Oakland Raiders rookie guard Stefen Wisniewski is getting
the hang of blocking for the NFL’s top rushing attack.
The second round draft pick out of Penn State is also enjoying shifting
defenders out of the way for running back Darren McFadden. When asked about
blocking for McFadden, the NFL’s leading rusher at 131.0 yards per game,
Wisniewski couldn’t hold back his fondness for doing so.
“Yeah, it’s fun,” Wisniewski said. “Shoot, you block a guy for two seconds and
you look, and [McFadden's] 50 yards downfield. It makes our job easy. Sometimes
we make him look good, we open a big hole, and other times we miss a couple of
people but he makes us look good anyway. So it works out well for everybody.”
It remains to be seen if Wisniewski and the rest of his offensive line mates
will feel the same way when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots invade the
Coliseum Sunday in a matchup between a pair of 2-1 clubs.
Oakland is tied with San Diego atop the AFC West standings, while the Patriots
and New York Jets are even for second behind unbeaten Buffalo in the AFC East.
The Raiders are coming off last Sunday’s 34-24 dismantling of the Jets, a team
that has reached the AFC Championship Game in back-to-back campaigns, and were
able to shove aside the haunting memories of a second-half collapse against
the Bills in Week 2 by sticking to their game plan of running the football
versus a tough Jets defense. McFadden helped the Raiders, who lead the NFL
with an average of 185.0 rushing yards a game, by recording a career-best 171
yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, including a 70-yard touchdown scamper.
McFadden has been playing well enough for the Silver and Black to draw
comparisons to Marcus Allen and Bo Jackson. It has only been three weeks of
the season for the fourth-year pro, who became just the third running back to
rush for at least 100 yards on the Jets since Rex Ryan took over as head coach
in 2009. McFadden left the game in the fourth quarter with what was described
as “tightness” in his groin, but is not expected to miss any time for an
Oakland squad in the midst of playing five of six games by the Bay.
A second-half collapse at Buffalo this past Sunday ruined New England’s chances
of starting the season 3-0 for the first time since 2007, with Brady matching
his career worst with four interceptions. His turnovers overshadowed his 387
yards passing and four touchdown strikes
“They’re a good coverage team. They made some good plays in the pass game,”
Brady said in reference to Buffalo’s second-half adjustments. “They took
advantage of some opportunities that they got. We fought to the end, but it
just wasn’t enough.”
New England’s defense blew a 21-0 lead and allowed the Bills to rack up 448
yards, including 369 through the air. It did manage to hold Buffalo to 79
yards rushing, but will be in for a larger task this week against McFadden and
the league’s top ground attack.
Several missed tackles, poor coverage assignments and wrong reads cost the
Patriots last weekend, and taking a flight across the country won’t make this
week any easier.
The Patriots continue their challenging schedule and now try to bounce back
from a loss that was decided by a field goal with no time on the clock. They’ll
need to have a short memory as well as some resolve to come out on top this
week, and the team is hoping it can put defensive back Kyle Arrington’s words
into effect.
“We want to be a resilient group of guys,” said Arrington. “To lose a game in
that type of fashion, you definitely can’t wait to put the pads on again next
Sunday. But it’s definitely going to be a long, hard week of practice. We’ll be
up for the challenge.”
If the Pats are not ready for a healthy dose of McFadden, they’ll likely be
staring at their first 2-2 start since alternating wins and losses over the
first nine games of the 2005 campaign. They extended their franchise-record
streak to 11 games of scoring 30-plus points, just three shy of tying the NFL
record set by the high-powered St. Louis Rams from 1999-2000, in last week’s
defeat.
SERIES HISTORY
The overall regular season series between the Raiders and Patriots is tied at
14-14-1, with New England pulling even with a 49-26 rout of Oakland at the
Coliseum during the 2008 season. The Patriots also posted a 30-20 home win
over the Raiders back in 2005, but had dropped three consecutive non-playoff
tilts on the road in this set prior to their victory in the most recent
meeting.
These teams have also faced one another three times in postseason play, with
New England’s 16-13 home triumph over Oakland in a 2001 AFC Divisional Playoff
– best known as the “Tuck Rule Game” — the most famous and memorable of
those matchups. The Patriots also topped the then-Los Angeles Raiders on the
road in a 1985 AFC Divisional Playoff and lost at Oakland in the Divisional
Round in 1976.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is 5-1 all-time against the Raiders,
including a 2-0 record while with the Cleveland Browns from 1991-95. Oakland
head coach Hue Jackson will be opposing both New England and Belichick for the
first time.
WHEN THE PATRIOTS HAVE THE BALL
Brady (1,327 passing yards, 11 TD, 5 INT) established a new NFL record for
passing yards in any three-week span in league history with last Sunday’s
performance. He had 940 yards passing through the first two weeks and looks to
shake off a four-interception afternoon against the Bills. It’s rare to see
someone of Brady’s stature have such a rough game, but this is the NFL. Brady
is first in the NFL with an average of 442.3 passing yards per game and 11
touchdown passes and stands second overall with a 113.8 quarterback rating and
a 69.9 completion percentage. He is on pace to throw for more than 50
touchdowns and will try to take advantage of an injured Oakland secondary.
