Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 30, 2013

Raiders head coach Dennis Allen, offensive tackle Khalif Barnes and veteran safety Charles Woodson spoke to the media following the team's tough 24-14 loss to the Washington Redskins.

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 30, 2013

The Raiders have officially announced that their week five matchup against the San Diego Chargers has been pushed back. Kickoff this upcoming Sunday, Oct. 6, will now be at 8:35 p.m. PST at O.Co Coliseum.

The game had to be moved back seven hours from the original 1:25 p.m. PST start time in order to accommodate the Coliseum's conversion from baseball to football, as the Oakland Athletics play a postseason game at home on Saturday, Oct. 5.

Reports state that it takes the crew two twelve-hour shifts to re-assemble the stands that are taken out of the stadium to create center field for the Athletics.

The game will still air over the local broadcasts, assuming it is sold-out, but will also be aired on NFL Network nationwide.

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 29, 2013

Matt Flynn was handed an opportunity to prove himself on Sunday against the Washington Redskins but was unable to capitalize as the offense failed to produce in a Raiders 24-14 loss.

Flynn was awarded the opportunity after starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor was a late scratch after still showing signs from last week's concussion when he met with Dennis Allen and team doctors Saturday night.

"It was last night," Allen said on when he decided to go with Flynn as the starter. "We actually were at a point where we were ready to go with Terrelle. We visited with him one more time with the doctors and we just didn't feel good about letting him play. I think, obviously, with all the emphasis on head injuries or brain injuries, we wanted to exercise extreme caution in that situation and that's what we did. I think we did the right thing by Terrelle Pryor in not playing him in this game."

With Flynn at the helm, the offense struggled to maintain consistency and failed to move the ball downfield while Flynn finished 21/32 for 227 yards, one touchdown but three turnovers (two fumbles and one interception).

According to Allen, much of Flynn's struggles arose from poor vision down field and unaware pocket presence that lead to seven sacks.

"Obviously, I don't think he saw the field very good today. I think he was obviously part of some of the sacks that we gave up in the game. It was a tough situation for him to go in to and obviously, with the loss of (Darren) McFadden and (Marcel) Reece, that didn't help him out any. Offesnively, we didn't get it done and that's really the bottom line."

To make things tougher for Flynn and the offense, the team lost both starting backs in McFadden (hamstring) and Reece (knee) in the first half.

Though Flynn felt as if he was seeing the field fairly well, he agrees that losing his both of the starting backs was difficult.

"I don't know, I felt like I was seeing things fairly well," Flynn said. "There were a couple of times on some play-actions where there was a big jump on the line of scrimmage and I had a hard time making sure there were guys open, so I didn't want to force it by making any bad throws. I didn't think I wasn't seeing the field; I just didn't make the plays."

"Those two guys are the heart and soul of the offense, that's two great players. I still feel like we ran the ball well after that but that was definitely a big blow for us," Flynn said of the injuries to his two starting backs.

The Raiders got off to an early start and quickly took the lead by scoring their first special teams touchdown of the season. After forcing a three and out on Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III and the offense's first two drives, backup running back Rashad Jennings broke through the line and blocked Sav Rocca's punt. Jeremy Stewart recovered the ball in the end zone to give the Raiders the early 7-0 lead.

Flynn would get the Raiders lone offensive touchdown in the first quarter with a 10 play, 81-yard scoring drive. Flynn was able to find wide receive Denarius Moore, who made a great catch deep down the right sideline for a gain of 34 down to the Redskins' 21 yard line. Flynn then almost threw an interception after not seeing linebacker Brian Orakpo who dropped back, but luckily the ball fell to the ground harmlessly. Flynn took advantage of the dropped interception by finding his rookie tight end Mychal Rivera in the end zone for a 18-yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders the 14-0 first quarter lead. The touchdown reception was Rivera's first-career touchdown reception.

But that would be it in terms of scoring for the Raiders, even with the Raiders defense playing solid and limiting the Redskins offense. The Redskins would score 24 straight points en route to the final 24-14 victory.

After struggling to get his own offense going, Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan turned to a no-huddle offense on the following drive that quickly showed production.

