BASTA: Charles Woodson on Raiders’ Loss to Texans: “We Suck”

((HT: BASTA their own selves/Klotz))

Charles Woodson summed up the Raiders’ state in two word in his postgame interview: “we suck.” While he went on to explain that the Raider mistakes were fixable (with the added caveat, for now) those are still quite blunt words from the veteran safety.

Once again, the opposing team moved the ball with will against the Raiders’ defense. Arian Foster had a monster game, rushing for 138 yards and a touchdown. Early on, Foster gashed the Raiders with a 40-yard run down to the one yard line. The Texans capitalized a few plays later with a touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to none other than J.J Watt. On the ensuing drive, Foster punched in another short touchdown run. The Texans went into the half leading 17-0.

Maurice Jones-Drew sat out because of a minor hand surgery he had on Monday, so veteran Darren McFadden got the start in his place. While he got off to a slow start, he really came on in the second half and looked like he was running angry at the Texans defense. The Raiders once again showed flashes in the second half, including a read-option 40-yard scamper by Derek Carr. However, turnovers plagued the Raiders and whenever the Silver and Black made a good play, they followed it up with a miscue. To give you an idea of their turnover woes, James Jones managed to fumble the ball twice on one play. Mychal Rivera also had a fumble late in the game.

As a side note, for the second consecutive game, James Jones had a garbage time touchdown reception. On Sunday, Jones, not Rod Streater, seemed to be Carr’s preferred target. Jones had nine catches for 112 yards and a touchdown on 14 targets. Run DMC finished the day with 37 yard rushing on 12 carries and 31 yards receiving. For the second consecutive week Mcfadden looked fairly explosive, but the Raiders struggled to block J.J Watt, Brian Cushing and the rest of the Houston front.

Head coach Dennis Allen heard what Woodson had to say
((HT: CSN Bay Area))


Next up for the Raiders are the New England Patriots. While the Raiders should be able to run more effectively against New England, they may need to throw to keep up with Tom Brady and the Patriots’ passing game.