Category: Oakland Raiders

Jaso’s Pinch-Hit Heroics Continue A’s Dominance in Anaheim

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By Matthew Harrington

Jesse Chavez once again produced a quality start, his third of the season, Monday night in Anaheim, but yet again the converted reliever-turned-starter headed off to the showers without a chance at being named the winning pitcher. Just like his previous two starts, Chavez’ offense rallied in its last at-bat to give the Athletics (9-4) a win. The A’s, owners of the best record in the American League, triumphed in their starter’s previous two efforts in extra innings.

Backed by a pinch-hit, two-run home run by John Jaso in the top of the ninth inning, Oakland stole a 3-2 come-from-behind victory to open up a three-game series against the Angels (6-7)at Angel Stadium. Yoenis Cespedes also homered, deposed closer Jim Johnson (1-2, 9.95 ERA) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for his first win in green and gold and Luke Gregerson’s one-two-three ninth-inning save closed the door.

Chavez struggled in the bottom of the first, surrendering a two-strike single to leadoff hitter Kole Calhoun. The lefty caught phenom Mike Trout watching a nasty curveball for strike three, but Calhoun had already advanced to second when miscommunication between catcher Derek Norris and Chavez resulting in a passed ball earlier in the at-bat. Albert Pujols laced a single through the left side to plate Calhoun for a 1-0 lead.

Chavez cruised through the rest of his appearance, pitching seven innings, surrendering four hits and only one earned run on nine strikeouts. The lone earned run came off the bat of Pujols who crushed a homer to center field in the third inning, his 496th long ball of his career. Pujols now moves into lone possession of 26th place on the all-time long fly list.

Angels starter Hector Santiago countered Chavez, pitching seven innings of one-run ball with five hits and three punch-outs. Cespedes’ third homer, a solo shot to right center to make it 2-1 Angels in the fourth inning proved the lone blemish to Santiago’s ERA. The A’s outfielder now has home runs in consecutive games after going yard off Charlie Furbush in the A’s 3-0 win in Seattle Sunday.

The Halos Joe Smith and Oakland’s Johnson pitched scoreless eighths for their respective clubs, opening the door for Jaso’s fireworks in the ninth. Josh Donaldson, owner of a now eight game hitting streak, welcomed Angels closer Ernesto Frieri to the top of the ninth with a single. Cespedes then hit a deep fly out to center for the first out on a 2-2 count. Cespedes had asked for time from home plate Tim Welke, but was denied his request on the pitch. A’s manager Bob Melvin then called on Jaso to pinch hit for Norris after the backstop went 0-for-3 against Santiago.

Last season, Oakland finished dead last in batting average for pinch hitters with 20 hits in 139 substitute at-bats. Jaso entered Monday hitting .200 as a pinch hitter with a lone home run. He turned on a 1-2 offering from Frieri and deposited deep in the right field bleachers to put the A’s ahead 3-2. With Frieri (0-1, 6.75 ERA) lifted after his first blown save of the season, Jose Alvarez finished off the final two-thirds of the ninth.

Melvin tabbed Gregerson to be the closer-by-committee candidate Monday evening, and the right-hander reward his manager with a perfect inning. Gregerson produced ground outs by Ibanez and Howie Kendrick, the latter of which came on a bang-bang play challenged by Angels Manager Mike Scoscia but upheld after replay proved inconclusive to overturn the out call on the field. Gregerson coaxed a fly out from former World Series MVP (then with the St. Louis Cardinals)David Freese to notch his second save of the campaign and pick up the A’s 14th win in their last 20 games at Angel Stadium.

Oakland and Los Angeles faceoff in game two of the three-game set Tuesday night, with Dan Straily (1-1, 2.77 ERA) tabbed by Melvin to take the slab. He’ll be countered by Garret Richards (2-0, 0.75 ERA) who enters play Tuesday with only one earned run allowed over 12 innings.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Super Bowl certain draw over State of the Union Speech and that’s just the commercials

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That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

The thing about this Super Bowl it trancends sports and I’m a baseball guy and I respect all the sports like I have two kids and they ask me “dad are you going to have a Super Bowl party?” They could care less who wins it’s the party, it’s the nachos, it’s the beer, it’s an event, I was reading today that they have 14 streets on Broadway closed for the NFL experience.

