After the Raiders exhibition opener, talk of their offense being revitalized by Jason Campbell, new quarterback, and Hue Jackson, new offensive coordinator, has been placed on hold.

The starting offense struggled when it came to moving the ball and wasn’t able to score any points during their one plus quarter of action during Oakland 17-9 win over the Cowboys on Thursday night.

All of the Raiders points were scored during the fourth quarter, including a late touchdown return on an interception by Jerome Boyd, long after a majority of the starters from both teams had left for the night.

Tom Cable, Raider coach said, it’s one here and another guy there.  It appears to be better than what I was thinking after the game last night.  I think we will be able to fix things rather quickly.

During his first game as a Raider, Campbell went 7 out of 13, passing for 49 yards.  A majority of his completions came on short, underneath passes.

During the regular season, Oakland will be relying on a lot more from Campbell.  He was acquired from Washington during a trade on draft day.  Shortly after that they cut loose JaMarcus Russell, the former overall No. 1 pick.

Last year Russell got a majority of the quarterback playing time.  The Raiders were the NFL’s second worst scoring team with just 197 points and also were second to last in yardage.  It was their seventh season in a row with 11 losses at least.

It resulted in owner Al Davis bringing Jackson in to call the plays instead of Cable and to acquire Campbell in a trade.  During his five years with the Redskins, Campbell had fallen from favor.

During the first quarter the Raiders were only to generate one first down with the starting offense and Campbell in the game.  Cable sent the squad out for one additional series.  It was slightly more successful, however the Cowboys by then were resting some of their starters.

Michael Bush ran to get a first down.  Two first downs were also made via passes from Campbell to Todd Watkins and Louis Murphy, with the Raiders moving the ball down to the 20 yard line of the Cowboys.  On fourth down and one, a pass play was called by Jackson from the shotgun.  On Campbell’s last throw in the game, he badly missed Zach Miller, tight end.

During that last drive with Campbell playing quarterback, the Raiders gained 48 yards out of their total 73, offering a sense of optimism to Cable that improvement may still be on the way.

Cable said, the most important thing was the rhythm.  The second series I didn’t like too much.  It felt like we were putting the quarterback and line out there together to see if we could put some kind of cohesive together.  They did do some of that.  What I am encouraged about was one guy here or there.  I think this week we will be better.

Darrius Heyward-Bey, second year receiver, whose rookie year was disappointing with just nine catches, wasn’t able to generate the offensive production that the Raiders were hoping for based on his dramatic improvement show in practice.

Only one pass was thrown by Campbell Heyward-Bey’s way.  It was the game’s first play, however the pass was broken up by Terrence Newman.  When Campbell did throw deep he went to Murphy.  A defender knocked away the first pass.  On the second pass Murphy was led too far outside, resulting in him catching the ball out of bounds.

Offensive bright spots came from Michael Bennett and Rock Cartwright, running back, who are battling for a positions behind Darren McFadden and Michael Bush.  Also receiver Nick Miller, made an impressive leaping touchdown catch off a Kyle Boller pass to score Oakland’s first points.

Bennett a former Viking and Pro Bowler, carried the ball 12 times and rushed for 68 yards.  In addition he had a reception of 33 yards on a screen pass play.  Cartwright carried the ball seven times for 25 yards rushing and had 28 yards receiving on two catches.

The biggest positives came on defense for the Raiders.  They had six sacks and held the Cowboys to no touchdowns and just 263 yards.

The young defensive ends Lamarr Houston, a rookie, and Matt Shaughnessy, brought most of the pressure.  They had two sacks each.

Cable said, it’s exciting.  They were productive, against the run as well as rushing the passer.  There are some things they could do better for sure.  It’s an encouraging start I think, definitely.

This weekend, Rolando McClain, Alabama linebacker and top draft pick of the Oakland Raiders, sat down for for an interview with Decatur Daily, his hometown newspaper, for a friendly, nice interview before rejoining the Raiders this week for off-season practices.

It’s the kind of small town, sweet interview with the newspapers where you aren’t asked any hard questions. Usually no real news is made.

However some news, indeed, was made by Rolando McClain.

