It aint easy being brilliant...

Bucccaneers rookie running back, Doug Martin was in absolute BEAST MODE against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

The former Boise State player toted the rock 25 times for an unbelievable 251 yards and 4 TD’s against an obviously clueless Raiders’ defense.

Halfway through the season, Martin now ranks 3rd in the NFL in rushing, and is in the conversation for Rookie of the Year.

For those of you that think that statement was ludicrous, and that either RGIII or Luck has the award locked up, Martin is clearly 3rd behind those two.

That clearly puts him “in the conversation.”

In a contest of suck ass teams, the Oakland Raiders managed simply to suck less than a Kansas City Chiefs team that my mid 90’s Pee Wee league team could’ve hung in there with.

And our QB was better than Brady Quinn, too…

Carson Palmer threw for 209 yards and 2 TD’s, Darren McFadden awoke from a Chris Johnson like slumber to tote it 29 times for 114 yards, and the Oakland Raiders improved to 3-4 on the season.

As for the Chiefs, they are 1-6 and it doesn’t matter who they line up under center.

Hey Chiefs! I was the 2nd string QB for my local high school team! PUT ME IN!!!

Its hard to believe that a contest between 2 of the 5 worst teams in the NFL actually turned out to be a half decent football game, but…

The Oakland Raiders, who at one point trailed 17-3 and 20-6, outscored the Jaguars 20-3 from 10:42 remaining in the 3rd through 12:54 remaining in OT when Sebastian Janikowski knocked down a game winning 40 yard field goal to improve the Raiders’ record to 2-4 and drop the Jags to 1-5 on the season.

To make matters worse for the Jaguars, it looks as if they have lost both Maurice Jones-Drew, who lead the NFL in rushing only a season ago, AND starting QB Blaine Gabbert for the time being.

When bad teams have bad luck……..

Matt Ryan had a rare shitty game, the Falcons got nothing on the groundm, and somehow, some way, the Atlanta Falcons improved to 6-0 on the season.

The Raiders out gained the Falcons 474 to 286, out rushed them 149 to 45, posessed the ball nearly 13 minutes longer, forced 3 Matt Ryan interceptions, and STILL LOST to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

Only the Raiders find ways to lose games like these.

In what was mostly an ugly game that excited nobody, the Falcons ineffective offense was bailed out by a 79 yard pick 6 by Asante Samuel that put the Falcons ahead 20-13 and a 55 yard game winning field goal with a second remaining by Matt Bryant following one of the few solid Matt Ryan drives of the day to give the Falcons the victory.

I’ve always been a firm believer that the games you should have won, yet still found a way to lose are the ones that destroy a team’s confidence. The Oakland Raiders simply can’t lose games like this.

And is there a QB in the league you would rather have with the ball for a game winning drive than Matt Ryan?

Peyton Manning threw for 338 yards and 3 TD’s on 30-38, Willis McGahee ran for 112 yards and a TD on 19 carries, and the Denver Broncos improved to 2-2 on the season via a 37-6 beatdown of the now 1-3 Oakland Raiders.

The Broncos put up 503 total yards of offense, held the Raiders to 237, and posessed the ball for nearly 15 minutes longer than the men in black.

If you’re the Oakland Raiders, you are quite simply not going to win many games in which you get only 34 yards on 2.6 yards per carry from Darren McFadden.

I still think that Darren McFadden has it within him to be an elite running back in this league. But until he shows that via the proper platform from the Raiders, this team will continue to stink.

It’s as simple as that, really.

On a day in which the Pittsburgh Steelers out gained the Raiders 433 to 321, posessed the ball nearly 13 minutes more than the Raiders, and turned the ball over LESS than the Raiders, they still walked out of Oak Town the victims of their 2nd loss of the season.

The Steelers took a 31-21 lead into the 4th quarter on Sunday only to be outscored 13-0 in the final period via a Denarius Moore touchdown, and 2 Sebastian Janikowski field goals, giving the Oakland Raiders their 1st win of the season.

The Steelers loss wasted a BIG BOY BALLIN type effort from QB Ben Roethlisberger, who threw for 384 yards and 4 TD’s on 36-49.

For the Raiders’ Carson Palmer’s yardage numbers don’t blow you away , but 3 TD’s and only 1 interception=His best game of the season.

If you are the Raiders, winning sure beats the shit out of losing. But your next 2 games are against the Broncos and Falcons, and up to this point, I still don’t know what to make of your team other than the fact than when your offense looks bad, it looks really bad. Maybe the BYE in Week 5 you have coming up is a chance to get back to basics.

If you are the Steelers, I think that many people, myself included, expected you to be 3-0 at this point. Your defense is doing what it’s supposed to, Big Ben is playing well, so what is the problem??? Look no further than the 30th the Steelers rank in rushing…

1. San Francisco 49ers (2-0)
2. Houston Texans (2-0)
3. Atlanta Falcons (2-0)
4. San Diego Chargers (2-0)
5. Philadelphia Eagles (2-0)
6. Baltimore Ravens (1-1)
7. Green Bay Packers (1-1)
8. New England Patriots (1-1)
9. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1)
10. Arizona Cardinals (2-0)
11. Detroit Lions (1-1)
12. New York Giants (1-1)
13. Carolina Panthers (1-1)
14. Denver Broncos (1-1)
15. Washington Redskins (1-1)
16. Cincinnati Bengals (1-1)
17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1)
18. Chicago Bears (1-1)
19. Seattle Seahawks (1-1)
20. Dallas Cowboys (1-1)
21. New York Jets (1-1)
22. Miami Dolphins (1-1)
23. St. Louis Rams (1-1)
24. New Orleans Saints (0-2)
25. Buffal0 Bills (1-1)
26. Indianapolis Colts (1-1)
27. Minnesota Vikings (1-1)
28. Cleveland Browns (0-2)
29. Tennessee Titans (0-2)
30. Kansas City Chiefs (0-2)
31. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2)
32. Oakland Raiders (0-2)

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, Reggie Bush spent 60 minutes yesterday reminding us that he is a former Heisman trophy winner (the NCAA’s ruling hasn’t made anybody forget that Reggie won it), and why we all thought he was going to take the NFL by storm in the first place.

