Oakland suffers painful loss to Redskins, 34-13

By Steve Corkran
Contra Costa Times

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OAKLAND — It's not often the Oakland Raiders enter a game feeling they should win. Yet, a game against the 3-9 Washington Redskins on Sunday had the Raiders feeling they were on the verge of posting back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

Instead, the Raiders were dominated by the Redskins for most of the game and departed the Coliseum on the losing end of a 34-13 game in front of a sparse crowd.

"We're very disappointed in that locker room right now, because we lost a golden opportunity for us to move forward with the right kind of step," Raiders coach Tom Cable said. "We just didn't do it."

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Middle linebacker Kirk Morrison said he and his teammates talked all week about how they looked forward to the opportunity to show fans that their 27-24 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers a week earlier wasn't a fluke.

Cable challenged his players by displaying signs around the locker room and the rest of the facility, declaring Sunday as the day the Raiders would break through.

"We were so confident, man," Morrison said. "We were prepared to play well and get over the hump. We just didn't play well, for whatever reason. We've got to find a way to get this worked out."

It's too late for this season. The Raiders dropped to 4-9 and were eliminated from playoff contention for the seventh straight season.

Therefore, it's time for thoughts to turn toward 2010. In some respects, that happened Sunday, as Cable received another glimpse of what life is like with JaMarcus Russell at quarterback.

Russell played only because Bruce Gradkowski suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in both knees in the first half and missed the remainder of the game.

Russell entered the game in the third quarter to a chorus of boos and three days removed from promising "a totally different JaMarcus" upon his return.

He completed his first pass for 9 yards and a first down on a drive that yielded a field goal. But after that, the totally different JaMarcus looked even worse than the one who was benched by Cable after nine games.

He was sacked six times, had one pass intercepted and fumbled at his own 2-yard line. The Raiders managed 188 yards offense behind Gradkowski, only 39 with Russell at the helm.

"Russell had a tough time," Redskins defensive end Andre Carter said. "You could kind of tell once he stepped on the field and the crowd started booing. To go through that and play through that, I couldn't imagine. But, as a defense, you show no mercy. We just got it going."

The Redskins turned a 17-13 lead into 31-13 in short order in the fourth quarter. Russell spent the rest of the game on the run from Carter, fellow end Brian Orakpo and whomever else the Redskins rushed.

Raiders left offensive tackle Mario Henderson was victimized by Orakpo to the tune of four sacks.

Yet, he made it clear that more goes into a sack than a lineman holding off a pass rusher.

"If you ask me again if there's anything I could change, I'd go out there and do the same thing," Henderson said. "How I block, my footsteps, everything would be the same way. I wouldn't change a thing. Not a thing."

Several players said Russell held on to the ball too long, failed to elude pressure and missed opportunities to get the ball out before defenders arrived.

Gradkowski's ability to do those things helped him guide the Raiders to two victories in three games before Sunday and endeared him to Cable.

Russell's lack of mobility played into Washington's hands, Carter and Orakpo said.