While it was an impossible task to find a substitute for the world’s best cover corner it was embarrassing how the Raiders went about filling his void.

The Raiders did nothing. Ok…maybe next to nothing unless giving Stanford Routt a raise, Chris Johnson a promotion and drafting two projects in DeMarcus Van Dyke and Chimdi Chekwa counts.

Again, we already knew that was a no-win scenario. Therefore it became imperative the rest of the defense stepped up. Specifically the front four. Already one of the most feared units in football, Oakland’s defensive line has got to be great every week if this team has playoff designs.

The secondary is the primary concern. So it stands to reason pressuring the quarterback is the best bet to get back what has been lost in Aso’s Philly fly-away.
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Then the bully did what bullies aren’t supposed to do – the Raiders letup their punishment and the Bills got comfortable. Too comfortable. Ryan Fitzpatrick starting linking up with Stevie Johnson like it was a practice session. Those all too familiar symptoms re-emerged as big plays plagued Oakland during a 35-point onslaught that put the “O” in Buffalo.

Sure, this one was still there for the win courtesy of Jason Campbell finding what should be his top target for the foreseeable future. However it was not meant to be as Denarius Moore’s coming out party was rained on. But I’m pretty sure he got his coaches attention with a 146-yard effort capped off with a fantastic TD grab.

We knew this was going to be a work in progress from the moment the lockout robbed everyone of OTAs. To be sure things are being learned on the fly – both good a bad.

First let’s start with the positives.
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This Sunday the Oakland Raiders will roll into Orchard Park to put Buffalo to the test.

Tommy Kelly has already reminded Ryan Fitzpatrick and company that the Raiders aren’t the Bills. He’ll be a big part of Oakland’s effort to bully dem’ Bills into defeat.

In order to get prepared for the game we at JBB reached out to our fellow FanSiders over at BuffaloLowDown to get the dirt on what could be the best team in New York State. As usual we took a different approach in our line of questioning to get a beat on the Bills from BLD’s editor Brad Andrews. Here are the out of bounds questions I threw at Brad and his great answers

Q:  If Ryan Fitzpatrick were a celebrity who would he be?

A: Hmmm…I’ll go with Conan O’Brien. Both went to Harvard, both are capable of growing sweet beards, and both have small but very devoted fan bases. And Fitz has a radio show now. Maybe it’s his first step towards awkwardly interviewing celebrities on basic cable late at night.

Q: Jason Campbell throws for 200 yards or Shawne Merriman gets injured: Which is more likely to happen Sunday?

A: Sadly for Bills fans, it’s Merriman getting injured. His roided-up tendons are just about worn out. He played about twenty plays this preseason and got hurt twice. He got banged up in the Kansas City game in the first half and then played a fairly disinterested second half. Any game he doesn’t get hurt in is a minor miracle.  So basically, Campbell throwing for 200 yards is a possibility, but Merriman getting hurt is a near-certainty. Which is awful for Buffalo because there’s not much (or any) proven depth at linebacker on this team.
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