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Raiders leading NFL is rushing yardage
By Stefani Rebekah Black October 7, 2007 |
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Who would ever think that the Oakland Raiders would be leading the NFL in rushing at 194.2 yards, it's not a shocker as monumental as say Stanford beating USC in the NCAA. But the Raiders rushing average were off the charts last season that's right they didn't even register but this year, head coach Lane Kiffin feels that the team has some sort of momentum going but that'll be a tall task going up against San Diego next Sunday. After a commanding 35-17 victory in Miami (0-4) no Don Shula team, last Sunday which saw Daunte Culpepper throw for two touchdowns and carry for three himself the Raiders are designing plans this past week to see if Culpepper could run those same plans again. Although there was talk about Josh McCown coming back to start the Raiders may go with the one with the hot hand not to mention plenty of experience in Culpepper. Justin Fargas helped the Raiders in the same cause and carried only up to 7 yards until he got the new playbook after LaMont Jordan was taken off the field on a cart with a back injury. Fargas produced for 179 yards in 22 carries as the Raiders compiled a 299 yard rush attack against the Dolphin defense. Jordan's status has been day to day and with the bye this past week it's helped give him some therapy and rest. Fargas in the mean time after his help in yards gained might play a bigger role in the Raiders ground game next Sunday against the mighty Chargers. The Raiders hope that with Fargas and Culpepper at the controls they can turn up the offense a bit with some yards on rush and yards in passing. "When you really get a team going, you can plug people in, and it doesn't really matter who it is, when you start rolling and someone goes down, the next guy goes in. That's what you need, a team that prepares that way. Justin Fargas prepared like he was a starter this whole season." said Coach Kiffin in practice on Friday. Tom Cable the Raiders line coach has taken some credit for the offensive line improvement as protection of running backs and the quarterbacks were in question coming in this season. Even with the Raiders losing their first two games before winning the two games to be 2-2 the Raiders have improved the line and have given McCown and Culpepper some time to throw also Fargas had plenty of room and holes to jump through last Sunday against the Dolphins. Cable has been studying hard to prepare for this Sunday's game against the Chargers and has changed the plan up a little to match the strong San Diego defense and has revitalized the running game with some zone blocking to create those holes again for the running backs and not to mention buy some time for Culpepper to throw. Cable's teaching came from Alex Gibbs a former line coach who was with the Broncos and Falcons. Gibbs expertise was on blocking and zone blocking and it's paying off as the Raiders used it in the Miami game and in the Cleveland game which turned out to be a loss but in some of the plays in that game Cable was happy to hatch some of his plays. The big concern now looking ahead to Sunday with San Diego is Jordan his x-rays were negative on the back injury but again the Raiders have listed him as day to day and if he were to return the Raiders depend heavily on him carrying the ball against a charging Charger defense. In the locker room trying to sit down it was reported by Fargas that Jordan was "wincing and grimacing" while trying to have a seat. If Jordan is going to be a scratch on Sunday the Raiders have been running Fargas' plays with Dominic Rhodes who missed the first four games with the Raiders for substance abuse and violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. "Sometimes I couldn't watch because I knew I could be out there having some big games, I know this system that we have is predicated to having a great running game and it's working. We're hitting our stride. That's why I say to you, we've got a real shot a winning this thing and getting into the playoffs," said Rhodes. The talk and action around the Raiders practices have been very positive and it just might be what Rhodes is saying, that the Raiders if they can just keep winning can have a shot at post season but getting by San Diego. This will be that first large test to see what this club is made of in the AFC West Division contest coming at the Coliseum. The Chargers and Raiders will kick off at 1:00PM Sunday October 14th. Stefani Rebekah Black covers Raiders football and co-hosts Sportstalk on 1690 KFSG Sacramento. quote source: raiderfanradio.com |
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