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Just Win for Al Davis, Baby: Raiders Take One from Texans

Chris Shellcroft — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 22:37:32 +0000

Professional football will always be a bottom line business. With or without Al Davis the mission for the Oakland Raiders remains the same.

Mission accomplished as the Raiders took down the Texans in a thriller 25-20.

With heavy hearts the Raiders took the field to do battle with the Houston Texans. After a listless first half it appeared as if the Silver and Black were playing with a weight on their heart instead of a chip on their shoulders.

Jason Campbell missed a wide open Chaz Schilens on a first half flea-flicker that would have ignited the ordinary offense. These two would reconnect later in a big way but things could have been much different had they scored on a big play in the first half.

Raider Nation was treated to a poor performance by the defense that couldn’t mask the invisible offense. Houston moved the ball all too easily through the air, relying little on their high powered running game.

Whatever Hue Jackson said to his men at the half resonated like seeing Mr. Davis enter the locker room one day after his passing. The Raiders of the second half played with the passion, pride and determination you’d expect of a team honoring one of the greatest men in the history of sports.

For good measure some of Al’s infamous gambles paid off handsomely today.
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Raiders-Texans to Clash in Trench Warfare

Chris Shellcroft — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:08:23 +0000

Just because the NFL is a passing league doesn’t mean there aren’t teams out there that still look to ground and pound their way to victory. If you don’t believe me then tune-in Sunday morning to see how the Raiders and Texans do battle.

We can spend all day dissecting individual matchups, talking strategy and discussing personnel. Really the only two names you need to know are Darren McFadden and Arian Foster. And the only area of the field you should be focused on is where the biggest and the baddest compete on every snap – the trenches.

Whoever controls the line of scrimmage will walk away the winner. It’s just that simple.
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Even Without Andre Johnson Texans a Tough Test for Raiders

Chris Shellcroft — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:46:10 +0000

On paper the Houston Texans could be the most difficult test for the struggling Raiders’ defense. After seeing Wes Welker and a subpar running game explode to life on Sunday there is no reason to think the Texans won’t experience similar success.

While Welker is a route running demon with an ESP-like connection to Tom Brady, All-Pro Andre Johnson is a beast that is as much a threat underneath as he is down field. However as of now Johnson is a question mark after suffering a non-contact injury. Of course we’ve been here before with Johnson and the Texans.

Just over a year ago we went through a similar song and dance with Johnson who eventually sat out the Texans’ 31-24 win over the Raiders. Even without their top target Houston used the legs of Arian Foster and Derrick Ward to run all over Oakland.

So what is going to make the 2011 version of this burgeoning rivalry any different?
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