Thursday Night Football is back on our television, and doesn’t it feel good to have another night of the week dedicated to football?
And doesn’t it feel good to have Mike Mayock on commentary? After only one TNF it’s safe to say that the Mayock and Brad Nessler combination trumps anything else out there, adding insight and relevant analysis to a heated match up that ended up with a score line more competitive than perhaps the performances suggested it should have been.
Why is that? Well for starters you had a San Diego offensive line that (granted they lost two starters) were so routinely beaten, that it was a shock when they didn’t give up pressure on a play. Throw in a defense that couldn’t handle Michael Bush and you have an Oakland team that was simply better than the Chargers. But with a couple of big plays San Diego kept themselves in it, until a couple of sacks at the end of the game gave the Raiders a well-deserved victory. Let’s look at some of the performances that decided this one.
Oakland – Three Performances of Note
More Moore Please
After an impressive pre-season expectations were understandably high for Denarius Moore (+4.2). After his Week 2 performance against Buffalo they only grew, so it was disappointing what followed, as between Week 3-9 he racked up just 13 receptions for 127 yards. Things may be changing with Carson Palmer (+4.0), with the Raiders new signal caller clearly enjoying throwing the ball towards the rookie receiver (18 times in the past two games). This was the week for Moore to respond with some great work five receptions for 123 yards and two touchdowns. As good as the two touchdowns were, his most impressive grab came with 13:20 left in the second quarter. Running a go route, he gets behind Quentin Jammer, only for the ball to be a touch overthrown. Somehow he reaches out to get his hand to the top of the ball, but also maintain control and bring it into his body. That’s not the kind of catch you see made all that often. He’s back in contention for the Race for Rookie of the Year after this display.
Reacting to a snub
When we posted our Mid Season All Pro team there were a few contentious positions that the staff didn’t agree on. One of them, that nobody seems to have picked up on, was at OLB, where we found it incredibly difficult to leave out Kamerion Wimbley (+10.6). But leave him out we did and boy, isn’t he doing a good job of showing us we were wrong. Wimbley took the QB down seven times, with four sacks and a further three hits. Add another seven pressures and you have a quite remarkable 14 pressure day and on just 37 rushes. That’s a pressure for every 2.5 pass rushes. Let’s put that in perspective. Jared Allen, who leads the league in sacks, averages a pressure for every 8.9 pass rushes. Incredible from Wimbley and it wasn’t just the consistency of his pressure but the speed of it. Two of his sacks (15:00 and 1:01 in the second) came as a result of applying pressure within two seconds of the ball being snapped. Pure dominance.
Centered rookie
Normally when we do this we have to find a negative performance, but there really wasn’t one worth talking about from the Raiders, and plenty of positive ones to pick from. So I’m turning my attention to Stefan Wisniewki (+2.9) who performed admirably in his first start at center. After watching him against Denver, I was a little intrigued as to how he would get on. His move from LG seemed to be where it went wrong, and he struggled with Brodrick Bunkley lined up against him. Well I walked away from this quietly impressed with the rookie, despite him giving up two pressures. He had a pretty even encounter with Antonio Garay, something which is easier said than done, and had absolutely no problems with LBs at the second level. Still, his most impressive play for me was getting 25 yards down the field with 8:47 to go in the first, where he managed to lock onto Eric Weddle and help Michael Bush pick up some extra yardage on his 55 yard rumble downfield.
San Diego – Three Performances of Note
The Pace Setter
When Marcus McNeil went out of the game with 7:49 left in the first quarter, nobody could have expected what happened to transpire. Live on the NFL network, a grown man got beaten so badly it was hard to watch at times. That man was Brandyn Dombrowski (-13.1). For those that remember, last year we had to alter our graphs because Dombrowski put in the worst recorded performance in PFF history in Week 3 against Seattle and Chris Clemons. Well the only thing that saved him in this game is that while he played 88 snaps in Seattle, he managed just 65 against the Raiders. Still he now has the dubious honor of having the worst two grades in PFF history after giving up four sacks, one hit and nine pressures on the 52 occasions he attempted to pass block. That is as bad a performance as you’re likely to see, short of putting me at LT and asking me to block Dwight Freeney.
More playing time
I’ll admit it. The more I see of Antwan Barnes (+3.6) the more I think he needs more playing time. The only problem is when Travis LaBoy (+2.9) plays so well in run defense, as a defensive coach you are loathe to take him off the field. The two OLBs had good days for different reasons, with Barnes proving a nuisance to Palmer with a sack (including a forced fumble), a hit and a hurry to go along with a batted pass. He also did a decent job of getting himself in position to make plays in the run game, ending with two tackles for short gains and one for a loss, as well as one that prevented a first down on third down. The only blot on his run defense being two missed tackles. It’s a conundrum for the Chargers, because three into two doesn’t go when you’re using two every down outside linebackers. It’s going to be interesting to see how they handle this when Shaun Phillips returns.
More than just a dip in the Rivers
Does that headline make sense? Probably not, but then it’s kind of fitting because the way Philip Rivers (+1.1) is playing doesn’t make much either. Sure we gave him a ‘positive’ grade but given that our QB grades aren’t normalized, the +1.1 actually represents a below average performance, but what can you expect when you complete just 31.8% of throws when pressured whilst taking six sacks. Rivers isn’t getting bailed out by his receivers (other than the excellent touchdown grab by Vincent Brown) when he’s flinging into double coverage, and just as bad is his accuracy when not pressured, where he completed just 64% of balls when he wasn’t pressured. I remember our fearless founder Neil Hornsby predicting a breakout year for Rivers, and while it’s true he’s taken his game to another level, it’s just a shame that level is quite a few notches below what we’ve come to expect.
Game Notes
– Dombrowski wasn’t the only Chargers lineman to struggle. Tyronne Green (-6.7) gave up a sack, three hits and three hurries, while replacement right guard Scott Mruckowski (-3.4) gave up a sack, hit and four hurries. They all combined so that Rivers was pressured on 53.7% of all drop backs.
– Arm strength concerns, what arm strength concerns? Carson Palmer (+4.1) completed all four balls thrown over twenty yards in the air.
– Remarkable as it may sound, Darrius Heyward-Bey was on the field for all bar six of the Raiders offensive snaps, and ran 21 pass routes. He wasn’t targeted once.
PFF Game Ball
A part of me wants to give it to Denarius Moore, but what Kamerion Wimbley did will go down as one of the most dominant pass rushing performances of the year. Take a bow.
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