Week 14: Skins 34, Raiders 13 - Knee Jerk Reactions

HAIL.

After 3 games of taking a lead into the 4th quarter (and losing), we deserved this. Call me crazy, but after a few weeks of decent football, I kind of expected a win. I was relatively relaxed for the rest of the game after we took the lead early in the 1st quarter; I even snuck a peak at Tony Romo looking like a kid being forced to eat his broccoli.

Did everyone else also feel extremely relaxed when Jamarcus Russell entered the game? Those 6 sacks in his first 16 dropbacks merely prevented him from overthrowing his receivers by mind boggling distances. The game ended when Jamarcus entered at QB.

Maybe tomorrow I won't be able to take my eyes away from that 4-9 record (the same as these Raiders), and maybe remember that 7 points separate us from being 7-6 and a playoff team. But right now, I'm just glad that the worst is over, and maybe, just maybe, this team isn't far away from competing next year....

Other thoughts:
-The Raiders with Jamarcus are incredibly bad, how can we have the same record as them, ahhh!

-Tim Tebow wears Brian Orakpo pajamas.

-Rak locked up the defensive ROY today. 11+ sacks is going to be too much to overlook.

-Santana Moss lives!

-Sure, Laron Landry had a pick and a couple nice plays on the line, but he couldn't cover McFadden. The 48 yard pass was all on him and cost us 3 points.

-Graham Gano > Shawn Suisham.

-We had our first play action spotting in a long long time.

-ARE still returning punts......really??

-Andre Carter, you fall on the ball, don't pick it up and run you greedy bastard.

-Quinton Ganther was okay, showing some flashes, but that is the best we have right now. Marcus Mason didn't show much. This team needs to get a starting RB this offseason.

-I can't remember seeing the Skins stack the box like we did in the 1st quarter. I know it's supposedly a big deal that Landry and Doughty switched safety spots, but Doughty was playing at the line most of the game anyway. Monday night against the Giants will be a better example of how this switch can work. I also will note that we have a high draft pick coming, and need a FS, and Eric Berry from Tennessee is going to be tempting.

-Fred Davis 15 yards for his endzone celebration. A) that dance was pretty mild. B) He definitely didn't get his money's worth - at least do something sweet if you're gonna get a 15 yarder.

-Our 2 TE set next year is going to be a nightmare for opposing teams.

-Dick Stockton - it's OraKPO, not OraPKO!! You said this incorrectly for almost the entire game!!!! That is beyond stupid; it's not like his name isn't pronounced phonetically. Rak is probably going to be the defensive rookie of the year so you would think he'd be someone the announcers would prepare to discuss during the game!?! Then, no one else caught this and could tell Stockton that he was screwing up the name he said repeatedly until late in the 4th quarter!?!

-Dick Stockton - just because Quinton Ganther and Kirk Morrison played in the same conference in college, does not mean they are good friends.

-JC had another good game, and still didn't have consistent protection. Just imagine what he could do with this protection every game.

-I am actually excited for next week!

(Image courtesy of washingtonpost.com)