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AFC West: Cable losing signal in Oakland

Tue 3rd, November 2009

(Sports Network) - In a country that feeds off other people's dirty laundry, the Oakland Raiders have been a lightning rod for train-wreck headlines.

The media vultures were out in full swing this weekend, with ESPN's "Outside the Lines" program presenting a feature on Raiders head coach Tom Cable portraying him as the evil villain. Cable had already just wiped the sweat from his brow upon learning that charges will not be filed against him for allegedly breaking the jaw of former assistant Randy Hanson in an altercation over the summer, but now disturbing allegations of his personal life have come to light.

According to the excerpt on ESPN, Cable was accused of hitting an ex-wife and former girlfriend during a physically and verbally abusive past. Cable is not a small guy by any stretch of the imagination and can pass as a local bouncer, but it's sad if these assertions against the women are true. Cable issued a statement in which he admitted to making a mistake during his first marriage, but noted the recent claims were false. Either way, his current existence in Oakland is already in limbo with a stickler of an owner in Al Davis and a pitiful 2-6 squad. The Raiders lost to San Diego for the second time this season this past Sunday, when they dropped a 24-16 road decision, and Davis has proven to possess little patience with coaches (i.e. Lane Kiffin).

Cable said in not so many words that being on the field for a few hours Sunday was like a safe haven from all of the insinuations. It's hard enough to establish a game plan for the miserable Raiders when your life is put under the media microscope.

Oakland came out flat again on Sunday and now sits 4 1/2 games behind the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos. The Raiders have lost 13 straight against San Diego and last beat the Chargers on September 28, 2003.

"There's so much belief in this team from each other," said Cable. "If we just keep pounding the rock, pretty soon we'll get to where we want to get. It's disappointing. We felt we could come in here and win this game today. We had our opportunity, but we didn't take it."

Oakland couldn't take it because JaMarcus Russell is still starting at quarterback. Russell, who was benched in a 38-0 home loss to the New York Jets a week earlier, passed for only 109 yards and was picked off for a third straight week, with five total over that span. The cannon-armed quarterback has thrown for a touchdown just once in his last seven games and owns only two in 2009 for a Raiders team still fixed at the bottom in most offensive categories. Oakland is 25th in rushing offense, 30th in points per game (9.8 ppg), 31st in passing yards (122.1 ypg) and last in total yards (215.8).

Russell hasn't received much support from the offensive line and was sacked five times on Sunday, totaling 14 in the past four weeks.

The season is pretty much over for the Raiders, and so could be the brief coaching career of Cable. It's not as if they actually have a chance at catching the Broncos in the AFC West, but stranger things have happened before in this league. Just ask San Diego, which overcame a huge early deficit to overtake Denver for the division crown last season.

Cable and company have the bye week to think about their poor offensive play before hosting the Kansas City Chiefs in the opener of a two-game homestand.

The Raiders could bolster their offense a bit with the pending return of starting guard Robert Gallery and second-year running back Darren McFadden. Justin Fargas has carried the ball-carrying load for the Raiders, who are averaging only 93.6 rushing yards per game. Now is Fargas' chance to make an impression on the coaching staff with McFadden banged up, but so far he's yet to grab the attention of the coaching staff.

Cable could use anything right now to give his defense a lengthy rest. In the meantime, the organization said it plans to have a "serious evaluation" into allegations that Cable assaulted women during past relationships.

BRONCOS: The honeymoon is over for the Denver Broncos, who got their first taste of defeat in the Josh McDaniels era Sunday in Baltimore.

McDaniels was off to a hot 6-0 start and had more than enough time to prepare for a Ravens team that dismantled Denver's game plan like a Special Forces member defusing a bomb. That bomb arrived early in the form of an Orange and Blue blur, but it was the Purple and Black Ravens who ignited the turf to the tune of a 30-7 beating. The score was close at halftime, with Baltimore holding a slim 6-0 lead, then a second-half eruption by the Ravens blew the hinges off the Denver doors that usually closed after 30 minutes of play.

The Broncos had surrendered just 10 points in the second half during their unbeaten run, but allowed 24 on Sunday. Mike Nolan's dominant defense was exposed by the physical Baltimore offense, most notably through running back Ray Rice, who grinded out 84 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries and caught five passes for 24 yards.

