Through the first half of the season, the Raiders offense seemed to be headed for an all new standard of ineptitude. However, a funny thing hppened once JaMarcus Russell was put on the bench. The Raiders offense started coming together and scoring points. The team has rallied behind the leadership of Bruce Gradkowski and Oakland is 2-1 with him as a starter.
Through nine starts JaMarcus Russell had thrown only two touchdown passes against nine interceptions. Through three starts, Gradkowski has three times as many touchdowns at six and once interception. The bigger story is that under Russell, the offense as a whole was averaging 222 yards per game. Under Gradkowski the figure has risen to 325.
Coach Tom Cable explained why Gradkowski has been having success, "I said all along I thought there were plays to be made out there. It was a matter of getting the receivers involved. I think he's doing that. He's getting protection, he's getting the backs helping in that area as well as catching balls for him. But if you notice the biggest difference in the last three weeks is getting the wide receivers involved in the offense."
It is undeniable that Gradkowski has brought a new energy to the offense, "Bruce was playing at a high level, and they were able to protect him, and they did some things, we had set some things up earlier in the game to make some plays. We were predominantly a run team on third-and-short and sure enough we had two fourth downs, and one third-and-short earlier. We converted the two fourth downs, but got stopped on the third and one. So this was a long third-and-one-and-a-half to whatever, and got in a run formation that we'd only shown run out of in the past."
The rest of the team seems to be feeding off of Gradkowski's confidence, which was a key in yesterday's fourth quarter explosion, "I think when you are playing with confidence, and you think the guys around you are going to do what they need to do, you're going to take some chances like that. I don't know if the circumstances necessarily did. I just think it's believing that the guys will make some plays. Now, we're behind, so you're going to have to take a shot or two. It was probably a little bit of both when you get right down to it."
Cable has been waiting for this type of production out of his offense, "I said all along I thought there were plays to be made out there. It was a matter of getting the receivers involved. I think he's doing that. He's getting protection, he's getting the backs helping in that area as well as catching balls for him. But if you notice the biggest difference in the last three weeks is getting the wide receivers involved in the offense."
It seems that the Raiders have finally found the offensive leadership that has been lacking earlier in this season. It is too late for this new found competence to give them a shot at a winning season, much less the post season. However, it is something that could get a hot streak going that may save Cable's job.
