Monday Night Preview: Two Division Rivalries Set for ESPN Doubleheader

As if yesterday's slate of action couldn't get any better. Tonight, ESPN will continue its relatively new tradition of airing a double-header on the first Monday night of the season. The best part about that is it will include two division rivalries.

The first game, set to kick-off at 7 p.m. eastern time, will be between the Cincinnati Bengals and my AFC representative in SB XLVII––the Baltimore Ravens. Now, it isn't the fiercest rivalry in the AFC North, that obviously belongs to BAL/PIT, but it still always makes for a great matchup.

Second-year quarterback Andy Dalton will lead his Bengals offense, complete with new starting running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, into Baltimore to face Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. One of the top defenses in the game, it will be a tough matchup for the Bengals, who ranked 18th in overall offense just last season.

Some "experts" may have Cincinnati in the playoffs this season as a wild card team, but I kind of felt this team was a bit overrated last season. At 9-7 last year, there's no way they'll manage to get in the playoffs this season if they repeat that performance. Of course I'm only previewing tonight's game, not how the two seasons will go for these two teams (that's already been done).

This will be Joe Flacco's first shot at proving he can lead this team to the big one, and I think he'll come through against Cincinnati's defense. Baltimore wins this one tonight, 28-17.

As for the night cap of the doubleheader, set to kick-off at approximately 10:15 p.m. eastern time, is between the Chargers (8-8 last season, just missing the playoffs) and the Raiders (also 8-8 last season). Philip Rivers is another signal caller who is trying to prove he can win the big games when it matters as he leads his Charger offense into Oakland's black hole for primetime.

With San Diego's unproven starting running back Ryan Mathews (broken collarbone) rule out for tonight's game, it will be the veteran Ronnie Brown, a former Dolphin, who will get the start.

I don't see the running game for San Diego having a huge effect on the outcome, but I believe Rivers and his arm will be enough to trump Oakland's Carson Palmer on his own turf. San Diego wins 21-10.

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The Darren McFadden Effect: RunDMC Gives Oakland Best Shot at Winning Games

Tonight is the night we will get to see Oakland's Darren McFadden back in action during the Raiders' preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys. With Michael Bush departing for Chicago, it appears as though RunDMC (McFadden's nickname) will need to be as healthy as ever in 2012.

Mike Goodson, Carolina's former third stringer who filled in for the injured Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams two seasons ago by running for 452 yards and 3 TDs in three 2010 starts, was brought in to replace Bush as McFadden's backup.

Goodson played in all 16 games two seasons ago while filling in briefly, but last season very rarely saw the field (1 reception, 11 kick returns all season). He was hit hard during practice about a week ago and was carted off the field with an injured neck, but is expected to be ready for the opening of the regular season.

McFadden's NFL career has certainly gotten off to a rocky start. The fourth overall pick in the 2008 draft, McFadden has yet to play a complete season as he now enters his fifth year in the Raiders organization.

Running for 1,157 yards and seven TDs two seasons ago while averaging 5.2 yards per carry or better for two straight campaigns, McFadden has certainly shown ability and potential. It's inconsistency, however, that has made it tough for Oakland's fan base, and fantasy owners everywhere, to watch.

A guy who was once regarded as a true No. 1 back and a lock to break 1,000 rushing yards and close to double digit TDs totals yearly, is now seen as an injury prone risk. His best season by far was 2010 when he ran for over 1,000 yards the only time of his career yet still only started 13 games due to a hamstring injury suffered on October 3.

Over his career, RunDMC has averaged 657 yards and four touchdowns a season. Those are the types of numbers you'd see a second-string, possibly even a third-string running back putting up. But in just 32 starts over four season, it appears as though he's seen about as much playing time as a backup would. If he were to start every game, he would have exactly doubled his start count, to 64, which would have led to double the production.

No matter how much, or how little, of the field he's seen over the years due to the numerous injuries he's been battling, there's no doubting the idea that the Oakland Raiders are a far more dangerous team when he is carrying the football.

Numbers never lie, and this is certainly the case for McFadden and the struggling Oakland organization.

Since coming into the league in 2008, the Raiders have put up a combined record of 26-38 under three different head coaches. Two 5-11 campaigns in '08 and '09, then two mediocre 8-8 campaigns in '10 and '11.

