Oakland linebacker Kirk Morrison came right to the point when asked about the Raiders' 24-0 loss to Atlanta Sunday.
“We felt embarrassed last week,” he said during a conference call with the media. “That was a tough one to swallow. That was one of those games where I feel like you just look back and say, ‘What just happened?'”
What happened is Oakland, which plays host to Carolina this Sunday, fell apart against the Falcons, and is now 2-6.
What happened is the Raiders are last in the NFL in points (13.4 average), first downs (12.8) and completed passes (105). Quarterback JaMarcus Russell has completed 48.6 percent of his throws, also the league's lowest mark.
What happened is this week, Raiders owner Al Davis released cornerback DeAngelo Hall, a two-time Pro Bowler, after just eight games.
It all has many Panthers fans expecting their 6-2 team to clobber the Raiders, but the NFL never tires of surprising us.
For Oakland to do so Sunday, Russell, its huge (6-foot-6, 260 pounds) second-year quarterback, must receive more protection – he's been sacked 22 times – and perform more consistently when he gets it.
“I would say it's been good and it's been bad,” Raiders coach Tom Cable said of Russell's development. “There are moments where you say ‘wow,' and moments where you say, ‘man, we still have a long way to go.'”
Cable said Russell, who has remarkable raw talent, is proving to be stable emotionally and a strong leader in the huddle, a guy who can manage the game.
“Now what we have to do is get him kind of cutting it loose; just letting it go and not processing too much, just play,” Cable said.
Defensively, Oakland has had trouble stopping the run in recent weeks. The Raiders are allowing an average of 157.6 rushing yards, but two games ago, that total was 192 in a loss at Baltimore. Then Atlanta pounded them for a whopping 252 yards on the ground.
Morrison knows what's coming with the ground-oriented Panthers, who are averaging 113.9 rushing yards.
“It's going to be tough; they've got two great backs,” he said, referring to DeAngelo Williams and rookie Jonathan Stewart, who is listed as questionable for Sunday with a sore heel. “But we're going to put ourselves in front and go out and play as hard as we can.”
Davis' “Just win, baby” motto has been ironic; Oakland has won 21 of its past 88 games. Cable, though, said he is seeing progress.
“I think we are learning in a lot of ways how to be a team … It's just really getting that faith, that belief and confidence in (the players) to expect to go out and win games rather than, ‘see how this thing is going to go.'”
Despite everything, Morrison believes the breakthrough might not be all that far away.
“We feel like we should at least be at even or even over .500 just because of the talent we have and the kind of football that we know we can play,” he said. “That's what's frustrating because we've seen it in practice.
“We've performed in games but (not) for four quarters. When we've done that, we've won two ball games. When we haven't, we've lost six.”
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