NFL Week 3

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Great win over the packers tonight. Only thing I didn't like was our deep passing game didn't really show up except for a couple of plays.

 

It wasn't only Barber that ran all over the packers. Witten was also great tonight. No matter what he did or how many passes he caught, the packers couldn't cover him. Also, the run, run, run, punt playcalling by the packers was hilarious.

[Guest Vitamin X]

The fact they didn't run at all was the retarded part. It was incomplete pass, sack, 3 yard gain, punt for what seemed like all of the 2nd and 3rd quarter.

[Darthtiki 0]

According to Fox Sports Jay Glazer, Lane Kiffin has been Future Endeavored

[Guest]

You know what, good. Now this shit is over with and we can play some fucking ball, hopefully with a coach who knows how to manage the clock.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

I hear ya 909. I think Lane was a distraction and it didn't help that everyone on his staff HATED him. Any word on the interim head coach? Whoever it is, I just hope it would be somebody that wouldn't be afraid to rattle some cages.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

It has to be Rob Ryan, right? The whole reason that Lane is on his way out his because Al chose Ryan over what Lane wanted to do. Might as well give him the job.

 

For what it's worth, I liked Kiffin and thought the team was heading in the right direction, but obviously the relationship was fractured beyond repair at this point. Rob Ryan was the guy I wanted to get the job two years ago, so huzzah I guess.

[Guest]

Some dude on the NFL Network says it'll probably be James Lofton. It'll definitely be him or Ryan, which is fine with me.

 

I think the team is heading in the right direction with or without Kiffin, but keeping him around is a problem. His attitude sucks.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Some dude on the NFL Network says it'll probably be James Lofton. It'll definitely be him or Ryan, which is fine with me.

 

I think the team is heading in the right direction with or without Kiffin, but keeping him around is a problem. His attitude sucks.

My attitude would suck too if I were put into his position. He was made to look inept by having the Rob Ryan firing overturned by Davis, followed by the resignation letter fiasco and finally, being left out of team meetings and rumored to be fired. The guy was supposed to be the coach and he was completely neutered.

[Kinetic 0]

Everyone having the same avatar gives the impression that this is one person having a heated debate with himself. Yeah, I know I could I look at the username, but I don't want to. If you ask me, the fat cats in this do-nothing board administration need to get off their fat cans and do something about these avatar-sharing shenanigans.

[Guest C*Z*E*C*H]

For a while there, everyone had the same picture of Gary Bettman. I don't get this MMA shit.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Seriously, what the fuck? Lane Kiffin stood up to Al Davis, and got shredded to pieces for it in various ways. Look at it, he wasn't allowed to pick any players from the draft or free agency. He wasn't allowed to pick his coaching staff. He wasn't allowed to fire a defensive coordinator who honestly sucked. He wasn't allowed to do shit. Yet people expect sunshine to shine out of his ass all through this? Of course his attitude wilted under all these bullshit circumstances that was given to him. It was like he was hired by Al Davis to be a fucking puppet a la Wade Phillips in Dallas, only except that's not how Lane Kiffin wanted to roll. I'm glad he got fired for a different reason. Now he can go be a good coach elsewhere that the ownership would have more faith in him. Maybe that's not on the NFL level. But he's a good coach and he deserved better.

 

 

edit: The point of all this is those Raiders fans who wants to spew the venom, direct that at the big man himself, not Lane Kiffin. Davis created the situation that made it so uncomfortable for Kiffin. He fostered the "Its him vs us" mentality that existed among Davis supporters on the staff vs Kiffin. But if you're content on ROB RYAN becoming the head coach, then cool.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

Porter, the fact of the matter is that when you are the head coach of the Raiders, Al Davis is the end all be all no matter what. You just have to learn how to work with the circumstances you are given. John Madden, Tom Flores, Art Shell (the first time) and John Gruden to an extent all worked successfully with Al. I don't feel too bad about this because, Lane Kiffin really dug his own grave in Raider land by calling Al Davis and Rob Ryan out in the media (whatever you think of him now, it doesn't cancel out that Al Davis probably has forgotten more about football than Lane Kiffin knows about) and also thinking that he could come into the NFL with really no head coaching experience anywhere and come in to the Raiders and call the shots. Lane Kiffin hasn't proven himself to be a competent playcaller, let alone call the shots in the organization. Only a select few coaches in NFL even get to call the shots in the front office, so why would Lane Kiffin think he could come in from college, mind you, and usurp Al Davis? Add to the fact, that he wasn't getting it done on the field and openly feuding with everyone . Lane just had to go.

