Oakland Raiders battle Baltimore Ravens, lose 31-13

The Oakland Raiders battled gamely but lost to the now-playoff-bound Baltimore Ravens 31 to 13. It was a game the Oakland Raiders could have won, but an injury to quarterback Charlie Fry and questionable offensive strategy changes related to installing Quarterback JaMarcus Russell to replace him, engineered Oakland's loss.

The Oakland Raiders opened the game with Quarterback Charlie Frye and a great mix of spread passing formations, short passes and runs. The only problem was a consistent pattern of throwing out of passing formations and running out of running formations. The only aspect of this game more disappointing than the Raiders offensive plan was the sparse attendance. About half of the third deck of the Oakland Coliseum were empty as were large sections of seats around the stadium. All of that as readily visible on television as the Raiders offensive problems.

The Baltimore Ravens Defense was not the reason for the Raiders' offensive woes. The Raiders had more plays than the Ravens and just five yard less in total offense (330 to 325). The Raiders had 7 yards per pass versus 4.7 for the Ravens. The difference was turnovers and yards rushing, but most of the Ravens yards on the ground were earned after the Raiders turnovers. So all fingers point to the Raiders offense.

The problem isn't one player but the gameplan. Charlie Frye's injury revealed one major, glaring fact: the Oakland Raiders have not worked with JaMarcus Russell extensively on the kinds of passes that Charlie Frye executed so well when he was in the game.

JaMarcus Russell's problem is borne of a lack of confidence in the ability to react to what he sees. In several instances Russell pulled the ball down because he had not developed enough of a feel for the Raiders system to throw on time, such that passes could be completed even with cloe coverage. JaMarcus Russell's so fearful of throwing an interception that he's waiting for the obviously open receiver before he pulls the trigger. That doesn't happen a lot in the Raiders passing game as its designed.

Charlie Frye has more collective experience than Russell, so he should and does make throws that are in close space. The issue is the development of Russell. He's a project the Raiders have not committed themselves to and lived with his errors. Head Coach Tom Cable pulls Russell for other quarterbacks, watches those throwers get injured, then puts Russell in only to suffer with his lack of playing time. So the downward performance spiral continues.

The Baltimore Ravens are not a great team, but a squad aided by great coaches. The Ravens Willis NcGahee's 167 yards rushing consisted of one physical, stiff-arm of a run for 77-yards, and the rest a gashing mix of off-tackle runs and attacks around the end of the Raiders Defense. The run gains were strategically intelligent and complemented their seam-based passing attack. But with all of this, the Raiders arguably beat themselves and have earned the 8th pick in the 1st Round of the 2010 NFL Draft.