The Raiders dropped to 1-4 in an emotional loss to the Falcons, today.  The Raiders, coming off their bye week, looked to catch the Falcons off guard as they played physically all afternoon, especially on defense.

Matt Ryan, who many believe is the early front runner for MVP, was knocked around and ended up throwing 3 interceptions to a Raiders defense that had not had an interception for their first four games.

The Raiders also clamped down on the running game of Atlanta, with the entire Falcon team running 15 times for 45 yards, an average of only 3 yards/carry.  That includes a 15 yard scramble by Matt Ryan, however, and if that is taken out the RBs ran 14 times for only 30 yards, a 2.14 yd/carry average.

In fact, the Raiders led in almost every statistical category.  What did the team in, eventually, was penalties and turnovers.  The Raiders had only been flagged 19 times coming into the game but drew 12 flags in this game, alone, a few of them holding plays that brought a number of long runs back.  The Raiders also had 3 turnovers - 2 fumbles and and interception - all of which killed precious momentum for the squad and kept Atlanta's normally-potent offense in the game.

There are a few bright spots that can be taken from the game, even with a loss.  First, the team showed that it can hang in with the best teams in the league.  They were very close to beating Atlanta which remains the only unbeaten team this year.

Furthermore, the coaching staff made some decisions that many fans will be happy about.  Most importantly, the team decided to take Rolando McClain out of their nickel package on defense, opting instead to keep standout SLB Philip Wheeler and rookie Miles BUrris on the field over the former first round pick McClain.

Perhaps the only big play from Oakland’s week 4 loss to Denver was a 37 yard pass and catch from Palmer to second year receiver Denarius Moore.

The play looked to be the result of an audible call from Palmer at the line and the long completion got the Raiders into position to make a field goal at the end of the half – the last points they’d score in the extremely lopsided game.

The Raiders came out in a run formation with two wide receivers, Derek Hagan and Moore, a TE, FB and RB.

The Raiders looked likely to be running to the right side – where Hagan was the receiver but not in wide position – because they were in an offset I to the strong side (the strong side is where the TE is lined up).

In the backfield were McFadden and Reece with Palmer directly under center.  TE Brandon Myers was in the strong side slot between RT Willie Smith and Derek Hagan.

The Denver defense was in a 3-4 combination with 6 in the box (the box is the space between the tackles).  They had the 3 down lineman and the LBs were shifted to the strong side with the strong-side OLB lined up versus Myers in the slot.

Denver’s SS had come down for run support on the strong side as the indication, again, was the Raiders would be trying a strong side run.  The FS was back and between the hashmarks so the Broncos were in a man cover-1 formation.  Man, meaning that the DBs were matched up 1-1 on the receivers and backs and there was one safety back deep.

So you play Fantasy Football!  You had your draft weeks (or months?) ago and grabbed a team full of players you liked.

Now, 4 weeks into the season, half of your team is underperforming.  Well, have no fear – you’re about to get the tips to start gaining some ground on your competition.

While the draft is, of course, the best way to build your team and get it into a position to win, week in and week out.  However, bye weeks are a very underrated and under-discussed method of strategy.

Bye weeks started last week with a handful of teams not playing and they will continue through week 11.

For an experience and proactive Fantasy player, Bye weeks are a great time to set yourself up for a playoff run.

There are two methods I use to really make a push during bye weeks.  I call these the early & often methods.

Be Early

First, get there early.  It’s a bye week.  Check your team very early in the week – maybe Monday morning or, at the least, Tuesday morning when you can make the transactions you need.

Identify what positions you have that where your starters are out on a bye week.  Look at your backups.  Are they available or on bye, too?  Are they healthy?  Have they been performing recently?

Go onto the waiver wire and see who’s out there.  I recommend you sort a number of ways.  Depending on the site you use the usual default is by a pre-ranking.  I dislike those, usually, as it doesn’t take into account recent events.  I would try sorting by points scored.  This will put the players who have scored the most points at the time.