Griffin III proceeded to drive his offense down to a goal-line situation but failed to get into the end zone as the defense held and forced a 25-yard field goal, bringing the score to 14-3.

Having already gotten away with a dropped interception on the previous drive, Flynn would have no such luck on his next possession.

On 3rd and 5, Flynn looked for Moore inside but stared him down and had Redskins rookie cornerback David Amerson undercut the route and intercept the ball, returning it all the way into the end zone to cut the lead to 14-10 and giving the Redskins a little momentum.

"There's no question, that's what I was saying earlier - we had the momentum in the game and they were able to snatch it away from us a little bit, so yeah, that was a huge play in the game," Allen said of the interception.

After that, the Raiders defense would step up and force the Redskins to punt on the next four possessions but with little avail to the offense as their drives would lead to punts as well.

The Raiders offense had their best opportunity to get some points on the board in the third quarter when middle linebacker Nick Roach stripped tight end Logan Paulsen and Kevin Burnett recovered to give Flynn and company the ball on the Redskins' 42-yard line.

Gaining nine yards on three plays set up a 52-yard field goal try off the infield dirt for Sebastian Janikowski, which he missed wide left. The miss was his third of the young season, the amount he missed in a full season last year (31/34).

"Listen, we have to get more comfortable still with that duo. And again, it's a 52-yarder off the dirt, but yeah, any time he misses it's concern. So we have to continue to look at that and see what we can do to fix that."

The Raiders offense would struggle to put themselves in a position to score the rest of the game until they reached the Redskins 17-yard line with 3:32 remaining and down 24-10. Down 10, Allen elected to go for it on 4th and inches instead of taking the field goal but Flynn attempted a sneak and fumbled the ball over to the Redskins for the second time of the day.

"It was fourth-and-inches. It was fourth-and-inches and we have to be able to make inches," Allen said of his decision to go for it. "We hadn't been moving the ball up and down the field and to get a chance to be down there when you're in scoring position, you can possibly get a touchdown, we have to make inches."

From there, the Redskins would be able to pretty much run the clock out and ice the victory putting the Raiders at 1-3 for the season.

Raider Nation voiced their displeasure about the offense's ineptness and Flynn acknowledged it's not easy to not hear.

"Yea, I mean it's hard not to hear it," Flynn said of the fans expressing their disapproval. "You just try to focus on your job and do what you can, but it's definitely hard not to hear."

The Raiders take on the San Diego Chargers at home next week, with a time that is still not set due to the Oakland Athletics playing postseason games at O.Co Coliseum on Friday and Saturday nights.

Even with injuries and being just 1-3 after being one-quarter of the way done, Allen expects his team to fight through the difficulties.

"Listen, we've faced adversity and we're going to continue to battle. We're going to continue to fight because that's what we do. That's what you do in the NFL and that's what a pro football team is supposed to do and we have to be able to overcome adversity. We have to be able to deal with injuries and we need guys that get an opportunity to come in and step up."

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 28, 2013

As first posted in the PREMIUM forum of RaiderFans.net, a source close to RaiderFans.net has confirmed that Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor will be the starter against the Washington Redskins.

Pryor sustained a concussion last Monday late in the game against the Denver Broncos but returned to practice later this week. Matt Flynn was believed to be the starter until speculation arose after Pryor was cleared after the league-mandated tests, though the Raiders weren't ready to name him the starter.

The fourth-year quarterback from Ohio State University has used his athleticism to provide a spark to an Oakland Raiders offense that saw adversity early with injuries.

Pryor has thrown for 624 yards, two touchdowns and two interception on 65.4 percent throwing while adding 198 rushing yards on 26 carries.

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 27, 2013

The Raiders (1-2) return to Oakland to host the Washington Redskins (0-3) with hopes of adding another win to their record and pull to a .500 column.

Oakland is coming off a 37-21 loss to the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football in which Peyton Manning and the Broncos offense tore apart the Raiders defense.

The defense will need to play improved football this week and work on shutting down Redskins running back Alfred Morris and quarterback Robert Griffin III. Morris is currently 8th in the NFL in rushing with 225 yards and Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan knows that getting Morris going is key to the redskins success. The Raiders are currently allowing 108.3 yards per game on the ground.

