AB's Oaktown Beatdown: Russell....Gamer or Not?

On Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 11:26 AM, Adam Burchett aka Oaktown Beatdown wrote:

I felt sick to my stomach after seeing the score and then seeing the box score. Unlike some Raider fans, I do not put all of the blame on Russell. He has young receivers that don't run routes very well. His offensive line, while much improved over the last couple of years, is still not protecting him like they should. The false start penalties frustrate me to no end. Some Raider fans believe Cornell Green has an actual physical hearing problem, LOL!

My friend turned to me and said, "hey man, the Raiders pulled it out, they won!" I still felt like they had lost. After waiting so many years for them to turn the corner and be the team that I think they can be, they pull this crap on us again. Offense completely out of rhythm, the defense on the field forever and it's not like that unit has impressed me either. I want to believe in Tom Cable and this coaching staff but I'm having a hard time right now.

One saving grace is hearing Louis say that JaMarcus tends to get better with each game. What I'm afraid of is the coaching staff messing with his mechanics too much. Sometimes you just have to let a quarterback be himself and I think that's the case with Russell. Quit trying to force his feet in a certain position and quit messing with his throwing motion. Just let him do what's natural to him. I mean, shoot, Philip Rivers doesn't have great mechanics and the guy does well. I will say this, JaMarcus looks 10 times more ready than Vince Young ever did. Vince Young still does stupid things like throw off his back foot. I like what I see in JaMarcus, he plants and throws, and when he rolls out of the pocket he seems to throw with good timing and strength. He just stares receivers down too much.

One last thing I'll say about JaMarcus, I think a lot of Raider fans have him pegged wrong. There's a lot of talk about how he's out of shape and he doesn't care, how he trots off the field after a 3-and-out like it's no big deal. He has no fire, no competitive drive. He just takes his money and buys fur coats with it. I don't believe in any of that. I think JaMarcus cares a LOT, and he does have a fire in his belly. Just because you don't see him acting like a baby on the field doesn't mean he doesn't want to win more than anyone else. He also has that soft spoken, southern accent in his voice, which tends to rub people the wrong way as well. I'm a pretty soft spoken guy and I'm super passionate about my Raiders. He gets too much criticism on the way he carries himself.

Bottom line, we were supposed to blast Kansas City away. And to barely come away with a win is very disappointing.

I don't know what's going on with Javon Walker. They certainly paid that guy enough to sit on the bench, didn't they? I think they've been so impressed with Louis Murphy that he's sort of taken on Walker's role. And of course trying to give Heyward-Bey plenty of time on the field to see what he can do, which so far isn't much. Add to that Chaz Schilens coming back and even Nick Miller, Javon might be riding the pine for the rest of the season. It would be nice to see them mix in some 4 or even 5 receiver sets when all those guys get back healthy. Let JaMarcus air it out, have some fun with it.

I don't know, we're only 2 games into the season, maybe I should be more patient. I just felt that same sickness as when I saw Shawn Merriman dancing all over Aaron Brooks a few years back. I remember actually asking myself if these guys considered themselves football players. It was that bad. But hey, I'm always going to be loyal to these guys. You know what they say, win lose or tie, silver and black till I die.

I'll try to remember to take some pictures when I go out to Oakland in a few weeks. Maybe I'll get a pic of all those superbowl trophies we have and show you and Lou what they look like. LOL!!!