Jackson's Bullies rough up the Jets: Week 3 grades

The Raiders continued their display of explosive offense on Sunday against one of the leagues most dominating defenses. Running the Jets out of town before they could place their orders for a hot dog.


Campbell was intelligent and efficient all game. He managed the game flawlessly and made throws when he had to. He completed 66% of his passes in spite of Myers and Cartwright dropping easy passes that would've kept their respective drives alive on 3rd down. And the pass downfield to Bush on a broken play was a thing of beauty and a huge play which led to the team taking a 10 point lead late in the 4th. Campbell did exactly what was asked of him and he's looking like a pretty damn good QB so far in this young season.

QB B

The backfield was brilliant. 234 yards and 4 TD's on the ground against a formidable Jets D is about as good as it gets. McFadden led the way with 171 yards on 19 carries averaging 9yds per carry. Including an explosive 70 yarder which brought the team right back into the game. Bush punched one in and made a very important 28 yard reception just getting tripped up before he could take it to the house. Rookie Taiwan Jones even saw some action with a nice 8yd run down the sideline. All in all it was a great performance from the backfield even with Reece getting sidelined early.

Backfield A+

The offensive line has been solid all season and were fantastic against the Jets. Opening up holes for McFadden's big plays and doing a brilliant job of protecting Campbell all game. There was only one sack in the contest and that was when McFadden's feet got tangled up with Campbell's while putting on a block. Satele leveled Jets DB Leonhard on Moore's explosive reverse TD run and little Wiz put on a text book block on a leaping Bart Scott to allow Bush to punch one in untouched. All around great mistake free game from the line.

O-Line A

The receivers and TE's did their job when asked to. And laid down key blocks on running plays. Moore and Hagan did a good job of drawing PI's and holding calls on Cromartie which moved the chains downfield. Boss made his first reception as a Raider taking the ball down to the goal line on the games first drive. While Moore had another excellent day with 4 catches and a huge TD on a reverse. Schilens also caught 4 and Hagan made a big reception late in the game to move the chains.

Receivers B

The D-Line was solid and really stepped up the pressure in the second half. Making Sanchez eat Coliseum dirt rather than a hot dog this time around. Jarvis Moss had an outstanding day recording 2 sacks and tipping a Sanchez pass. Seymour and Kelly also joined the Sanchez sack party. They also did well stopping the inside runs.

D-Line B

The Linebackers had another shaky day. Wimbley had a sack and he and McClain broke up a couple passes but thats about as positive as this write up will get. LT torched the Raider D on pass plays numerous times and McClain missed him for an easy tackle that turned into a 70 yard passing play all the way to the Raider goaline in the 1st quarter. The LB's are going to have to step it up BIG time this year if we're thinking postseason.

Linebackers D

The DB's were hit and miss. Chekwa and a solid day breaking up passes and making two nice tackles. Routt did well in coverage when he wasn't hitting receivers in the face giving up an automatic first down. The CB's did well enough and I'm impressed with Chekwa. If Routt can clean up the bonehead penalties he seems to commit from time to time then he can really be a valuable corner for us. 
Corner Backs C+


The safties were below average. Branch did OK and had a nice pick to kill a Jets scoring drive. But Giordano after having a solid game against the Broncos looked out of his depth against another AFC East team. He missed too many tackles and got fooled far too many times. I hope he can step it up until Mike Mitch and Huff return. Boyd was brought in and made a nice play on a ball, but overall the safety play left much to be desired.
Safties C- 
 
Jano was 2 of 3 including a 54 yarder to tie the game before halftime and 49 yarder to make it a two score game with less than 3 minutes left in the 4th. Lechler had a bad day for him. He had one good punt inside the 10 but averaged only 39.8 per punt. The punt and kick coverage was awful as usual.
Special Teams C


Hue Jackson called a brilliant game on offense. He had the Jets on their toes all game and got the ball into the hands of the teams playmakers which resulted in some huge plays and yardage. I'm loving the plays he's been dialing up the past two weeks. The offense looked great in Buffalo and it was explosive today against an elite defense.
Coaching A

Offense does part but defense blows it: Week 2 grades

Great offensive display last week. Horrendous defensive showing. All adds up to the heartbreak which took place in Buffalo.