Though Griffin III has not been running the ball much after suffering a torn ACL in the playoffs last season, he has been airing the ball out and has thrown for over 300 yards in each of the Redskins' first three games. Griffin III has only rushed for 62 yards on the season but the Raiders know he is always a threat to run. In order to keep Griffin from beating them on the ground, the Raiders linebackers and defensive linemen will need to maintain their gaps and stay active in pursuing the young Redskins quarterback until the whistle blows.

It appears the offense would be poised for a big day going up against a Redskins defense that 488.0 yards per game, worst in the league after three games.

Looking like they may be without starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor, the Raiders hope to get running back Darren McFadden back on track after rushing for just nine yards on 12 carries.

McFadden is facing a Redskins defense that is allowing 155.0 rushing yards a game, third worst in the NFL. Though McFadden was able to get going in the home-opener, rushing for 129 yards, he is averaging just 62 yards per game during his contract season.

Getting McFadden going will help relieve some pressure on Matt Flynn, who appears to be starting in place of Pryor after the young quarterback sustained a concussion late in last week's game. Flynn was named the starting quarterback heading into the offseason but a strong offseason stringed together with an added spark by Pryor gave the athletic quarterback the nod come opening week.

The Raiders make-shift offensive line will need to find a way to get their less mobile quarterback Flynn some time. A key match-up is veteran offensive right tackle Tony Pashos up against Ryan Kerrigan, who leads the Redskins with three sacks.

The job doesn't get any easier on the other side of the offensive line for Khalif Barnes, who will be playing left tackle. Barnes will be lining up against Brian Orakpo, who had four sacks the last time the Redskins played the Raiders, his rookie season. Orakpo only has one sack on the season thus far.

The matchup will mark the 12th time the two teams have met in the regular season, with the Raiders holding a 7-4 advantage. The Redskins won the last meeting 34-13 in 2009.

Milestones to watch for: 

LS Jon Condo
• With one more consecutive games played, Condo will reach 100-consecutive
games played. Condo has not missed a game since the streak began, in Week 1
of the 2007 season.

WR Jacoby Ford
• Needs 112 kickoff return yards to pass Doug Gabriel for 8th place and 155 yards to
pass George Atkinson for seventh on the Raiders’ all-time KOR yards list.

K Sebastian Janikowski
• Has now converted on 134-consecutive PAT attempts.
• Needs just 90 points to reach 1,500 for his career.

RB Rashad Jennings
• Needs 22 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for his career. He currently stands at 978.

RB Darren McFadden
• Needs 120 rushing yards to move into eighth place on the Raiders’ all-tme rushing
list.
• Needs one rushing TD to tie No. 10 Michael Bush (21, 2008-11) on the franchise’s
career list, three to tie No. 9 Marv Hubbard (22, 1969-75) and five to tie No. 8 Charlie Smith (24, 1968-74). McFadden enters the game with 20.
• Needs 5 receiving yards to eclipse 1,500 yards for his career.

WR Denarius Moore
• Needs 474 receiving yards to reach 2,000 for his career.

QB Terrelle Pryor
• Currently leads all quarterbacks with 198 rushing yards. Pryor could eclipse the
Raiders’ single-season mark of rushing yards by a quarterback with just 332 more
yards. Rich Gannon set the mark in 2000 with 529.

DB Charles Woodson
• Needs six interceptions to tie Ed Reed for first on the interceptions list among all
active players with 61.
• Needs one INT-TD to tie Rod Woodson for first on the all-time list with 12.
• Needs one defensive touchdown to tie Rod Woodson and Darren Sharper for the
most defensive touchdowns in NFL history with 13.

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 23, 2013

The Oakland Raiders went into Denver Broncos with hope of containing future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, but did not succeed.

Manning came into the game the hottest quarterback in the NFL and added to his incredible stats throwing for another 374 yards and three touchdowns on 32/37 throwing. Manning now has 12 touchdowns through the first three games, setting a new record for a quarterback.

