O.CO COLISEUM — After the San Diego Chargers lost to Washington on Sunday morning, the Oakland Raiders had a shot to keep the AFC West tightly-wound with a win over Philadelphia.
Unfortunately for Terrelle Pryor and the Raiders, the goal quickly slipped out of reach, as Chip Kelly’s “blur” offense trampled the Oakland defense to a 49-20 victory.
Quarterback Nick Foles had thrown six touchdown passes to five different receivers before the fourth quarter even started, and Terrelle Pryor was unable to answer.
Foles eventually threw his seventh, tying the all-time single game record. Head coach Dennis Allen said:
“Really, we just got beat today. …They executed and we didn’t. … It was just an old fashioned butt-whooping.”
Entering the game, Oakland possessed the sixth-ranked rushing defense and a 16th ranked pass defense. At the half, the Raiders had given up more pass yards than they had averaged all season. The story was the same on the ground. Allen said:
“We’re a better football team than we displayed out there today and we have to be better than that. … “We allowed way, way too many explosive plays down the field. And to beat a team like this, we talked about it all week, you can’t allow that many explosive plays.”
Rookie cornerback DJ Hayden was eaten alive by Eagles wideout Riley Cooper, and the linebackers didn’t fare much better against tight ends Brent Celek and Zach Ertz, allowing both to score.
Oakland just couldn’t get anything going after the first quarter, something Allen acknowledged during the post-game press conference:
“Obviously when you play out on the island and you have a tough day, things stand out a little more. … Our guys understand that we have got to come out and perform.”
Despite the butt-whooping, the Raiders had one of the best offensive days in their history from a total yards standpoint. Oakland had 560 yards in total offense, their third-best output in franchise history. Pryor said:
“I love my guys, I love the guys I’m playing with, we just gotta make better plays and it starts with me. … I was telling my guys ‘lets get down there and score.’”
The Raiders mustered just one touchdown, an eight-yard run by halfback Rashad Jennings.
The yards and points margin further reinforces fans are watching the same team they are used to watching: A lame-duck “just kind of win, baby” organization.
Before the game, it was the Eagles defense that was statistically porous, ranking near the bottom of NFL teams in passing yards allowed. It’s the Raiders, though, who will drop near the bottom after an awful performance.
All-pro free safety Charles Woodson said:
“I really don’t know what to say. They executed their game plan from the word ‘go’ and we never had an answer for them.”
Woodson was asked about the day that Hayden suffered through:
“It’s a tough day, but everybody has gone through it. … DJ was a 12th pick in the draft, nobody’s going to feel sorry for him. And he was in position to make plays and he’s going to have to make them going forward. I know that he’ll replay those plays in his mind every second of the day.”
A very common — and very true — saying is that being a rookie in the NFL is never easy. And while Hayden may have allowed some big plays, Woodson saw some things that the casual observer may not have. He explained:
“He was right there step-for-step on that deep ball. Another time, I don’t think he located the ball quick enough. … He was in position on every play and he’s got to make a play.”
Woodson, who is arguably the team’s most experienced player, called parts of the defensive effort “unacceptable.”
Coming off of a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in which Oakland sacked Ben Roethlisberger five times, pressure on Nick Foles was seldom observed.
Foles was allowed more than six seconds on about half of the 57 offensive plays. Allen said that they tried everything, but nothing worked:
“We tried some five man pressure, we tried some four man pressure. We tried some max drop, and really, at the end of the day, none of it worked.”
With the loss, the Oakland Raiders fall to 3-5 and remain in last place in the AFC West.
Menelik Watson played his first regular season game Sunday, most of it at right tackle after starter Matt McCants left with an injury. Terrelle Pryor also left with a hamstring injury but both Pryor and the team described the injury to be minor. … Juron Criner also saw his first game action of the season and caught three passes on eight targets. … Foles entered the record books with his seven touchdown passes, tying Y.A. Tittle, Joe Kapp, George Blanda, Peyton Manning, Adrian Burk and Sid Luckman for most touchdown passes in a single game. Foles was pulled early on in the fourth quarter while the Eagles had a commanding 49-13 lead. At his game pace, he could have thrown two more and shattered the record.
Follow @SFBay and @JLeskiwNFL on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of the Oakland Raiders.
Last modified November 5, 2013 8:57 am
This website uses cookies.