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KEY MATCHUPS
NOVEMBER 22, 2009
They’ve won at home. They’ve won on the road. They’ve won coming from behind. They’ve won with a lead. They’ve beaten good teams. They’ve beaten bad teams. They’ve won where they’ve never won before.
Which is why the Bengals.com roundtable is unanimously picking the Bengals to break the nine-game, 41-year hex in Oakland that began the week before Richard Nixon was elected president.
The Eye, an NFL scout familiar with the AFC North, says the Raiders are one of the most talented teams in the NFL and the Bengals have to fear their speed but Oakland can’t put it together on the field.
The Sage, a former NFL player with double-digit years in the league, says the Bengals are going to be in for a tight game because the Raiders play well against teams they don’t usually play that have to travel across the country, a la the Eagles. But he gives the Bengals passing game the edge in an 11-point win.
Big Bird, also an NFL double-digit player now retired, isn’t a big fan of the 
“I remember going to Seattle on a Saturday and we got killed,” says Big Bird of one trip with a team that is more east than the Bengals. “It’s such a long flight you need that extra time to rest.”
But The Sage says that’s a small thing to overcome compared to some of the obstacles they’ve leaped to make it to 8-2 with a win.
“The way they won all those close games at the beginning of the year is helping them,” The Sage says. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence. The only way they lose this game is if they come out flat. The Raiders have talent and they’ll play well, but I think the Bengals win it with discipline. The thing they didn’t do in Pittsburgh is force the issue and they were patient.”
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Everyone agrees with The Ocho. He’s going against the NFL’s best cornerback and he’s jacked up for a number of reasons. Mainly because the Raiders have so much trust in the talent of the players they bring in, they keep sticking with that decades-old philosophy of playing one-on-one all over the field. “Chad was put on this earth for games like this,” The Eye says. “Pretty much man-to-man coverage and he loves the challenge. If the Bengals are going to win, they have to win their one-on-one matchups because that’s pretty much all they’re going to get.” Big Bird also gives The Ocho the edge. “Nnmamdi probably is the best in the league but this is what Chad does; he beats one-on-one,” The Bird says. “He runs good routes and he gets open. He knows when he goes to Pittsburgh that Dick LeBeau is going to take him out of the game with special defenses. Not here. I’m sure Carson and Chad have a package of plays set up.” But the Raiders play one-on-one for a reason. They draft their corners fast and big. Asomugha is 6-2, 210 and Chris Johnson is 6-1, 200 and Oakland has given up only eight touchdown passes all year.
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You can spark a pretty good debate on Johnson and we’ve got one here with the sports writer flipping over the roundtable table to separate The Bird and The Sage. “I don’t like the move because I’m not sure if Larry’s a good teammate,” The Bird says. “Herm Edwards is the ultimate in a players’ coach and if you get benched by him like Larry did, that tells me something. And I wouldn’t compare him to Corey Dillon and how he needed a change of scenery and he was fine. Corey’s play never fell off for a decade and Larry is coming off some lean years. “But I think you’ll see it’s a good football move in this game. I know it’s not the political thing, but if The Sage is on the other side. “I think it’s a good move. I don’t think Marvin would have brought anybody in there if he thought it would be disruptive,” The Sage says. “They’re not paying him much so they can just cut him if it’s not going right, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Guys don’t come in looking to make trouble. It’s like Corey Dillon. He was surrounded by a lot negativity in Cincinnati, but once he got to a winner, he was fine. “I think Larry’s got something left. And he’ll be running behind a better offensive line. He’s not going to make a hole. He needs the line to block, but if they give him some room he’s a tough, downhill guy who has had some big days in the league. Including against the Bengals.”
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Big Bird gives the edge to Seymour, but that doesn’t take away his regard for Whitworth. It’s just that the 6-6, 310-pound Seymour is going to the Hall of Fame and he’s only 30. The Eye wonders if the trade from New England to a 2-7 club has extinguished Seymour’s fire, but the word from the field is no. Larry Johnson went against him in the second game of the season and he thought he looked like he did in Foxboro. “Whit is used to facing smaller, faster guys,” The Bird says. “You don’t usually see a guy this big playing on the edge in a 4-3. He’s got long arms and he’s not slow. He’s fast like some of those guys Whit plays, but Seymour brings the leverage and strength. This is Whit’s biggest test.” The Sage says left guard “If Whit can block Seymour one-on-one, they’ll be fine,” Bird says. “”But if they have to chip and help him and Carson can’t hold on to the ball as the receivers work against those corners, it will be a long day. But I don’t see that being a problem. The Bengals have given up five sacks in the last five games.”
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| Gradkowski gets his first start as a Raider in place of the benched JaMarcus Russell and how fitting. It was Toledo’s Gradkowski that made his first NFL start against the Bengals in Tampa in 2006 when he was a rookie. He produced just seven points and the Bengals had him beat, 13-7, with just over a minute left when Smith sacked him and knocked the ball loose. But the officials called Smith for an invisible roughing penalty and to Gradkowski’s credit he rebounded to fire an eight-yard TD pass to Michael Clayton with 35 seconds left. “That’s not going to happen again,” Big Bird says. “Fluke. Plus, they’re doing a better job of keeping the quarterback in the pocket. You’re looking at a guy that has a worse passer rating (44.2) than Russell (47.7)."
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Crocker (calf) missed the first two days of practice this week and went limited Friday. The 6-5, 255-pound Miller is Oakland's leading receiver with 29 catches for nearly 15 yards per catch and he has one of the two touchdown receptions the Raiders have all season. It was an 86-yarder, which shows how fast and explosive these guys can be. “They’ll go to Zach a lot, I’m sure,” The Sage says. “A new quarterback who they’ll want to get comfortable with on some short throws early and rolling him out of the pocket.”
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The Raiders rookies have been exasperating scouts of all ilk. They’ve got all the speed in the world, but just can’t seem to catch it once they run by the secondary. “Bey is a great talent, but his hands haven’t shown up,” The Eye says. “I mean, the passing game hasn’t been very good and when they do get open they either drop it or they can’t get the ball there.” The long ball had been killing the Bengals early in the year. Going into the Bears game they had allowed an NFL-leading 25 passes of 20 yards or more. In the last three games they’ve allowed three.
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The speedy McFadden hasn’t played much since undergoing a scope for his shoulder and knee last month, and he played just 10 snaps last week. But two were in The Wildcat and the Bengals could see more than that with the quarterback change. Oakland has a pretty good corps with the powerful Michael Bush (4.5 per carry) and versatile Justin Fargas running the ball. They’re only averaging 3.9 yards per attempt behind a struggling offensive line, but you could see them turn to Bush more behind double tight ends with a new QB. That’s what they did in the second half last week when they gave the Chiefs a run in a 16-10 loss. But the Bengals are second against the run and The Sage sees this one as another matchup the Bengals should be able to control. The Raiders like to run left behind guard Robert Gallery and tackle Mario Henderson, but The Sage thinks tackle
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Lechler is the longest punter in NFL history at 47 yards per pop and is the King of The 50-Yarder. “This guy is a weapon in field position,” The Bird says. “Cosby has to catch it. It would be good to advance it, too, but he has to make sure he catches it first and not give up field position. The grass in Oakland is cut tighter than the grass in Pittsburgh. The grass in Pittsburgh is sloppy, the ball hits and doesn’t bounce. The grass in Oakland is wet. They have a moisture problem, but it will bounce. So (Cosby) has to go back to putting his heels on his 10-yard line and if it goes over, let it go.” | |
Ochocinco
Johnson
Whitworth
Crocker
Hall
Jones
Cosby