The Broncos offense clicked from the beginning as Manning orchestrated a touchdown-scoring drive on his first possession, finding wide receiver Eric Decker in the end zone after a fake handoff to Knowshon Moreno to give the Broncos the lead.

Meanwhile, while Manning and his offense were clicking, Terrelle Pryor and the Raiders offense were struggling to find a rhythm of their own. In fact, the Raiders did not earn their first first down until their fourth drive of the night. The Raiders had earned just 18 total yards on their first three drives.

The Raiders first score of the night came when they were already down 17-0. On 3rd and three, Pryor found wide receiver Denarius Moore who then broke a tackle to break free and scamper 73-yards for the touchdown to make the score 17-7.

But the Raiders defense just couldn't stop Manning and the Broncos offense.

Manning quickly struck back throwing another touchdown pass just three plays later, finding his new tight end Julius Thomas for a 13-yard touchdown reception, beating linebacker Kevin Burnett who took a bad angle. The score was set up by a 61-yard reception by Eric Decker, who was able to evade Raiders corner Mike Jenkins and safety Brandian Ross for a big catch and run.

Despite getting off to a slow start, Pryor finished with respectable numbers, especially for as little as he had to work with. Pryor finished 19/28 for 281 yards and one touchdown, while not turning the ball over for the second-straight game. Pryor was often in a rush to get rid of the ball or scramble because of poor play from the offensive line.

Though Pryor was often forced to scramble, Pryor looked poised in the pocket and  did a nice job of moving around in the pocket and didn't look to run too quickly. A prime example of this was on the 73-yard touchdown pass to Moore as Pryor had running room for the first down but instead chose to step up and put a ball right on the money to Moore for the bigger gain, which turned into the touchdown.

The Raiders were however able to record their first takeaway of the season when defensive end Lamarr Houston sacked and stripped Manning from behind, allowing Jason Hunter to recover the ball.

Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson then reached into his bag of tricks as Pryor pitched the ball back to Darren McFadden who then threw a perfect ball to fullback Marcel Reece in the end zone for a touchdown, making the score 30-14.

After another touchdown by the Broncos to make the score 37-21, there was a scary moment as Pryor kept the ball but was hit hard in the head and remained on the ground injured momentarily. Pryor would eventually get up and finish the final two plays of the drive, having his fourth and goal throw to Moore fall through his hands to turn the ball over on downs.

Pryor would not return to the field for the next drive after heading into the locker room after the big hit, and backup quarterback Matt Flynn replaced him. With a short field following a fumble recovered by Jenkins, Flynn was able to hit Reece down the middle of the field to give the Raiders first and goal. There, Olson appeared to go back to the halfback pass but this time McFadden tucked the ball and ran it in for the touchdown as it appeared the Broncos were prepared for it this time around.

The touchdown brought the score to the final of 37-21 as Manning and the Broncos would run the remainder of the clock out to put the Raiders record at 1-2 for the season.

The Raiders were unable to get much of a rushing attack as McFadden finished with just nine yards on 12 carries, while Pryor added 36 yards on four carries. Moore led the team in receiving with six receptions for 124 yards and one touchdown.

The Raiders return home to host the 0-3 Washington Redskins.

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 18, 2013

The Oakland Raiders (1-1) will head to Sports Authority Field at Mile High to take on the Denver Broncos (2-0) on Monday Night Football (5:25 p.m. PST on ESPN) in their first primetime game of the season.

The Raiders head to Denver after winning their home opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars to pull even at 1-1 on the season, while the Broncos are coming off two dominating victories against the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants.

Oakland will look to continue to build on a strong week rushing the ball as running back Darren McFadden was able to get going last week, finishing with 129 rushing yards and one touchdown. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor also added 50 yards of his own.

Only problem with that theory is that the Broncos have allowed just 40.5 yards per game, good enough for best in the league in this young season. Pryor will have to keep an eye on the Broncos' linebackers and make the right decision when running the read-option offense to find some running room for himself and McFadden.

Should Oakland find the ability to rush the ball, it would help the offense sustain long, time-consuming drives. The greater the amount of time the Raiders hold on to the ball, the better. Keeping the ball out of Denver quarterback Peyton Manning's hands as much as possible would be defensively beneficial.