It’s become America’s game the Super Bowl and the audience is going to be larger than the president’s State of the Union speech. This is not a political commentary but I bet you when the ratings come out the audience for the Super Bowl will be three times higher than the State of the Union speech like him or not and I’m not going to go there this is not a political commentary but the Super Bowl is such a big event.

It would have been nice to have seen the Raiders or the Niners in it but in this case of the Seahawks and Broncos the Bay Area probably doesn’t have a lot of interest but it’s the game to watch. I talked to my two kids, their men their 31 and 32 and they’re going to talk about the commercials in the Super Bowl and Gayle my wife says “we’re going to watch commericals” and I said, “I guess so.”

It’s not sarcasim it’s the truth, even in the bigger markets with New York and New York doesn’t have a dog in the fight because the Giants and the Jets are not there. So everybody is watching, it’s a good question, and everybody watches the commericals and the next day all the shows on radio and TV grade them.

The NFL is in New York and it’s in the number one media market in the country, the league wants to give New York a shot every five or six years. The idea for the Super Bowl was to be in a neutral city usually and a warm city like New Orleans or Miami that was the idea. New York has to get it once in awhile because it’s a huge media market. They generate a lot of revenue in broadcasting.

It could be the coldest Super Bowl ever or at least since the Frozen Tundra in Green Bay in first Super Bowl. When you think of Green Bay you think of the Packers and what else is in Green Bay? In all respects I’ve never been there but what else is there? The Packers, that’s right? It’s three hours to Chicago that’s the difference, it’s the Frozen Tundra there.

Half of this country is under snow Chicago on Tuesday was five below zero, New York is frozen, so that’s the way it goes. It’s either global freezing or global warming I’m confused.

New deal gets A’s Spanish radio contract extension: We’re going to be doing 70 games, mostly home games and if they make to the playoffs we’ll travel with the team. The schedule is 70 games in Spanish we have KIQI radio which is the main station for A’s Spanish radio in San Francisco. Then our affiliate KATD in Sacramento-Stockton, KWU 1300 in Fresno, and KEGY 790 in Eureka.

We have a good network of four stations and we’ll be back doing 70 games with my broadcast partner Manolo Hernadez who will be back, so I’ll see you guys at the Coliseum during the regular season hopefully in Oakland and the first game will be a sell out after that probably 12,000 a game.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice of Oakland A’s baseball and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk

Team Rice edges Team Sanders in entertaining Pro Bowl

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By Morris Phillips

The 2014 Pro Bowl came with an unspoken ultimatum: If the enthusiasm from the players on the field doesn’t resonate, then the commissioner is sure to re-evaluate.

Well, Roger Goodell hasn’t spoken but he had to appreciate a game with less than ideal weather, great plays, hard hitting… and a little bit of Deion Sanders’ like showboating as well.

Team Rice snuck past Team Sanders 22-21 on a two-point conversion by Carolina’s Tom Tolbert with less than a minute to play.  The new Pro Bowl format featured a fantasy-like draft, funky hi-gloss uniforms and teammates facing off against each other.  Given the crisply-played nature of the game, the highlight plays and the thrilling ending, the NFL’s all-star game got a nice boost in what could be either the final game in Hawaii or the final game period.

“It was crazy, but we had fun with it.  I loved it and enjoyed it,” Cleveland’s Josh Gordon said of the new format.

Steady rain throughout the game kept the turnovers—eight in all—and the sacks—there were nine of those—present throughout the contest.  With all of the missteps, the only quarterback who avoided an interception, Nick Foles stood out as the game’s MVP.

Foles finished 7 of 10 for 89 yards and a touchdown pass to Jordan Cameron that gave Team Sanders a 21-14 lead with 4:41 remaining.  But former 49er and current Chiefs’ quarterback Alex Smith led Team Rice down the field in the final minutes culminating with a 20-yard swing pass to DeMarco Murray that put his team within an extra point to tie or a 2-point conversion to win.  With travel logistics weighing in to the decision, Team Rice decided to go for two and got it when Tolbert stuck his nose in the middle of the line and snuck the ball across for the game winner.

