Oakland @ Jacksonville. Jags find their “Mojo” in the battle of the big guns

Well, this game had everything. 77-yard touchdown runs, interceptions, sacks, fumbles, huge pass plays and controversial decisions from both the referees and from the coaches. All in all, this was a very entertaining game to watch as a neutral, but a painful one to watch from an Oakland standpoint.

Going in, one thing was certain. Both teams were desperate for a win. Oakland were clinging onto to their play-off hopes for dear life, while Jacksonville came in on a hot streak after finding their rhythm against Tennessee the previous week.

It really is tough to decide if Jacksonville deserved to advance to 8-5 on the back of this, but Oakland certainly did not deserve to go to 6-7.

We all love to watch fast flowing, open ended football and this game was an example of what happens when great offences who can both run and pass the ball meet defences who have not impressed as much as they should have thus far. Big gains were occurring all over the field and as soon as McFadden ran 50 yards for a score, Jones-Drew would do the same for Jacksonville, taking this one right down to the wire.

The deciding factor, as with many close games, was the run defence and Oakland failed to stop “Mojo” Jones-Drew, which then allowed David Garrard to get the ball in his 156.3 rated hands and play-action his way to touchdowns. The secondary were no angels in this one and looked incapable of stopping Jacksonville from passing or running and it shows when we see that Jones-Drew and Rashad Jennings both got over 100 yards rushing, while Garrard managed to gain some rushing yards of his own and throw for 159 yards.

Oakland were up 17-7 well into the third quarter, but were eventually outscored 31-14. Even though their offence didn’t completely go to sleep, the main reason for the relentless onslaught by the Jags was Oakland allowing their opposition to rush for 234 yards off 34 carries. Personally, I put this down to the defensive line that had performed so well against Rivers last week. They showed why they are ranked 26 th against the run and were out-muscled by the Jaguars who were consistently able to open up huge running lanes and give Garrard time to pick his receiver.

One thing that, in my opinion, helped Oakland to lose the game was the introduction of Kyle Boller after Jason Campbell took a huge hit to leave him shaken up on the sideline. I know the Raiders had no other choice because Gradkowski is on the I.R but he looked rusty (understandable), low on confidence (understandable) and he really struggled with any kind of pressure.

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The first round draft pick to the Ravens didn’t seem to be able to decipher any of the different looks that the Jaguars defence were showing and he ended up getting picked off almost as soon as he got under centre. If Oakland still had Jason Campbell at this point, they would have had a better chance of at least getting a first down and giving their defence a much needed rest.

To add insult to injury, it’s all kicking off now because allegedly Tom Cable has been pointing the finger at his offensive co-ordinator, Hue Jackson, after Boller passed twice consecutively in the fourth quarter. All I know is that had Jason Campbell have been on the field (and he did come back on the next drive), this would not have happened and the headline to this article could have been very different.

If you’ve been reading my articles throughout the past couple of weeks then you will no doubt have noticed how much I like Jacoby Ford. However, in this game The Ford lost his ‘Focus’ and had a quieter one than we are used to him having in recent weeks, fumbling a kick return which resulted in a score for the Jaguars instead of steadying the Raider’s ship, which was rocking a little at this point.

I think that some of Oakland’s problem this year has come from the fact that as individuals, many of the players are incredible. Jacoby Ford has had an amazing year so far, as has Darren McFadden; yet, they lack any sort of consistency because the Raiders don’t always play as a team. Sure, McFadden may be running in for touchdowns, but is it because of his own skill and quickness? Or because of an amazing team effort and great blocking from the offensive line? Maybe a bit of both. But my point is that if Oakland want to take their game to the next level, the whole team needs to be playing for eachother.

From an Oakland perspective, this was definitely the Darren McFadden show, but the Jags show their metal and advance to 8-5. All the best from the UK!

By: Tom Greenhalgh
ProFootball-fans.com Oakland Raiders Correspondent