I have mulled over the passing of Gene Upshaw for the last day or so, and I have listened to the different takes on his life and legacy. As a player, he had no equal. As an administrator of the directives of the Players Association, he has been both villified and praised. I don't think there is much more that can be offered on those issues. He was great in his time next to Shell, and he impacted the game significantly as an exec, for good or for bad.
But, I cannot in good faith let it go there. I was a child, almost a baby when he lost his first Super Bowl. I was almost a teen when he won it all, and I was in almost a high school graduate when he hung them up. Back then he was a giant. He was not some suit who managed millionaire's money, he was a guy you saw on trading cards. He was a hero. I know we are all supposed to get past that at some point in our lives, and not see them as hero's but as men...but I cannot with the greats of the past. I revert to being a kid when I think about him and the other great men who prowled the fields of my memories. I see Upshaw and all the rest as true modern day knights who rode out onto the field of battle week after week. It was the game of my youth that I miss as I think of him. I miss the brutes who battered each other week after week. We as Raider fans sometimes get a bad rap about living in the past, but this past is well worth reliving again and again.
The first one who left me with this feeling was Lyle, and it took a while to get past his death and his admissions of drug use. Other great players both Raiders and others soon followed, and now we place a new wreath around the memory of Gene. I never knew him, and he hasn't played in decades, but I miss the idea that he could still suit up and play that game one last time. There is s sadness to the finality of it, that creates a dull ache in my memories of those players. I know he will not be the last, and that too saddens me.
The roll call of former players and legends who have gone home is filled with the greatness of the game. And two days ago, they met up with another who made his mark...not as a player, not as an administrator....but as a hero. My hero.
And yes, right now, Im that 11 year old guy who got to watch them work out in the summer heat of southern California. Im that kid who loved every minute of being alive when they were truely hero's and great men. Im the kid who wanted more than anything to be just like him, and all of the other Raiders back in the day. Im still just a kid when all is said and done.
Well, I was there, I saw it all. I never left the seat as we saw the new generation of Raiders hit the field and here is what I saw
QB's: Russell was still being held back a bit, but he had some nice roll outs, and threw some very nice passes. I only saw a couple mistakes from the big man, but ultimately he outplayed Young and made some beautiful passes. Walter still looks very good, and will not only be a good back up but will rekindle thoughts of the days he was a projected starter on the team. Tui was Tui and was only in for two series and looked about usual.
WR's: Higgins will be asking you "paper or plastic" someday soon. He was garbage for most of the game, and deserves all the critical comments he gets. Walker needs to either start playing or give the money back. He was a nonfactor in a game where he could have been a force against those DB's. Miller was extremely good, and the TD pass was beautiful. Curry made the Titan DB's look silly on more than one occassion.
RB's: McFadden will make you think you are seeing Allen on the field again. He creates very well in space, but can hit a very small hole and make it work. He caught a very nice pass, and has the ability to start and stop and start again and force you to miss. Fargas had an off game, but did have a couple nice runs. Bush...wow...as big as he is, he really did great. Deceptively fast, he blew up the Titan DL. He really looked great. Very disappointed in the FB's over all, and keeping the ball in the hands will have to be a focus. Several drops happened, but most happened after the player was down, but still, they have got to hold onto the balls.
OL: Decent performance. They had some very good moments, and while Gallery jumped once, he held his point of attack and really opened some nice holes. McQuinsten had a nice moment on a ST play where he caught the ball....big men running with a football are a sight to behold.
Offensive grade: B-
Secondary: Routte looked good for the most part and the penalty for delay of game was ticky tack. The DB's made Young look like what he is, a running back with a decent arm. Collins tore up the secondary on a couple occassions, but it never amounted to much in the end. The secondary is blazing fast, and Huff is really starting to see the play and react.
LB's: They are quick, they are bigger than I remember, and they hawk to the ball. While the Titans did run the ball at times, the LB's were much more reactive to it than last season. I think with the development of the unit as a whole, this may be a very opportunistic unit this season.
DL: Mixed bag here. While they did the job at times, when the Titans needed a big play, the DL let them have it. They could put pressure on the QB. but rarely did they actually get to the ball. They could stop the run, but then the Titans would get several big runs in a row. It was almost like they were predicting the play and reacting to the wrong call.
Defensive Grade: C+
ST: No starters on the field, so I will just say the guys they had did a very nice job. The coverage units did very well, except a couple run backs that we could have stopped.
Grade: Incomplete
Coaching: Nice to see Russell throwing the ball. The roll outs, while not designed, were very well executed, and obviously coached in practice. While there were several times I wondered why we would run the same play more than once (the kick out to Curry), it worked over all.
Grade: B
While the team is primarily young, and will need time to gel, this was by far the best I have seen us on offense in a while, and the defense has great upside.
I am becoming a fan of Russell and running attack in quick order. I just want to become a fan of the recievers and that is just not happening quick enough for me. But, I am definately a Zack Attack fan....yes, he is a beast.
Hello once again, sports fans. While my partner will cover the last two preseason games (as far as I know) I will take on the daunting task of covering the battle of the bay and Oakland South (Nashville), since I was able to see both games, or will see the second one, or...never mind here are the thoughts:
So we already knew we were gonna be tough with the run, and we already knew we were suspect in the passing game, and there were concerns about stopping the run...and the penalty bug. We knew all of that going into the game, and we came out of the game knowing that most of that was not clearly answered. Russell (you know, the golden armed monster of a man who makes more per pass than Ron Jeremy) did not fair well, and actually looked a little stiff at times. His back up played very well, but did it against a team that has yet to find an identity. Walter looked crisp and the nightmare of two years ago may soon be a fading memory to the journeyman back up. Tui did what Tui does best, he looked just good enough to conjure up memories of potential without realization. The three man tandem of OBs were just goog enough to keep the Raider Nation content....because
The running attack was a thing of beauty. Moving between a power run and an outside ground attack, the Raiders once agian justified the focus on the run. McFadden went a long ways towards putting to rest concerns about his ability to shed blocks and to take hits. He was just as he was billed, an exciting player with blazing speed. Fargas looked very good, and concerns about the injury prone RB and his durability took a back seat to his running prowless. Michael Bush may have found a role on the team that will remind fans of Marion Barber. Bush was able to power run and get tough yards and kept a couple drives well alive. The problem now is not can the Raiders run, but who is the odd man out? Teams like the Bears who have suspect running attacks (who would have thought that?) will pay close attention to the team as the rosters get shrunk over the next few weeks.
The offensive line performed decently. They will not quickly remind fans of all of the high powered lines of decades past, but they did a good enough job to get a win. With only two sacks allowed, the night would have to be graded a success by the line. And lo and behold, almost no penalties by the unit.
Defensively, the Raiders did very well. Holding the offense of the hapless 49ers to almost nothing. The secondary did very well, the line held their own and the LBs continued to perform well.
Now, does this mean anything at all? While there will be some who say no, I will disagree. We didnt get answers to questions we needed answers to, and we didnt get to see the All World version of Jamarcus Russell. We did see line play improve and we did see the run defense step up. We may not know much, but what we do know is the Raiders can look forward to ramming it down the throat of pretty much any team we play going forward. The run attack is better, and that is saying a lot after last year. We also learned that Kiffin will continue to be conservative with his young team for a while yet. And finally we know that while the swagger is back, the team has the makings of a team that may do better than last season. Maybe much better. With a fairly easy schedule and a little luck with health issues, the young Raiders may be just naive enough to win some games in spite...in spite.
And we did learn something else...San Francisco sucks.
See you next week after I watch the Titan game with my beer goggles on.