The more than likely future NFL Hall-of-Fame inductee Manning is playing some of his best football of his career this season at the age of 37. Manning has gotten off to a hot start and has averaged 384.5 yards per game on 67.1 percent throwing with nine touchdowns and no interception through the first two weeks.

The Raiders secondary had a much improved week last week against a rather inept Jacksonville offense, but they will be certainly put to a test this week. The Broncos feature three solid wide receivers with Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, and Manning's newest weapon, Wes Welker.

There's no question Oakland's secondary will have their hands full, especially with starting strong safety Tyvon Branch out with an ankle injury. Oakland's pass defense is currently ranked sixth in the NFL, giving up just 180.5 yards per game, but they haven't faced a passing attack like Denver yet.

Though he is probably the most difficult to surprise in the NFL, the Raiders will look to apply pressure on Manning in an attempt to force a mistake or come away with the sack. The Raiders have surprised with the pass rush, racking up nine sacks in the first two games after having just 25 sacks all last season. One way they have been able to do this is with blitzes coming out of the secondary. Raiders defensive backs have five of the nine sacks, the most sacks in the league by defensive backs. Cornerback Tracy Porter has 1.5, as does safety Usama Young, who will see an increase in playing time with Branch out.

The Raiders will likely look to attack the left side of the Broncos offensive line where they are without Pro Bowl starting left tackle Ryan Clady to Lisfranc. Clady is a three-time Pro Bowl tackle that has started all 85 games of his career since being drafted 12th-overall.

The two teams hold plenty of connections as Raiders head coach Dennis Allen worked as the Broncos defensive coordinator the year before filling the Raiders coaching vacancy. Current Raiders cornerback Tracy Porter (2012) and defensive end Jason Hunter (2010-2012) both previously played for the Broncos. On the other sideline, current Broncos head coach John Fox was the Raiders defensive coordinator from 1994-1995 and Broncos quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp was Raiders offensive coordinator just last season under Allen before being let go at the end of the year.

Milestones to lookout for: 

• LS Jon Condo - With three more consecutive games played, Condo will reach 100-consecutive games played. Condo has not missed a game since the streak began, in Week 1
  of the 2007 season.
• WR Jacoby Ford - Needs 181 kickoff return yards to pass Doug Gabriel for 8th place and 224 yards to pass George Atkinson for seventh on the Raiders’ all-time KOR yards list.
• K Sebastian Janikowski - Has now converted on 131 consecutive PAT attempts. Also, needs just 93 points to reach 1,500 for his career.
• RB Rashad Jennings - Needs 22 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for his career. He currently stands at 978
• RB Darren McFadden
  • Needs 129 rushing yards to move into eighth place on the Raiders’ all-tme rushing
  list.
  • Needs two rushing TDs to tie No. 10 Michael Bush (21, 2008-11) on the franchise’s
  career list, four to tie No. 9 Marv Hubbard (22, 1969-75) and six to tie No. 8 Charlie
  Smith (24, 1968-74). McFadden enters the game with 19.
  • Needs 5 receiving yards to eclipse 1,500 yards for his career.
• WR Denarius Moore - Needs 98 receiving yards to reach 1,500 for his career
• QB Terrelle Pryor -Currently leads all quarterbacks with 162 rushing yards. Pryor could eclipse the Raiders’ single-season mark of rushing yards by a quarterback with just 368 more yards. Rich Gannon set the mark in 2000 with 529.
• DB Charles Woodson
  • Needs six interceptions to tie Ed Reed for first on the interceptions list among all
  active players with 61.
  • Needs one interception return for a touchdown to tie Rod Woodson for first on the all-time list with 12.
  • Needs one defensive touchdown to tie Rod Woodson and Darren Sharper for the
  most defensive touchdowns in NFL history with 13.

The Raiders lead the all-time series 59-44-2. 

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 13, 2013

After suffering a late-game loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Raiders (0-1) return to Oakland to host the Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1) for their home-opener.

Oakland is currently six-point favorites in Las Vegas, but as everyone knows, anything can happen on any given Sunday.

