Andy Reid spent the week getting his offense prepared to go head-to-head with a Raider unit that had conceded 96 points in their last three games. John Marshall put together a game plan filled with exotic blitzes (not a misprint), line stunts and even mixed some zone into the traditionally man-to-man heavy secondary. When the Eagles weren’t being fooled by disguised blitzes, they were being blown off the line by a physical and athletic front four.

With the Eagles expecting a fastball across the heart of the plate, Marshall threw a knuckleball covered in Vaseline.

It was a defensive effort that would have made the late, great Jim Johnson smile were it not levied against his former team.

The pressure was relentless, sacking Donovan McNabb six times. The coverage was brilliant despite the Raiders playing the bulk of the game without the services of All-Galaxy cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.

Stanford Routt played his best game as a Raider. Were it not for a pass interference penalty, Routt would have sealed the victory in the second quarter when his pick-six was called back. The controversial call yielded something truly unusual as Tom Cable was flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty for his protest. One can only assume that Cable must have flexed his Crash Davis vocabulary on the official.

Brian Westbrook netted his customary 141 yards of total offense but was never much of a factor. The Eagles abandoned the run early, playing right into the trap set by Marshall.

On the other side of the ball, the Raiders did just enough to win.

JaMarcus Russell was greeted with boos but walked off to cheers. His 86-yard connection with Zack Miller would be the only TD of the contest. Russell eluded the Eagles’ pass rush to hit Miller in the open field. Zack turned a couple defenders into Keystone Cops before getting a one-man entourage via Louis Murphy to escort him to the end zone.

Russell and his offense both needed a confidence booster. There still is very little chemistry between JaMarcus and his young receivers. Murphy remains wildly inconsistent. His lack of concentration – combined with some hands of stone – cost the offense a turnover while Darrius Heyward-Bey was once again kept off the stat sheet.

While the wide receivers are a wild card, newly re-signed Gary Russell was a sure bet. The Russell-to-Russell connection worked like a charm including converting a crucial 3^rd and 10 to seal the victory. Starting at fullback just days after being signed, Gary Russell was second on the team in receiving on the afternoon.

Thanks to David Akers booting a couple kicks wide of their mark and Justin Fargas chewing up clock with 87-yards on the ground, the rest was academic.

Tom Cable now has one-third of his faith restored. This was an effort to be proud of. Not always pretty and at times frustrating. None the less, this team needed a pick-me-up in the worst way. The highlights might not appear on NFL films greatest moments but the result is forever in the books.

Not only was the home crowd fully behind their team, even a pigeon came to the aide of the much malinged Raiders’ special teams. The moment was fitting as prior to today the John Fassel led unit’s performance had been down right fowl (apologies for the pun).

If Al Davis is reading this: please continue to allow Marshall to do what he does. This might not be the classic Al Defense but it sure is a classic Al outcome.

Just win baby.

Subscribe to JBB

Follow JBB on Twitter

If you listen closely you can her the sound of the door being slammed shut on the Randy Moss trade.

The final connection to the Randy Moss era in the East Bay is gone. Yesterday the Oakland Raiders placed cornerback John Bowie on waivers. Today he cleared waivers allowing the Raiders to place Bowie on IR for the remainder of the season.

Bowie will forever be known as the man the Raiders drafted with the 4^th round pick acquired from the Patriots back in 2007 in exchange for Randy Moss. Bowie has been plagued with injuries and when he has played his performance has been less than impressive.

Already the Moss for Bowie deal is being placed in the discussion for worst trade in NFL history.

There really is no way to get equal value when trading a Hall of Fame talent like Moss. No matter what, getting draft picks in exchange for proven talent is a gamble.

Was Moss worth more than a 4^th round pick? Yes, but his attitude and overall performance in Silver and Black weren’t worthy of a player on the practice squad in Detroit. According to reports, the Pats were the only team willing to go as high as a fourth round pick. Therefore, they were the highest bidders.

Bowie is forever linked to Moss.

That ever lit fire of Raider Hatred was just given a heavy dose of lighter fluid with the Bowie roster move. Never mind that Zack Miller, Johnnie Lee Higgins, Mario Henderson, Michael Bush, Oren O’Neal and Jonathan Holland – all starters or contributors now – were part of that ’07 draft class. John Bowie, he of Cincinnati with his 4.36 40-yard dash, is the name that will be the most infamous member of the ’07 draft class unless one JaMarcus Russell continues down his path to oblivion.

Any how, Pats fans enjoy Moss now before he goes sour on you. Judging by how things are going these days, I’m guessing it is only a matter of time until he’s jogging routes and whiffing on blocks.

No doubt it will be hard to discuss the worst trades in NFL history without mentioning this one but I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out a few others that make this deal seem like a steal.

Flash back just over a decade ago and you’ll find the Minnesota Vikings gifted the Dallas Cowboys their 90’s dynasty by trading a boat load of draft picks in exchange for Herschel Walker. Not so long ago, the New Orleans Saints made that infamous move of trading away their entire draft just to select Ricky Williams. Most recently, the Dallas Cowboys paid it forward by trading a couple high picks for Roy Williams.

Of course, you could go do a little research and see what the Vikings got in return for Moss when they traded with the Raiders to begin this whole carousel. I don’t think Troy Williamson, Napoleon Harris and Adrian Ward did too much in Minnesota. Since Moss didn’t guide the Raiders to a perfect regular season, you won’t hear any mention of the original Moss trade being a bad deal for the Vikings.

The Moss trade is in the discussion, but it is only an appetizer for the seven course meal of some truly horrendous moves.

Al Davis has already gone on the record saying that Randy Moss was “great for the Raiders”. Therefore he must consider the John Bowie era a landmark moment in modern Raider history. Davis has seen his team win just 25 games since that last Super Bowl appearance six years ago. Hence, it is easy to understand why he’d consider Moss a “great” acquisition.

Subscribe to JBB

Follow JBB on Twitter