“Philip (Rivers) told them to give it to me.  My old teammate, he told them to give it to me,” Tolbert said.

Kickoffs were eliminated in this one for safety reasons, but kickers were not.  Baltimore’s Justin Tucker missed a 66-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter, and he got a second chance on a 67-yard attempt to win it on the game’s final play, but Tucker saw it come up a little short.

Recent Pro Bowl’s had been criticized for the less than serious attitude of the players and the lack of physical play that ensured all the players would enter the off-season healthy, but didn’t necessarily entertain the fans.  This time, the players got after it and didn’t mind laying a lick on a regular-season teammate, if necessary.

Cleveland T.J. Ward came up and flipped Browns’ teammate Gordon on an end-around play that both players shaking their heads, but healthy, afterwards.

“I don’t think he knew what he was doing, but I’ll give him the benefit of a doubt on that one,” Gordon joked afterwards.

Running backs didn’t garner major highlights with Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles leading the way with the longest run of the day—17 yards—and five carries.  But big guys gone wild did plenty to replace the ground games as Houston’s J.J. Watt’s did a Hang Ten after his sack, and Kansas City’s 295 lb. Dontari Poe picked off a tipped Philip Rivers’ pass and rambled 42 yards before he was hauled down.

Poe’s interception set up Team Sanders at the 7-yard line and four plays later—on 4th and goal—Cam Newton ran it in for a Team Sanders’ 14-7 lead.

On the next series, Rivers was picked again by Arizona’s Patrick Peterson and after a return of four yards Peterson did the signature Deion high step to the sideline.

“They know better than to try you!” Sanders could be heard saying to Peterson on his broadcast microphone when the two greeted each other on the sideline.

Smith finished as the game’s leading passer with 116 yards through the air, even as he misfired on 13 of his 22 attempts.  Gordon was the leading receiver with six grabs for 66 yards and the one score.  Philadelphia’s DeSean Jackson may have made the game’s most spectacular catch, a 36-yard score between two defenders to open the scoring in the first quarter.

NFL Pro Bowl Report: All-Star game most likely to move in 2015

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by Morris Phillips

HONOLULU–Since 1979 the NFL All-Star game the Pro Bowl has been held at Aloha Stadium with the exception of January 10, 2010 when the game was held in Miami. According to reports NFL Comissioner Roger Goodell wants the game to travel with the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl for 2015 will be held at University of Phoenix Stadium if the move of the game goes to Phoenix the game will be played the week before the Super Bowl.

According to the NFL they will judge how the new format of drafting teams works and if both teams plays with the intensity of last year’s Pro Bowl that Goodell expects as opposed to the flag football type effort from 2012’s game which brought. Jerry Rice and Dieon Sanders are the team captains for this year’s Pro Bowl and selected their rosters on Wednesday. Both Team Sanders and Rice have worked out during the week.

It is the hopes by the league and the players that this format will catch on with fans, if not there is even the possibility that the game could be cancel indefinitely. The players union although not issuing a statement on such a move would most likely object as this game would impact revenue for the union and it’s players. Word is the draft format of teams is crucial to make this game come back to Hawaii again the game format needs to be popular with fans for it’s survival. The players need to make it happen if they want to get back to Honolulu again.

According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority the game sold well in the 2012 game when it brought $25 million for Hawaii. The 2013 statistics weren’t available. The state pays $4 million for the game. The NFL is also aware of a lot of fans who do not take the game seriously and are concerned about advertising revenue and the game’s TV ratings.

The players and league hope it is a game that can survive so it’s survival rides heavily on Sunday’s game performance and the tweets and facebooking feedback from fans watching the game and if they accept the new format. Goodell said the game could move to different sites beside the Super Bowl city each year “There is interest in potentially bringing it back in mulitple sites as early as the following year.” said Goodell

The players have stated since the 2010 Miami game that they want the game to stay in Hawaii and are gearing up this week to make that happen. If the game moves to the mainland most likely a lot of the key players will not show up siting injuries from the regular season or post season they’ve also said that they play in the mainland all year long who wouldn’t want to come to Hawaii. Hawaii according to the players adds incentive and brings out the key players from the regular sesaon.

