Raiders drop to Broncos, 26-13
The Raiders extended their losing streak to 6 straight and dropped their overall record to 3-10 with a 26-13 loss to the rival Denver Broncos.
The Raiders were large underdogs coming into the game but looked like they might be able to make it interesting as they went into half only down 6 points to the Manning-led Broncos.
They came out driving well in the second half, as well, with McFadden scampering for a 36 yard run on the first drive after getting the edge before the defense could stop him. However, the team wasn't able to capitalize and the game quickly got out of hand from there.
This game was never about the win, although that certainly would have been nice. No, today's game was all about trying to get young players some time and build some momentum into the next season.
To that end, there were some slight positives that came out of the lopsided game. There were a number of players that stood out in this game, many who were new additions to the team. These included CBs Phil Adams and Joselio Hanson, LBs Philip Wheeler and Miles Burris and wide receiver Rod Streater.
Terrelle Pryor, who was active for his second straight game, didn't see any time as Allen again chose to have Palmer play the entire game even when a win seemed very unlikely for the Silver and Black.
It's becoming crystal clear that Allen has no interest in playing Pryor and does not see him as the future of the franchise. Pryor has been inactive most weeks and when active he's not seen any playing time on the field.
It's not the first time a head coach has inherited a player that the previous regime liked, only to change course and go a different direction but it seems petty to give Pryor hope that he'll get some playing time only to have him watch as Carson Palmer gets some garbage time TD's in a one sided game.
I think Pryor is the one thing Allen and I agree on. I wouldn't give up on him - but I wouldn't play him in the QB slot either. I'd be trying him out as a WR or a hybrid player or something. It's nice to think he could be the next RG3 or something - but personally I haven't seen anything from him that even remotely makes me believe he's the QB of the future. I'd rather we draft somebody with the high pick we're going to get.
Now we're getting Gruden rumors again and - quite frankly - even I'm thinking that might be a good move. From everything I've seen, Allen is not ready to be head coach. I hate that we've been playing musical coaches for years now, but Gruden might solve that simply because his history with the team would probably guarantee a minimum of 2-3 years on the sidelines. If Gruden would just coach and give up trying to be personnel manager too - I think he'd be a decent fit and probably the best we could hope for given our recent history of dumping coaches the way most people dump fantasy football players.
Oh yeah and... time for a total rebuild too. Dump all the old guys who aren't producing. That includes DMC who is now borderline worthless imho.
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@Indy! If we don't give Pryor a shot at some point, we'll never know! Myself, I'd like to see more of him at the qb position and if we're gonna rebuild we might as well cut Carson loose in some way and let Pryor do his thing.
As far as Gruden goes, that's one coach I would love to see come back but in all fairness I think Dennis Allen needs to be given the time to do his own thing and get the right personnel for what he wants to do, Reggie and Allen have a vision, I think it's only fair we give them the time to do things their way and not Al's way.
This game looked like the team played hard but we're missing key talent, Matt G? that guy is not a starter, we still need decent corners, Bartell is not the answer. This team is a mess but I believe it can be turned around with some tinkering.
Carson has been being asked to do too much without the proper talent around him. Personally, I think having Al Saunders lead the Offense would do wonders for the team. they would stay on the field longer and give the D some rest.