Take a look at the players who’ve been productive – perhaps also look at how they’ve been productive.  Are there points fairly well spread or did they spike one week and do poor the others?  I prefer players who have consistency.  You might strike it rich with the other but you also could come out of the week with a goose-egg at one position.

Check Often

Checking once a week (especially if you check early) is the minimal amount of work you should do.  If you really want to excel during the bye week, keep checking back.  The reason I suggest this is because your fantasy football brethren have to make tough decisions during bye weeks.  And sometimes they don’t make the greatest choices.

So, check in during the weeks.  Maybe even every day.  See who your competitors had to drop in order to get their own bye week fill-ins.  You can come up with some good talent during the bye weeks that can help you get to the playoffs.  And, as anyone who has played Fantasy Football knows, once you get into playoffs it's mostly a crap-shoot anyway.  The key is getting enough good players to get there. 

Editors note: I am proud to introduce to the Dark Side, Raider Nation Superfan himself; Darth Raider. Yes, THAT Darth Raider. The man in the black suit and cape who sits in the North endzone opposite the Black Hole aptly named "The Dark Side" merely because of his presence. He is home at last to take his post on the Deathstar at Thoughts From the Dark Side. The force is strong with this one so before he begins remotely choking me out, I will hand the controls over to the artist formerly known as Anakin Skywalker, the Lord of the Sith; Darth Raider.

Never Quit.

You win, you lose, you rise, you fall, but you must never quit.

You don't cash it in on one lost hand, you don't just block-but counter, you don't lie down after a knockdown and I repeat; YOU NEVER QUIT.

Sure, it's easy to say that the Oakland Raiders did quit from many fans point of view... a couch, a La-Z-Boy or a stool. But I sense more than half of those who criticize have never even played Sports, hated PE in High School, and do not live in this World to sweat.

I have previously played Sports, continue to play Sports and will continue to compete as long as my body permits. I know when you win, it's a sweet slice of Heaven. I know when you lose, it's like a dagger in your spine and soul while your face is on fire. Quitting? That is never an option..and it never will be. The best part of participating in competition is knowing if I lose, I have another chance to redeem myself the next day. I know that you will always live to fight another day..

With all that being said, what can be done to help this Football team? Is it the scheme? Is it the talent? Is it the fact we employ a Rookie Owner, Rookie GM, Rookie Coach and Rookie Defensive Coordinator?

Perhaps the answer lies in all of the above? Thoughts like these keep the Lord of the Sith, Master of all Evil, Darth Raider up all night.

In the aftermath of yesterday’s destruction in Denver, Allen has a number of issues to consider as he tries to salvage the season.

The Raiders bye week comes at a good time as he can institute some solid changes in an attempt to improve the team for the remaining 12 games.

The team faces an Atlanta team in week 6 that is currently 4-0 and looks to be one of the best in the league.  The likelihood of the Raiders beating the Falcons – in Atlanta no less – seems more and more remote with every crushing loss.

However, after the Atlanta game the Raiders get the equally stumbling Jacksonville at home and then go to Kansas City to play a likewise hapless 1-3 Chiefs. 

The next game is another home game, this time versus an underwhelming Tampa Bay. 

Those are all winnable games, especially the two home games.

However, the Raiders aren’t going to be winning many games if they continue to play like they did on Sunday which is why Allen needs to make some changes.

First, I’m going to be upfront that I think that firing anyone – even Greg Knapp – is probably counter-productive.

Yes, the team looked better last year on offense.  Yes, the team has struggled with the zone blocking scheme that Knapp prefers.

Yes, Knapp’s playcalling leaves something to be desired.

But the team has been working on this scheme and the zone blocking system for months, now, and it isn’t something as simple as flipping a switch to go back to power blocking and Hue Jackson’s offense.

