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?

The Raiders got pushed around by the Cleveland Browns yesterday.  Charlie Frye completed 26 of 45 passes for 333 yards but he still thought he played with the Browns completing 3 passes to them too.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 13 yards (6.5 ypc).  Michael Bush led the way on the ground for the Raiders with 52 yards on only 10 carries (5.2 ypc).  Darren McFadden was also busy with 7 carries for 23 yards (3.3 ypc) and 4 receptions for 55 yards (13.8 avg).  Zach Miller was a beast in the passing game for the Raiders yesterday with 9 grabs for 110 yards (12.2 avg).  Chaz Schilens also had a solid game with 4 grabs for 64 yards (16.0 avg) yesterday.  The Raiders finished up with 389 total yards on offense (88 rushing, 301 passing).

Linebacker Kirk Morrison led the way for the Raiders yesterday with 14 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit.  Safety Tyvon Branch pitched in with 10 tackles yesterday.  The Browns finished up with 282 yards on offense (164 rushing, 118 passing) in this game.  The Raiders are now 5-10 on the year.

JaMarcus Russell has been one of the main downfalls of the Oakland Raiders (5-9) 2009 season, but he was the hero on Sunday against the Denver Broncos (8-6).  The Raiders’ starting quarterback Charlie Frye went 9/17 for 68 yards and 1 interception before leaving the game after a very hard hit early in the 4th quarter.  That is when Russell came in and went 5/11 for 47 yards and had the game winning touchdown pass with 35 seconds left.  The Raiders also got huge games from their running backs Michael Bush and Darren McFadden.  Bush had 133 yards and 1 touchdown on 18 carries and McFadden had 74 yards and 12 carries.  The Raiders finished with 241 rushing yards as a team.

The Raiders defense played well in this one, especially stopping the run.  They held the Broncos to 80 rushing yards on 28 carries.  They did give up too many yards in the passing game, with Broncos’ quarterback Kyle Orton going for 278 yards and 1 touchdown on 19/34 passes.  Russell may have been the hero on offense, but it was Stanford Routt who was the hero on defense.  With under 6 minutes to play, Broncos’ receiver Brandon Stokley ran 63 yards before being taken down by Routt at the 4-yard line.  Although Routt was called for a horse-collar penalty, it save a game-sealing touchdown and the penalty only moved the Broncos two yards up.  The defense then stuffed the Broncos, giving Russel his opportunity for the comeback only minutes later.

The Oakland Raiders (4-9) lost Bruce Gradkowski to knee injuries and the offense seemed to leave with him against the Washington Redskins (4-9) on Sunday.  JaMarcus Russell started the second half for Gradkowski, and the Raiders only managed to score 3 points in the second half with Russell at quarterback.  He didn’t get much help from the running game, but running back Darren McFadden did catch three passes for 84 yards.  With Russell at quarterback, the Raiders offense was terrible once again.

The Raiders defense kept them in the game for the first three quarters.  They could not stop the Redskins in the fourth though, and the Skins put up 17 points in the final quarter.  Redskins’ quarterback Jason Campbell did well against the Raiders defense, passing for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns on 16/28 passes.  The Redskins have been blowing fourth quarter leads, while the Raiders have had a few come from behind wins, but that wasn’t the case in this game.  It looks as if Gradkowski may be done for the year, which is bad news for the Raiders.

Bruce Gradkowski and the Oakland Raiders (4-8) played their best game of the season and took down the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6).  Gradkowski put up some great numbers as he passed for 308 yards and 3 touchdowns while completing 20/33 pass attempts.  Gradkowski found receiver Louis Murphy only a few times, but Murphy had a lot of success.  He caught 4 passes for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The Raiders also were successful on the ground, rushing for 109 yards as a team.

This was a good all-around effort for the Raiders, but the defense did have a let down late in the game.  With less than 2-minutes to go the Steelers scored to take a four point lead.  It looked like the Raiders upset was going to fall short, but Gradkowski and the Raiders’ offense had plenty of time to mount a comeback drive.  With nine seconds left Gradkowski and Murphy hooked up for their second touchdown of the game, and it was the game winner.  This was a great win for the Raiders and they are a much better football team without JaMarcus Russel under center.