Tag: Tom Cable (Page 6 of 7)

      Is Tom Cable qualified to be the Raiders’ head coach?

      January 29, 2009 /

      According to sources at ESPN.com, the Oakland Raiders have chosen Tom Cable to become their full-time head coach. The team hasn’t officially announced the decision yet, but it appears like it’s a done deal.

      Cable of course coached the Raiders for 12 games last season after Al Davis fired Lane Kiffin. But before those 12 games, Cable had just three years head coaching experience at the University of Idaho (in which he complied an 11-35 record), which begs the question: is he qualified to take over the mess in Oakland?

      Cable coached in the collegiate ranks from 1987 to 2005, mostly as an offensive line coach and as an offensive coordinator. In 2006, he took over as the Falcons’ offensive line coach for one season and then coached the Raiders’ O-line in 2007 and six games in 2008 before taking over as interim head coach after Kiffin was fired.

      In 12 games last year, the Raiders went 4-8 under Cable, with impressive victories over the Broncos, Texans and Buccaneers over that span. But the team also showed little to no effort in losses to the Falcons, Chargers and Patriots.

      Possibly the main motivation behind the Cable hire was that the players seem to favor him. He has become known as a motivator, which is certainly one of the things that the Raiders need. But can he develop JaMarcus Russell? Can he help Davis build a roster via free agency and the draft? Or is he just another “yes man” that Davis can control and that’s the main reason he got the full time gig? (Remember, Kiffin was fired in Oakland largely because he wanted to do run the team his own way and that never sat well with Davis.)

      The key to the Cable hire might be whom the team chooses at the coordinator positions. If Cable can find two respected coordinators to run the offense and defense, then he can do what he does best in keeping the team motivated throughout the year.

      Regardless of the overall inexperience he has at the NFL level, Cable deserves a shot because he’s built a good relationship with the players and that could go a long way in Oakland. Now he just has to build a competent staff and hope that Davis doesn’t spend another offseason overspending on overrated players.

      NFL

      Is JaMarcus Russell a bust? Vol. II.

      December 5, 2008 /

      JaMarcus RussellBack in October I questioned whether or not former first overall pick JaMarcus Russell was a bust after the Saints’ routed his Raiders 34-3 in Week 6. And after the San Diego Chargers blasted Oakland 34-7 on Thursday night, I’m proposing the question again.

      Russell completed 9 of 13 passes, but he two of his three incompletions were interceptions and he threw for just 68 yards. On top of his poor numbers, he was also carted off the field at halftime with an ankle injury. Andrew Walter replaced him in the second half and was equally atrocious, throwing for 61 yards and a pick himself.

      In 12 games (he missed one due to injury), Russell has compiled a 70.1 passing rating, 1,797 yards, seven touchdowns and six interceptions. His completion percentage is a paltry 51.4% and he’s thrown for over 250 yards once this season (Week 4). But perhaps a more telling stat is that he’s been sacked 27 times this year, or 2.25 times a game.

      No quarterback, not Brett Favre, Joe Montana or Tom Brady, can do it by himself. I’m not excusing Russell’s play because he has looked absolutely brutal at this season, but how can the Raiders expect this kid to win if they don’t protect him? Furthermore, he doesn’t play in an environment conducive to winning and neither Tom Cable nor Greg Knapp are very good play callers/offensive coordinators. Knapp’s offenses will put you to sleep with their predictability.

      Russell needs to show dramatic improvements, but the Raiders front office also has to help him out. Instead of going out and getting a flashy, high-priced free agent wide receiver or drafting another running back, they need to start building an offensive line. Russell will never survive without the big bodies up front to protect him, I don’t care how strong his arm is how or how big he is.

      But that’s not Al Davis’s style is it? He wants flash over substance. And that’s why this team is forever doomed with him at the helm. It’s likely Russell will never get a fair shot before being labeled a bust and ushered out of Oakland.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      This might be the worst Raiders team in history

      November 10, 2008 /

      How bad does a team have to be if the opposing quarterback can go 7 of 27 for 72 yards, throw four interceptions and still win?

      That opposing quarterback was Jake Delhomme in the Panthers’ 17-6 win over the Raiders on Sunday. He was worst than the numbers indicate, but while Oakland moved the ball decently, they couldn’t put it in the end zone. They did rush for 147 yards, but Andrew Walter threw two interceptions and Da Raiders turned the ball over a total of three times.

      Of course, Walter’s 143 passing yards were still better than JaMarcus Russell’s high of 31 passing yards in last Sunday’s loss against the Falcons. While Walter was far from even below average, he probably was more productive than Russell (who dressed, but sat out due to an injury) would have been.

      This could very well be the worst Raiders team in the history of the franchise and Al Davis has nobody to blame but himself. Davis wanted to have his thumb on Lane Kiffin when he was head coach and when Lane didn’t abide, Al saw to it that he was replaced. Well as it turns out, the Raiders were actually still playing hard under Kiffin because they saw direction. There is no direction under interim head coach Tom Cable (not all his fault) and the players are quitting.

      Davis won’t, but he needs to step aside. He needs to get a strong front office person in charge to do all the day-to-day operations or else the Raiders will sink further and further into oblivion. Al thinks that flashy draft picks and high priced free agents are what build a winning football team and he’s sadly mistaken.

      Somewhere Lane Kiffin smiles and laughs from afar.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Raiders are laughably bad

      November 2, 2008 /

      Oakland RaidersNo team, not even the Jaguars or Rams, played worse than the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. No team.

      In the Falcons’ 24-0 win in Oakland, the Raiders managed just three first downs. Total. Three total first downs. They also mustered only 77 total yards, turned the ball over twice and held the ball for only 14 minutes and 45 seconds compared to the Falcons’ 45:15.

      The Raiders finished with 10 passing yards. Ten passing yards…the entire game. At one point, JaMarcus Russell attempted a pass and threw the ball behind him like on those football follies videos.

      This game was so bad that once Atlanta took a 24-0 lead with six minutes remaining in the second quarter, they ran out the rest of the game clock. Seriously, I don’t know if the Falcons felt bad for the Raiders or what, but they almost looked like they were purposely trying not to score.

      Al Davis is getting what he deserves. He never allowed Lane Kiffin to run the team the way he wanted to and now he’s stuck with a team that clearly doesn’t want to play hard for Tom Cable.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Hey NFL coaches: The kicker freeze doesn’t work

      October 19, 2008 /

      Tom CableRemember when Mike Shanahan’s call-a-timeout-the-millisecond-before-the-kicker-attempts-a-field-goal strategy swept the nation last year? Yeah, well it doesn’t work anymore and coaches might want to think about scraping the idea after Raiders’ head coach almost cost his team a win Sunday against the Jets.

      After Brett Favre somehow marched the Jets into field goal range with under 30 seconds to play in Oakland, Jay Feely set up to attempt a game-tying 52-yard field goal. He wound up booting the ball off one of the uprights, which should have given the Raiders a 13-10 win, but that trickster Cable fooled everyone and called a timeout. Of course Feely kicked his next attempt straight through the uprights to force overtime.

      Granted, Cable still earned his first victory as a NFL head coach when the Raiders eventually won 16-13 on a remarkable record-setting 57-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski in overtime, but it should have never come to that. It seems that freezing the kicker backfires more than it benefits and in worst-case scenarios, it could wind up costing teams wins.

      Kickers even admit that it helps them settle down and relax. So why continue to do it if you’re an NFL head coach?

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