Category: Oakland Raiders

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

photo credit Wikipedia Matt Stafford in 2014 Detroit Lions

OAKLAND — Last Sunday’s 30-14 home loss to the visiting Minnesota Vikings certainly left a bad taste in the Raiders’ mouth dropping Oakland to 4-5 on the season.

In a game where Oakland racked up 371 yards of total offense, the Raiders managed just two second quarter touchdowns.

Raiders’ starting quarterback Derek Carr, who had thrown for at least 300 yards and two touchdowns in each of the last three games, was neutralized by the Vikings by throwing two interceptions, one in the end zone to Vikings’ cornerback Terrance Newman in the fourth quarter that iced the game.

Carr had just four interceptions coming into the game.

The Raiders look to snap their current two-game losing streak when they travel to Detroit to face the Lions Sunday at 10:00 a.m. PT.

With the year-long suspension of starting outside linebacker Aldon Smith, Oakland lost arguably its best defensive player not named Charles Woodson.

But over the past two games, Oakland has been torched by the opposition’s running game.

Steelers’ running back DeAngelo Williams gashed the Raiders for 170 yards and two touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s 38-35 victory over Oakland in Week 9.

Adrian Peterson registered 203 yards on the ground, including a crushing 80-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter last Sunday. The hole in the Raiders’ defense that Peterson ran through was big enough for a truck to run through.

Detroit (2-7) has been a relatively dumpster fire this year with in-season firings of front office personnel and assistant coaches, but are coming off a 18-16 victory over Green Bay at Lambeau Field Sunday sending the Packers to their third-straight loss.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns  helping Detroit pick up its first win in Green Bay since December 1991, snapping a 24-game road losing streak.

The Lions punished Packers’ starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers by sacking the former league MVP three times, and frustrated Green Bay’s offense all day by playing aggressive defense.

Stafford threw for 391 yards and four touchdowns, and wide receiver Calvin Johnson had nine catches for 214, including the game-winning touchdowns with 39 seconds left in Detroit’s 28-27 victory on Dec. 18, 2011 at Oakland.

The win was Detroit’s third straight over Oakland.

 

 

 

by Jeremy Kahn

ALAMEDA–On the Raiders podcast a discussion on the recently suspended linebacker Aldon Smith who says he’s ready to get started with rehab for substance abuse. The question is can he overcome it and stay with it in 2016 when he returns? Smith says he’ll be a changed man after rehab and says he’s looking forward to getting back to work with the Raiders.

Former Oakland Raider the late Gene Upshaw whose widow Terri Upshaw and sons have no contact with their father or grandfather former owner of Tadich Grill Steve Buich because according to Terri her father says she married a black man. Upshaw and she were cut out from the family. Buich released a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle saying the family breakup between his daughter and him was not over race but because of Upshaw’s “character”.

Terri insists it was race and that Buich doesn’t even want to meet his grandsons. Terri has said that the only contact that she’s had with her family is just with cousins on facebook. Meanwhile Terri’s brother Michael says the parties who are having this problem are neither owners of Tadich Grill in San Francisco or Washington and that the grill doesn’t practice discrimination. Terri brought this issue up about being banned by the family after Tadich expanded their business to Washington recently as Terri lives in nearby Arlington Virginia.

Terri thought it was about time to bring up the fact that her father Steve banned her from the family because Upshaw was black and that she was no longer welcome in the family. Terri has attempted once to try and communicate with the family but says they will not speak to her even to this day.

Jeremy Kahn covers Oakland Raiders football at http://www.sportsradioservice.com and does the Raiders podcast each week

Bing photo: Gene and Terri Upshaw

 

by Jeremy Kahn and Joe Hawkes Beamon

photo credit AP Raiders Aldon Smith

ALAMEDA–Aldon Smith who was busted for DUI on August 6th and faces DUI charges in Santa Clara it was at that time the San Francisco 49ers released Smith. Smith had served a nine game suspension for DUI during the 2014 season for substance abuse. This time in 2015 as an Oakland Raider Smith has been found to be a substance abuser again and will serve a one year suspension immediately according to the Raiders.

The Raiders really counted on Smith this season and was hoping that he finally would break through his drinking habit but he just couldn’t handle it any longer. Smith said a in a statement released on Tuesday “First I want to thank the Raiders, my teammates, the fans, our coaches and our owner in supporting me throughout all of this. I’m taking this time to work on myself and become the man I need to be. I had lost my love for the game and it led me to some poor choices, but I’m thankful to the Raider organization for believing in me this season and will continue to get better myself and grow from my experiences. I look forward to rejoining the team next year.”

