Russell was coming in early working harder

Coming off a bye in which they apparently practiced hard and rejuvenated themselves, the team was also getting back four starters on a beleaguered offense. Russell was coming in early, working harder.Chaz Schilens would be back and open up the passing game and give Russell a reliable wide receiver he so desperately needs. The Raider Nation, desperate for anything positive, bought into it hook, line & sinker.And here we sit, 2-7, blowing a great early start against a mediocre team and left wondering what positive there is left to say about this team. I haven't been writing much the last couple of weeks because I'm tired of having nothing good to say, and being given no material to work with by this "team."Here are some quick thoughts from yesterday and how they apply to the big picture:- Chaz Schilens' return was not the savior of the Raiders offense, and it was honestly unrealistic and a little unfair to Chaz to expect him to fix everything by showing up. He made his presence felt early, catching a quick five yarder from Russell in the first quarter, but didn't show up again until Russell had been benched and Gradkowski was in.He finished with two catches and didn't open the field up like we thought he would. He's a great player and finding his legs, and he'll continue to impress as the season goes on, but it was too much to expect so much from him.- However, Heyward-Bey getting twice the amount of offensive reps as Chaz is simply ludicrous.

Heyward-Bey had the potential to have his best game as a Raider, but dropped two key passes, including the last play of the game which nullified a chance for a Raider victory.On two different occasions I saw Bey jump for balls he didn't need to jump for, and both were drops. That last play, he could've reached up and caught it with his hands, and instead he jumped unnecessarily and tried to body-catch the ball.The result was a perfectly thrown pass ricocheting off his chest and into the hands of the Chiefs' Mike Brown, who fell to the ground and ended the game. The fact that Bey immediately crumpled to the ground and was inconsolable was little comfort to Raider fans.- Louis Murphy has drop issues as well. The fact that these guys don't fight for the ball, body catch everything, and can't get open despite lightning speed has me seriously, seriously questioning why we'd get rid of James Lofton, and just what the hell Sanjay Lal is doing as receivers coach.For these guys to show absolutely no improvement in fundamentals more than halfway through a season is inexcusable.- Tom Cable, when the run game is working, why, oh WHY force the pass I understand you can't run all the time, you need versatility I get that But mix it up Don't always run, or always pass Run sometimes, pass sometimes. Honestly, if the passing game isn't working, run it more often.I just do not get why Cable continually goes away from the run even when it's working And why he doesn't get McFadden to the outside And why Michael Bush was taken out of the game. And why we don't use our speed on more reverses and trick plays.

The commentators in the game yesterday, Gus Johnson in particular, made the point about Russell's body language and how he simply didn't seem to care about anything.There's one thing in being cool and collected, and one thing in being aloof. This guy is so far beyond aloof that if his teammates all walked off the field in protest of his play, he'd just shrug his shoulders and put his fur coat on and go spend some money. Because it's obviously someone else's fault, so why should he worry- I'm not usually one to get on the referees, and the Raiders were somewhat undisciplined yesterday, but the discrepancy in penalties called was huge.There were a couple of occasions in which Raider receivers were interfered with an it wasn't called, Raider linemen were held all day with no calls (Seymour and Shaughnessy in particular) and every time a Raider sneezed a flag was thrown. We beat ourselves yesterday, of that there is no doubt, but we got a hefty push from Mike Carey and his crew.- I'm very sad today. The season now means nothing but a draft choice, and we just lost to the Chiefs at home.