In the interview with Decatur Daily, McClain said I don’t plan on sitting out. I really need to be at training camp to play for this team. I will go to OTAs and won’t worry about the contract.

It may not be news really. However for guys fresh from the draft, it’s not normal these days for them to say “I am not worried about my contract.” These guys’ agents tell them to not ever say those kinds of things.

It’s been the opposite two out of the last three years for Oakland. It’s been a problem.

During the whole 2007 summer, JaMarcus Russell was a hold out. In 2009, Darius Heyward-Bey was a brief hold out. They both sat practices, holding out for bigger pay days. To put it nicely both stumbled early on for the Raiders.

Maybe it’s the family of McClain’s that won’t allow him to miss any games or hold out. Alabama is, after all, territory of the Tennessee Titans. On September 12, the Raiders will be opening the season versus the Titans.

McClain has admitted that family and friends, including ones he didn’t even know he had, have besieged him with ticket requests. McClain told the Decatur Daily, I might need to buy some tickets from my teammates.

The draft is complete. The first mini camps have been held by teams, and this week rookies are reporting back for their offseason training sessions.

However, as of this writing, Terrell Owens is still without a job. Owens probably will end up somewhere, yet the offseason is four months long without any team showing significant interest.

Internally, the Raiders have discussed Owens. However things haven’t progressed beyond that, and it may be a while before it does. Now that Oakland’s offense has been turned over to Jason Campbell Owens might make sense.

Owens, at the age of 36 and turning 37 in December, probably will not have any more 1,000 yard seasons. Only six seasons of 1,000 yards have come from wide receivers at least 36 years old. Jerry Rice had three of those seasons. Older wide receivers can stay in the game longer if most of their work is from three receiver sets from the slot. However the game of Owens’ comes from the outside mostly, running his patterns into the center of the field from the outside.

He still is the best receiver without a job. Last season he had 829 yards receiving, which is more than all other receivers without jobs. He also had a respectable 15.1 yards average per catch. However the problem is price. He may not sign a contract for under $5 million. The free agent market this year may not produce that type of windfall.

In addition, Owens has seen a multitude of lost opportunities with teams needing receiver help. Anquan Boldin was acquired by the Ravens. Seattle lucked out and drafted Golden Tate with the 60th overall pick. Clearly Bill Parcells didn’t intent to bring Owens to the Dolphins, however after Miami got Brandon Marshall in a trade, the door was shut completely. Carolina and Tampa Bay used the draft to get younger at receiver. A majority of the 2009 playoff teams have two or three receivers with 50 catches. Unless the Redskins are looking for something, the door for Owens isn’t open right now.

The Raiders are the only team for Owens that makes sense. That may not happen for quite some time, if it happens at all.

Entering into the game today against Oakland, Cincinnati was feeling good about their team. The Bengals had a 7-2 record and led the AFC North, while the Steelers and Ravens, the two leading rivals in their division, earlier this afternoon lost their games.

However, as they are flying home tonight out of Oakland, Cincinnati will be not feeling so great.

In an upset that came as a complete shock and that will serve to reshape the playoff race in the AFC, the Raiders were able to score 10 points during the last 41 seconds of the game to defeat Cincinnati, 20-17

The Bengals had what look to be a safe fourth quarter 17-10 lead. However Louis Murphy was able to reel in a Bruce Gradkowski touchdown pass of 29 yards with just 41 seconds left in the game that tied the score.

On the ensuring kickoff Andre Caldwell, return man for the Bengals, fumbled. The Raiders were able to recover and sent in Sebastian Janikowski without even trying to move the ball to kick the field goal to win the game.

The Bengals now have a 7-3 record and there is still a race on in the AFC North. With a record of 3-7 the Raiders are not in playoff contention. However they are also not the NFL laughing stocks that they are portrayed as sometimes. The Raiders usually do play competitive football.

The Colts may have been the biggest winners. They now lead the AFC by three games.

Since mid 2007, no other NFL team has been as bad as the Chiefs. Somehow all of the mistakes and losing seem to disappear when Kansas City visits Oakland.