Smith will lose $323, 529 in per game salary, he’ll miss out on the $514,000 base salary and $1.75 million in roster bonuses. The Raiders will depend on Khalil Mack and Mario Edwards to pick up the slack where Smith left off. The Raiders have another problem with linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong who taunted and barked at a Pittsburgh Police Dog when the team was at Heinz Field. The action by Armstrong is considered a felony and if prosecuted and convicted Armstrong could face a seven year prison sentence and a $15,000 fine. Sources say that the Pittsburgh Police are prepared to prosecute.

Jeremy Kahn and Joe Hawkes Beamon cover the Oakland Raiders for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

By Jeremy Kahn

photo credit bing Vikings Adrian Peterson

OAKLAND-Adrian Peterson may have sat out the 2014 season for the Minnesota Vikings, but the running back never missed a step.

Peterson carried the ball 26 times for 203 yards, including a 80-yard touchdown run with 1:54 remaining in the game and the Vikings defeated the Oakland Raiders 30-14 at the Coliseum.

It was the sixth career 200-yard rushing game for Peterson, tying O.J. Simpson for the most in NFL history.

Teddy Bridgewater returned for the Vikings at quarterback after being forced to leave the Vikings last game against the St. Louis Rams with a concussion. Bridgewater went 14-for-22 for 140 yards and a touchdown.

Rhett Ellison caught the lone touchdown thrown by Bridgewater on the Vikings initial series of the game.

Ellison caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Bridgewater that gave the Vikings an early 7-0 lead with just under 11 minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Steffon Diggs, Ellison, Peterson, MyCole Pruitt and Matt Asiata each caught two passes from Bridgewater, as the Vikings improve to 7-2 on the season.

Derek Carr went 29-for-43 for 302 yards passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions on the afternoon.

Carr became just the sixth quarterback in NFL history to throw for 20 touchdowns in his first seasons in the league. He joins Andy Dalton, Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Russell Wilson on the list.

This was Carr’s third consecutive 300 yard game and his fifth of the season. The three straight 300 yard passing games by Carr ties the second longest streak in Raiders history.

Carson Palmer was the last Raiders quarterback to throw for 300 yards or more in three consecutive games during the 2012 season.

Carr joins Palmer and Cotton Davidson in 1964 as the only Raiders with at least 300 yards passing and two touchdowns in three consecutive games.

Clive Wafford caught a Carr 10-yard pass for a touchdown, while Andre Holmes caught a 34-yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders a 14-13 with 1:52 remaining in the first half.

Amari Cooper caught five passes for 79 yards, as he tops the 50 catch plateau on the season and joins Michael Crabtree who caught four passes for 55 yards to give him 51 on the season.

Cooper and Crabtree are the first Raiders duo since Charlie Garner and Jerry Rice during the 2002 season with at least 50 receptions through nine games.

Blair Walsh hit three field goals for the Vikings, but the usually reliable kicker missed two field goals on the afternoon.

Carr finally got the Raiders on the board when he found Walford for the 10-yard touchdown pass, and then gave the Raiders a one-point lead when he found Holmes from 34 yards out.

That lead for the Raiders would live for all of 13 seconds, as Cordarrelle Patterson returned a Sebastian Janikowski kick 93 yards to give the Vikings the lead for good with 1:39 remaining in the first half.

Walsh kicked his third field goal of the game to give the Vikings a 23-14 lead, and then Carr led the Raiders on a drive down to the Vikings 11; however the drive ended when Carr’s pass intended for Holmes was intercepted by Terence Newman in the end zone. It was the second interception of the game for the 13-year veteran.

“I wanted to take a shot into the endzone prior to the two minute. I don’t know if he left it a little inside or not, but (Terence Newman) made a nice play,” said Jack Del Rio.

On the first play following Newman’s second interception of the game, Peterson put the icing on the cake, as took a Bridgwater handoff and ran 80 yards for the touchdown.

by Joe Hawkes Beamon

photo credit google images Rose Bowl Pasadena possible temp home for Raiders

OAKLAND–Oakland city residents were asked about where is their priority on saving the Oakland Raiders by building a new stadium. They said that building a new stadium for the Oakland Raiders is not the top priority. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff is trying to get the idea of using property taxes that will help subsidize building a new Raiders Stadium as the team is moving in the direction of leaving Oakland as early as the end of this season and could be playing at the Rose Bowl or the LA Coliseum by next season.

