Teams Las Vegas Raiders - The Black Hole

[Young_Guns]

Easily the best the defence has played all season.

And how awesome was it playing on a Sunday night with a packed Coliseum in a big rivalry game! Great atmosphere and crowd.

 

[Chewy316]

Most complete game of the season.

Down right LOVE the fact that despite having the perception we are a pass first team, our running game flat out crushed Denver tonight.

Defense is coming together as well. Just one of those nights when everything clicks and you begin to see a changing of the guard. If nothing else, the Raiders tonight proved that they belong in the conversation as a legitimate threat in the AFC.

 

[Steel Eagles]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...ke-resounding-statement-with-win-over-broncos

OAKLAND -- He had spent the bulk of his night imposing his will against an esteemed but overmatched opponent, relocating accomplished defenders like DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller as if they were bales of hay blocking the barn door. Then, with the subtlety of a John Madden sideline tirade from the Raiders' heyday in the '70s, Donald Penn became unhinged.

Thrusting the full force of his 315 pounds toward the west sideline, flailing his arms and spitting out his mouthpiece, Penn, the Raiders' 11th-year left tackle, threw a supersized tantrum Sunday night in front of 54,957 fans at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, a national television audience and one equally massive assistant coach.

"Why the (expletive) are we not running the ball?" Penn screamed. "They can't stop us! Just run the damn ball!"

Gesturing toward offensive line coach Mike Tice, Penn continued: "You need to speak up!"

"How do you know I'm not?" Tice replied.

In reality, Penn and his fellow offensive linemen were in the midst of making a resounding statement -- to the defending Super Bowlchampion Denver Broncos, and to the football world at large. In a hotly anticipated showdown for first place in the AFC West, the Raiders (7-2) steamrolled the Broncos (6-3) by a 30-20 score, rushing for a ridiculous 218 yards and three Latavius Murray touchdowns in the process.

Given the ease with which Oakland dispatched the league's most dominant defense of the past season-and-a-half, you'd have thought there would have been nothing but hugs and high-fives on the sideline. Penn's surly spit fit, which took place with 7:09 remaining and the Raiders holding a 23-13 lead, showed that winners sometimes must confront the ire that stems from creative differences.

This was the situation: The Raiders had just forced the game's first turnover, with linebacker Bruce Irvindislodging the football from Denver quarterback Trevor Siemian and defensive end Khalil Mackrecovering at the Broncos' 39-yard-line. On Oakland's next play, Derek Carr dropped back and threw a short pass toward fullback Jamize Olawale, who was running a wheel route to the right. The pass missed its target, however, and Denver safety T.J. Ward made an apparent diving interception at the 30, giving his team new life.

It was then that Penn lost his mind, enraged that Raiders offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave had overcomplicated the issue by doing anything but continuing to ram the ball down the Broncos' throat.

Eventually, order was restored, and all was well that ended well: The interception was overturned on replay review; the Raiders scored a game-clinching touchdown, with Murray blasting over the goal line from a yard out; and Penn and Musgrave hugged it out in the locker room, as the coordinator made the rounds thanking his linemen for a stellar effort.

Rest assured, he was not alone in his praise.

"They are the best in the league, bar none," Carr told me between bites of a chicken sandwich as he stood in the middle of the Raiders' locker room after the game. "I don't know if anybody's scored 30 on (the Broncos) this year, but we always expect to have success up front. And trust me, we're not even close to where we think we can be."

"In the second half, we only ran two (running) plays," Penn revealed after the game. "We ran the same running play ten times in a row. We kept wearing them down with double teams. They knew it was coming. It didn't matter. That's when you take somebody's will."

According to Tice, the former Minnesota Vikings head coach who is one of the league's best teachers of offensive-line technique, that one play the Raiders trotted out on repeat mode was actually installed at halftime, as he, Musgrave and other assistants assessed what Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was throwing at them.

"It's a play our defense calls Crunch, an off-tackle run that Pittsburgh brought into the league way back when, and a whole lot of us have since stolen," Tice said. "It's basically a double-team -- center and guard, or guard and tackle, or tackle and tight end -- on one of their guys, depending upon what front they show. They tried to bring a couple of guys down low to pull us off the double team, which didn't surprise me, cause it was something Wade did to me when he was the head coach of Buffalo a long time ago.

"It didn't matter. We kept executing that play. We could have announced it. They knew it was coming."