On a run of 44 yards, Jamaal Charles scored to give Kansas City their first rushing touchdown this season, and Kansas City took advantage of an interception late in the game to win on Sunday 16-10 for the seventh time in a row on the road versus Oakland.

Dwayne Bowe, receiver said, we have a winning streak I guess. Every time we are playing a division team it is our goal to win the game. But when we play against the Raiders there is the hated rivalry. All week coach stressed it. Hate the Raiders. We have to defeat the Raiders.

It is practically the only thing that the Chiefs (2-7) have been able to get done lately. Kansas City has only managed to win five out of their last 35 games. However three of the wins have been in the Oakland Coliseum. Kansas City holds the longest visiting team winning streak there.

Ryan Succop had three field goals, while the Chiefs were able to pull out a close game once again versus the Raiders playing in Oakland. It was the first game for Kansas City since the release of Larry Johnson, former running back. Charles was able to step in and rush for 103 yards and got the only touchdown for Kansas City on a fourth down and one play during the second quarter. The touchdown was the first rushing one for Kansas City since December 21, 2008 when Tyler Thigpen had one versus Miami.

Charles said, I fell like I am getting a chance to play. I am trying to really take the spot over. I don’t want just to take it over. I want us to win. It isn’t about taking the job over. It is about who can make the plays.

On the opening drive Oakland scored a touchdown, but after that only managed to get three points along with 202 yards. For their second home game in a row, Oakland benched JaMarcus Russell, their former No. 1 overall draft pick due to ineffectiveness.

Last month Russell was benched during the first half playing against the Jets after he committed three turnovers in the first half. This week Russell was able to last until the second half before he was replaced with Bruce Gradkowski late third quarter after he went 8 out of 23 for a total of 64 yards. Russell stated that he was disappointed and surprised by the decision of coach Tom Cable.

Russell said, it was going ok. We were not able to move the ball toward the end as well.

A change didn’t give Oakland any immediate spark. Gradkowski was unable to get the first down following a fumble that gave Oakland the ball on Kansas City’s 49 yard line. Then during the next drive Gradkowski had a tipped pass intercepted by Mike Brown which gave Kansas City the ball on Oakland’s 47 yard line.

Kansas City drove the football all the way to the 11 yard line before they settled for a field goal of 31 yards from Succop, giving them a lead of 16-10 with just 6:17 left.

Gradkowski then led Oakland down to the 26 yard line of Kansas City before Darrius Heyward-Bey, a rookie, bobbled a pass while inside the ten yard line. The ball got intercepted by Brown to seal the game.

Gradkowski said, it is a tough thing to swallow. It kind of summed things up today. There were plays that we needed to make.

Cable stated that before deciding who his starter will be against Cincinnati next week that he wanted to review the game film. He did blame the eight dropped passes for some of their poor play, but also said that Russell did miss receivers that were open too often.

Cable said, the game is all about making the plays. We didn’t do it, whether JaMarcus or Bruce was in there. All I am looking for is the guy who will give us our best chance of winning.

Oakland was playing with an offense that was healthy for the very first time this season and started out fast. The sixty yard run of Michael Bush set up Justin Fargas’ one yard plunge for the touchdown. The only other score for Oakland was a field goal of fifty yards from Sebastian Janikowski, following a muffed punt from Dantrell Savage late first quarter.

Note
There was a play during the third quarter that did provide some comic relief. Following a catch of 12 yards, Dwayne Bowe of Kansas City fumbled the football. Six players at least had a chance of falling on the football. However the ball kept on squirting down the field. Finally Brian Waters, offensive lineman, fell on the ball on Oakland’s 22 yard line to give Kansas City an additional 23 yards. The Chiefs were not able to capitalize after Matt Cassel on fourth down and one threw a pass incomplete. During the third quarter Janikowski missed a field goal from 45 yards which ended his streak of making 20 in a row.

LaDainian Tomlinson was able to do the same things that he always does when he plays against the Raiders.

Shawne Merriman was able to break his “Lights Out” spasmodic sack dance out. The last time that occurred was in 2007.

For the Chargers it was just business as usual, as they defeated the Raiders on Sunday 24-16, with two Tomlinson touchdowns and one of them coming from the wildcat. It was San Diego’s 13th win in a row versus hapless Oakland, to preserve the NFL’s longest active winning streak of one team against another.