Tight end Rob Gronkowski (17 receptions, 281 yards) leads the team with five
touchdown catches and wide receiver Wes Welker (458 yards, 4 TD) has a team-
high 31 catches and exploded for 217 yards and two scores on 16 receptions last
Sunday. Wide receiver Deion Branch has gotten involved as well, as evidenced by
his 222 yards on 15 receptions. The New England ground attack has struggled so
far this season, with running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis (120 rushing yards)
has carrying the ball 33 times for two touchdowns through three games. The
offensive line has allowed just three sacks.
The Raiders figured out how to finish games with last Sunday’s big win over the
Jets. Much of that may have been ignited by Hue Jackson, who brought a shovel
to a team meeting to signify that the team needs to keep digging. Linebacker
Rolando McClain (23 tackles, sack) said the Buffalo loss was still in the back
of his mind and wanted to make sure his teammates were on board for a big
second half versus New York. He and the defense responded in a big way by
shutting down the Jets’ usually strong running game. Oakland was forced to play
zone after injuries to starters Michael Huff and Chris Johnson, with safety
Huff (10 tackles) suffering a concussion that has left his status for Sunday
unknown and cornerback Johnson (11 tackles) bothered by a hamstring injury.
Cornerbacks Stanford Routt, Joe Porter and Chimdi Chekwa and safeties Jerome
Boyd and Matt Giordano all saw action last week and will be put to an extreme
test by Brady. Defensive tackles Richard Seymour (10 tackles) and Tommy Kelly
(9 tackles) have combined for five sacks in three games, while strong safety
Tyvon Branch (24 tackles) halted a New York drive with his first interception
of the season last week.
WHEN THE RAIDERS HAVE THE BALL
The Raiders must take advantage of New England’s weak pass defense that was
scorched by former Ivy League star Ryan Fitzpatrick last Sunday. Quarterback
Jason Campbell (584 passing yards, 3 TD, 1 INT) has attempted only 82 passes in
three games, but the offense is predicated on the running the football for an
NFL-best 185.0 yards per game. Campbell, however, is the reason why McFadden
(393 rushing yards, 3 TD) also leads the team with 11 catches for 84 yards and
a score. Lesser-known wide receiver Denarius Moore (180 yards, 1 TD) is second
with nine catches. Tight end Kevin Boss made his Raiders debut in the win over
the Jets and produced two catches for 36 yards, and he’s also a blocking threat
for McFadden. Boss had been bothered by a knee injury the first two weeks. Wide
receiver Jacoby Ford has not played since he injured his hamstring against the
Denver Broncos in the regular-season opener, but is expected to return on
Sunday. Oakland will try to establish the ground game early, since it’s only
26th in passing offense, though there are six players on the roster with at
least five catches. Oakland’s offensive line has been run-blocking more often
and has only allowed two sacks this season.
New England would probably like to set fire to last week’s game film, but
watching their mistakes is the only way they’ll be able to build from it.
Fitzpatrick passed for 369 yards — numbers the Patriots should not anticipate
coming from Campbell this week. Arrington (14 tackles) kept his team in the
game with a pair of interceptions last week and leads the way with three picks
through three games. New England’s pass defense could be hurting without safety
Patrick Chung (14 tackles), who missed the game after undergoing surgery on his
right thumb and is questionable to return this week. Cornerback Ras-I Dowling
(3 tackles) also did not play due to a hip ailment for the Pats. who are 32nd
against the pass this season. Cornerbacks Devin McCourty (24 tackles) and Leigh
Bodden (13 tackles) are healthy, while increased playing time could be in store
for safeties Sergio Brown (16 tackles, 1 INT) and Josh Barrett (11 tackles).
Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth did not play as well last week with a bad
back, leaving the Patriots thin up front. Linebacker Jerod Mayo (21 tackles)
leads a front seven that will be in charge of containing McFadden.
KEYS TO THE GAME
How will the Raiders adjust to Brady with a banged-up secondary? With Huff and
Johnson unlikely to play this week, head coach Jackson will have to again rely
on his younger players to step it up in one of the week’s biggest games.
McFadden has been running like a man possessed, leaving many to wonder how
long the former Arkansas star and former high school quarterback can keep it
up. McFadden likes to get to the outside to utilize his speed, and the coaches
have been working all week determining which plays suit him best. It seems all
of them do.
If Oakland can apply pressure up front against New England’s thick line, Brady
will not get the proper amount of time to shred the defense. It’s been a
struggle for the opposition to contain Brady and his targets, and the Raiders
will do anything to prevent that. However, New England could throw a wrench in
the plans by establishing a formidable ground attack early on.
OVERALL ANALYSIS
Two of the NFL’s hottest offensive players will take center stage at the
Coliseum on Sunday, with Brady looking to put a four-interception performance
in the rear-view mirror. He won’t have to worry about being upstaged by
hometown hero McFadden, who will find tough sledding against an energized
Patriots defense set to save face from its outing a week before. McFadden,
however, is too talented to go into submissive mode against New England, and he
and the Raiders will keep the score respectable. Welker showed no respect to
the Buffalo secondary last week, though, and the Pats will give him every
opportunity to showcase his talents against a much worse and banged-up Raiders
defensive backfield.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Patriots 27, Raiders 17
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That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.
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