Saints 13
Raiders 10
Strong defense and special teams gave the Saints a game the Raiders didn't
seem to care to win.
The D forced Oakland to go 3 & punt to start the game. The O reached Raider
territory thanks to a 9 yd catch by Andre Hastings, a 15 yd unnecessary
roughness penalty, and a 3 yd Ray Zellars run on 3rd & 2, but the team shot
itself in the collective foot with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty
followed by delay of game. Good hustle by Ernest Dixon during the ensuing
punt stuck the home team at their 2.
Jeff George went to Dudley for 6 on 3rd & 5, then one play later he hit the
tight end for 32. However, on the next play Kaufman coughed up the ball, and
Sammy Knight recovered at the Raider 38. The team survived a throw that
should've been intercepted before having all FG hopes killed by a 3rd & 12
sack. After a punt, Oakland moved from the 15 to the 44 with back-to-back
receptions by Brown but ultimately failed to reach Saints territory.
The visitors picked up a couple of 1sts but eventually had to boot the ball
back. On 3rd & 17 from the 14, Dudley caught a ball for 27. One play later
George went back to him for a gain of 52. Harvey Williams' 1 yd dive opened
the scoring with 11:49 left in the half.
After the teams traded 3 & punt series, a Heath Shuler overthrow was easily
picked off on a 3rd & 14 play from the NO 4. A personal foul on the return
caused the Raiders to start at the 34. They converted via QB sneak on
4th & 1 from the 25, but two penalties led them to settle for a 43 yd FG.
Zellars came through with a 4 yd gain when Ditka gambled on 4th & 1 from the
NO 29. At the 2-minute warning, Shuler got into a groove, hitting Eric
Guliford for 12, Hastings for 9, and Randal Hill for 10. With 33 seconds
to go before halftime and facing 4th & 13 from the Raider 41, Ditka gambled
again. Shuler made a fine throw to Hill for a 15 yard gain. On the half's
final play, Doug Brien ended the long scoring drought with a 48 yarder.
In the second half's first four possessions, neither team mounted a threat.
The only excitement came when Shuler was yanked just long enough for Doug
Nussmeier to run onto the field, see that the play clock was about to expire,
and call time out. Nuss spent the rest of the game on the bench.
After the last of those possessions, Guliford returned the punt up the
middle from the NO 32 to the Oakland 36. The O took advantage of the field
position- Hill caught a throw for 12, then Irv Smith caught a ball for 10
on 2nd & 9, then Zellars ran for 4 on 3rd & 2. On the first play of the
fourth quarter, Zellars powered it in from a yard out.
Neither team generated much offense in the next 3 possessions. With 9:57
left the O took over at the NO 43, but three consecutive penalties (offensive
pass interference, unsportsmanlike conduct on Ditka, and holding) put the
team in an impossible 1st & 44 hole. A long Mark Royals punt and good
downfield coverage put Oakland at their 17, and the D did its part by
forcing two incompletions and a sack.
With 5:47 left, Shuler found Guliford for a key 14 yd reception on 3rd & 9.
Mario Bates followed that with an 11 yd run, and with 2:54 left Brien was
true from 44.
The Raiders made it only as far as their 48 before Knight played center
field to pick off a 4th & 8 desperation throw. Appropriately enough, the
final clock-killing 1st came via a 15 yd facemask penalty.
stats & yardage histograms (from my notes, not official)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
..runnin'...../.......throwin' & catchin'....
5-(5) h. Shuler
14-33 m. Bates
11-29-1 r. Zellars 3- 25
5- 1 T. davis 2- 9
f. Mccrary 1- (4)
R. hill 5- 52
A. hastings 3- 23
E. guliford 3- 37
b. beCh 1- 13
I. smith 3- 24
incomplete 12
intercepted 1
35-58-1 21-34-179-0-1
S
S
S
ZT S
ZTST Z Z <--runs
TBZBBB ZTB
ZZBBBBBZBBB ZB Z
*****************************************************************************
- 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained
5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------
*****************************************************************************
M IRA ARRRCER
ZT AIEE
T Z IZ <--passes
..runnin'...../.......throwin' & catchin'....
2-10 j. George
15-12 n. Kaufman 4- 24
2- 6-1 h. Williams 1- 7
1- 1 t. Brown 5- 42
r. Dudley 5-118
k. Shedd 2- 22
incomplete 21
intercepted 1
20-29-1 17-39-213-0-1
B
G
W K W <--runs
K KKKK K
K KK KKKK K G
*****************************************************************************
- 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained
5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------
*****************************************************************************
DBKB DB B S B D D D
K W S K
K <--passes
comments
^^^^^^^^
* Guliford played a good game
* the D shut down Brown and Dudley in the second half and shut down Kaufman
all day
* let's see if we build on this one or regress again
*******************************************************************************
Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu