The Raiders lost an ugly game to Cincinnati today, losing 34-10 and falling to 3-8 on the season.  While the Raiders showed some fight at times it was a game that went all Cincinnati’s way.

The Raiders were shut out in the first half of the game and went into halftime down 21-0.  The Raiders allowed BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who is not typically a big-play running back to run for 129 yards, just shy of his career high, on only 19 carries – a 6.8 yard average.

The defense also allowed Bengals’ QB Andy Dalton to finish 16/30 for 210 yards, a QB rating of 109.

On offense the Raiders weren’t able to do much.  The offensive line looked terrible most of the day, allowing constant pressure on Palmer and letting defenders into the backfield to limit running backs to minimal gains.  The OL did seem to pick up their game a bit after halftime but much of that appeared to be that the Cincy team as a whole looked to have relaxed a bit given their dominance in the first half.

The game wasn’t ever in doubt but the Raiders may have been able to mount a comeback if it weren’t for some incredibly bad officiating followed by the Raiders’ players losing their collective cools.

The Raiders had some momentum going late in the 3^rd quarter that culminated in a TD from Palmer to Denarius Moore.

Then, in the early 4^th quarter, the team was marching down the field.  They had already gone 41 yards and had just gotten another 12 yard reception from Palmer to Reece but the officials called an extremely questionable clipping penalty on RG Mike Brisiel when reviews seemed to show that he was simply falling down as a result of contact and fell into another player.  The Raiders were unable to recover that drive, failing to do anything on 3^rd & 24.

The Bengals then took over after a punt that placed the ball on the Cincinnati 16.  On 3^rd & 6, Dalton targeted WR Mohamed Sanu but he fumbled the ball after a well-timed hit from slot corner Joselio Hanson.   Hanson then made a great heads-up play by jumping out of bounds and batting the ball back in bounds before it or any part of his body touched.  That meant the ball should have been live.

Raiders SS Tyvon Branch scooped up the ball and ran it to the end zone for a TD – the Raiders should have had the lead cut from 17 points to 10 points.

The Raiders should have had a TD, there, but instead what was described as an inadvertent whistle blew the ball dead before the Raiders recovered it and instead of the Raiders getting a defensive TD or even the ball, the whistle allowed the Bengals to get the ball back either at the spot where it ended or to replay the down.  They chose to replay the down.

Then, on the next play, there was a late false start before the snap but DE Lamarr Houston chose to ignore that and came through the line, throwing Andy Dalton to the ground.  The Bengals LT Andrew Whitworth took exception to this and came around to brawl with Houston.  Both players were ejected as well as Raiders DT Tommy Kelly who came off the bench and onto the field to brawl.

Those three plays killed the Raiders hopes of coming back in a game in which all the breaks went Cincy’s way and the Raiders were never able to get any sustained momentum.

The loss, the fourth in the row for the Raiders, brings ever mounting pressure on Dennis Allen to turn around a team that many thought were promising coming into the season.  Mark Davis had said he was looking for improvement but was seeing “regression” and it’s hard to argue with that right now.

The Raiders are not only not winning, they haven’t been competitive this season, losing 3 games already by 20 or more points.

Allen will have to dig deeper into himself, his coaching staff and the players to try to end the season with some progress and some wins as a springboard to the 2013 season.

Follow me on Twitter @AsherMathews

So this is it? This is how we discover what kind of team the Raiders are?

After all that was said in the past, after all of the grinding, promises about change, and continuous banter about the greatness being in the future, this is how we show what we truly are? Into the garbage chute, flyboys!

This hurts like getting your damn hand was cut off, doesn't it? (believe me, I know the feeling)

Truth be told, though, if you were honestly a good observer, you'd know we didn't have a chance in holy Hell of beating a team like this one. You hope for the best and all, but you honestly know the inevitable is coming.

All I can say is, if the greatness of the Raiders is in the future like a wise, old man once said, I just hope it's coming more sooner than later, kids.

Our Journey to the Dark Side is now complete. There obviously were not a lot of positives in this game. What makes matters worse is the fact that in only a few weeks, the fans and team will finally realize this is not a playoff team by any imagination.

At times, we have been exposed by our offense, at times we have been exposed by defense and at times, our discipline has cost us games. At this point, it's just a matter of wondering what part of the Wall will leak this week.

While not yet mathematically eliminated from being able to get to the playoffs, the Raiders’ season effectively ended today with a 55-20 loss in Baltimore.

The Raiders fell to 3-6 on the season and again struggled to create any stops on defense and have any continuity on offense.  Continuing with the status quo at this point would be a mistake – the status quo is not working.

Until now it made sense to see if the team could improve with their core group of players.  Now that the season will not end in a playoff bid, it’s time to look to the future.

The Raiders were almost completely inept in every phase of the field.  The defense gave up 41 points, Special teams chipped in by allowing Jacoby Jones to return a 105 yard kickoff and they allowed the Ravens punter Sam Kock to run untouched for a 7 yard TD on a fake field goal.  The Raiders, as a team, allowed more than 50 points for the first time since 1981.  They were also penalized 10 times for 105 yards.

In the fourth quarter Allen made a couple of good decisions by having some of the younger, developmental players get into the game and get some experience.  Allen had Tony Bergstrom come in midway through the fourth quarter and took Willie Smith’s place at right guard.

