drumsky
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I joined this place YEARS ago (2004, i think), and while i almost never post I really respect this forum and SaintsFan in general. I was born and grew up in Oakland, and came of age during the Glory Years. Saw Snake FINALLY win our 1st Lombardi the year after i graduated HS. As it turned out, my wife got transferred here 23 years ago by the multinational she worked for. we had both been here many times before, but fell in love with living here. her job disappeared a couple years after the move, but we've stayed ever since - even after Katrina, which hammered us in Broadmoor. so I'm not coming here to start anything.
I always look forward to this matchup. Just felt like saying a friendly hello to this weeks opposing fans , and share a few things about this year's edition of the Silver and Black.
OFFENSE:
The Raids are gonna try to run a balanced attack. I think we were one play from being 50/50 in week 1. Gruden likes to pound the rock and hit quick WCO-style short passes off of play, utilizing ALL of his weapons. he gets too conservative for many raider fans when he gets the lead. and he was been getting outschemed in the 2nd half too often last year - opponents adjusted, we didn't.
Carr is good in this offense and has played in the system now for 3 years. he was making the best checks at the line last week he ever has in Gru's system. He completes a high percentage of his passes and doesn't throw too many pics. it's a bit of a make or break year for him. since the 2017 meltdown, fans and the media have been on him. I personally don't think one should lay the last 3 years of suckage just on him, but now that he has a complete set of weapons, no more excuses. he needs to open it up, throw downfield more often, and do better on his scramble drills - like he did in 2016.
The WR corp is young, but really talented. two rookies are starting - Ruggs is as advertised (incredibly fast, very good hands, and a tough SOB), Edwards was the surprise of camp (3rd rnd pic out of SoCarolina - a big tough guy with excellent hands, surprisingly decent speed, and already a very good blocker), Renfro is a BEAST in the slot (we call him 3rd and Renfro), and Agholor is on a one-year show me deal and came to camp in the best shape of his life. he may not have lived up to his draft status with philly, but the guy is a legit pro. he made an absolutely beautiful over-the-shoulder catch for a 23-yd TD last week.
The TE Corps may be the deepest in the league - they all have good hands, and they all block REALLY well. we know how productive Waller is, arguably a Top 5 TE. while he's coming off an ACL, LSU's Foster Moreau had a really productive rookie year and became a favorite redzone target of Carr out of 2TE sets, getting 5 TDs as a rook. Foster has great hands, especially in heavy traffic. Witten's best days are obviously behind him, but he can still block and he hasn't lost his hands. an expensive leader in the locker room, i guess.
The OL is arguably another borderline Top 5 unit when healthy, and even with a backup RT it's prolly top 10. Hudson is an elite center. Guards are both animals - Jackson is a beast and healthy again, and Incognito has embraced his last chance and behaved himself. Miller is a Solid starting LT (not as good as Armstead, but he's legit). which brings us to RT... we're prolly gonna start Good, a swing G/T, as BOTH RTs were hurt last week. I'm sure Cam will get his vs. Good (I love Jordan, wish he was a raider), but don't underestimate Denzelle. he's no scrub. and we'll no doubt use a TE to chip on that side... which brings me to RB.
I would argue that Jacobs is a top 5 back. if he can stay healthy, I expect him to be all-pro. he rarely gets stuffed, always falls forward for 3 or 4 yards, and runs with incredible patience (reminds me of Bell in his Steelers heyday in that regard). Josh has a way of taking plays that LOOK like he's bottled up, being patient, and then scooting thru for 7 or 8 yards. he doesn't have breakaway deep speed, but he shows excellent quickness, has enough juice to attack the edges, and spent the offseason working on his passing game. his 28 Yarder vs Carolina was a thing of beauty. last week he outgained McCaffrey in total YFS and had 3 rushing TDs. oh, and he couldn't possibly be a more solid kid. Josh Jacobs is our best player, period.
here's Jacobs' week 1 highlight pack from nlf.com (4 minutes) -
DEFENSE:
OK, we'll go as far as our defense takes us in 2020, and last year we stunk. hell, we've stunk since the mid-80's for the most part.
one thing we worked on this offseason is increasing team speed - necessary when you play in the Chiefs division. it shows on the defense. we're a LOT faster.