San Diego (4-3) have been able to sweep the series six seasons in a row. Many of the Chargers players, including Philip Rivers, quarterback, haven’t ever lost to Oakland (2-6). It was the Charger’s seventh win in a row at home versus the Raiders.

Tomlinson, who San Diego drafted in 2001 said, at first the atmosphere and intensity kind of rubbed me wrong. Beating them 13 times means that their fans had to go home 13 times hanging their heads.

Tom Cable, Raiders coach, said it was a big hump for them to get over. This year we had two great opportunities. We are closer, but you can’t take away from that until we are able to get past the hump.

With Denver losing at Baltimore 30-7, San Diego moved to within two games for the lead in the AFC West. The Chargers are attempting to win their fourth division title in a row.

Merriman was able to get his first sacks since 2007. He was able to sack Russell twice, once late second quarter and then again late fourth quarter. The Chargers outside linebacker is attempting to come back from his knee surgery. Last year he missed the last 15 games of the regular season as well as two playoff games.

Merriman said, it was a long time coming. I don’t put a big emphasis on sacks like everyone else does. They are important though. I know I need to make the plays and get the sacks for us to be a good defense. As long as I do that and pressure the quarterback and force him into doing things he doesn’t want to, we will be better.

The Chargers had five sacks, a season high, and also allowed only 180 yards, a season low. Shaun Phillips, San Diego’s other outside linebacker, had two sacks as well.

Rivers, who only got sacked once, was impressed with his defense.

Phillips said, they have been applying pressure. Still it was great to see. Getting the quarterback onto the ground, there is something to it. I think it is really huge. When it comes to sacks, from what I have seen on the sideline, the guys in some of the games have been a force. But it doesn’t get a lot of attention when there aren’t any sacks.

With sacks it is funny how for a few games you have a spurt and then all a sudden get six or seven. It shows just how huge a pro that he is. The guys keep hammering away.

San Diego didn’t need to rally for a win like the opening game of the season in Oakland where the Raiders beat them up physically but they still got a 24-20 win.

Antonio Cromartie, cornerback, intercepted a pass from Russell when Zach Miller, the tight end, fell down. For Cromartie, it was his first interception in twenty games. In 2007 he had 10 interceptions, but only had two last season.

San Diego’s first play was a pass from Rivers over to Malcolm Floyd of 53 yards. Floyd was in the Chargers starting lineup replacing a struggling Chris Chambers. The play gave the Chargers a first down and goal from the six yard line. Tomlinson took the snap, running to the right to give San Diego a lead of 7-0.

Early second quarter the Raiders tied the game after a pass from Rivers to Vincent Jackson bounced off Jackson’s hands and Chris Johnson intercepted it. Johnson returned the ball twenty yards down to the 27 yard line of San Diego. The short drive was capped by a 3 yard run by Justin Fargas to score the touchdown.

On their next two drives the Chargers scored to make the score 21-7. Rivers connected with Jackson, who was wide open, on a scoring pass of eight yards and Tomlinson also scored on a run of 10 yards.

Rivers went 16 for 25 for a total of 249 yards. Tomlinson rushed for 56 yards in 18 carries. Fargas carried the ball 18 times as well for a total of 59 yards.

During his career of nine years, Tomlinson has had 28 touchdowns versus the Raiders. Twenty two have come rushing, three passing and three receiving.

For the remainder of the game, Oakland only got three field goals from Sebastian Janikowski from 28, 41 and 48 yards.

Russell, who a week earlier was benched at home in a 38-0 loss to the Jets, went 14 for 22 for a total of 109 yards.

Cable said, he seemed today to be very in control. He probably had a few throws he would like to do over. However overall today he did give us the chance to win.

Notes
Chargers inside linebacker Tim Dobbins was taken off the field on a cart due to an injured knee but did return. The Raiders sustained the following injuries: cornerback Chris Johnson (injured groin), defensive tackle Tommy Kelly (injured elbow), defensive tackle Gerard Warren (injured toe), and linebacker Jon Alston (injured shoulder).