The Raiders also used a lot of Jeremy Stewart at running back which may bode well for his future with the team.  They hardly used Taiwan Jones at all, which does not bode well for his.

Moving forward, Allen should use the rest of the season to develop their young players because they aren’t going anywhere close to the post season.  From here on out the Raiders should do several things:

1. Plug Bergstrom into the line: I don’t care where.  Replace Smith at RT? Sure.  Maybe put him in at LG where veteran Cooper Carlisle is struggling. Fine.  Hey, we could even put him in at RG where highly touted free agent Mike Brisiel is struggling. Absolutely.  But Bergstrom, who was taken in the 3^rd round with the Raiders highest selection this year, needs to see playing time now so he can be prepared for next year.
2. Activate the rookies: Second year player Terrelle Pryor (QB) and rookies Lucas Nix (G), Christo Bilukidi (DT) and Jack Crawford (DE) should all be active on Sundays.  The team needs to see what they have in those players and get them valuable playing time.
3. Work in backups: Same theme, here, the Raiders should get the backups involved for development and evaluation.  This would include more rotations in with Aaron Curry - who ended the day with more personal fouls (2) than tackles (1) – cornerback Brandian Ross, wide receiver Juron Criner and linebacker Keenan Clayton.

If the Raiders do this it will be a short-term loss but it will set the team up for a longer-term gain.  And the Raiders need all the long-term gains they can get right now.

For more Raiders news & analysis, follow me on Twitter @AsherMathews

Last Sunday versus the Buccaneers, when the Raiders aired it out an almost record amount of time they hardly ran the ball at all.  In fact when you take out QB runs and downs that came back due to penalties on the play the Raiders really only ran the ball 10 times for a team total of 19 yards.  It was one of the least impressive performances I have ever seen by a professional football team.

In fact, when we take out QB runs and runs called back by penalty the Raiders only ran 2 times in the entire second half.

In an effort to understand what was happening I watched all the runs to see if the poor tally was the result of poor running, poor blocking or something else entirely.  What I found was that the running backs were lucky to be able to get to the line of scrimmage before they were hit by the opposing defense.

I watched every running play run by the Raiders and found that in only 2 of the 10 rushes last game did a running back get past the line of scrimmage before first contact.  That means that in a staggering 8 of 10 plays, the RBs were either hit at or behind the line of scrimmage.

And, in fact, in 6 of the 10 plays the back was hit at least a yard behind the scrimmage and in half of those runs the back was hit 2 or more yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Clearly these are terrible results.  A good offensive line exerts their will on their opponents but instead the Silver and Black line did almost nothing but be dominated by the Tampa Bay defense.

On average, Raiders running backs were hit a half yard behind the line of scrimmage in this game.

Even some of the best runs – runs for the best yardage – were not a result of good blocking but instead a result of a good running back.  The longest fun for the Raiders in the game was 7 yards and McFadden was able to get that twice, on his first two runs.  In both runs he was initially contacted behind the line of scrimmage – once at one yard behind the line and the second time an amazing 4 yards in the backfield.

Unless and until the offensive line can start blocking at least an average level the Raiders running game is going to be sub-standard and Oakland will have to continue to rely on Palmer’s arm – for better or worse.

My second home was louder than roaring cannons, Sunday.

My voice was hoarse.

My skin was sweaty.

My armor, heavy.

My family, happy and for once. Optimistic.

It seemed like that Oakland magic was about to rear its pretty little head again. You all have seen it before.

After security took my lightsaber away, after I attended the Coliseum minutes late, after yards were given away like candy, all was about to be forgiven. Balance in the Force was about to be restored. Then, our linemen collapsed! GAME OVER!

When the Raiders signed a former undrafted free agent named Willie Smith it seemed like he was going to be another camp body – someone to provide competition and to spread out the many reps that everyone gets in training camp but not someone who was likely to make the team.

Not only did Smith make the team but when starting RT Khalif Barnes went down with a groin injury, head coach Dennis Allen and offensive coordinator Greg Knapp turned to Smith to man the right tackle position over former 3^rd round pick Joseph Barksdale or 3^rd round rookie Tony Bergstrom who played right tackle in college.

Smith struggled fairly quickly but so did the entire offensive line as the players struggled to learn how to run the zone blocking scheme and adapt to Knapp’s offensive gameplans.

Recently, however, the offensive line has appeared to improve and so my curiosity was piqued sufficiently to warrant a mid-season tale of the tape on Willie Smith.

What I found surprised me.  Because Smith came from Washington last year where he made the roster as an undrafted free agent I expected to find a lineman that would excel at zone blocking but be limited in other areas.  Instead, Smith seems to be the opposite – he does not appear to be a scheme fit in the zone system.

The zone blocking system requires athletes that can move well- especially laterally.  In a zone blocking run play, for example, the offensive line has a predetermined direction in which they will all flow at the snap, taking the defenders in their area (or zone) with them and allowing the running back to find a cutback lane where defenders have been unable to sufficiently keep their gap defended.

Smith, however, struggles at moving laterally and with quick footwork in general.  There were multiple examples of him struggling in zone blocking especially when the blocking scheme was to the left.  There were several times in which he fell down trying to move to the left.  This created an unguarded back where the defenses left DE could come into the backfield unobstructed and got a shot at the running back as he was looking for a cutback lane.