What a difference a week makes. I don't know if it was because we were playing the lowly Raiders, but the team looked different today.

I want to give some props to several players this week:
Bernard Pollard played like an NFL SS which was nice.
Brian Cushing is very close to being a dirty player, but the bad attitude and nasty demeanor were needed on the D.
Glover Quinn should be the starting CB over Bennett.
Zach Diles played very well, so he's off my $hit list this week.
Antonio Smith was getting penetration and was attacking the offense along with Amobi Okoye and Mario Williams.
Shaun Cody was very effective at doing the dirty work today.
Ryans was his usual steady self.

There were other individual moments in the game like Connor Barwin picking up a fumble, but the above players worked hard during the whole game.

The defense won this game for us today. They attacked, they blitzed, they tackled. Now we will have to see if they can be an effective unit against a passing team like the Cards next week.

Signs that your team's running game hasn't been up to expectations:

Your fans are coveting the guy who came into the weekend "leading" the league with an NFL-worst 1.8 YPC.

Game ball to the defense on this one.

Bernard Pollard (BP) This guy may be one of only a few good FA pick ups. However I am not ready to call him the savior of the D just yet, though. Albeit his hard hitting was a benefit this week. We will see if his cover skills are as good with the Cards coming in next week.

But enough of that negative talk right now. Go Texans.

Great game Ryan Moats. Was Chris Brown injured?

I am liking Cushing more and more each week. Him and Ryans are beginning to make a formidable tandem.

Bennett comes in and gives up a long 3rd down. This guy is trash. That play was zone coverage. So he is bad in zone coverage, bad one on one, and a bad tackler...

Is Jacoby good for one good play and one terrible play every game?

Finally, good tackling by Quin.

Overall great game.

"Brian Cushing is very close to being a dirty player" is probably a remark that's as much of a compliment as anything since a HC on another team reportedly called the Texans a "finesese team" which is anything but a compliment. But I can think of atleast 2 if not 3 plays where Cushing (and the Texans) were lucky they didn't flag him for unnecessary roughness or some other kind of personal foul. I dunno how he got away without being flagged when he hit
the Raiders QB Russell with his forearm to the head, the way they codle QBs ? And how 'bout that safety he got on Fargas when he basically tripped him while throwing his azz down in the EZ ? Hey, they didn't compare him to Bill Romanowski for nuttin ?

http://www.inthebullseye.com/archive/2009/20091004.html

Nice day for the front 7 finally.

With the Cards next week, the timing is nice. Now we need the secondary to step up. Wasn't Reeves supposed to be back by now...?

I was dead wrong on the Cushing pick. He has been great for a rookie so far. He is not necessarily a game changer so much as he is an attitude changer. I love how much he enjoys contact.

Dang, not quite sure why I kept calling Justin Fargas as Justin "Vargas" in this thread but my bad... Doh! :o

[QUOTE=TheMatrix31;14473]No joke, have we EVER gotten a safety? I seriously can't remember.[/QUOTE


19-10 ring a bell? Gary Walker against the Cowboys. 9/2002.

Roy, really good post. I agree 100% and would like to add a few comments.

Frank Bush was on the radio last night. Said they simplified things for Antonio this week. He was much, much more active. I would keep the same plan with him going forward.

Best game from Omobi that I can recall in awhile. Maybe they simplified things for him as well. They seemed fast yesterday that they reacted well. Not much room for the Raiders to run.

Next week, Reeves, Dunta and Quinn should be the three top CB's next week.

Pollard and Quinn both played well. They tackled and wrapped up. That is a start.

Cushing plays fast and physical. He is playing well and is impressing me.

Let's not forget Mario. Sack, FF and was disruptive in the pass and against the run.

I was worried that the Raiders could run it against us. Kudos to the defense for stepping it up.

I am now willing to shut up about the Cushing pick. He seems to be pushing Demeco and Diles to play at higher level. With more intensity, and they seemed to attack the backfield yesterday much more than in the past.

But remember this was Oakland, who is a train wreak, maybe the worse team in the AFC. So next weeks game against the Cards is huge game. Believe it or not I had it as a win before the season started. And the Cards are playing down like most post Super Bowl runners up. So this is a can win game.

As for the announcers for the Oakland game, I learned that Keven Walters played for Kubiak in Denver. Wow!

Did anyone else see the stats for team defense minuse 4 plays? Our guys are top 20 if they do not let 4 plays go for over 60 yds.

As for Reeves he hurt in hand in practice this last week.

I agree with this.

But my change of heart on the Cushing pick is not about how well we played yesterday.

My issue with the pick was that a SLB in the 4-3 does not make enough big plays or have enough impact to justify the pick or the money that goes with it. I still feel this way. But what Cushing does do is change the attitude of the whole defense. When he was running around spiking guys heads off the turf yesterday, the rest of the Defense played far more aggressive. So while he may not be a game changer, he changes the demeanor of a team that has always been soft and non-physical.

Plus there was no Safety worth drafting in our slot. My bigger issue this offseason was that none of the other 7 picks or Free Agent dollars addressed the safety position at all. This means that Smith/Kubiak actually thought we were good enough to win at that position. Unbelievable.

Imagine if we had signed Brian Dawkins. He agreed to go to a team with far worse prospects than ours so I think we could have gotten him if we paid up (and he got half what Antonio Smith did). If you put him at safety I bet we have half as many big plays allowed and twice as many turnovers thus far (and a 3-1 record at least). But instead we trotted out a group of CFL guys and waited to look for help until 2 weeks after the season had started.

I think the whole defense, coaches and players, deserves lots of credit for playing the most dominant game I think I've seen them play. Perhaps have to say Oakland really played poorly as well, but Texans also played very well yesterday. I thought Pollaard, Quinn, and Cushings were the most visible in making a difference although almost all the guys had an excellent day on defense.

Special teams did well, including JJ's run for 95 yards.

And offense did all it needed, good thing SS got going for a few plays, and then apparently they practiced not running very well the second half.

Yes, he was. He fractured a pinkie finger in practice! Wouldn't ya know it. Hope he can suck it up against the Cardinals. We will really need him against Boldin and Fitz.

Call it what you will, he is a tackling machine, and a much needed "attitude changer" for our defense.

PK, what is a "train wreak"? I've heard of a train wreck before, but not a wreak.

leave my spelling alone, and I will leave your fact checking alone. :D

Okay, Pal, just pulling your leg a little.