Schaff is a lifelong A’s and Raiders fan but says she would not use public funds to build a new Raiders stadium. She went to New York to discuss keeping the Raiders in Oakland with NFL officials and she expressed to the officials that Oakland is a very passionate fan base and that Oakland is a very attractive place for the NFL.

The situation for Oakland keeping it’s team is very much up in the air for discussions. The location of a new Oakland Raiders stadium would be at the current Oakland Coliseum site. The idea of building these new stadiums these days they have to be around businesses, hotels, and shopping. The Coliseum doesn’t have those amenities and that might lessen Schaff’s reasoning to the NFL in keeping the team there.

Joe Hawkes Beamon covers the Raiders each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below

 

 

by Jeremy Kahn

photo credit bayareanewsgroup.com Raider fans protest LA move at Paramount theatre on Oct 29th

ALAMEDA–The Oakland Raiders have hired Disney CEO Bob Iger in their efforts to move the team to Los Angeles and the reality of such a move that looks close to 90% real. Iger has politcal influences in the Southland because of his Disneyland and California Disney Park connections also with ESPN and the NFL which makes for a strong representation for assisting the Raiders move.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff who went to meet with NFL officials this past week to try and convince them that Oakland is the best and only viable place for the team, that the Raiders can lure fans from San Francisco who no longer has a team playing in their city limits because the BART train comes right to the Coliseum.

Without a new stadium under construction in Oakland and no money to make it a reality and nowhere close Raiders owner Mark Davis has decided to move onto getting the NFL’s approval to move the team to the Southland in what could be the Raiders swan song season in of their second and very last tenure at the Oakland Coliseum.

The Raiders first left Oakland in 1983 and returned in 1995 but poor attendance and dysfunction by the City of Oakland and the Coliseum Joint Powers Authority on constructing a new Raiders stadium has put the idea of keeping the Raiders in Oakland out to pasture. It will be a very sad day in Oakland sports history when the Raiders back up the truck and leave town. The  Raiders could leave as soon as the end of this season and start play in the Rose Bowl or Coliseum in Los Angeles.

Listen to Jeremy’s podcast below and each week on the Oakland Raiders at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

By Jeremy Kahn

photo credit steelersdepot.com Steelers kicker Chris Boswell FG attempt miss against Raiders

Once again, the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers played a classic game in a rivalry that goes back over 40 years.

Chris Boswell hit a 18-yard field goal with two seconds remaining, as the Steelers defeated the Raiders 38-35 at Heinz Field.

It was a hard fought win for the Steelers, who lost quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to a left foot injury midway through the fourth quarter. Roethlisberger was forced to leave the game after he was sacked by Aldon Smith.

Landry Jones, who started a few games for Roethlisberger after he missed a few games earlier in the season found Antonio Brown for 57 yards to setup Boswell’s game-winning kick.

It was a career day for Brown, who finished the afternoon with 17 catches for 284 yards, which are both new franchise records. Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams ran for 170 yards, as the Steelers racked up a whopping 597 yards in total offense on the afternoon.

Derek Carr attempted to lead the Raiders to their third straight win, as he threw for 301 yards for four touchdowns and an intercepted.

The Raiders tied up the game with just 1:15 remaining, as Carr found Michael Crabtree for a 38-yard touchdown pass.

Latavius Murray ran for 96 yards for the Raiders before he was forced to leave the game with a potential concussion in the third quarter.

Before leaving the game with his foot injury, Roethlisberger threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns, as he passed both two Hall of Famers, Joe Montana and Johnny Unitas into 13th place on the all-time in career yards passing.

Roethlisberger threw his two touchdowns in a span of 49 seconds, as he found Martavis Bryant from 14 yards out to give the Steelers a 28-21 lead and then after a Taiwan Jones fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Roethlisberger found Jesse James for a four-yard touchdown pass to give the Steelers a 35-21 lead with 11:24 remaining in the game.

Unlike in the past, where the Raiders would just fold up and roll over, the Raiders came back behind Carr, as fullback Jamize Olawale scampered in from 19 yards and then Crabtree tied up the game on a 38-yard touchdown pass, his second touchdown reception of the game.

Crabtree caught seven passes for 108 yards, while Amari Cooper also caught seven passes for 88 yards and a touchdown.

Listen to Jeremy’s weekly Raiders podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com