Raiders v. Cardinals: Observations from the stands

Hey everyone the worst is behind us the Raiders are on the right track and headed in the right direction.

The bar has been left so low from last year that I was very impressed with the game management, ability to call plays and the ability to execute them before the clock hit 0, the overall team cohesiveness, their blocking. All these fundamentals were absent last year. Last year we couldn't call a play before the clock wound down nor could we adjust to a blitz.

This year the playcalling was imaginative. It was refreshing to see screens, rollouts, short drops, long drops. I am positive that the worst is behind us and confident that we are on the right track. It was only a preseason game, but we looked like we were well coached and on the verge of turning around many of the shortcomings from last year. This year the energy feels better.

Coming to the game there was more excitement and anxiety than I expected at the tailgate, on the field and in the stands. There was definitely more energy today than the last time I was there against KC in December.

GorillaRilla was at the tailgate in his new suit courtesy of his new sponsor Stuart Schweigart. The Black Hole had a band!!!Roller girl was in the house, the smell of BBQ's was in the air.

Sapp lost so much weight, he looks like LB. He was animated and walked up and down the sidelines talking all game.

Sims led us out of the tunnel.

Overall the offensive line played well; 2 False starts; and they operated like a cohesive unit. They are farther along than I expected keeping in mind they are a comprised of new players and new coaching.

We are no longer doing that ridicuouls U shaped huddle that we did last year.

Higgins showed great potential but played inconsistent. He was immediately scolded after taking a premature fair catch in the 1st Q, had a drop, but made a big play in the 4 Q. I like this pick.

Several players Carr, Darius missed tackles and at least 4 dropped potential INTS Johnson #37, Scheiwgart…

Rhodes jumped into Blackhole after the TD; Morrison jumped in the Black Hole before the game.

Even though Williams made a great catch for a TD, Kiffin was highly critical of Mike Williams in the post interview saying he” is not there yet” and has to work harder to make the team.

I liked Porters stiff arm, even though it looked more like a punch. Porter appears to be on board and I’m looking forward to some big plays, and people seemed to have forgotten Porters attitude from last year

Bad Call
Brayton’s play was not even close to an INT, even on the sidelines you could see the players knew the call would be reversed. Why the review took so long is beside me? The good thing about the play is the Raiders paraded down the field knocking birds on their asses.

Culpepper is clearly the people’s choice, when he entered the game he got the loudest ovation of all the QB’s. It was disappointing for them him to fumble the snap, because prior to entering the game he and Newberry were practicing the exchange for like 5 minutes.

BJ Ward made a strong case for himself by downing the ball inside the 3 and 2 big hits on Cardinals receivers that got the fans revved up.
Everybody needs to learn this name RB Adimchinobe Echemandu. This guy is looks like our best RB.

We scored more points than we have in a while...It's time to erase the awful memories from last year and start over with a new slate under new leadership in a new year...

I'm In..