QB Pennington had an off day. Aside from a few throws at the end (27 yarder to Bess and a 4th down to Ginn), one of them an ultra risky-lucky throw to Ginn, caught after a deflection by Camarillo between a few defenders, he was mediocre. Penny ended the game 16 of 22 for 174 yards with no TDs or INTs. He did lead the team to victory at the end. B-
RB Ronnie, Ricky and Cobbs all contributed. Ronnie led the way with 16 rushes for 101 yards. Ricky added 49 yards and Cobbs 23 with a TD. If you add Ginn's 2 runs for 42 yards and the Dolphins rushed for over 200 yards on the day. B+
WR Ginn is getting better every week. By 2009 he is going to be a solid starting WR as he is very reliable on 4th down, doesn't drop anything and has amazing speed. The Phins really should get him the ball in space. He just outran everyone on the 40 yard reverse for the first TD. Ginn finished with 4 catches for 51 yards and 2 rushes for 42 yards and a TD. A very quite day for Camarillo (2 for 34). Bess had 50 yards on 3 receptions. No catches for Fasano and only 2 for Martin so the TE play was missing. C+
OL The run-blocking was OK but Penny was rushed and hurried way more than he should. Carey was beat a few times. The Raiders had 3 sacks including a safety. C
LB A decent game, nothing fancy, this is the Raiders we are talking about. Roth and you know who picked a sack. B-
DL Vonnie Holiday was solid getting to the QB twice. Langford and Ferguson were also solid as well especially against the pass. B
Secondary Russel, entering the game with less than 50% completion was 15 of 22 for 156 yards and no TDs or INTs. This is too good for a Raiders team (Russel's arm is a real rocket, wow). Will Allen got a nice sack. B-
Special teams Awful, Awful, Awful. I realize Carpenter is a part of the special teams also, but nobody can get the coverage team's grade over a big fat F. Horrendous play giving up an untoched 93 yard punt return for a TD with 4 minutes to go up by 6 !!! Even their own coaches think they are awful. Up by 2 with 38 seconds left and Raider kicker Janikowski known for his huge leg they coaches elected to go for a short kickoff, practically giving the Raiders the ball with good field position not wanting to risk another coverage-team-adventure. F!!!
Coaching This was way too cose of a game and it will not be enough next week against the Pats, not even close. They did managed to win at the end. Is there any chance the special teams coach keeps his job in the off season ?? B-