Pro Bowl Raiders and 49ers representatives: The Oakland Raiders lone representative fullback Marcel Reece says he’s having fun being here in Honolulu for the Pro Bowl and it’s his second time at the Pro Bowl and Reeces was selected on Team Sanders and Neon Dieon says he likes what Reece could do without the football, “that’s who we want, we love him because he’s not getting the ball. All we want him to do is block for that man over there” as Sanders was pointing at the Kansas City Chiefs Jamaal Charles.

Reece got to carry once in last year’s Pro Bowl and he got a yard out of it, Sanders is the boss and wants Reece to stop the rush, “I talked to Dieon after he said that, it’s all part of the plan, hopefully we’re going to catch the other team off guard” said Reece. Although the Raiders finished the season at 4-12 Reece had himself a decent season going 218 rushing yards, 331 passing yards and four touchdowns.

49ers rookie safety Eric Reid: The 49ers lone representative said on Friday he just couldn’t resist the invitation to the Pro Bowl. Coming off the bitter taste of a loss to the Seattle Seahawks last week Reid got the call and almost declined the invitation to play at the Pro Bowl, “I wasn’t sure, to be honest, if I was going to come because it was a hard pill to swallow to lose that game, but when they gave me the call, it was a heck of an opportunity and I had to say ‘yeah’ ” said Reid.

Reid had a chance to be selected to team Rice and had a chance to talk with Rice which made it special being a rookie and representing Rice’s former team the 49ers, “This is truly, truly a dream come true, this is all I’ve ever wanted to do and to be here as a rookie getting picked by Jerry (Rice), I had the opportunity to meet him back at Candelstick (Park), it’s just, I had to come, I had to do this.” said Reid

Morris Phillips is covering Team Jerry Rice versus Team Dieon Sanders for Sportstalk Radio

NFL Pro Bowl report: Taking a look at this week’s quarterback selection

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by Morris Phillips

HONOLULU–Jerry Rice has made some nice selections for his quarterback roster, Drew Brees New Orelans, Phillip Rivers San Diego, and Alex Smith Kansas City. For Smith he can make all the throws he’s an above average quarterback in the NFL. His history in the leauge hasn’t been the smoothest or the brightest but obviously that changed a lot this year.

The Chiefs were incredible in terms of winning games and making an impact on the AFC playoff race and he deserves a lot of credit for that. It should be wonderful this week in Honolulu as the quarterback and Smith should have a great game. Brees the other selection is going to play great, Brees is one of the NFL’s fastest at having touch on passes.

Brees is what you might call the anti 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in terms of disability to make different throws from different places. That’s what Kaepernick needs to work on is his touch and Brees has that. Once again they should have a great team on Sunday and we can see why he was the number one pick for Team Rice.

In the last couple of years Rivers has had a terrible problem with turnovers anbd intrerceptions and this past season that saw the real Rivers and Kennan Allen the Chargers receiver from Cal the first round pick that had a lot to do with that in making himself available and catching a lot of passes from Rivers.

Once again Rivers should have a great weekend and expect him to play a lot and he’s the last guy especially with his enthusiasm that you definitely want to get a guy like that in the game.

Dieon Sanders selected Cam Newton from the Carolina Panthers to be one of his quarterbacks and Newton has a lot to make up for his first year in Honolulu didn’t go well and he’s kind of gone to the loss there as a rookie and he’s a third year player now and will probably have a much better showing and Newton has lost some of his zip as an NFL quarterback especially this season.

For Newton this has to be personal and he didn’t even look good two years ago but he’s going to want to look a lot better on Sunday. The other Sanders’ selction is the Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and he had a star crossed season. When the Colts lost Reggie Wayne their number one receiver the veteran of the team it really hurt his ability to get the ball down field to make plays. This week should be a nice departure from that for Luck he’ll have plenty of targets to throw to.

One thing about the other quarterback selection of Sanders of Philadelphia’s Nick Foles he won’t have his best game of the year. He already did that in Oakland with seven touchdown passes against the Raiders earlier this year and kind of came out of nowhere in terms of taking over that job in Philadelphia.

