The Oakland Raiders (5-11) looked like they might be upsetting the Baltimore Ravens (9-7) playoff chances, but Charlie Frye got hurt and the horrific JaMarcus Russel came in.  Russel was the biggest reason for the Raiders poor record this season, and he was the reason they lost this game.  After Frye had thrown for 180 yards and a touchdown on 18/25 passes, he was injured and that is when Russel came in and blew it for the Raiders.  Down only one, Russel went on to throw an interception that led to an easy rushing touchdown for the Ravens.  The Raiders were still in the game though, but Russel destroyed their chances when he lost a fumble at the Ravens 23-yard line.

The Raiders defense did a good job stopping the Ravens’ passing game.  Ravens’ talented quarterback Joe Flacco was not much of a factor, finishing with 102 yards on 11/19 passes.  The Raiders’ run-defense was a different story.  They could not contain Ravens’ running back Willis McGahee.  McGahee rushed for 3 touchdown and 167 yards on just 16 carries.  One of his touchdowns was a 77-yard run in the second quarter.  This was not a good end to the Raiders bad season, and the only question left is will Al Davis fire Tom Cable?