 

Lane's gonna be a good coach one day, once he gets his ego in check. I wish him the best, but he wasn't the right fit for this team. Hopefully James Lofton, can rally these guys together, because we have the talent to win some games this year.

[UZI Suicide 0]

Over the years though, Al has gotten older and more senile, you can't really compare the Al Davis that John Madden worked with to the one that Lane Kiffin worked with. The current one has run his team into the ground with horrible drafting, stupid free-agent signings and even worse head coaching hires.

 

I don't think anyone can succeed there at this point, at least anyone from the pool of guys that are probably willing to take the job.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Because how do you coach when you're expected to do everything someone else's way. That's fine and nice if Al Davis has forgotten more football than Lane Kiffin has learned, but that just means Al Davis has forgotten a lot of football. I understand that he had to go, and I even said I was glad he was fired, but it's really sad to see how the fans has turned on Lane Kiffin, when those same fans were disgusted by the parade of "Davis puppets" that was hired in recent years. You have to understand that when you go through something like 8 head coaches in the last decade or so, the problem is yourself (as the owner). Clearly when you sign up to be the Oakland Raiders head coach, you are going to be inevitably either be facing off against Al Davis like Lane did or be his puppet. Most of those "good" Raiders coaches was in the 70s/80s. The only recent guy on that list is Gruden, and he also basically got sent out for some draft picks.

 

If the Raiders fans are mad that Kiffin called Davis and Ryan to the carpet for that opening week loss, well... it WAS Davis and Ryan. Davis for not allowing Kiffin shit and Ryan for putting together some of the worst defensive coaching I've ever seen. Then to have Davis try to say it's all on Kiffin, clearly he's going to want to respond.

 

Like you said, he wasn't the best fit, but it's a shame, because if not for Al Davis being the owner, I think Kiffin would have really been great for Oakland.

[Guest C*Z*E*C*H]

I'd rather see Al Davis coach the Raiders himself. That's the sort of ownership/management/coaching consolidation we haven't seen since George Halas.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I'd rather see Al Davis coach the Raiders himself. That's the sort of ownership/management/coaching consolidation we haven't seen since George Halas.

 

He would if he could. Seriously.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

Well he was head coach of the Raiders back in the 1960s.

 

Porter, my problem with Lane Kiffin was that, while he did blame Davis and Ryan for the opening week debacle, he did not take ANY accountabilty for the loss. Thats the problem. He never takes responsibilty for anything. It's always something or somebody else with him. Thats where I lost respect for him. I don't any NFL GM or Owner would take kindly to that.

 

It really just comes down this for me is this: he didn't get the job done on the field. Last year, I could give him a pass because he took over a 2-14 team. Fine he went 4-12, with signs of improvement. Not good, but something to build on. This year, there was an expectation that the team would build off last year and compete with Denver. We all knew how that went. It went backwards. The offense (mind you, He was brought in the improve the offense and he was know as an "offensive genius" at USC), while still shaky, has talent to compete. The offense looks as bad as last year, JaMarcus Russell is being handcuffed in an unproductive way (let him make mistakes, thats the only way he will learn), and he looks plain lost while playcalling. The offense, not the defense, is the weak link on this team, but Lane didn't want to take responsibilty for the shortcomings of HIS offense, which he was brought in to improve.