Foles is a promising young quarterback whose very exciting from an offensive system and it should interesting if they incorporate that pace and that system on Sunday to accomadate him to see if he can do the same stuff he did in Philadelphia.

Morris Phillips is covering the NFL Pro Bowl in Honolulu for Sportstalk this week

NFL Pro Bowl report: Game could be highlighted by array of Chiefs players

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by Morris Phillips

HONOLULU–The most interesting thing is you could end up tackling your own teammate under the new Pro Bowl format when as in this case Pro Bowl honary team captains Dieon Sanders and Jerry Rice who might pick teammates to play against each other. They could end up blocking or guarding their teammate. In regards to the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders obviously they won’t see that because they’ve opted out with the exception of 49ers safety Eric Reid who will be the one 49er representative and the Raiders Marcel Reece that’s really the most intesting thing.

Your going to see guys from different teams together but you defintely don’t want to be tackling your own teammates you might get a phone call from the general manager at half time. You have to give the league credit for trying to change it and if anybody wants to inject the issue of records of the Pro Bowl they aren’t exactly hollowed treasured records in that respect I don’t have an issue with it either.

The Atlanta Falcons Tony Gonzalez was selected for the Pro Bowl in place of the 49ers Vernon Davis, it’s great for Gonzalez because he came back to accomplish something that was not as important to him as it was to the organization that he plays for in Atlanta and his teammates. It obviously didn’t happen in a really dignified way
for him to end his football career in Honolulu this week.

The Kanasas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith has been chosen for the Pro Bowl and he had a great season in Kansas City and he wasn’t really a factor in them losing the playoff games two weeks ago congratulations and the 49ers are questioned if they should have continued with Smith and going with 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. This is Smith’s first selection to the game.

The Chiefs have the most selections and they deserve that, you got to give them credit for putting it all together with head coach Andy Reid in his first year. Just like the 49ers, Kansas City has a strong core of players that obviously didn’t do very well last year. So it’s interesting how the NFL has these pockets of talented players that don’t find their way to fruition unless they have the right coach and right situation.

The other aspect here is the Pro Bowl is not just losing just two teams, the two teams that are in the Super Bowl the Seahawks and the Broncos. The game is also losing the other two teams as well the Patriots and the 49ers. Nobody wants to lose, in the conference championship and playing it the following week in Honolulu. There are a number of injured players the 49ers Mike Iupati, Frank Gore, and not that you want to bounce back with another game so you have to look at that too, their losing four teams effectively for the Pro Bowl every year.

Morris Phillips is covering the Pro Bowl for Sportstalk Radio

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: How the Broncos and Seahawks match up for Super Bowl XLVIII

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That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

What can you say about the Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning he calls his own plays he’s almost like a real genius there with the Broncos on the field and the Seahawks Russell Wilson has a lot of guts , Wilson can scramble with the best of them and it should be a great match up and I don’t expect to see a blow out and it could be a very close game. Denver and Seattle they deserve it.

They played great football all season long and the Seahawks in the first half of the year looked like the best team in the world then they went into a little slump.Wilson wasn’t well and they had a couple of injuries and now their clicking in the game and they just beat the 49ers and Manning they didn’t have much trouble in New England against another great quarterback and potential Hall of Famer Tom Brady.

So this has been for the NFL some great teams that the 49ers have faced and the 49ers who lost to Seattle on Sunday have nothing to be ashamed about. There were a couple of bad calls from possesion by the referees but in the end and I like the 49ers but in the end the 49ers had three turnovers by the 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in the last two minutes that’s what cost them the game basically.

I agree wholeheartedly with the oddsmakers that they have favored the Denver Broncos for the Super Bowl and Manning if you listen to his interview after the game last Sunday he conducted himself almost like a coach and he happened to be a great quarterback but he’s almost like a coach and the guy is very brainy. He knows how to rally his own troops and he meets with the coach but he makes his own calls.