Campbell had one of his best games as a Raider. 300+ yards and 3 total TD's. He was efficient and made plays when we needed him to. In the second half when the Bills began to stop our run game Campbell stepped up and led the offense to two go ahead 4th quarter drives. Very impressive and I hope he keeps it up.

QB A

Denarius Moore was awesome in his debut and Hagan gave a solid performance. I think Campbell may have found two more receivers to go along with Ford as receivers he trusts enough to throw the ball downfield. Moore made two outstanding catches including a go ahead TD catch in traffic late in the 4th.

Receivers A

The O-Line gave Campbell time in the pocket and did OK blocking for the run game.

O-Line B

McFadden did well in the first half but struggled on the ground in the 2nd. He ended the game with 171 total yards and 2 TD's. One on the ground and one through the air. Bush punched one in in the first half and Reece made a couple nice receptions.

Backfield B

The defense was collectively horrible I won't even bother breaking it down.

Defense F

Hue Jackson called a great game on offense. But it seemed like no matter what Bresnahan tried from Zone, to man, to blitzing nothing worked obviously in the 2nd half. Don't know how much of the blame should be placed on him based on the piss poor execution by the D in the form of blown coverages, tons of missed tackles, a couple dropped picks and some bone headed penalties. But the coach should always shoulder some of the blame.

Coaching C-

The definition of ugly: Week 1 Grades

Too many stupid penalties. Being a Raider fan my entire life I've had to deal with penalties for years and have come to be able to live with some of them. But what I can't stand is false starts on 3rd and short or personal fouls when the opponents offense is on their way off the field. It's just plain stupidity and inexcusable.

The offense other than McFadden and DHB was sub-par. We should've put the Broncos away before half time but couldn't put the ball in the endzone.

Campbell was tentative and played not to lose. Which I can live with because he's better than anything we've had since we lost Gannon. As long as he can make throws when he needs to and keeps us in a position where our backs can keep us ahead we'll be fine. But we'll need another QB if we want to be a serious contender.
QB C-

The run game won the game for us. McFadden showed he's as good a RB as their in the league. And Bush although starting off slow came up with some big rushes when it mattered to put the game away. Reece made some nice plays and a couple surprising blocks.
Backfield A

WR play other than DHB was nonexistent. Ford looks like his broken hand is still bothering him fumbling and bobbling a McFadden pitch. We saw none of Moore (save for the negated end-around) or Schilens.
WR's D-

The O-Line other than the penalties impressed me. They gave Campbell sufficient protection and opened up holes for the run game most of the time. But again a few costly penalties downgraded their rating imo.
O-Line C+

The defense played ok besides the mental lapses which led to penalties.

Safety play was good. It looks like Giordano may turn out to be an upgrade over Brown.
Safeties B

The D-Line did well against the run. The pass rush although pathetic in the first half picked up in the second half and when it mattered in the 4th.
D-Line B-

Routt and CJ were adequate. Didn't get burned and weren't beaten too often. Were victims on a couple BS PI calls in my opinion.
CB's C

LB's played ok. Other than the blown coverage on the first play of the game Groves was surprisingly decent. McClain and Wimbley did what was asked of them.
LB's C+

Jano was perfect and was good from 63 tying the NFL record. And Lechler was great as usual.

Specialists A+

The special teams gave up a punt return that put Denver right back into the game and were generally sub-par.

Special teams D-

Hue was ok. He out-thought himself a couple times especially with that head scratching wildcat call on 2nd and 1 in the 1st qtr. Or the three consecutive pass calls after making it to the Broncos 6. But I'll think he'll be fine with some more experience and could stick around longer than any HC we've had since Gruden.
Coaching C

Did enough to win but should've done much better against an opponent like Denver who was basically handing us this game. But still a better season opener than we've had in recent memory. 
Overall C-