Today the Raiders took another big step towards realizing their goals as a team. Now this was far from a thing of beauty. I’ve seen hung-over frat houses that look better than the football played today by the Bears and Raiders.  In the end the scoreboard was as sexy as Salma Hayek in the nude pouring a celebratory drink.

Oakland out lasted Chicago in a 25-20 win that was as much about grit as it was execution.

As usual the Raiders found a way to keep things interesting late.

Early on it looked like Caleb Hanie was out of his element. Three first half picks pushed the Bears to the limit yet the Raiders couldn’t capitalize in the form of touchdowns. Thanks to a stout Chicago run defense Sebastian Janikowski became the Raiders’ scoring punch.

Sebass set a franchise record as he connected on six field goals. In keeping with the theme of the game most of Jano’s kicks were composed of equal parts doubt and relief. His attempts twisted, twirled and curved before finding their way to three points on the scoreboard.

But what is true in fantasy football holds equal weight in the world of real football. Points are points.

Oakland needed every one of Sebastian’s kicks. For the most of the first half the game was controlled by the men in the trenches. Chicago terrorized Carson Palmer while Oakland harassed Hanie.

Yet where we saw the Raiders become a playoff team was in the adjustments made during halftime.
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Here is your snapshot of this game: At halftime the Raiders and 49ers combined for as many points as turnovers (3)

The Niners overcame a comedy of special teams errors to send Oakland to 0-2 in the preseason thanks to a listless 17-3 loss.

So far during Hue Jackson’s bully construction he seems to have forgotten about his tools to reconstruct last season’s offense. Injuries play a hand in how out of sync Oakland’s O’s is but that excuse along with preseason jitters is getting old already.

To be sure there were a few flashes from the up and coming Silver and Black talent that’s got to make Al Davis feel vindicated. But overall this team as a whole is still looking very listless with only two more tune-ups left.

Jobs are on the line. Time is running short. Injuries are becoming more troubling. Strap yourself in tight Nation, this is looking like a bumpy ride. Here are my game notes for take two of Coach Jackson’s directorial debut

- The Red Zone is still a dead zone for Oakland. Jason Campbell is the symbol of Oakland’s out of sync offense. At this point play-action is the only thing that works. His receivers (including Darrius Heyward-Bey) are bailing out his bad throws. Plus he’s still gun shy, doing the sensible yet maddening thing by playing it safe and not throwing across his body when Kevin Boss is more open than a Denny’s next to a bar at 2:00am on a Saturday morning.

- Campbell’s performance is not his only issue as JC went down late in the first half with what we hope is not a head or neck injury of the serious or mandatory inactivity variety.

- If JC is in danger of missing time Trent Edwards did himself no favors with his few token snaps in the first half. His what were you thinking INT was an underthrown toss into double coverage. Kyle Boller started after halftime and took every snap in the second half. At this point the QB position is pretty irrelevant. Just One TD in two games.
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