 

My last point is, why would Lane Kiffin have ANY expectation of usurping Al Davis for control of all team matters? Hell, Bill Parcells the quote unquote greatest football mind today, couldn't get a word in with Jerry Jones in Dallas, so why would Lane Kiffin, the co-offensive coordinator at USC, expect to come into the Raiders and get to call the shots in the front office. Only coaches on Bill Belichick's level can even THINK of being that powerful, and its proven time and time again that a team is generally sucessful when the head coaches just coach and the GM/Owner whoever handle matters in the front office (there are exceptions to that rule). The point being, that if Lane Kiffin had made the playoffs last year, or if the team was 3-0 this year, Lane Kiffin's firing would not be justified. But a 5-14 record, fueding with the owner, an offense that has seen no signs of improvement, and no accountability for own his shortcomings,its clear Lane Kiffin just wasn't working out. I for one, thought he was a distraction with his bullshit over the winter, and I am not a shedding a tear over this.

[The Niggardly King 0]

I'd rather see Al Davis coach the Raiders himself. That's the sort of ownership/management/coaching consolidation we haven't seen since George Halas.

 

Don't you mean Jerry Jones right after he hired Barry Switzer?

[UZI Suicide 0]

Well he was head coach of the Raiders back in the 1960s.

 

Porter, my problem with Lane Kiffin was that, while he did blame Davis and Ryan for the opening week debacle, he did not take ANY accountabilty for the loss. Thats the problem. He never takes responsibilty for anything. It's always something or somebody else with him. Thats where I lost respect for him. I don't any NFL GM or Owner would take kindly to that.

 

It really just comes down this for me is this: he didn't get the job done on the field. Last year, I could give him a pass because he took over a 2-14 team. Fine he went 4-12, with signs of improvement. Not good, but something to build on. This year, there was an expectation that the team would build off last year and compete with Denver. We all knew how that went. It went backwards. The offense (mind you, He was brought in the improve the offense and he was know as an "offensive genius" at USC), while still shaky, has talent to compete. The offense looks as bad as last year, JaMarcus Russell is being handcuffed in an unproductive way (let him make mistakes, thats the only way he will learn), and he looks plain lost while playcalling. The offense, not the defense, is the weak link on this team, but Lane didn't want to take responsibilty for the shortcomings of HIS offense, which he was brought in to improve.

 

My last point is, why would Lane Kiffin have ANY expectation of usurping Al Davis for control of all team matters? Hell, Bill Parcells the quote unquote greatest football mind today, couldn't get a word in with Jerry Jones in Dallas, so why would Lane Kiffin, the co-offensive coordinator at USC, expect to come into the Raiders and get to call the shots in the front office. Only coaches on Bill Belichick's level can even THINK of being that powerful, and its proven time and time again that a team is generally sucessful when the head coaches just coach and the GM/Owner whoever handle matters in the front office (there are exceptions to that rule). The point being, that if Lane Kiffin had made the playoffs last year, or if the team was 3-0 this year, Lane Kiffin's firing would not be justified. But a 5-14 record, fueding with the owner, an offense that has seen no signs of improvement, and no accountability for own his shortcomings,its clear Lane Kiffin just wasn't working out. I for one, thought he was a distraction with his bullshit over the winter, and I am not a shedding a tear over this.

 

So if the next coach doesn't come in and get a shitty Raiders team to the playoffs in one season, he should be fired too?

 

Kiffin did about what he could with the hand he was dealt. The Raiders aren't a good football team because they don't have good football players, not because Lane Kiffin is a bad coach.

 

Anyone who expected them to compete with Denver this year is fucking nuts. You've got a team with good RB's, but aside from that - JaMarcus Russell, considering how much time he missed last year, is essentially a rookie. The WR's are just god awful and probably wouldn't start for any other team in the league. The offensive line is shaky, their run defense is shit and they threw insane money at two really bad free agent signings (Tommy Kelly and DeAngelo Hall).

 

So in one year he's supposed to come in with all that and do what? I'm not saying he's a great coach, who the fuck knows whether he is or isn't? But basing his firing off of one mediocre season with a shitty team is not really fair to the guy.

