going forward? If somehow the ZBS starts to work, DMC and Palmer catch fire, and Allen rights the ship, who can we bring in to help us? Plax is out of the question, is there any body on D that could help? If it comes to it, do you think Reggie rebuilds the team and dumps all of Al Davis's picks?

I like the rest of you have been very disappointed so far. I expected our offense from last year and our defense to be improved since Panda was fired. These two games were very winnable and we should be 2-0. I'm not quick to blame Knapp, but as a coach he holds his fair share. Allen has seemed real conservative as a coach. Is that a good thing for rookie HC's? He doesn't look overwhelmed so far, but I would say he's been out-coached. This team was a big question mark going into the season, IMO they still are. The ZBS works great in systems like Houston. Under the right coach they could work here too. Do we have that? I miss the old schemes because I didn't think they were broken. Surely our coaching staff expected this after switching a pretty successful scheme to a new one right? In the end, without throwing up the panic flag, where do we go from here? As of two games, we look pretty bad out there. I sure hope our skill positions can right this ship. I don't trust in Reggie, I have to trust in Allen and the players to fix this now. Pittsburgh just became a must win IMO. Well Raider nation, can we still fix this?