Our DL is decent against the run, but lacking in the passrush dept. and that sucks when you run a 4-man front and rarely blitz. DE Crosby had a nice little year as a rookie, getting 10 sacks and a solid number of TFLs. DE Ferrel is still a work in progress, which is disappointing for the #4 pick in the 2019 draft (many said he was a reach - i'll let this year play out before deciding). at least he made the play of the game last week, but he's still disappearing for long stretches. he had a great offseason, adding 15 lbs of muscle. Hankins is a good run stuffer, but provides little passrush. we brought Maelik Collins in via FA to play 3-Tech. he's young and supposedly very quick, but he showed little last week. tough to judge him given the weird offseason, but jury's still out. the depth is better than usual, no scrubs back there this year. but these guys need to stand up if we're gonna go anywhere.
The LB Corp, which has flat out sucked since our last superbowl run in 2002, is WAY better. we signed Littleton from the Rams in FA and he's a legit stud. good against the run and elite in coverage. Kwiatkoski was signed in FA from CHI to play MIKE/wear the red dot. he's a beast - tough and more than decent in coverage. he's a 3-down LB. the rest are "meh". of note here is that Kwiatkowski hurt his pectoral (NOT a tear, thankfully) in the 3rd Q last week, so his status is up in the air. his replacement is Morrow, and it's a BIGstep down. we traded for Raekwon McMillan just before the season started - solid vs run but terrible in coverage. we play a LOT of 4-2-5, so IF Kwiatkowski plays, this is a more than solid group.
I'm a big believer in the secondary, but man our corners are young. Mullen is a 2nd year player who had 10 starts last year and definitely flashed. I think he'll be very good, but prolly not elite. we drafted Arnette at #19 last spring and got crucified for it, but I think he has more upside than Mullen. he's gonna take it on the chin a few times (got abused on a double move last week for a 75 yd TD, tho safety took terrible angle), but he's tough as nails, good in man, and will get his. we signed Joyner last year in FA to play nickel and he's been a MAJOR disappointment. the rest of the corners are "meh", which is better than in years past LOL. I must ALSO point out that 2nd year safety Jonathan Abrams is a monster. he was hurt all last year (played half of week 1 and that's it), but he's fully healthy, had a great offseason, has VERY good speed for a S, and really lays the wood. 13 tackles last week, and they weren't all 10 yards downfield, believe me. he's a future pro-bowler, maybe even this year.
So what's the problem? Raider Fans pretty much universally HATE our DC.
Paul Gunther was very good in Cincy, but has sucked for us. again, he rarely blitzes, telegraphs it when he does, so the only disguising is in back. this is his make or break year. in his defense, the one thing I noticed last week is... we didn't get gashed like we have been since FOREVER. Aside from the 75-yd busted coverage TD, we didn't give up a single chunk play (20+ yds), and in the current NFL, that's not terrible. we kept everything in front of us, for a change - team speed definitely showed. McCaffrey got his yards but didn't kill us. we forced 2 punts, held 3 drives to FGs, and got the stop on 4th and inches to win the game. that's a BIG improvement for us LOL.
IF we can keep playing like this, just average (15-20 range), we should compete for a low seed WildCard.
PREDICTION: You KNOW I gotta be a homer LOL.
IF we can keep the saints running game bottled up, and the secondary doesn't screw the pooch, we have a shot. losing Thomas suck for you guys, and sure helps us. still I have no doubt the Saints will put up their fair share of points. So, just like the last time we played, it comes down to our offense.
i think our OL can hold it's own overall - aside from containing Cam, we should play well vs every other matchup. I know Rankins is good, but our interior is elite. and I fully expect LT Miller to hold his own on his side. I think Jacobs has a legit shot at ending your streak of "no 100-yd rushers".
I don't expect Carr to win this game for us, but rather to do his part by utilizing ALL his weapons. I know how good the Saints pass D is. I don't expect to see many deep throws, especially vs Lattimore and especially with Ruggs playing on a tweeked knee (he left for the last few minutes of the 1st half, but played the rest of the game and said he's good to go at his postgame PC). so while I hope Carr will take a few shots downfield, I'm thinking TEs/RBs will be used HEAVILY. this and Jacobs having his fair share of success are the matchups that will determines the game's outcome, along with Peyton not totally abusing us on playcalls. The Saints SHOULD get theirs - it's really a question of whether we can keep pace with them. we did in 2016.
so...... it's the 1st game in our new digs, The Death Star. Raiders 34 Saints 31
Enjoy the game. I look forward to your comments/abuse LOL. And remember, if the raiders don't win the Lombardi, I'm pulling for the Saints.