 

And I highly doubt Kiffin wanted to take over control of all football operations. That sounds like some shit leaked to the media by the Raiders to try ot make him look bad. He knew what he was getting into when he took this job and I doubt he'd start trying to overthrow Al Davis one year into his tenure.

[CanadianChris 0]

Maybe Al can rerehire Art Shell. Hell, he probably forgot he rehired Shell in the first place.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I don't know how anyone could decide whether or not Kiffin was a good coach based on the results of 19 games. As a young and inexperienced coach he probably needed at least three years in charge to get a good idea of what he was capable of. Davis is just way too trigger happy. Since Gruden left the Raiders have gone through Callahan, Turner, Shell and now Kiffin. They need stability more than anything.

 

Also, there is a difference between wanting complete control of football operations and just having a say in personnel decisions. I think Kiffin just wanted the latter. DeAngelo Hall and Javon Walker? Everyone in the league knows those guys suck. Taking McFadden when they already had 3 capable RBs? How could anyone be expected to succeed with those kind of talent decisions?

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Breaking News: Harris Could Be Out For Year

 

National Football Post Writer Michael Lombardi has learned first hand that Green Bay Packers cornerback Al Harris may have a ruptured spleen, which would sideline him for the rest of the season, pending a second opinion. Harris sustained the injury in last night’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys. We will have more on this story as it develops. www.nationalfootballpost.com.

 

Uh oh...

[Guest]

That's true about not knowing whether or not Kiffin is a good head coach, but the evidence we do have indicates that Kiffin is not willing to take responsibility for anything. Kiffin constantly passes the buck onto everyone else. He tried to bail out for the Arkansas and Michigan job, so really, where are his priorities? This was toward the end of November, mind, not at the end of the season. Once Kiffin did that, it's been downhill from there. Al drew up the resignation letter, Kiffin wanted Rob Ryan fired and all that. But the defense was great the year before Kiffin showed up, so he needs to take some responsibility for the subsequent decline.

 

The Raiders rush defense has not been bad this year, just to get that out of the way. The offensive line has performed well too, I don't get that criticism at all. Robert Gallery actually looks GOOD.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

I guess we just have to agree to disagree then. I just don't see where he was a good or potentialy good head coach at this point in time. I agree our talent on offense isn't quite there yet, and have no depth at WR, but head coaches worth their salt make due of what they have. I mean you are paying JaMarcus Russell 60 million to dink and dunk, let him freaking play! He's going to make mistakes, but all rookies do that. Protecting him is just retarding his growth.

 

And I disagree with the stability issue. Stability is nice when you have a capable head coach, but Lane Kiffin simply is not. Why keep a bad employee for the sake of stability? There is no on the job training in NFL. You win or you get fired, simple as that. He didn't win with the people he had, what makes everyone think that he would win if he had a say in front office matters? Every other coach in Raider history had to operate within Al Davis' parameters, what makes Lane Kiffin so special? I mean if you were a boss of a company, and was sucessful and had a laundry list of accomplishmesnts, and some guy with no track record of anything, living off his dad name, came in and told you to do it another way? He would be out of line no? What makes you think he's capable based on what we have seen?

 

I don't know what games you guys are watching, but Lane has proven he is over his head coaching in the NFL. Giving him another year wouldn't have made a difference. He didn't get his way in the offseason, he whined to media in an attempt to make ownership look bad, didn't take accoutabilty for his own shortcomings when he did fail and he got canned for it. He didn't want to be here, so I say good riddance. I'd rather have a head coach that wants to be in Oakland, takes accountability, and at least tries to work with Al Davis, even he may think he is off his rocker.

 

About Walker and Hall. Every Raider fan knows that this team has a history of taking discarded vets and giving them a second chance. Hall and Walker are no different. It worked as recently as 2002, so why wouldn't it work now?

[Guest]

Part of me was expecting Al Davis to walk out during the press conference and fire him right there.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Breaking News: Harris Could Be Out For Year

 

National Football Post Writer Michael Lombardi has learned first hand that Green Bay Packers cornerback Al Harris may have a ruptured spleen, which would sideline him for the rest of the season, pending a second opinion. Harris sustained the injury in last night’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys. We will have more on this story as it develops. www.nationalfootballpost.com.

