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11/07/2006 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the late Howard Cosell was announcing Monday night's Raiders game he would have had plenty of opportunities to utter the words, "Down goes Walter!"
Cosell's famous catchphrase was about Joe Frazier, but Smokin' Joe was only knocked to the canvas six times in his 1973 fight with George Foreman while Raiders quarterback Andrew Walter was sacked nine times in Monday's loss to the Seahawks. The 16-0 setback ended a two-game winning streak for Oakland (2-6) and dropped the club into a tie for the worst record in the AFC.
Oakland's inability to hold off the constant onslaught of Seattle's pass-rushers rendered Walter and the Raiders offense ineffective, and was the biggest factor in the shutout loss on a rainy night in the Pacific Northwest. The only good thing you can say about Oakland's O-line after this travesty was that it only gave up two sacks after halftime.
It's no secret that the Raiders' offensive line has been a weakness for the team over the past few seasons. The recent high draft selections of tackles Robert Gallery (1st round, 2004) and Langston Walker (2nd round, 2002) and center Jake Grove (2nd round, 2004) have done little to solve the problem.
Gallery has been the biggest disappointment for the Raiders because he was the second overall pick in the 2004 draft and was supposed to fix this situation all by himself. And while Gallery has clearly struggled, it is unfair to place the blame squarely on his shoulders. The sacks were coming from all directions and it is clear that Oakland, as a team, is simply unable to block.
This terrible play of the offensive line is extremely hard to swallow for Raiders head coach Art Shell, who made it to Canton as a result of being one of the best offensive linemen of his generation.
"As you saw we did not play well," said Shell. "We did not do a good job of protecting the quarterback. Man on man you have to block people, one on one, and we just didn't do that."
The thing that seems to bother Shell the most about his team's problems at protecting the passer is the fact that he believes it is a matter of his club simply not competing hard enough and failing to execute as a result.
"They blitzed us and we had people in position to block the blitz, but those are the one-on-one battles," Shell added.
Oakland's offensive line debacle is an issue that is nearly impossible to fix in the middle of the season, so what are the Raiders to do about it? The only real solution is to wait until the offseason and try to add some talent through free agency or the draft.
Only this time, the Raiders' front office better make the right choices in personnel, or there could be a few more nine-sack games in the Silver and Black's future.
TOSS IT TO MOSS
It's a credit to wide receiver Randy Moss' amazing talent that in a game where his quarterback is sacked nine times, he is still able to catch six balls for 76 yards.
Still, it is impossible for Moss to be truly effective when his quarterback has no time to throw the ball. The 6-foot-4 Moss likes to go downfield and out-leap smaller cornerbacks for huge gains, but it's hard to do that when Walter, or whoever is under center, gets dropped even before he is able to complete a three-step drop back.
Moss put up such great numbers in his seven years with the Minnesota Vikings that last season, his first campaign with Oakland, seemed like a disappointment despite the fact that he hauled in 60 catches for 1,005 yards and eight touchdowns.
This year Moss will be lucky if he exceeds those heights with only 32 receptions, 447 yards and three TDs at the midway point of the season.
KNEE, JERK REACTION
Playing for the Raiders must be extremely frustrating, so maybe Tyler Brayton was just coming up with a creative way to get out of a few games.
Brayton, a starting defensive end for Oakland, was ejected from the game late in the fourth quarter when he became involved in a pushing match with Seattle's Jerramy Stevens and ended the tussle by kneeing the Seahawks' tight end in the groin.
"He will be disciplined by the league for sure," said Shell of Brayton.
The encounter will be seen by virtually everyone in the country over the next few days, and many people will give their opinion on if Brayton should be suspended and for how long. My guess is a three-week vacation for Mr. Brayton.
UP NEXT
The Raiders will return home next Sunday when they battle the Denver Broncos. Oakland played the Broncos tough in the Mile High City last month, dropping a 13-3 decision.
<< Howard's hot bat blasts MLB stars over Japan
Osaka, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Howard's tie-breaking solo homer ignited
a five-run eighth inning to lead the Major League Baseball All-Stars over the
Japanese All-Stars, 7-2, at the Kyocera Dome.
Howard, of the Philadelphia Phillie
<< Seahawks' defense beats up Raiders
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle defense held Oakland to only 185
total yards of offense, sacked Raiders quarterback Andrew Walter nine times
and the Seahawks shutout Oakland 16-0 at a wet Qwest Field.
Defensive tackle Craig
<< Whoa Nellie! Warriors edge Mavs in Nelson's return to Big D
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baron Davis' 26 points and Jason Richardson's
22 helped the Golden State Warriors pull out a tense 107-104 win over the
Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center.
The game was an successful ret
<< Kovalchuk's hat trick carries Thrashers past Bruins
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ilya Kovalchuk notched his second hat trick of
the season as the Atlanta Thrashers continued their hot play with a 5-3
victory over the Boston Bruins at Philips Arena.
Slava Kozlov had a goal and thre
Titans' win streak was quick >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - That was short-lived.
The Tennessee Titans last week won their second straight game for the first
time since 2003. The outlook was a little brighter, but that dimmed quite
quickly.
The Titans traveled to beautiful Jacks
Lions place seven players on All-Star team >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The B.C. Lions placed a league-high seven
players on the Canadian Football League All-Star team, which was announced on
Tuesday.
British Columbia placed five players on the defensive side of the All-
Troy Story: Vincent helps Skins top Dallas >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Signed just a few weeks ago by the Washington Redskins,
veteran defensive back Troy Vincent knew he had some football left in him.
Vincent suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 against New England, and the
Buffalo Bills pl
Defense helps Bills end skid >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo's London Fletcher is rarely mentioned as one of the
top middle linebackers in the NFL.
The usual suspects are Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher, Zach Thomas or Jeremiah
Trotter, but Fletcher certainly deserves something cl
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
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MySportsbook.com Releases World Series Championship Lines
New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox early favorites to win 2008 World Series
The Major League Baseball season starts this weekend and MySportsbook.com, a leading online sportsbook for over 8 years, is the first to offer baseball sports betting lines on who will win the 2007 World Series.
"The World Series is the biggest baseball event in the sports betting world and MySportsbook.com is excited that we are first to market with betting lines on every team," says Tim Dalton, Marketing Director, MySportsbook.com. "We are getting things ready for a great baseball season and our members are looking forward to our Player Payback Bonuses, as well as Dime Lines, all season long."
Going in to this weekend, MySportsbook.com's favorites to win the World Series are the New York Yankees at 7-2 and last year’s winners the Chicago White Sox at 9-2.
"These betting lines are ripe for the picking," Dalton added, "baseball fans know that the season is long and many factors, including players staying healthy, will affect these Future odds as the baseball season progresses. Betting on your favorite team in the beginning of the season could prove quite lucrative. We are seeing examples of this right now in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament with a lucky few that placed pre-season bets on George Mason to win it all. Anything can happen."
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