Inconsistent quarterback play and less-than-average coaching could be to blame for the disappointing seasons. Or, you could say McFadden hasn't lived up to expectations. Either way, lets take a closer look at the Raiders with and effective Darren running the football, and an ineffective Darren running the football (or no Darren at all). The numbers tell it all.

Overall, the Raiders have a losing record in games that McFadden has appeared in since his 2008 rookie campaign (19-26), but in games that he ran for either 100 yards or a TD the Raiders have been much more successful with a 9-3 record. In multi-TD games for McFadden, Oakland is 3-1.

Those three records in comparison show that when McFadden is in the zone, Oakland has a much higher percent chance of winning the game.

We can dig a little deeper and take a closer look at when McFadden receives 10 or more carries as well. In 18 of McFadden's 45 games, he received less than 10 carries throughout the game. Now, clearly if you aren't touching the ball for at least 10 plays, you aren't making a huge impact on the outcome.

In those 27 games in which he did carry the ball for 10 or more times, the Raiders went 15-12. In games in which he ran 20 or more times, the Raiders went 6-2. The only time McFadden received 30 carries in a single game was on September 19, 2010 against the St. Louis Rams, and the outcome was 145 rushing yards and a 16-14 victory.

Moral of the story? Get McFadden the ball early and often to put your team in position to win. McFadden has struggled mightily to stay healthy enough for 20-25 touches a game, but he has shown over his career that good things happen when he gets a lot of touches each game.

The 24-year old has run for 150 or more yards throughout his 32 starts just four times (164, 165, 150, 171), including his second career game and most recently twice last September, but the Raiders have proven unbeatable during that occurrence. They are a perfect 4-0 in those games, including a 59-14 romping of division rival Denver two Octobers ago. In that game McFadden set a personal-best 3 TDs as it took him just 16 attempts to run for 165 yards (10.3 YPC).

Clearly, when McFadden is healthy and gets his fair share of touches, he doesn't go easy on opponents. On 12 separate occasions RunDMC posted a 5.0 yards/carry average in a game in which he received 10 or more rushing attempts. Seven of those went for 100+ yards and three more fell just short of that mark.

Are any of these McFadden facts impressing you yet? No? Well, okay, here's one more piece of information to digest before you make up your mind and decide whether or not to jump on the McFadden bandwagon: his injury history.

Staying healthy is the most important thing that NFL running backs deal with, and it's one of the biggest downsides to McFadden's game. Throughout his NFL career he's dealt with many different injuries to his body which caused him to miss nine starts in 2011 and 2009 and three starts in 2010.

*In his 2008 rookie campaign, McFadden suffered a toe injury against Kansas City in Week 2 which limited him for the rest of the season (finished season w/ 499 yards, 4 TD on 113 attempts in 5 starts/13 games).

*In 2009 McFadden battled numerous injuries, including a knee injury that kept him out for four games (finished season w/ 357 yards, 1 TD on 104 attempts...7 starts/12 games).

*In 2010, McFadden's breakout season, he ran for a career-best 1,157 yards and 7 TDs on 223 attempts. He missed just three starts due to a hamstring injury. This season was the only time McFadden ran the ball for 200+ times in his career.

*In 2011, McFadden was back to his beat-up self, missing the last nine games of the season due to a foot injury suffered in October. He finished his seven-start season with 614 yards and four TDs on, again, just 113 carries.

This year is vital for McFadden to be fully healthy and in the lineup each week, especially considering Bush is gone and current backup Mike Goodson, who basically had last season off, is already dinged up in camp and doesn't appear to be fully ready to be a complete backup to McFadden in Oakland, though he was effective in Carolina when he saw the field.

Carson Palmer will be heading in to his first full season under center for Oakland, and with Dennis Allen heading in to his first season as the franchise's head coach, the Raiders should be excited about getting the 2012 season underway.

At the young age of 24, McFadden still has yet to hit his full potential and has plenty left to offer for the Oakland offense. Darren finally has a true No. 1 quarterback at the helm in the 32-year old Palmer, meaning this offense could finally see some balance this season.

I see the Pro Bowl and a couple of All Pro selections in McFadden's future.

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Richard Seymour, You Sir, Are a Disgrace to the National Football League

While a Patriot, defensive end Richard Seymour was always a player I respected. He was always a guy who I saw as a hard-worker who did what it takes to win games for his team. His 227 tackles and 39 sacks in eight seasons with the Patriots is proof of his hard work and a salute to his solid NFL career.

Now a Raider since last season, Seymour has recorded 60 tackles and 8.5 sacks in his 25 games in Oakland.