There aren't many teams I'll say that about.
I always look forward to this matchup. Just felt like saying a friendly hello to this weeks opposing fans , and share a few things about this year's edition of the Silver and Black.
OFFENSE:
The Raids are gonna try to run a balanced attack. I think we were one play from being 50/50 in week 1. Gruden likes to pound the rock and hit quick WCO-style short passes off of play, utilizing ALL of his weapons. he gets too conservative for many raider fans when he gets the lead. and he was been getting outschemed in the 2nd half too often last year - opponents adjusted, we didn't.
Carr is good in this offense and has played in the system now for 3 years. he was making the best checks at the line last week he ever has in Gru's system. He completes a high percentage of his passes and doesn't throw too many pics. it's a bit of a make or break year for him. since the 2017 meltdown, fans and the media have been on him. I personally don't think one should lay the last 3 years of suckage just on him, but now that he has a complete set of weapons, no more excuses. he needs to open it up, throw downfield more often, and do better on his scramble drills - like he did in 2016.
The WR corp is young, but really talented. two rookies are starting - Ruggs is as advertised (incredibly fast, very good hands, and a tough SOB), Edwards was the surprise of camp (3rd rnd pic out of SoCarolina - a big tough guy with excellent hands, surprisingly decent speed, and already a very good blocker), Renfro is a BEAST in the slot (we call him 3rd and Renfro), and Agholor is on a one-year show me deal and came to camp in the best shape of his life. he may not have lived up to his draft status with philly, but the guy is a legit pro. he made an absolutely beautiful over-the-shoulder catch for a 23-yd TD last week.
The TE Corps may be the deepest in the league - they all have good hands, and they all block REALLY well. we know how productive Waller is, arguably a Top 5 TE. while he's coming off an ACL, LSU's Foster Moreau had a really productive rookie year and became a favorite redzone target of Carr out of 2TE sets, getting 5 TDs as a rook. Foster has great hands, especially in heavy traffic. Witten's best days are obviously behind him, but he can still block and he hasn't lost his hands. an expensive leader in the locker room, i guess.
The OL is arguably another borderline Top 5 unit when healthy, and even with a backup RT it's prolly top 10. Hudson is an elite center. Guards are both animals - Jackson is a beast and healthy again, and Incognito has embraced his last chance and behaved himself. Miller is a Solid starting LT (not as good as Armstead, but he's legit). which brings us to RT... we're prolly gonna start Good, a swing G/T, as BOTH RTs were hurt last week. I'm sure Cam will get his vs. Good (I love Jordan, wish he was a raider), but don't underestimate Denzelle. he's no scrub. and we'll no doubt use a TE to chip on that side... which brings me to RB.
I would argue that Jacobs is a top 5 back. if he can stay healthy, I expect him to be all-pro. he rarely gets stuffed, always falls forward for 3 or 4 yards, and runs with incredible patience (reminds me of Bell in his Steelers heyday in that regard). Josh has a way of taking plays that LOOK like he's bottled up, being patient, and then scooting thru for 7 or 8 yards. he doesn't have breakaway deep speed, but he shows excellent quickness, has enough juice to attack the edges, and spent the offseason working on his passing game. his 28 Yarder vs Carolina was a thing of beauty. last week he outgained McCaffrey in total YFS and had 3 rushing TDs. oh, and he couldn't possibly be a more solid kid. Josh Jacobs is our best player, period.
here's Jacobs' week 1 highlight pack from nlf.com (4 minutes) -
DEFENSE:
OK, we'll go as far as our defense takes us in 2020, and last year we stunk. hell, we've stunk since the mid-80's for the most part.
one thing we worked on this offseason is increasing team speed - necessary when you play in the Chiefs division. it shows on the defense. we're a LOT faster.