The NFL world is like an avalanche, and the troubles started to pile up for Denver when Ravens return man Lardarius Webb legged out a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the scoring in the second half. Nolan's defense never adjusted and Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco protected the football for the entire 60 minutes to prevent a letdown.

Rice was able to make life easy on Flacco, since he was able to slice his way through the defense and take pressure off of the second-year quarterback. Nolan had to put an extra guy down low in order to prevent Rice from further damaging the defensive scheme, but that only made it easier for Flacco to pick apart a less-crowded defensive backfield. He was only sacked twice as well.

"I hope we remember this game for the rest of our season," Broncos defensive end Vonnie Holliday said. "But certainly for the next eight days we have to really key in and watch this film and get in the classroom and learn from it."

Holliday couldn't be more right, because the Broncos will most likely be underdogs Monday night at home versus Big Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Missed opportunities, blown assignments and poor tackling will be revealed this week in the film room, something McDaniels feels will force his players to take a good look at themselves and evaluate how good they really are. Some say you're only as good as the last game. If that's true, Denver may have trouble making it through the first half without shooting itself in the foot somehow.

It's good for the Broncos to face some adversity, because now they understand they're not where they want to be at this point. Denver is still good at most things on the gridiron and also has some work to do in other areas.

Monday's showdown with Pittsburgh will be the second straight week in which the Broncos are facing a rested team coming off the bye. Denver must set the tone early and take momentum away from the defending champions, otherwise Roethlisberger will have an efficient evening like Flacco did.

Denver can only hope its first loss of the season doesn't result in a series of setbacks, much how winning becomes contagious among teammates. For McDaniels' sake, he has enough coaches and veteran leaders in the locker room to kill that notion.

"This is not the first time...everybody's locker room has lost games," Broncos safety Brian Dawkins said. "I've lost games before. You learn from your mistakes. You try not to make those mistakes. You practice whatever you need to practice and you move on."

CHIEFS: Thanks to Larry Johnson's mouth and recent dysfunctional attitude, Jamaal Charles, Kolby Smith and Dantrell Savage have kicked up some encouraging news this week in Kansas City.

Johnson was suspended for this week's game at Jacksonville for using inappropriate slurs regarding homosexuals and discrediting head coach Todd Haley's practical know-how of the game. It's been discussed through several media outlets and on many levels that Johnson has been known for having a short fuse, but it still comes as a surprise for a player who's done little so far this season to help resurrect a fading career and franchise. The ineffective former Penn State star's long-term future with the team may also be in question.

Haley stated that his offense is predicated on the run and gives the Chiefs their best chance at winning, but he also knows that it's an area that needs improvement. He didn't stray from Johnson when he took the job with a pass- first history, but the one-time Pro Bowl back never got into a rhythm. A lot of that has to do with a subpar offensive line, which has enabled Johnson to rush for just 358 yards rushing and no touchdowns. Johnson's best output was only 83 yards on 23 touches in a 14-6 win at Washington a few weeks ago.

Now enters the running back trio of Charles, Smith and Savage, which sounds more like a law firm than a depth chart reading, Charles has the best chance at starting against the Jaguars and possibly taking over as the No. 1 running back if Johnson's tenure with the Chiefs has reached its end. He is a lighter, faster and more elusive running back than the bruising Johnson. The 2008 third-round pick had his best output of the season in a Week 3 loss at Philadelphia, as he compiled 36 yards on six carries. Charles also has good hands out of the backfield and owns 14 catches for 120 yards in 2009. Kansas City surely hopes the short work has given him enough experience.

The 5-11, 199-pound Texas product has been waiting patiently to get his shot at being a full-time running back, and often draws comparisons to Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson. The two young backs are home-run hitters that predicate their game on making defenders miss in the open field. Chris Johnson has established himself already as an NFL star, something Charles hopes to do sooner than later.

Haley has had nothing but kind words to say about Charles and how much he has learned under the staff.

"I think he's doing everything on his end to be ready to go," Haley said. "He's probably our best pass protector as a back as far as understanding who's he supposed to block. He's really improved at that and he's listened to Coach Mo [Carthon], who's stayed on him pretty hard from the start. I think he's getting better. We'll see how it goes, but it's an opportunity for Jamaal."

