MUST BE DREAMING: TEMPLE IS 9-2?
Yesterday, we did the offense.
Today it's the 'D.'
Our player-by-player evaluations of every player:
Victor Abiamiri – He didn't have an especially strong game. For the second straight week, Abiamiri was flagged for a personal foul roughing the passer penalty. This one was offsetting, and for some reason, in several box scores online, labeled on Trevor Laws. He made a nice play against the run on a 2-yard Justin Fargas carry in the second and also dropped Fargas for a loss later in the quarter. The Raiders definitely took a page out of the Saints' playbook and targeted several of their runs at him. Expect teams to test his ability against the run in the coming weeks.
Juqua Parker – He had what looked like it would be a big sack on third down at the start of the fourth quarter, but the Eagles' offense was unable to build on the momentum. The Raiders had a good game plan, throwing to their tight ends and running backs, thus negating the Eagles' blitzes and pressure. Of JaMarcus Russell's 17 completions, 15 went to tight ends and backs.
Chris Clemons – I only wrote his name down once when he got good pressure on Russell on a third down in the first quarter.
Mike Patterson - Not a lot to say about him. Patterson didn't really stand out one way or another. He had five tackles overall.
Trevor Laws - After being inactive a week ago, the second-year DT saw the field quite a bit Sunday, but he was not particularly effective. The Raiders created holes on a couple run plays by pushing Laws out of the way.
Antonio Dixon – As has been the norm, Dixon was part of the defensive tackle rotation. He did a nice job disrupting a Fargas run in the third quarter, stopping him for no gain.
Broderick Bunkley – He disrupted a Michael Bush run in the first quarter that went for just 1 yard. The the run defense had some lapses, but overall limited Oakland to 3.3 yards per carry.
Trent Cole – I was surprised to look at the stat sheet and see him credited with just two tackles. It seemed like Cole was much more active than that. He had a couple plays where he caused chaos in the backfield, allowing his teammates to make plays. He dropped Fargas for a loss in the fourth. But on one run play in the second quarter, he got sealed off, allowing Fargas to pick up 10 yards. As a pass rusher, he picked up a sack in the first and now has one in every game this season. . Cole also knocked Russell down in the third quarter to force an incompletion.
Darren Howard - For the first time all year, we didn't hear from him. One tackle and no pressure on the quarterback.
Chris Gocong – One of the few bright spots, he led the Eagles with 10 tackles and was near the ball-carrier all day. Gocong dropped Gary Russell for no gain on a short pass on the game’s first play. Later in the game, he had a chance to drop JaMarcus Russell short of a first down but missed a tackle, allowing the Raiders to move the chains (pun intended).
Akeem Jordan – This also might have been his quietest game of the season (notice a theme here?). Jordan came on a blitz in the first quarter and applied good pressure, which led to the Cole sack. He also stuffed Fargas on a run in the fourth quarter. Three tackles overall.
Jeremiah Trotter – We knew it would get ugly if Trotter had to be relied on in coverage. He was burned on the 86-yard touchdown to Zach Miller in the first quarter. Trotter was also in the game during the Raiders' final drive and was on coverage as the fullback Russell went past him for 13 yards. Didn't see a single play where Trotter caused something positive to happen. Just one tackle overall.
Omar Gaither – An OK performance from Gaither, who finished with seven tackles. He missed one on a dumpoff to Russell in the fourth. Given the moves the Eagles have made at linebacker, it's clear they don't think Gaither can be the man.
Asante Samuel – I Tweeted during the game that by my unofficial count, he had missed 17 tackles. I thought the number was high enough that people would realize I was exaggerating, but some thought I was serious. I actually did count the second time around and saw six instances where Samuel had a legitimate shot to bring down a Raiders player and didn't get it done. One was on the Miller TD pass in the first. Samuel was also baited into a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty by a rookie, wide receiver Louis Murphy. Sean McDermott removed him from the game for the next play. Samuel did have an interception in the first half.
Sheldon Brown – A quiet day for Brown as the Raiders rarely completed passes to their wide receivers (just two on the day). He nearly came up with an INT in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hang on.
Quintin Mikell – Rough day for Mikell, who was taken out by Murphy on the Miller TD pass. He was also on the receiving end of a big hit by Fargas during a 14-yard run in third and missed tackle on a dumpoff to Russell in the fourth. Mikell did have an interception in the second quarter.
Joselio Hanson – Same deal as with Brown. Not a lot of action to the wide receiers. He did make a good tackle on Todd Watkins to prevent a first down on 3rd-and-6 in the first quarter. Hanson missed tackle on Michael Bush in the third.
Macho Harris – He made some nice plays supporting the run, but looked lost on others. In coverage, he was beat on a 21-yard pass to Miller in the second quarter. Harris had trouble with Kellen Winslow last week. He did a good job in the second to blow up a Raiders run on 2nd-and-1. And also sniffed out an end around, dropping Derrius Heyward-Bey.
Sean Jones – He saw the field more for the second week in a row. At first he was primarily used as a blitzer, but interesting play in the fourth quarter. The Eagles used six DBs (three safeties), four linemen and one LB on a 3rd-and-10. Jones was lined up in coverage against Miller and did a good job breaking up the pass.
