Holla At Me Raider Nation!
 
First off I have to ask a couple of rhetorical questions. I know that the Oakland Raiders didn't win their games against Dallas or Arizona, but...

1) Where's the love at? 2) Why isn't there more excitement about seeing the Raiders play football?

Need I remind you brothers & sisters that this is the pre-season?!? In case you forgot, these games are more like a dress rehearsal; It's not the actual "show." Let's just have everybody take a deep breath (inhale / exhale). Now allow me to infuse you with some excitement.

How (frosted flakes) great was it to see C.P.3 (Carson Palmer) and D.Mac (Darren McFadden) in the same place, at the same time!?! Now, as I previously stated this is only the pre-season. Therefore they weren't on the field for very long. However, the fact that they weren't on the field together for that long is all the more reason to be excited about game two.

Sticking with the O (the offense) I have to show some love to our big uglies (the offensive line). I've gotten so used to calling them "quarterback killers"; However, in the game against Dallas our (starting) offensive line looked good. 

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how they didn't kill our drives by committing stupid penalties. Next, I have to say that they did a good job of opening holes, and giving McFadden some lanes to run through. Moreover, they did a very good job of protecting Carson Palmer (for example: he had plenty of time to throw that ill advised interception - but I digress).

The offensive linemen weren't the only group of Raiders to perform well. The tight ends (David Ausberry in particular) looked good; As did the receiving corp. (that kid Rod Streater looks like he could be a keeper).

The offensive player that I had a problem with (believe it, or not) was Carson Palmer. The interception Palmer threw on that deep pass to J. Ford was ill advised; Jacoby possess great speed, and good hands, however, he's no Plaxico Burress. Jacoby Ford is not going to be able to jump six feet into the air, out duel a safety, a defensive back, and come up with the catch. 

Moreover, the interception wasn't the only bad throw by Palmer; He had a number of throws that I felt were just a bit too high and, or off target that resulted in incomplete passes; Not to mention, throwing high, off target passes is a sure fire way to get someone on your receiving corp. injured. Now I know this is only the pre-season and Carson should (and will) be more accurate. However, if there was a "problem" with the starting offense it would have to be with Palmer, and his accuracy.

The offense wasn't the bright spot from game one.

We must acknowledge the performance of punter Marquette King. If we didn't already have a Hall of Fame punter in Shane Lechler, the performance of King would have to warrant entertaining the idea of adding him to the roster.

The starting defense for the Raiders also performed well against Dallas and Arizona. First we have to send some love to our beleaguered middle line backer Rolando McClain; How sweet was is to see Ro-Mac knock J. Witt (Jason Witten - Cowboy tight end) not just out of the game, but out of the pre-season! Moreover, when Tommy Kelly sacked Romo, and saked Kevin Kolb for a safety, I could have sworn I saw a tear fall from Tony and Kevin's eyes!

Oakland may not have won these pre-season games on the score board. However, I know that Dallas came into that game expecting to do more than score 3 points. Moreover, I know they didn't expect for the Oakland starting defense to completely shut down the Cowboy offense, (Dallas has to be worried about facing that Giant defense in game one - but that's not our problem).

Now I want to talk about Terrelle Pryor for a moment; I've been hearing a lot of chatter about the kid, so I wanted to make sure that we cleared a few things up. Terrelle Pryor is not a running back. He's not a wide receiver. He's not a tight end. He's a quarterback.

I don't know what anyone else was expecting to see when Pryor finally got some playing time. I can only speak for myself. I personally wasn't disappointed. Now, I don't know how many of you out there have actually played the game of football. However, try to imagine the emotions that must have been running through that young man's mind and body as he finally was able to step onto the field and play; In an insignificant game but, not for an insignificant amount of time.

I (and I know that I'm not the only one) would have been an emotional wreck! Pryor however, I felt did an excellent job of controlling his emotions. Moreover, I felt he had command of his play book. Pryor understanding the offensive game plan is critical; Seeing how all he's had to do for the last year or so was study. Did he have a flawless game? Of course not.

At times he seemed to be "unsettled" (with regards to his foot movements) in the pocket. I would have liked to see him use his athletic ability more to elude defenders, in order to find someone down field as opposed to running for his life however, it's not like he was playing behind the starting offensive line.

The LAST thing this kid needs is to get hurt playing behind third string offensive linemen. My hope is that Pryor will soon get some playing time with the starters. Once he gets some time with the starting line we'll really get a chance to see what Pryor could possibly bring to the table (I'm hoping he can do for us what Cam Newton has done for the Panthers).

However, one step at a time. Right now Pryor needs to do a few things:

1) Keep studying and mastering the offense (Manning being in the division should give him someone to emulate).

2) Make the most out of the playing time that he does get. All players who enter the NFL have to adjust to something called "the speed of the game". You can only get this experience from actually playing. Every time he steps on the field the game should slow down for him, and eventually (we hope) he'll have made all the necessary adjustments. (physically and mentally).

3) Last and most certainly not least he needs to keep (and gain) more confidence. No position on the field is quite like that of quarterback.

Once Pryor is fully confident - WATCH OUT!!

Excited about seeing pre-season game number three? I know I am!