Once again, Mark Sanchez apologized for his demeanor on the sideline. Only this time it was for hot dogging. Literally.

Shaking off his worst start in his very young career, Sanchez ran for one touchdown and threw for another one before he took time to have a snack during the final minutes of the Jets 38-0 win on Sunday over the Raiders.

Last week Sanchez was criticized for appearing dejected while on the sideline in the Jets overtime loss to the Bills. He threw five interceptions in the game. This week he appeared quite happy about his performance and was caught on camera trying to snack on a hot dog towards the end of a blowout game.

He said that he wanted to apologize for it. I wasn’t feeling too good and didn’t eat a lot before the game. I was feeling kind of queasy. I should have had a bar or something but somebody offered me a hot dog. I just grabbed it and did try to be discreet. Obviously I wasn’t discreet enough. I should not have done it, and it will not happen again.

The Jets game plan was to take a lot of the pressure off of Sanchez. They were able to do that. They forced four turnovers and also became the very first team in thirty four years to rush for a minimum of 300 yards two games in a row. It occurred after they lost Leon Washington indefinitely due to his broken right leg.

Two of the Jets first three drives started on Oakland’s four yard line following JaMarcus Russell turnovers. They set up runs for touchdowns by Thomas Jones as well as Sanchez.

Sanchez said, it makes it very easy for the offense when the defense plays like that. Hats off to our defense. They had a great game shutting that team out. It doesn’t matter who we are playing. The accomplishment is big time for our team.

Things got so bad for the Raiders that Russell, Oakland’s former No. 1 overall draft pick, got benched during the first half after he committed three turnovers early. The home loss was Oakland’s most lopsided in the Raiders (2-5) fifty year history. It was the fifth home shutout ever. Four of them have occurred over the last four seasons. The 39,354 crowd was the team’s smallest since returning in 1995 to Oakland.

Richard Seymour, defensive lineman, who earlier that week had stated that he though Oakland would make it to the playoffs said, I don’t think that today we could have defeated a high school team.

Shonn Greene, rookie, rushed for 144 yards and scored twice, while Jones ran for 121 yards in 26 carries. The Jets had 316 total rushing yards.

On the very first play from the line of scrimmage, Calvin Pace was able to beat Khalif Barnes, right tackle, to sack Russell and force a fumble. Marques Douglas recovered the ball at the four yard line. Eventually Jones scored on fourth down from the one.

Then Russell, who was being pressured heavily by David Harris, overthrew a pass that got intercepted by Jim Leonhard who returned the ball 44 yards down to the four yard line. Sanchez scored two plays later on a quarterback draw of three yards.

During the second half Sanchez got the passing game going with a 35 yard perfect strike over to David Clowney. But then it didn’t matter much, as the game was already a blowout. Sanchez went 9 out of 15 on passing for a total of 143 yards and didn’t have any interceptions.

Ryan said, Sanchez was great. He played very smart when he had the football. There were times when I think he could have hit the receiver with the ball but was making sure he didn’t get an interception. It was great seeing how he responded.

Coming into the game Oakland was full of confidence after their 13-9 win over the Eagles last week. On Thursday their week got even better when the district attorney of Napa County announced that he wouldn’t file charges on Cable for allegedly attacking one of his former defensive assistants.

However, once the game got under way, the good feelings ended. For the fourth game in five weeks the Raiders lost a game by a minimum of twenty points.

In this third season in the NFL, Russell has had 13 turnovers and only completed 46 percent on passing. The fans have reacted to his horrible start with heavy boos during the last three home games. He finally got benched late second quarter.

Cable said, early on in the game I thought Russell was out of sorts. I didn’t feel at that point that he could give us our best chance to succeed offensively so I made the move. He is still our starter. There isn’t any issue about that.

Russell went 6 out of 11 passing for a total of 61 yards along with a fumble and two interceptions. He didn’t agree with the assessment of his coach, stating that he felt fine but the results just weren’t there.

Russell said, I haven’t been in in that kind of situation before. At first it was kinda shocking.

Bruce Gradkowski, backup quarterback, lost a fumble as well that ended a potential scoring drive. During the closing minutes he also failed converting a fourth down and goal play.