Unfortunately, all respect I had for him is gone after watching his unsportsmanlike display in yesterday's ugly 35-3 loss to the 7-3 Pittsburgh Steelers.

After Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie wideout Emmanuel Sanders he went up behind Seymour and appeared to say something to him. Seymour then turned around and threw an open-hand "punch" at Roethlisberger, knocking him to the ground. The officials went on to eject him from the game.

Now, of course, Roethlisberger isn't quite innocent in this incident as we see him clearly saying something to him to provoke the punch, but that does not mean Seymour shouldn't get in trouble. Goodell fined him $25,000 today, but I think the punch certainly warrants a suspension of at least one game. There's absolutely no excuse for a 31-year old man to punch another player on the football field. Wasn't he ever taught not to let your emotions get the best of you, especially on the field? Kids are told that by their youth football coaches all the time, why can't a grown man understand this concept?

Unacceptable.

And what makes it even worse is, after further research, it has come to my attention that this is not the first time he's been fined for unnecessary roughness after the whistle. Last December he was ejected and fined $10,000 for hitting Cleveland's running back Jerome Harrison after the play was dead. One thing is for sure, Seymour doesn't like the AFC North too much.

Photo Credit

Richard Seymour: AP Photo/Keith Srakocic

Recapping Thursday's Action

Last night there were six teams in action to kick off week one of the NFL preseason.

To some fans preseason doesn't mean anything and they may not enjoy it because they don't know who most of the players are. But to me, preseason is much more than that.

Not only does it mean the return of football, which also means we are that much closer to those lovely Sunday afternoons in the fall, but it also gives us fans a chance to spot out which teams have hidden talents on the bench. Which is always fun to do in my opinion.

The stars are certainly still the focal point, but it's nice to see those other guys get a chance.

The most exciting of the three games was between the defending champion Saints and Tom Brady's Patriots. New England and New Orleans both saw their backup quarterbacks have solid games. Patrick Ramsey (Saints) went 7/11 with 111 yards, the 24-year old Brian Hoyer (Patriots) went 8 of 13 for 106 yards. Neither threw any touchdown passes, but they did lead the team down the field a couple of times and stayed mistake-free, which is always something coaches love to see.

Coming off a season in which he started just five games (only 14 starts in four NFL seasons with New England), Laurence Maroney ran the ball well, gaining 30 yards and two TDs on eight carries.

Welker-esque Julian Edelman caught six passes for 90 yards while second-year receiver of the Saints, Adrian Arrington caught four passes which went for a total of 87 yards.

All in all, a great game to watch especially for the preseason. Very little mistakes committed on both sides of the field. Zero turnovers and a total nine penalties. Can't argue with that.

The other two games (Panthers@Ravens, Raiders@Cowboys) didn't quite matchup but it was hard-hitting football nevertheless.

In Dallas, Tony Romo's offense struggled throughout the game. Again, it's only preseason, but it's never good to see names such as Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice get gobbled up in the backfield by 2009's 29th ranked rushing defense. The Barber/Jones/Choice trio combined for 21 yards and zero TDs on 10 attempts. The leading rusher? Romo's backup Stephen McGee. Yes, a quarterback, who gained 15 yards on two scramble attempts.

The kicking game looked good as the 23-year old David Buehler went three for three, scoring all nine of Dallas' points.

Kyle Boller's 148 yards and one TD, journeyman RB Michael Bennett's 68 yards on the ground and Oakland's six sacks as a team led to a 17-9 victory over the 'Boys.

Rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen looked solid in his Carolina Panthers debut, with the only dark spot coming on an interception thrown to Baltimore's Tom Zbikowski. Flacco looked great, though newly acquired Ravens Anquan Boldin and Donte' Stallworth didn't have much of a chance to show off their skills, catching just one pass each. If Flacco's 120 yards on just eight completions are any indication, though, I doubt Baltimore will have much trouble getting by with the passing game this season.

Despite limited playing time from the first team defense, Baltimore sacked Carolina's quarterbacks seven times and forced two turnovers.

Six more teams (Bills@Redskins, Jaguars@Eagles, Chiefs@Falcons) will be facing off tonight as the rest of the 10 week one games will be played out from Saturday through Monday night.

Stay tuned for more preseason recaps/thoughts.

Former Raider DB Jack Tatum Dead at 61

The Oakland Raiders, and the National Football League, lost a legend today. Former Raiders' defensive back Jack Tatum passed away of a heart attack. He was only 61.