Mr. Bush was in BEAST mode all day, toting the rock for 172 yards and 2 TD’s on 26 carries, including 23 yard, and 65 yard TD runs in the third quarter.

As for Dolphins rookie starter, Ryan Tannehill, 18-30 for 200 yards and 1 TD won’t set any records, but when you factor in the strong play of Bush, and the fact that Tannehill threw no interceptions, and took only one sack, that was MORE than enough to get the job done, and earn the rookie his 1st career victory.

As for Raiders’ QB Carson Palmer, if he hasn’t spent time beating himself up for threatening the now playoff caliber Bengals with retirement only to force a trade to the perenial suck fest that is the Oakland Raiders before now, I have no other choice but to question his mental capacity.

I’ll complete this post with ONE last question….

Will Darren McFadden EVER become an elite NFL running back???

Real talk…

This was the single WORST Monday Night Football game I’ve EVER seen.

Whoever scheduled this disorganized, clusterfuck of a snooze fest is NO DOUBT at ESPN headquarters having all of his scheduling privileges revoked.

So is there any good news for either team on a night in which a replacement long snapper, of all people, GREATLY contributed to the game’s outcome, giving the Chargers stellar field position and putting the Raiders defense in a bind time and time again?

For the Chargers:

• At least Phillip Rivers, who spent years viewed as one of the game’s 5 best QB’s before he threw an ubelievably awful 20 INT’s last season, threw ZERO tonight. In fact, Rivers, though not brilliant, was on his game for the most part, going 24-33 for 231 yards and a TD.
• The Chargers held Darren McFadden to a mere 32 yards on 15 carries.
• Nate Kaeding was on the money with every kick, as he knocked in 5 FG’s for the Chargers
• They WON.

For the Raiders:

• Carson Palmer, who like Rivers was proned to INT’s last season, also was quite efficient going 32-46 for 297 yards, a TD, and most importantly, NO picks.
• I love the way they got the multi talented Darren McFadden involved in the passing game. 13 catches for 86 yards out of the backfield? Not a bad days work…
• Don’t let the scoreboard fool you. The Raiders D was actually quite decent. They only allowed one TD, and it’s not like they put up 22 points by long, grinding drives. The Raiders replacement long snapper gift wrapped some extremely nice field position for the Chargers on SEVERAL occasions

If you’re the Raiders, you HAVE to solve the issues with the long snapper, but there were several things to be encouraged by. It was just one game, and in a division that I believe will be fairly closely contested, I think they can find a way to stay in the hunt until the end.

If you’re the Chargers, you are 1-0. EXACTLY what you wanted to be. But you aren’t going to win the AFC West, or beat any of the league’s elite teams, for that matter, by constantly settling for field goals.

The tale of two teams who despite unbelievable talent, underachieved at a monumental level of consistent mediocrity.

Both SHOULD have gotten in the playoffs, NEITHER did.

For the Chargers, this loss and failure to make the playoffs wasn’t even the most dissapointing thing to happen to them THIS WEEK…

THAT distinction goes to their decision to RTAIN head coach Norv Turner for next year despite EVEY Chargers fan I’ve come in contact with this season wanting his head on a stick roasting above a camp fire.

As for the Raiders….how do you EVER expect to win AYthing when you commit 163 penalties in a single season?

(those 163 penalties are an NFL record, by the way)

Bold prediction…BOTH have the abilityto make the playoffs next season, NEITHER will.

So, I think it’s safe to say that record is IN THE BAG.

But wouldn’t it be a helluva story if th most penalized team in the history of the NFL ent on to make th playoffs?

But that is DEFINITLY possible if the Chiefs eam they just beat, turns around and sets the clock back on “Tebow Time” next week.

Game of the day?

I think so.

For the following reasons:

• Carson Palmer- UNREAL. 32/40 on the day,367 yards, a TD, O INT’s
• Matthew Stafford- 29/52, 391 yards, 4 TD’s. This kid is only 23 years old. WOW.
• Calvin Johnson=BEAST MODE. 9 catches, 214 yards, and 2 TD’s. The combo of Stafford and Johnson should be one that Lions fans will LOVE to watch for years to come.
• Raiders up 27-21, with 2:14 left, watched Matthew Stafford ignite a 98 yard drive that ended with a TD pass to Calvin Johnson to give the Lions a 28-27 lead.
• A 65 yard field goal attempt by Sebastian Janikowski that WOULD HAVE won the game for the Raiders AND been an NFL record was blocked by the ALWAYS controversial Ndamokong Suh who was playing n his first game following the 2 game suspension that was a result of his mud hole stomping of the Packers to seal the victory for the Lions.

THIS ONE will come back to haunt the Oakland Raiders.

Guaranteed.

DAMN, the Detroit Lions are fun to watch!

Respect.