Notes
Last season the Jets lost all four West coast games, including an overtime loss in Oakland. Buffalo was the last team that ran for over 300 yards two games in a row. They accomplished that in 1975.

Sprinting upfield, Louis Murphy laid a defender out with a bruising block. Still not satisfied, Murphy raced down the field to meet up with the play once again, delivering another block to allow Zach Miller to score on a catch and run play of 86 yards.

Given that Oakland’s offense has been criticized for not making big plays and lacking in leadership and intensity, the Raiders rookie receiver provided all three of these in a single play to answer the skeptics.

The score by Miller was the game’s only touchdown. Justin Fargas helped Oakland control the clock with his 87 rushing yards, while the Raider’s defense was able to harass Donovan McNabb throughout the day in their 13-9 win on Sunday versus the Philadelphia Eagles.

Tom Cable, Raiders coach said, we went out there and threw on a fight. We said, enough of this. Let’s play. That’s about all that you can say. There are no magical words for it.

The turnaround was major from the prior three weeks when Oakland (2-4) lost their games by 20 points or more for the very first time in the history of the franchise, capped last week by their 44-7 defeat by the Giants.

Following the game, Antonio Pierce, Giants linebacker, said that it felt like they had been playing in a scrimmage. This week the comments of Pierce were posted up in Oakland’s locker room. The team was able to respond to all the critics in very impressive fashion.

Murphy said, it gave me some extra fuel. You need to look right into the mirror and yourself and man up. The comments were true. We did play flat. We did not play with emotion. We took in those comments and today the game was completely different.

The key factor in Sunday’s game was Oakland’s defense. John Marshall, defensive coordinator, mixed in some additional blitzes and zone coverages to help to combat Philadelphia’s high powered offense that was the league’s second most in points per game.

Philadelphia abandoned their running game early on, Michael Vick was involved in only two plays, and the offensive line gave up six sacks. The Eagles were also the first team to fail scoring a touchdown versus Oakland in three years.

Andy Reid, Eagles coach said, they were able to get in to hit our quarterback. When we had opportunities out there we did not take advantage of them.

With 2:14 left to play in the game, on fourth down and four from the Raiders 44 yard line, the last chance for the Eagles came to an end when a pass from McNabb to DeSean Jackson was under thrown.

Philadelphia kicker David Akers missed two field goals. During the first quarter he missed a 43 yard field goal wide to the left, and during the third quarter missed a 47 yard one wide right that proved to be critical down the final stretch.

McNabb went 22 out of 46 for a total of 269 yards. Jason Peters, left tackle, injured his left knee and left the game during the first quarter which added to McNabb’s struggles.

McNabb said, I am embarrassed by how we played. We are a lot better football team.

Trevor Scott and Richard Seymour each had two sacks for the Raiders. Philadelphia only ran the ball 14 times versus a defense that was missing Nnamdi Asomugha, star cornerback, for most of the game due to an eye injury.

Scott said, they probably watched our game against the Giants and were thinking we are sorry. But coach Cable all week talked to us about persevering, forgetting the past, and moving forward so that we can get where we are wanting to go.

On third down and ten the game was sealed by JaMarcus Russell with a pass of 12 yards to Gary Russell. He ran the clock out, which delighted the fans after they had booed him at the beginning of the game.

Russell went 17 for 28 passing for a total of 224 yards, along with two interceptions as well as the touchdown pass to Miller which was the longest passing play for Oakland in 25 years.

Russell connected with Miller down the middle 16 yards down the field. Then Miller ran along the sideline before getting sprung by Murphy’s big block that flattened out Quintin Mikell. Miller, as he got closer to the end zone, slowed up just enough to give Murphy enough time to block Ellis Hobbs and complete the catch and run play of 86 yards.

Miller said he went over to Murphy and told him it was the best couple of blocks he had ever seen a wide receiver make. I need to buy something for him. He definitely deserves it.