With that said, lets take a look at some key matchups the Raiders will have to win in order pull off their first victory of the 2013 NFL season.

Terrelle Pryor vs. Jacksonville Defense

Pryor was able to show his athleticism as a dual threat against the Colts by throwing for 217 yards while rushing for 112 yards on the ground. In fact, Pryor's 112 rushing yards is currently good enough for second in the NFL behind Philadelphia's Lesean McCoy.

It will be interesting to see if the Jaguars make sure to keep a man "spying" on Pryor at all times, leaving one less defender in coverage. If the Jaguars do decide to keep more men in the box, Pryor will be forced to beat the defense in the air and must find a way to limit any turnovers. Pryor threw two interceptions last week.


Darren McFadden vs. Jacksonville Defense



If the Raiders can get McFadden going it will be greatly beneficial for the offense and also ease Pryor's efforts. McFadden had just 48 yards on 17 carries last week in Indianapolis, but did score on a goal-line touchdown.

McFadden getting hot will take some pressure off of Pryor and especially help on the read-option play if Pryor is able to hand the ball off to McFadden and have him bust a big one. With this ability, the defense will have a hard time containing both Pryor and McFadden.

Raiders defensive line vs Jacksonville offensive line

Oakland was able to find a pass rush in Indianapolis and would love to build on their four-sack performance against the Colts.

With starting quarterback Blaine Gabbert out due to injury, Chad Henne gets the nod for the start for the Jaguars. Raiders defensive end Lamarr Houston and company will look to apply pressure and possibly force Henne to turn the ball over and give the Raiders extra possessions.

Raiders defense vs. Maurice Jones-Drew

With wide receiver Justin Blackmon still out due to his suspension, Bay Area native Maurice Jones-Drew will likely be the centerpiece for the Jaguars' offense.

MJD will no doubt be looking to impress in front of his hometown crowd after getting injured against the Raiders last season. Not to mention it being a contract year for him.

The Raiders linebacking corps will need to do a good job of maintaining their gaps to not allow Jones-Drew to gain too many yards. Nick Roach and the linebackers will also have to keep an eye out for screens and any other play that gives Jones-Drew the opportunity to have the ball in the open field. Stopping MJD will go a long way in stopping the Jaguars' offense.

Tracy Porter vs Jaguars receivers

New Raiders cornerback Tracy Porter struggled in last week's game while covering Colts' wide receiver Reggie Wayne. Porter gave up six receptions for 72 yards and one touchdown in the first half alone.

Porter will need to play better this week or else Henne will target him primarily as Andrew Luck did last week. Granted, we don't know how the rest of the secondary will play but Porter playing well will help in shutting down a Jaguars passing attack that threw for only 107 yards last week.

With Porter and the corners playing well, the Raiders could put their safeties into the box more often allowing more assistance in stopping Jones-Drew and the Jaguars' rushing attack.

Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 13, 2013

The Raiders announced on Friday that they have signed versatile fullback Marcel Reece to a three-year contract extension.

Reece has appeared in 47 games for the Raiders, including 31 starts since 2008, racking up 505 yards on 106 rushes and 1,159 yards on 107 receptions.

The 6-foot-1, 255-pound fullback is in his sixth season with the team after entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Washington as a wide receiver.

After spending the majority of his first two seasons on the Raiders' practice squad, Reece has become a versatile fullback that has given the team another threat out of the backfield for the Raiders.

Reece even stepped in last year as the starting running back after Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson both went down with injuries. As a result of his season as a fullback and running back, Reece earned his first Pro Bowl appearance in 2012 after hauling in 52 receptions for 496 yards and 271 rushing yards (4.8 yards per carry).

Reece has become a leader on the team and it appears he wants to remain with the organization for his rest of his career.

"It’s another step to my goal – being a Raider for life," Reece said via the Raiders' press release. "I plan on playing for as long as God will allow me to. If it’s for a lot longer, I want it all to be with the Raiders. Al Davis believed in me more than I did myself at times, and it meant a lot to me. I take it to heart and I take it seriously. Mark Davis has loved me the same. I love the organization and I love the Raiders family. I plan on being a Raider for life.”