Raiders Woes continue in lopsided loss to Saints

In the first game since Al Davis fired head coach Lane Kiffin, laying into him for “disgracing” the Raiders’ franchise, the Oakland football team did a good job of continuing his work without him.  Oakland scored first on a Sebastian Janikowski FG in the first quarter and then watched Drew Brees and the Saints respond with 34 unanswered points en route to a 34-3 rout.

The Tom Cable era in Oakland began less competitively than the Kiffin era ended, though the new coach tried to find a silver lining in the obvious dark cloud by suggesting the debacle was a “learning experience” for Raiders QB Jamarcus Russell.  In particular, Cable suggested that Russell learn from the experience of Drew Brees shredding the team’s pitiful secondary:

"You have to use him as a model if you are the Oakland Raiders. That's where we want [Russell] to get."

Russell would get there a lot faster if he got to play against the Oakland Raiders’ defense.  For his part, Brees was nearly flawless in completing 87% of his passes going 26 for 30 racking up 320 yards and 3 TD passes.  Brees continued his excellent play this season, producing his fourth straight 300+ yard passing game and 18th since joining the Saints in 2006.  Brees even apologized to his offensive line after the game for holding the ball too long on the one sack he took.

Cable might try to spin the game as a “learning experience” but it had all of the earmarks of a fiasco.  It was the Saints largest margin of victory in five years, and the Raiders’ low water mark for points scored and biggest losing margin in the first game under a head coach.  The Raiders also fell to 20-65 since 2003, which is the worst record in the NFL during that span.  Makes one wonder if Kiffin is really the source of the team’s “disgrace” or merely a scapegoat.

Cable will get another shot at earning his first win as Raiders’ head coach next Sunday as Brett Favre and the New York Jets come to town.  That’ll be followed by a trip to Baltimore to face the Ravens, with home games against Atlanta and Carolina on tap for the following two weeks.  The Saints will travel to Charlotte for a game against Carolina next Sunday before returning home to face the San Diego Chargers the week after.  Following a bye week they’ll travel to Atlanta for a game against the Falcons on 11/9.