Pick the Pirate Bowl

According to ESPN, Robbins was last known carousing in Tijuana with a few liquor bottles.

His teammates like Mo Collins and other O-linemen have gone on the record as stating that if Robbins returns next year, they don't plan to come back.

He apparently is getting a lot of backlash from the Raiders organization.

 

Once a Houston-boy, always a Houston-boy. At this rate, homie will be a bouncer at Centerfold's within 5 years.

 

Or he becomes part of the WWE...

 

Can I just tell you I told you so in chat?

This defense is better than Baltimore-the Ravens didn't have the DT's the likes of Sapp and Booger Mcfarland(who didn't play in the playoff run) nor did they have a pass rushing end like Simeon Rice. Lewis and Brooks are basically a wash, then the corners are about equal, and Lynch is as good if not better than Rod Woodson.

 

I think Derrick Brooks is awesome, but Ray Lewis could stop a whole offense by himself. So I'd favor the Ravens defense.

 

I didn't think the officiating was that bad. There was the obvious wrong call of the 2 point conversion where the receiver was pushed out...but that was more of a poorly written rules thing than anything else. It wasn't any worse of a call than the fumble call on the Tampa Bay kickoff return early in the game. That was ridiculous...the Tampa Bay player had his knee down AND the ground caused the fumble and the ref blew the call. But the Bucs lucked out in that that particular situation was one that was challengable. Outside of those calls, I didn't see any (or can't remember any) that I really thought were just awful.

 

You could blame officiating if they lost the game by 7 points rather than 27. It's a moot point though. Oakland didn't show up to this game and Tampa Bay did.

 

didn't think the officiating was that bad. There was the obvious wrong call of the 2 point conversion where the receiver was pushed out...but that was more of a poorly written rules thing than anything else.

I don't even think this was a bad call. The "pushed out of bounds" thing, I think, is only if the receiver clearly would have landed inbounds otherwise. I think there's was some doubt whether he would have landed inbounds if not pushed, so the call was the right one and wouldn't have been overturned even if it was reviewable.

Overall, the refs were basically invisible, which means it was a well-called game.

 

The Raven's D would be better to have against a running team, the Bucs D is better against a passing team. Against a balanced team, I think I would lean towards the Ravens.

Moe, I know you don't want to here it but the Raiders will be back and they are on the right track. They more or less should keep things in tact with a couple of things in mind: 1) add more speed to the defensive front 7. 2) be a little more committed next year to running the ball more even if it is slow going sometimes (don't give up so soon and start chucking and chucking) so that they are more balanced come playoff time. 3) get healthy (100% Woodson, any % Armstrong, any % Buchanon as a speed nickel back if not winning the corner job--maybe move James to safety and Dorsett as the nickle).

With their extra draft picks and an extra year develoment and/or better health for Woodson, Armstrong, Buchanon, Harris, Porter & Jolly they can return with a more athletic, deeper team. An athletic brute of a DL either in the draft or via FA would do wonders as well.

With the above tweeking and presuming Tampa not returning--who was the worst match-up possible for their finese passing game--which is very likely year by year in the NFL (Tampa not getting through), the Raiders will be the favorites to win next year. Heck, with a little more physical defense and a little more comittement to the run (1 run to every 2 passes at least)--they could take the Bucs too.

 

Raiders are apparently $50 million over the salary cap. How do you even get that far over a hard cap?

 

The Raiders will have two problems. The same problems the Rams and Titans had.

1) Salary cap
2) The offense just got figured out.

Tampa and Tenn showed the world how to stop the rams o. Shut down fo' the Rams. The Ravens showed the world how to shut down the Titans. Shut down fo' the titans. Now the same thing is going to happen to the Raiders. If they had played well offensively then they wouldn't have this problem, but now they do. They were shutdown.

By the way, who believes that Gruden didn't help the 'D' with the playbook. That had to be the biggest lie I've ever heard. There's no way he doesn't tell the D what to expect. If I was raider fan this is the only legitimate excuse. But even so, they have one of the few offensive schemes that alternate from week to week. So they could still disguise their plays.

 

You offer heavily backloaded contracts to all free agents.

By the way, the Raider fans have been very quiet since yesterday's debacle. Are they all in mourning or too embarassed to come out of the woodwork after all the big talking they did?

 

That was nice of you.

I was really surprised that the protection for Gannon was that bad. It threw the passing game into the crapper.
The Bucs just outplayed my Raiders and I admit it. There were a few botched calls though-like the 2 pt conversion and the pass interference on Woodson on 3rd down when the Raiders were down by 13 and coming back. There was no way that pass was catchable. Robbins distraction didnt help the cause either. It didnt really matter though as they still would have lost. The team speed on defense was just too much.
The better team just won. As always I stick with my Raiders no matter what and look forward to the draft and next year.

 

I had the flu and have been out of commission since Saturday. I am here to take my lumps for the Raiders sorry play if anyone is inclined.

 

I don't know how much the Raiders offense was "figured out" as they just happened to play the 1 defense that could shut them down. Tampa shut everyone down, noone else could duplicate what they did to the Raiders even if they had the Raiders current playbook and knew which plays the Raiders called in the huddle.

I think people will overestimate the demise of the Raiders. Gannon, the WRs, Garner, most of the O-line--they will be back, and the younger guys like Porter and Jolly will get better and more infused in the offense. The offense was good enough to move it against anyone except Tampa, and if the Raiders stick more to the running game during the season they would be better prepared to play Tampa again if Tampa gets through the very competitive NFC.

The key for the Raiders is defense however. The last two years they have been average--they must get better than that. Woodson, Harris, & Buchanon will all get healthier and better, providing more defensive playmaking ability next year--that will help. If think if the Raiders lose a few geezers on defense and infuse them with younger, cheaper, talent they will be fine. Like I said bringing in all the geezers (Adams, Romo, Armstrong-- because he got injured) didn't really help things that much, though I think keeping Rod Woodson would be a real good idea. The Raiders can use their excess draft picks for younger, more injury resiliant, cheaper, faster, athletic LBs and DLs--Harris was one such piece last year--they just need to continue that trend.

 

The AFC West is no walk in the park. Denver, KC, and SanDiego are getting better and I would not be surprised if Oakland does not win their division next year.

 

I applaud you sir. But since you guys dismantled my Titans, I'll be quiet now.

 

Hey...all in good fun! Seriously, I'm no Bucs fan (I'm a Hyouuutin Tekins fayun) but I don't think that the deal was Gannon's protection being bad. I really believe it was Tampa Bay's defensive line being that good. The Raider's OL would have had to have been super-human to hold back that pass rush...and from only four guys at that (TB barely blitzed the entire game).

 

Raiders do need defensive help and health.

On the 2 point play I have no idea what the ref was thinking. First he emphatically makes the call to his ref buddies. Then when you see the replay he wasn't even looking at if he got pushed or not. His eyes weren't even watching that part. His eyes were looking about a yard off the field. He completely missed it. So that ref should have been more open to getting some help.

On that pass interference call on the sideline I felt as though it was a good call. It was a tough catch, but the guy got his hands on it and was still on the sideline so who knows if he could have caught it or not. The interference prevented his attempt. There's no way to know for sure. So you have to give them the call.