Instead, perhaps Allen can direct Knapp to mix in more power blocking.  If that can get the running game on track, it’s worth the effort.  It may be worth picking offensive consultant Al Saunders’ brain on what he sees last year versus this year to see if anything else can help the offense.

The Raiders lost, again, this time a 37-6 drubbing at the hands of Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.  Manning and the offense marched down the field on their first possession of the game and got into the endzone on 22 yard laser-rocket to TE Joel Dreesen.  They took the lead with 10:32 left in the first quarter and were never threatened in a game that saw the Raiders outmatched in all three phases of the game.

Head coach Dennis Allen and his coaching staff deserve the largest amount of the blame.  The team came out flat and uninspired. The game plans on both sides of the ball were ineffective and uninspired.  Plus, Allen, who had previously shown a killer spirit against Pittsburgh – going for it on 4^th and short, an unexpected onsides kick – punted on 4^th & short 3 times in the first half, giving the ball back to a fiery hot Manning who marched the Broncos down the field time and again.

The score was close when the game went into halftime, still, with the Broncos up only 10-6.  However that was due, in large part, to some lucky breaks on the Raiders part.  First, the Broncos decided to try a fake FG pass from the kicker, Prater, to Zane Beatles but Beatles fell down on the play and the pass fell incomplete.  That gave the Raiders good field position and kept the Broncos from scoring, something the Raiders had been unable to do on their own.

Later in the first half the team gave up a huge play on a bubble screen that went undefended but caught a huge break when the receiver fumbled the ball without being touched as he tried to move the ball from one arm to the other.  The receiver was anticipating being hit by Tyvon Branch, who had good hustle on the play.

Without those two big turnovers by Denver, both of which were essentially self-inflicted, the score would have been much higher against the Raiders.

Despite the Raiders’ close score at half clearly not being due to the team really competing well, Dennis Allen seemed dogged in his refusal to try to win the game.  I would have been happy with any kind of trick play or at least going for it on 4^th down at any time in the game.  The Raiders only went for the 4^th down conversion twice in the game and one of those times was the Raiders last play of the game, a 4^th down try that failed.

One of the – if not the – biggest plays of the week 3 contest versus the Steelers was the first running play of the Raiders where Darren McFadden scampered virtually untouched 64 yards down the field and into the end zone for their first rushing touchdown of the season.

The play was significant for a number of reasons – it tied up the score, shifted momentum and gave confidence to the team – but it also showed for the first time this season how potent the Raiders run game can be when the zone blocking scheme is operating in sync.

When the play starts, the team is out in a 3 WR, 1 TE and 1 RB formation.  There are two receivers to the left of the formation, the weak side (no TE on that side), one is spit out wide and the other is in the slot.

The right of the formation is the strong side meaning that the TE is set on that side. In this case, the TE is true to his name and is tight to the RT.  There is another receiver split wide on the right side.  McFadden is the only player in the backfield.

Here’s a look at the lineup, pre-snap.

At the snap, the offensive line all moves to the right in unison.  There are some keys that this is zone blocking versus power blocking.  The offensive linemen look for their blocks as they move which indicates they are not locked onto a certain man but instead for the players that will enter into their particular area.

Look at the shot below.  No one has entered into LG Cooper Carlisle’s zone.  Veldheer has engaged with the defensive end and there are two LBs that are coming around to seal the backside if McFadden tries to cut back.

Carlisle who has recognized that no one is going to hit his hole, so he tries to create a cutback lane for McFadden by taking on the DE that Veldheer had initially engaged.  This shot shows the point where Veldheer is passing the DE – who I believe is RDE Brett Keisel – off to Carlisle.  Carlisle stonewalls Keisel and creates a good size hole.

Also note in the picture how Wizniewski is one on one with a player.  That is the NT, number 98 Casey Hampton.  Hampton is 325 lbs, so he has ten pounds on Wisniewski but Wiz handles him and keeps him away from McFadden.  His ability to take on a nose tackle one on one really separates him from last year’s center, Samson Satele.