 

Uh oh...

 

Aw, fuck. I just saw that as well.

 

Here's hoping someone like Pat Lee could step up. I don't think Tramon Williams is capable of the kind of coverage Al Harris was, but Lee is a lot more like him even if he's just a rookie. I don't think I could trust Jarret Bush with anything other than special teams, too.

 

And with Woodson's broken toe, the defense is falling apart. The offense needs to step it up now, big time.

[MrRant 0]

I guess we just have to agree to disagree then. I just don't see where he was a good or potentialy good head coach at this point in time. I agree our talent on offense isn't quite there yet, and have no depth at WR, but head coaches worth their salt make due of what they have. I mean you are paying JaMarcus Russell 60 million to dink and dunk, let him freaking play! He's going to make mistakes, but all rookies do that. Protecting him is just retarding his growth.

 

And I disagree with the stability issue. Stability is nice when you have a capable head coach, but Lane Kiffin simply is not. Why keep a bad employee for the sake of stability? There is no on the job training in NFL. You win or you get fired, simple as that. He didn't win with the people he had, what makes everyone think that he would win if he had a say in front office matters? Every other coach in Raider history had to operate within Al Davis' parameters, what makes Lane Kiffin so special? I mean if you were a boss of a company, and was sucessful and had a laundry list of accomplishmesnts, and some guy with no track record of anything, living off his dad name, came in and told you to do it another way? He would be out of line no? What makes you think he's capable based on what we have seen?

 

I don't know what games you guys are watching, but Lane has proven he is over his head coaching in the NFL. Giving him another year wouldn't have made a difference. He didn't get his way in the offseason, he whined to media in an attempt to make ownership look bad, didn't take accoutabilty for his own shortcomings when he did fail and he got canned for it. He didn't want to be here, so I say good riddance. I'd rather have a head coach that wants to be in Oakland, takes accountability, and at least tries to work with Al Davis, even he may think he is off his rocker.

 

About Walker and Hall. Every Raider fan knows that this team has a history of taking discarded vets and giving them a second chance. Hall and Walker are no different. It worked as recently as 2002, so why wouldn't it work now?

 

Very rarely does it go well when the ownership/front office doesn't even attempt to draft to a coach's system and/or team needs.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Kiffin HAS to pass the buck because the buck wasn't his to begin with. He was practically just the "face" of the coaching staff. A prop for Al Davis to say "Yeah we have a head coach." There was never any intention of letting Kiffin try to do what he would have wanted to do. And like others said, there's nothing in it about him wanting complete control of the Raiders. He just would want to be consulted with when they make personnel moves. The whole "Kiffin/whoever is the head coach is to blame" mentality is why the Raiders are forever going to be stuck in mediocrity or until Al Davis dies.

 

And to say "Well how come a co-offensive coordinator from USC should expect some control?", well that comes with the concept of being hired as a NFL head coach. So silly of him to think he'd get to try to do his thing. He needs to know his role and shut the hell up, right? Well no... don't hire the guy if you don't want him to do anything.

[devo 0]

That was pretty cool. Jets are gonna have to get lucky to win tonight and that's a decent start.

[Scroby 0]

Honestly the entire Raiders team needs to shape up. They're showing a lot of promise this year...not counting the game against the Broncos, they're main problem is just small things. If the players and coaches could just tweak and improve on a few things, they'd be a strong team.

 

As far as Kiffin goes, I'm kinda happy he got the boot. All I've heard about this season is "when will Kiffin get the boot?" or "Will Lane Kiffin keep his job?" and now that he's gone, hopefully the Raiders and the new head coach can just focus on improving and tweaking a few things and start playing a lot smarter and winning games.

 

Personally I feel if the Raiders start looking good and start winning more, Davis will take more of a step back and just let the team do what it's doing, but as long as the Raiders are sucking and Al notices, Al will be more involved.