Kansas City is 21st in rushing this season, averaging 101.3 yards per game, and could soon have a controversy in the backfield when Smith is activated from the physically unable to perform list. Smith says he is fully recovered from knee surgery and went through a tough process to get back to where he is today. He had to learn how to walk, jog, make cuts and shift on the knee again as he slowly returned to form. Smith was placed on injured reserve in November of last season and underwent right knee surgery that caused him to miss the final eight games. So far he's been back at practice for two weeks.

Smith, whose leg was in a cast for six weeks, set a Chiefs rookie record with 31 carries for 150 yards on November 25, 2007 against Oakland and had 100 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries a year ago.

Savage, meanwhile, has been relegated mostly to return duties and could see limited action at running back. He has 41 yards on eight touches in two games this season.

The Chiefs can't do any worse with the new ground attack, since their passing offense ranks 30th in the 32-team NFL with an average of just 150.3 yards through the air on a weekly basis. Quarterback Matt Cassel hasn't done much to earn the big paycheck he received coming over via an offseason trade with New England, and his last performance proves that. In the Chiefs' 30-point setback to San Diego on October 25, Cassel passed for 97 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions for a quarterback rating of 25.3. He must improve Sunday in Jacksonville to save face.

CHARGERS: It's been more than five years since Eli Manning and Philip Rivers were traded for each other on draft day, but now they finally get a chance to go head-to-head on the gridiron.

Rivers was backing up Drew Brees when the Manning-led Giants visited San Diego back in September of the 2005 campaign. Manning has led New York to a Super Bowl victory in his relatively short career in the Big Apple, and was booed heavily that day for spurning the Chargers, who took him No. 1 overall before shipping him to the Giants in a package deal.

Sunday's matchup will also be a battle between two formidable passing offenses, but San Diego is slightly better at this point with an average of 276.3 yards per game this season.

Rivers is second in the NFL with 297.8 passing yards a game and faces a New York secondary that struggled on the road against Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday afternoon. Rivers has to be licking his chops at getting a chance to do the same thing but must not get too complacent, because the Giants still have one of the top-rated defenses in the league. New York will adjust, no doubt. The only question is if Rivers will be prepared for the wrinkles Giants coordinator Bill Sheridan installed for his unit.

The Chargers (4-3) just scraped by the AFC West-rival Oakland Raiders with last Sunday's 24-16 triumph, and pulled within two games of the division- leading Denver Broncos, who suffered their first loss of the season at Baltimore. San Diego, which has won the AFC West crown three straight years, has picked up momentum after coming off consecutive victories over division doormats Kansas City and Oakland. Now they will put their act to the test at the Meadowlands.

"It's a tough place to go on the road in a game that I think will say a lot about us," Rivers said. "We've put two (wins) together that many expected us to win, as did we, but we've still had to go do it. This one will be the toughest we've had in the last three weeks."

Head coach Norv Turner knows that Rivers has had this matchup on his mind for quite some time, and hopes his defensive unit can put forth another solid effort at Giants Stadium. Linebackers Shaun Phillips and Shawne Merriman each had two sacks in San Diego's 13th straight win over the Raiders, and must keep that pressure going this week. The Giants are too good to let Manning have enough time in the pocket to dissect the defense.

Phillips has posted a pair of sacks in each of the last two games and Merriman ended a nine-game sackless streak with a pair against Oakland. San Diego has registered 10 sacks in the last two weeks, while Manning has been taken down six times in the past three weeks after getting sacked just twice through the team's first five contests.

"We're really coming together," Phillips said on the team's official site. "We're creating pressure and that results in sacks. That's a great thing for the team."

In other team news, wide receiver Chris Chambers was released by the Chargers on Monday in a move that will further develop younger wideouts Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee. Chambers caught nine passes for 122 yards and a touchdown this season, and his departure could open a slot for a possible special teams player who can help in the kicking game. Turner also stated that the Chargers may go with four wide receivers in Sunday's battle with the Giants.

Chambers came to the Chargers via trade midway through Turner's first season in 2007 and posted 35 receptions for 555 yards and four touchdown that year.

The following week doesn't get any easier for the Chargers, with Philadelphia expected to pay a visit to Qualcomm Stadium.

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