 

[LittleG]

Appreciating another raiders win.... It was so unraider like. So much running on the 'oncos, just like how football should be!

 

[andana]

Penn wasn't the only one shouting.^^ 7.13 to go, we get the ball back............& throw. Run the ball, start the clock, simple.

Apart from that it seemed like the players were enjoying themselves all day. They seemed confident from the start.

 

[andana]

We should leave for Mexico before another civil war starts tomorrow.

 

[Chewy316]

Penn wasn't the only one shouting.^^ 7.13 to go, we get the ball back............& throw. Run the ball, start the clock, simple.

Apart from that it seemed like the players were enjoying themselves all day. They seemed confident from the start.

One of the rare times that Carr was on point right from the get go. Seemed calm and poised from the first drive. Keep this up young man.

 

[manureid]

One of the rare times that Carr was on point right from the get go. Seemed calm and poised from the first drive. Keep this up young man.

Since gg proclaimed Cook a better QB he has been pretty decent.

 

[exe ex machina]

Since gg proclaimed Cook a better QB he has been pretty decent.

You can thank me for lighting a fire under Derek

 

[andana]

S.Smith & McGee back next week. Still no Edwards.

 

[Chewy316]

Been told Aldon will likely be reinstated "in the next day or two."

 

[manureid]

Been told Aldon will likely be reinstated "in the next day or two."

This would be awesome!

 

[andana]

Would he play in Mexico?

 

[Chewy316]

Would he play in Mexico?

Well he signed for the Raiders on a Friday last year and played that weekend, so it wouldn't surprise me if they included him for 10-15 snaps.

 

[Steel Eagles]

 

[exe ex machina]

Somewhere in the enormous crowd that will fill Estadio Azteca when the Raiders and Texans play Monday night, there may be an adult who sent fan mail to Tom Flores 35 years ago.

When the then-Raiders coach won his first Super Bowl after the 1980 season, he received letters from Mexican Americans and Mexicans from all over.

“A lot of mail from the southern part of our country and from Mexico,” Flores said this week from his home in Palm Springs. “That was nice.”

The NFL is big in Mexico, where games are regularly broadcast and fans are passionate. When the 49ers played Arizona in Mexico City in 2005, the then-largest NFL crowd of 103,467 filled Azteca. At this upcoming game, the first “Monday Night Football” game played outside the United States, there will be jerseys representing many teams.

And many Raiders fans. There is an extremely loyal base of Raiders fans among the Mexican community, both in Mexico and here. And the roots of that passion can, in large part, be traced to Flores.

Flores’ father was from Durango, and he arrived in this country when he was 12, in 1919. His family had escaped bandits who were pillaging their community. Flores’ mother grew up in the San Joaquin Valley, but her parents were originally from Jalisco.

Both his parents grew up working the fields, migrants following the crops.

“That was the way of life for Hispanics in those days,” said Flores. “There were no child labor laws. That was the way they lived.”

Flores, born in 1937, and his older brother, Bob, had a more stable life, growing up in the small farming community of Sanger (Fresno County). They spoke Spanish with their grandparents but only English in the house, because his parents felt they needed to speak English to succeed in America. After World War II, his parents eventually ran a store, which was open every day — including Christmas.

One day, Flores remembers his father leaving the store for a while, which was unusual.

“I found out after the fact he had gone to be sworn in as a U.S. citizen,” Flores said. “He didn’t make a big deal about it, but he was very happy for himself.”

Flores played football at Sanger High, and he had his parents’ support even though they didn’t know much about the game. At one game his mother disappeared. His father finally found her on the sideline, alongside the team. She complained that she couldn’t see well enough from the stands.

“The rule of thumb for Hispanic families in those days was that the eldest son went to school and all the others went to work,” Flores said.

But Tom Flores excelled at school while his older brother did not. He played quarterback at Fresno City College for two seasons, then received an academic scholarship to University of the Pacific (then College of the Pacific). After graduation, he tried to break into pro football in both the Canadian league and the NFL. He finally got a job with the new Oakland Raiders of the AFL in 1960. He became the first Hispanic starting quarterback in pro football.

“I never really thought about the fact that I was the first,” he said. “No one really talked about it.”

Looking back, he’s not only proud of being an ethnic trailblazer but also of his contributions to professional football. He and Jack Kemp, who went on to become a congressman and a Republican vice presidential candidate, helped negotiate the AFL Players Association contract.

“We were ground-breakers for these great players of today,” Flores said.