The Broncos just for the sheer fact that it’s Manning at the conrols they have to favored and even if the 49ers would have won Manning and Denver would have been favored over the 49ers and we have to make that clear. It’s hard to find a guy with a better passing record. So I’m not surprised and I agree with the oddsmakers that Denver should be the favorite.

Sharper faces double trouble in double rape accusations: Former defenseman of the Green Bay Packers Darren Sharper not only is looking at a double rape charge but also may lose his job as an analyst with the NFL Network. What can you say about someone whose facing charges like that? This is where the NFL raises it’s ugly head and all jokes aside about the National Felony League for some reason there’s a lot of violence in the sport and a lot of the guys not most but a lot of the guys get charged with rape and violent crimes in the NFL.

Sharper is going to have to get his life straighten out and will probably lose his job at the NFL Network on camera and television because most contracts where broadcasters have a moral clause like assault or violent crimes chances are they won’t survive. Some media people have survived DUI charges. So battery, assault, rape your talking about serious crimes I’m not saying DUI is not a serious crime because there a lot of folks who have been under the influence and not only killed themselves they could kill somebody else.

Unless Sharper can prove that these charges are false accusations a double rape charge spells almost the end for Sharper with the NFL and his broadcasting days and most important of all his freedom.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk radio

Raiders report: Pryor looking for redemption in return in season finale

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by David Zizmor

ALAMEDA–The Raiders had started Matt McGloin and now all of a sudden the Raiders are starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor. He had a pretty nice run earlier in the season then he got dinged up and McGloin came in and had a few starts he looked okay and decided to go with McGloin for a few weeks to see what they have and now in week 17 their going back to Pryor.

There’s no rhyme or reason to it it’s a little strange but at a certain point the Raiders thought they had a shot here and they’ll go for it and then everything fell apart. Most of this is on the defensive side and the offense hasn’t been awful. Pryor is the guy the Raiders really need to evaluate and we’ve been saying this the last six weeks since McGloin took over.

Pryor is a more dynamic option back there and he’s the one with the highest ceiling and McGloin he looks okay there’s nothing wrong with the guy he’s not someone you look at and say this is someone whose going to lead us to the Super Bowl. He’s a caretaker, he’s a game manager, he’s a back up quarterback. There’s nothing wrong with that there’s plenty of room in this league for a back up quarterback.

You could look down at Dallas where quarterback Tony Romo got injured and back up Kyle Orton is going to start and take Romo’s place. The backup quarterback is something important and every team needs one. The Raiders aren’t in a position to be looking at a back up quarterback and to make sure the back up QB is any good. The Raiders need to find out if they have a starting quarterback.

Going forward everyone could see that McGloin was a back up and Pryor at least had some chance at being a starting quarterback. Pryor obviously has a lot of polishing up to do he’s someone who needs some work who needs to learn but you can’t learn until your out there on the field. The Raiders have kept him off the field for several weeks which really doesn’t make any sense.

Time and time again the threat with his legs really open things up for the Raiders and gave them an opportunity that would not otherwise exist and makes them a little more interesting to watch. It will be fun to see Pryor out there and it would be interesting to see if he could step in after being on the bench for so many weeks. It’s defintely going to be tougher going against the Denver Broncos this Sunday their the team that still has something to play for.

The Broncos aren’t going to play too hard, quarteback Peyton Manning got his touchdown record their the number on one or number two seed no matter what they get the Broncos got that home game either way. Denver might rest it’s players which could give the Raiders a chance in this one.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for Sportstalk Radio

Pryor, not McGloin to start home finale against Broncos

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photos via San Jose Mercury

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Terrelle Pryor will start over Matt McGloin in the Raiders’ final home game of the season against the Denver Broncos Sunday, head coach Dennis Allen announced Monday during his weekly press conference per CSNBayArea.com’s Raiders Insider, Scott Bair.

Both Pryor and McGloin were notified of Allen’s decision earlier Monday morning.

“We got a chance to see Matt McGloin for six games,” Allen said. “I liked a lot of things that I saw in Matt. It’s been a while since we’ve gotten an opportunity to see Terrelle in a game and I want to get him in the game and get another opportunity to evaluate him.”