Notes
Miller caught six passes for a total of 139 yards. The last Raiders pass play to go that long occurred on October 7, 1984 versus Seattle on a 92 yard play that went from Marc Wilson over to Marcus Allen. Philadelphia defensive end Victor Abiamiri (injured knee) and linebacker Omar Gaither (injured foot) will be given MRIs on Monday. Michael Vick carried the ball one time and had minus 4 rushing yards for the game and was also involved in one McNabb incomplete pass.

Eli Manning, after he took his opening snap and made the play action fake, dropped back and then bounced his right heel to set up before firing a pass of nine yards to Darcy Johnson, tight end.

Any concerns over the painful right heel of Eli’s got answered on that first play on Sunday in his 83rd start in a row.

Manning threw two touchdown passes, leading the Giants on four touchdown drives on all four of their first possessions, as the Giants defeated the Raiders 44-7, giving New York a 5-0 record and their best start since 1990 when they won the Super Bowl.

Manning said, it was perfect at the end. He went 8 for 10 for a total of 173 yards, playing less than half the game in the Giants’ rout. Get in and just score and score a lot and score quickly. Then rest and make sure not to put any more strain on it than necessary or make it sore tomorrow. That turned out well.

Manning was able to lead the Giants on 77, 79, 94 and 13 yard scoring drives in his most effective, by far, performance this season.

Manning’s touchdown passes came on a 30 yard pass to Mario Manningham as well as a 9 yard pass over to Hakeem Nicks, first round pick. He then played in one additional series before he donned the baseball cap late second quarter to get a rest that was well deserved on a day where the Giants were able to gain 483 total offensive yards.

Justin Tuck, defensive end said, we don’t expect anything less from him. People were saying maybe he wouldn’t play, but we all figured that he would. It is good seeing your starting quarterback is a tough guy and will go out to help his team get a win. That is the kind of leader he has become.

Ahmad Bradshaw, backup halfback, played a large role as well. He rushed for a a total of 110 yards as well as scored twice on rushes of 9 and 1 yard.

JaMarcus Russell, Raiders quarterback, struggled once again while trying to lead the worst offense in the league. He fumbled three times and went 8 for 13 for a total of 100 yards. He got sacked a total of six times while the Raiders had only 124 total offensive yards.

Their only score came on a touchdown run of 5 yards by Michael Bush, following a fumble at the 15 yard line by Sinorice Moss on a return punt.

Mathias Kiwanuka, defensive end speaking of Russell said, we thought we had the opportunity for coming out and getting him early and that would give us lots of chances. He does have flashes of greatness. We didn’t want him flashing that against us.

The biggest concern for the Giants was Manning’s availability. Last weekend during their win over the Chiefs, Manning sustained a very painful right heel injury. The MVP of the 2008 Super Bowl missed practice for two days and on Friday took half of the snaps, indicating that he would play on Sunday.

Manning was out on the field two hour before game time, warming up and showing no signs that the injury was affecting him.

Tom Coughlin, Giants coach said, he really wanted to play. He wanted to all week. A couple times he’s done a really great job using the power of his will.

On the Giants’ opening drive Manning went 4 for 5 for a total of 36 yards, capped by Bradshaw slamming in for the touchdown on fourth down and one.

The following three possessions for the Giants went at lightning speed. Their second drive went 79 yards in only three plays and featured a Steve Smith catch of 43 yards as well as runs of 19 and 17 yards from Bradshaw.

Their third score occurred on a 94 yard, five play drive featuring a screen pass of 55 yards on third down and 24 to Bradshaw. On the very next play Manning connected with Manningham in the end zone. The rout had begun.

Terrell Thomas’ sack and recovery of a fumble by Tuck helped to set up a drive of three plays that was capped by a Manning pass over to Nicks.

Richard Seymour, defensive end for the Raiders said, we could not stop a thing. That is a very bad feeling being out they and the other team is running any play they want to. During the third and fourth quarters they had in their backups and still were doing anything they wanted to do on offense. There isn’t any excuses for that. We all need to look ourselves in the mirror. Say to ourselves, I need to do a much better job.

Notes
Manningham’s bruised chest kept him from playing a majority of the fourth quarter. Ricky Brown, linebacker of the Raiders, sustained a right ankle sprain. The X-rays were all negative. New York had the football for over 36 minutes. They have 27 first downs, while Oakland had only seven.