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Wednesday Injury Report, Kelly Out (Week 9)
Updated: 11/3/2007
Some notes from ESPN.com on the injury Oakland Raiders defensive end, Tommy Kelly. Not only does this injury hurt the team, but the torn ACL could possibly destroy the career of a player I was beginning to hold in high regard.
Tommy Kelly will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ligament in his right knee, the latest injury to hit Oakland’s defensive line. Pro Bowl end Derrick Burgess missed two games earlier this season with a calf injury and tackle Gerard Warren is expected to miss his fourth straight game with an injured quadriceps.
Kelly’s play had impressed his teammates, with seven-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Warren Sapp predicting Kelly would be better than he has been by the end of his career. That’s heady praise for a player who signed with the Raiders in 2004 as an undrafted and unheralded
free agent from Mississippi State.Kelly had 27 solo tackles and one sack this season, moving back and forth between end and tackle with ease. He also came up with one of the biggest plays of the season for Oakland, blocking a potential winning 40-yard field goal attempt by Cleveland’s Phil Dawson on Sept. 23.
With Kelly down it looks like the team will turn once again to rookie DE Jay Richardson. When Burgess went down earlier this season, Richardson filled in well, and will now get the chance to start on the side of the line.
Last weekend the Raiders D reverted even further back to last seasons’ form. Last season the Raiders led the league in pass-defense, giving up an average of only 150 yards. During the first four weeks of this season the Raiders pass-D gave up an average of 240 yards a game, but since their bye week, they’ve only given up 376 passing yards, good enough to bring them to 6th in the league in pass-defense, and an average 125 yards a game for the last three weeks.
The one glaring problem that I found with the Raiders D finally seems dealt with. They were struggling to get the opposing offense off the field on third down. But the last two weeks the Raiders have held the Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans to a third down efficiency rate of 35 and 23 percent respectively.
So in other words, the Raiders D is keeping their opponents from scoring a lot of points (Chiefs 12, Titans 10), converting many of their third down opportunities, and moving the football through the air. The starters on this talented Raiders defense have given their colleagues on offense a chance to win the last two weeks, with no reward at the end of four quarters.
Kelly might be down, but the Raiders D isn’t out. Opponents will continue to gain yards running the ball, but if the 11 starters on the Raiders D can keep the opposing passing game in check, and if the Raider offense can conjure some of the play that led the league in rushing, they’ll have a chance to win the remaining games on their schedule.
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