Tatum, the three-time Pro Bowler in his 10 professional seasons (nine with Raiders, one with Houston Oilers), was drafted by Oakland with the 19th overall pick in the first round of the 1971 draft.

"The Assassin," as he was nicknamed, was probably best known for his ferocious hit on New England Patriot WR Darryl Stingley in a 1978 preseason game. The hit paralyzed Stingley from the chest down.

There's no doubt that Tatum was one of the best safeties to ever play the game, and he could arguably have been the most feared tackler to ever step foot on the field. In his first NFL game, Tatum knocked out two of the Baltimore Colts' tight ends, one of which was Hall of Famer John Mackey.

It's a shame we lost Tatum at such a young age, and because of this I may just go and read the books that he wrote about his career.

R.I.P. Jack Tatum

Take Your Pick: Raiders of the '80s or Bills of the '90s?

Al Davis' Oakland/L.A. Raiders of the 1980s defined the game of football.  Tenacious and fierce on both sides of the ball, the Raiders donned the reputation of the enemy, and may have even been considered 'dirty.'

Marv Levy's Buffalo Bills of the 1990s were basically the polar opposites.  Clean, classy, all-around solid fundamental football players.  With a trio of future Hall of Famers on offense (Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed, who has yet to be inducted), the Bills found themselves in four straight Super Bowls to kick off the decade.

 Davis certainly had one of the league's toughest defenses (finished with top-10 overall defense in five of the 10 seasons in the '80s), but Buffalo had the high-scoring offense to counter that attack (Kelly's Bills finished in the top-10 in scoring offense).

On offense, Buffalo has the better passing attack with the Kelly-Reed combination while Oakland has the better run game with Hall of Famer Marcus Allen coming out of the backfield.  Allen, from '82 (his rookie season) to '89, ran for 7,275 yards and 63 TDs.

Head-to-head outlook


Raiders of the 80s:
 *66-63 (.511 win %) in regular season; 8-3 in postseason (including Super Bowl)
*Five playoff appearances (four straight from 1982-85)
*Four division titles (back-to-back in '82 and '83)
*Two Super Bowl appearance (27-10 win over Philly in 1980, 38-9 win over Washington in 1983)

Bills of the 90s:
*103-57 (.643 win %) in regular season; 10-8 in postseason (including Super Bowl)
*Eight playoff appearances
*Five division titles (four straight from 1990-93)
*Four Super Bowl appearances (all losses)

In my opinion, this is an easy decision.  Despite the theory "offense wins games, defense wins championships."  I'd take Jim Kelly's high-powered offense with Marv Levy roaming the sidelines.  The numbers don't lie.

Yes, the Raiders were able to get it done when it mattered and actually won a pair of championships during that time, but I think getting to four straight Super Bowls is just as tough as winning just one championship.  Consistency wins me over in this debate.  Oakland/L.A. certainly had the swagger that you love to see in a football team, but Buffalo worked together better.

 When you look back at history, you'll notice that these two teams actually met in the AFC Conference Championship in 1990 and, yes, Buffalo spanked the Raiders 51-3.  One would argue that it wasn't a fair match-up (to bring up in this debate, anyways), so to further prove my point I simulated the game (SB winning Raiders of the 1980 season v.s. AFC Champion Bills of the 1990 season) on Whatifsports.com five different times.  Buffalo won four of those five games.  Links to the box scores are below.

http://whatifsports.com/NFL/boxscore.asp?GameID=3317987&teamfee=-1&theme=-1
http://whatifsports.com/NFL/boxscore.asp?GameID=3317989&teamfee=-1&theme=-1
http://whatifsports.com/NFL/boxscore.asp?GameID=3317991&teamfee=-1&theme=-1
http://whatifsports.com/NFL/boxscore.asp?GameID=3317993&teamfee=-1&theme=-1
http://whatifsports.com/NFL/boxscore.asp?GameID=3317995&teamfee=-1&theme=-1

At times, Jim Kelly struggled with Oakland's stout defense led by Ted Hendricks and Lester Hayes, but he got it done when it mattered most, falling just a couple of touchdowns shy of sweeping the five-game series.

Well, that just about wraps it up.  Winner: Buffalo Bills.  It's about time they won something, eh?  Because, I mean, many Buffalo fans are most likely wishing they were still in the '90s.  We'll be praying for all you Bills fans.