Our DL is decent against the run, but lacking in the passrush dept. and that sucks when you run a 4-man front and rarely blitz. DE Crosby had a nice little year as a rookie, getting 10 sacks and a solid number of TFLs. DE Ferrel is still a work in progress, which is disappointing for the #4 pick in the 2019 draft (many said he was a reach - i'll let this year play out before deciding). at least he made the play of the game last week, but he's still disappearing for long stretches. he had a great offseason, adding 15 lbs of muscle. Hankins is a good run stuffer, but provides little passrush. we brought Maelik Collins in via FA to play 3-Tech. he's young and supposedly very quick, but he showed little last week. tough to judge him given the weird offseason, but jury's still out. the depth is better than usual, no scrubs back there this year. but these guys need to stand up if we're gonna go anywhere.
The LB Corp, which has flat out sucked since our last superbowl run in 2002, is WAY better. we signed Littleton from the Rams in FA and he's a legit stud. good against the run and elite in coverage. Kwiatkoski was signed in FA from CHI to play MIKE/wear the red dot. he's a beast - tough and more than decent in coverage. he's a 3-down LB. the rest are "meh". of note here is that Kwiatkowski hurt his pectoral (NOT a tear, thankfully) in the 3rd Q last week, so his status is up in the air. his replacement is Morrow, and it's a BIGstep down. we traded for Raekwon McMillan just before the season started - solid vs run but terrible in coverage. we play a LOT of 4-2-5, so IF Kwiatkowski plays, this is a more than solid group.
I'm a big believer in the secondary, but man our corners are young. Mullen is a 2nd year player who had 10 starts last year and definitely flashed. I think he'll be very good, but prolly not elite. we drafted Arnette at #19 last spring and got crucified for it, but I think he has more upside than Mullen. he's gonna take it on the chin a few times (got abused on a double move last week for a 75 yd TD, tho safety took terrible angle), but he's tough as nails, good in man, and will get his. we signed Joyner last year in FA to play nickel and he's been a MAJOR disappointment. the rest of the corners are "meh", which is better than in years past LOL. I must ALSO point out that 2nd year safety Jonathan Abrams is a monster. he was hurt all last year (played half of week 1 and that's it), but he's fully healthy, had a great offseason, has VERY good speed for a S, and really lays the wood. 13 tackles last week, and they weren't all 10 yards downfield, believe me. he's a future pro-bowler, maybe even this year.
So what's the problem? Raider Fans pretty much universally HATE our DC.
Paul Gunther was very good in Cincy, but has sucked for us. again, he rarely blitzes, telegraphs it when he does, so the only disguising is in back. this is his make or break year. in his defense, the one thing I noticed last week is... we didn't get gashed like we have been since FOREVER. Aside from the 75-yd busted coverage TD, we didn't give up a single chunk play (20+ yds), and in the current NFL, that's not terrible. we kept everything in front of us, for a change - team speed definitely showed. McCaffrey got his yards but didn't kill us. we forced 2 punts, held 3 drives to FGs, and got the stop on 4th and inches to win the game. that's a BIG improvement for us LOL.
IF we can keep playing like this, just average (15-20 range), we should compete for a low seed WildCard.
PREDICTION: You KNOW I gotta be a homer LOL.
IF we can keep the saints running game bottled up, and the secondary doesn't screw the pooch, we have a shot. losing Thomas suck for you guys, and sure helps us. still I have no doubt the Saints will put up their fair share of points. So, just like the last time we played, it comes down to our offense.
i think our OL can hold it's own overall - aside from containing Cam, we should play well vs every other matchup. I know Rankins is good, but our interior is elite. and I fully expect LT Miller to hold his own on his side. I think Jacobs has a legit shot at ending your streak of "no 100-yd rushers".
I don't expect Carr to win this game for us, but rather to do his part by utilizing ALL his weapons. I know how good the Saints pass D is. I don't expect to see many deep throws, especially vs Lattimore and especially with Ruggs playing on a tweeked knee (he left for the last few minutes of the 1st half, but played the rest of the game and said he's good to go at his postgame PC). so while I hope Carr will take a few shots downfield, I'm thinking TEs/RBs will be used HEAVILY. this and Jacobs having his fair share of success are the matchups that will determines the game's outcome, along with Peyton not totally abusing us on playcalls. The Saints SHOULD get theirs - it's really a question of whether we can keep pace with them. we did in 2016.
so...... it's the 1st game in our new digs, The Death Star. Raiders 34 Saints 31
Enjoy the game. I look forward to your comments/abuse LOL. And remember, if the raiders don't win the Lombardi, I'm pulling for the Saints.
There aren't many teams I'll say that about.
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