After stints in Buffalo and Kansas City, Flores retired from playing in 1970. He was a Raiders assistant coach under John Madden, and when Madden retired, Al Davis selected Flores to become head coach.

“I think he was hiring who he thought was the best person,” Flores said. “ I had played for him and had been an assistant. I never thought about it, in terms of being the first Hispanic.”

One day, after the team had moved to Los Angeles, Davis was standing with Flores on the field and looked in the stands and remarked on all the Hispanics who were there.

“They really seem to like you,” Davis told Flores.

“No kidding, Al,” Flores told his boss.

It was a huge point of pride to have the first Hispanic coach at the helm of one of the league’s legendary teams. When Flores won his first Super Bowl, in his second year, his father cried, and so did plenty of Mexican Americans.

“There was growing pride and honor in the Hispanic community,” Flores said. “We became their team. It was a nice feeling.”

That pride intensified, thanks to quarterback Jim Plunkett, also a Mexican American. Plunkett and Flores combined forces to win two Super Bowls, yet neither is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Flores fell short again in this year’s second round of balloting, which was announced Thursday.

Flores’ calm personality helped the Raiders succeed during a tumultuous time. The team moved to Los Angeles while continuing to play in Oakland. Flores lived in the LAX Hyatt for 14 months while his family remained in Lafayette so his daughter could finish high school. It was a stressful time.

“I don’t think any of us got enough credit for that period,” he said.

Still a part of the Raiders as the team’s radio analyst, Flores could provide insight if the team moves to Las Vegas. For now, he’s enjoying the resurgence of his team.

“I am having so much fun in the booth,” he said.

And on Monday, he’ll have fun in his ancestral land, watching a passionate fan base that he had a large role in creating.

Ann Killion is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: akillion@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annkillion

 

[andana]

Nice of Mark to invite Tommie Smith down to Mexico. Not much has changed in 48 years.

 

[Steel Eagles]

Brock Osweiller tonight :-

 

[andana]

Dia de Los Raiders - just. Be good to have a more decisive win.
Not sure I can take much more of Hayden lining up against someone like Hopkins.

 

[manureid]

Dia de Los Raiders - just. Be good to have a more decisive win.
Not sure I can take much more of Hayden lining up against someone like Hopkins.

We did not get to Brock often enough. Credit them for keeping him pretty clean. When we did pressure him we dropped 2 gimme picks which would have made the game a lot safer. We adjusted well 2nd half. They set out to stop the run and did, so we started hitting the backs in the passing game and it won it for us.

 

[Steel Eagles]

http://www.silverandblackpride.com/...-playoff-picture-raiders-grab-top-seed-in-afc

With their 27-20 win over the Texans, the Raiders have moved into a position the franchise hasn’t seen in a very, very long time — the number one seed in the AFC.

The win puts them at 8-2, which is tied with the Patriots, but they are ahead of the Patriots due to wins in common games.

Even before this game, the Raiders controlled their own destiny for this spot. They took the first step on that destiny with the win tonight in Mexico City.

They now have six more games in the season and should they win out, they would retain that first seed.

Here’s what the standings look after Sunday in Week 11:
AFC

1. Raiders (8-2, AFC West)
2. Patriots (8-2, AFC East)
3. Texans (6-4, AFC South)
4. Ravens (5-5, AFC North)
5. Chiefs (7-3, Wild Card)
6. Broncos (7-3, Wild Card)

NFC

1. Cowboys (9-1, NFC East)
2. Seahawks (7-2-1, NFC West)
3. Lions (6-4, NFC North)
4. Falcons (6-4, NFC South)
5. Giants (7-3, Wild Card)
6. Washington (5-3-1, Wild Card)

 

[Steel Eagles]

Any word on Aldon Smith getting reinstated or Mario Edwards Jr being healthy?

Would be a massive boost getting those 2 back in the team.

 

[andana]

I think Edwards is still a way off. At least his neck will be getting better.

Be great if A.Smith can play next game. Some guys on the D looked worn out at the end today.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

As long as the offense keeps scoring, the D just has to step up at crucial times.

 

[Young_Guns]

How good was D. Carr in the 4th!? Threw for something like 200 yards for the quarter IIRC after an average first 3 (although some of the blame can be placed on all those drops). Also hit 10,000 career passing yards.

And the D came up big again when it was needed, although some dodgy ball placings probably helped. Would have taken a lot out of them being out on the field for 36 minutes in that altitude.