McGloin’s three-touchdown performance in a 28-23 victory over the Houston Texans in Week 11 gave Oakland a glimpse of a possible answer at the quarterback position, but McGloin played up-and-down to a 1-5 record while Oakland (4-11) lost five straight games including a 56-31 home drubbing to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15 in which he threw four interceptions.

McGloin finished 20-for-36 for 206 yards and an interception in Oakland’s 26-13 loss in San Diego Sunday and it was clear that Oakland had seen enough.

Pryor goes back under center and should get a long look against the Broncos. Pryor played well against Denver back in Week 3, completing 19-for-28 passes for 281 yards, a touchdown with a career-high, 112.4 passer rating.

Denver (12-3) is coming into Oakland looking to wrap up the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the AFC Playoffs. Denver wrapped up the AFC West with their 37-13 victory in Houston, coupled with Kansas City’s 23-7 loss to Indianapolis at Arrowhead.

Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning threw for 400 yards and four touchdowns, while breaking Tom Brady’s NFL-record 50 touchdown passes set in 2007, sending the down-trodden Texans to their 13th straight loss in the process. Manning threw the record-breaking touchdown to tight end Julius Thomas on a 25-yard pass in the fourth quarter, his third touchdown pass of the quarter.

In a season where he most likely collect his fifth league MVP award, Manning has a chance to set another record Sunday.

With a league-leading 5,211 yards passing this year, Manning needs 265 yards to surpass New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees’ NFL-record 5,476 set in 2011.

Manning loves to spread the ball around and with four targets with at least 10 touchdowns  like wide receivers Demaryius Thomas (86 catches, 1,377 yards, 12 TDs), Eric Decker (83 catches, 1,261 yards, 10 TDs), Wes Welker (73 catches, 778 yards, 10 TDs), and the previously mentioned tight end Thomas (60 catches, 752 yards, 12 TDs), its almost a safe bet that Manning breaks the record against the Raiders.

Raider report: Lack of inexperience reason for Raiders big loss in KC

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by David Zizmor

ALAMEDA–The Oakland Raiders who suffered a pretty humilating defeat at the hands of their division rivals the Kansas City Chiefs this last weekend. They lost big 56-31 that is the most points the Raiders have ever given up in a football game. It was done in dramatic fashion the Chiefs jumped out to a big lead they were up 21-0 just in the first quarter.

The big story in the game it was not only the 56 points but who scored them, five of those touchdowns were scored by the Chiefs Jamal Charles the tiny running back for the Chiefs and four of them on receptions. He became the first running back in NFL history to catch four touchdown passes in a game.

Scoring five touchdowns puts him in pretty rare company as well, five touchdowns is a huge accomplishment no matter what and at the NFL level it’s very, very rare and only three people have scored six touchdowns n a game and Charles might have had a shot at that becuase he had five touchdowns with 12 minutes left in the game he had a shot at it but he mostly sat on the bench from that point on.

Charles sat because the Chiefs were up by so much looking at it from the Raiders side this was a rough, rough loss, they were out of this one from the very beginning they really had no chance and what we’ve seen in the last few weeks is that the Raiders are falling apart on the defensive side of the football.

The Raiders have had a real tough time of it not only did they lose this game to the Chiefs last week they got hammered by a very bad New York Jets team they gave up 37 points to a Jets team that have had one of the worse offenses in the league. They lost to Dallas, Tennessee, you have to go all the way back to week 11 when they beat Houston and as we all know now is probably the team that’s going to get the number one pick in the draft that’s how bad they are.

The Raiders have had a really rough run it’s kind of disappointing their defense played really well in the first half of the season it was surprising and one of the reasons why everybody had low expectations for the Raiders was their defense. They’ve had a lot of new guys on the team and not necessarily all new but they had a lot of inexperienced guys some of them were rookies.

These were guys on the Raiders that have really never been starters at this top level and the Raiders had so little room under the cap they had to get what they could and for the most part that meant bargain basement shopping and early in the season they did a good job of motivating these guys in keeping offenses on their toes, the defense was surprising.

The Raiders face the San Diego Chargers on Sunday the 29th for their next game with a 1:25 PM kickoff at Qualcomm.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for Sportstalk Radio