| Anatomy Of A Loss |
| Anatomy Of A Loss - NFL Week 15 |
| by Jonathan Miller |
While the entire NFL media hyposphere licks into Chargers-Colts or Patriots-Buccaneers, this column will again dip away from convention, for elsewhere in the league were played any number of games that featured ineptitude of spectacular proportions. While another shot at Michael Vick is justified and joining the anti-Texans bandwagon would be fun, the Most Disappointing Team of the Year is finally getting its turn.
The Oakland Raiders, about as bad as can be, went into Cleveland to face rookie Charlie Frye and the Browns. And, much like last week, the team with the superior measurables failed to claim the win. What went wrong?
|
It would take less time to analyze the few things that went right for the Raiders this year. The offensive line, loaded with high-draft talent, has not played well. The "skill positions" on offense are duds. The defense, although never expected to do much more than get in the other team's way from time to time, is simply horrendous, and not in a stats-measurable kind of way. As for coaching...there's a reason Norv Turner was canned in Washington despite having one of the most talented rosters in the salary cap era.
The Raiders, on paper, should have obliterated an under-talented Browns team on Sunday. on paper, they did just fine, winning out in total yards, conversion percentage, time of possession and turnover differential. But a funny thing happens to a team when nothing goes right all season: nothing goes right.
Beginning with another Kerry Collins stinker (14-30-132) and continuing through to a special teams unit that managed a whopping 29 total yards on three returns (two kickoff, one punt), the Raiders simply could not move the ball when necessary, playing with lousy field position and unable to take advantage of LaMont Jordan's excellent overall day. And although almost any defense can be proud of holding the opposition to 255 total yards and nine points, this unit did it against the beyond-lowly Browns. Those nine points were enough to lose by two.
Of course, a team with Oakland's talent should have contended for at least the wildcard in the AFC. Some projected them to win the West, although this writer sniffed a 9-7 record from a team reminiscent of past Indianapolis squads. But, instead, playing in pro football's toughest division, the Raiders have limped to a 4-10 record to date, unable to compete with anyone, including the Cleveland Browns.
Attacking Turner only acknowledges a key symptom. Likewise with the players who quit on him over a month ago. The real problem with the Oakland Raiders lies in an almost congressional culture of corruption, beginning with shady, heavy-handed owner Al Davis and permeating both the front office and on-field personnel. Paychecks are all that seem to matter to the likes of Charles Woodson and Randy Moss, fantastic athletes and great players who cannot escape an organization rotting from the inside out.
When the Raiders honk a supremely-winnable roadie against a team still a year away from even dreaming of the "upstart" label, against a rookie coach and quarterback, against one of the worst defenses in the league, the problem goes far deeper than coaches and players. This one--indeed, the entire wasted season--falls right on the Man Upstairs. |
|
