By Paul Wexler

RaiderBeat.com Staff Writer

 

 
It will be interesting to hear Raiders coach Tom Cable’s reaction to the touchdown that was overturned by the officials on a catch by rookie wide receiver Louis Murphy with 50 seconds left in the second quarter last night.
After the game, Cable said he felt as if the officials misinterpreted the rule that applies to a play in which the receiver loses possession of the ball once he hits the ground or thereafter.
“He came down with both feet, then his rear end hit the ground, and then the ball came out when he hit the ground,” Cable said Monday night. “I thought if you came down with the ball in possession, it was a touchdown, but (referee Carl Cheffers) said he had to take it all the way to the ground with the ball secure. I don’t believe that is the rule, but we’ll see.”
Cheffers told a pool reporter after the game that the call made by his crew was “pretty clear-cut.”
“By definition in our rule book, he’s going to the ground and has to maintain possession of the ball throughout the entire act of the catch,” Cheffers said. “And in this case, he lost possession and the ball hit the ground. Therefore, it’s incomplete.”
In Cheffers’ defense, he’s right. Murphy had possession of the ball initially, fell to the ground, and the point of the ball hit the ground, came loose and squirted along the ground.
The bottom line is, the referee and his crew made the right call, but it’s a bad rule, and one that should be changed. It’s no different than the Tuck Rule game the Raiders lost to the New England Patriots in a 2001 AFC Playoff game. Good call, bad rule.
Cable has had ample time to look at the videotape of the game since last night, plenty of time to peruse the NFL rule book and offer a more detailed take on the controversial play.
He will expand upon his initial observation in a news conference today at 2 p.m. PDT. RaiderBeat.com will provide a full account of what Cable says and what it means.

 
The Raiders knew they were getting an elite player in defensive end Richard Seymour. No one could have imagined that he is this good.
Seymour had two sacks, six tackles and immeasurable impact on the Raiders defense.
He started at right defensive end, bounced inside to right tackle, shoved one and two blockers into the backfield, collapsed the pocket on a regular basis and freed up teammates for unimpeded paths to ballcarriers.
Raiders managing general partner Al Davis got this one right in a big way, and he needs to commence work on securing Seymour beyond this season. He can’t pay too much for Seymour if he is going to have this kind of impact.
“It really did not change what we did defensively,” Cable said of Seymour’s presence. “We played our stuff. Obviously, he is a great addition to our football team and made some plays tonight. As he gets more comfortable and gets a full week of practice and all that, you can expect great things from him, he expects great things from himself.”
Keep in mind that Seymour did what he did without a single practice with his new team. He arrived Saturday in a trade with the New England Patriots and played as he learned the defense on the fly.
Hence, it’s no surprise why he is a five-time Pro Bowler and considered a big reason the Patriots won three Super Bowls on his watch.
“It’s kind of like what was said in the press conference,” Cable said. “We need a piece to the puzzle and we got one. How much he could go tonight, that was really the question when it gets right down to it. But, certainly, his presence was felt when he was in there.”

 
We said all along that Murphy was the more impressive of the two receivers the Raiders selected in the 2009 NFL Draft. Sure enough, he outshined fellow rookie Darrius Heyward-Bey on Monday night, just as he did in offseason workouts, training camp and exhibition games.
Murphy is the real deal, folks. The question is, why did Heyward-Bey get picked at No. 7 and Murphy lasted until the fourth round?
Good question, and one for the coaches of the 31 other NFL teams who bypassed him at least three times each.
The short answer is that Murphy was overshadowed in college by teammate Percy Harvin, who was the featured player in Florida’s offense. Harvin was selected in the first round by the Minnesota Vikings and already is making a huge impact, as well.
Murphy caught four passes for 87 yards and one touchdown. He would have finished with five for 106 and if the officials didn’t overturn his first touchdown.
As for Heyward-Bey, he had one pass hit off his hands and dropped another. It won’t be long before he is an afterthought in the Raiders offense unless he finds a way to develop as well as Murphy has in short time.
Chaz Schilens is expected back from a broken bone in his left foot by the Denver Broncos game Sept. 27, at the latest. At that time, he goes into the starting lineup ahead of Heyward-Bey.
It will be interesting to see how Cable uses Heyward-Bey upon Schilens’ return. Heyward-Bey will benefit from being able to blend in when Murphy and Schilens are on the field and covered by the opposing team’s top two cornerbacks.
Still, this isn’t what the Raiders had in mind when they selected Heyward-Bey. They are expecting more than a player who can clear out a defender and serve as a decoy. The pressure is on him to improve, and right away.

 

Nice game by forgotten safety Michael Huff. He intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble, in addition to playing well as an extra defensive back.
Cable benched Huff after only one game as the coach last season. Huff has worked on his open-field tackling and getting back on the field. Making plays as critical as the ones he made Monday night is the quickest way to achieve that goal.

 

Strong safety Tyvon Branch showed his hitting prowess on defense and his speed on special teams.
Several times, he blasted Chargers ballcarriers and forced punt returner Darren Sproles to alter his route. His impact was immense.
Just the same, Branch had difficulty covering Chargers tight end Antonio Gates. He needs to sharpen his coverage skills so that teams don’t target him the way they did Gibril Wilson last season.

 

Running back Justin Fargas will be lucky to see the field again once he returns from a hamstring injury.
Darren McFadden and Michael Bush made for an imposing one-two punch against the Chargers and showed that they deserve a ton of playing time.
The Raiders know what Fargas is capable of doing. Cable still is discovering just how effective McFadden and Bush can be with more than limited carries.

 

Left offensive tackle Mario Henderson did a fantastic job against whoever the Chargers threw at him.
It didn’t matter if it was Shaun Phillips, Shawne Merriman or Travis Johnson. Henderson stoned his man time and again and showed that he is the best option at that position.
That makes it more likely that Khalif Barnes’ easiest path to the starting lineup is on the right side, where Cornell Green struggled far too often for Cable’s liking.
Green was called for three penalties and was shoved around several times.
Barnes is a week or so away from returning from the broken left ankle he sustained early in training camp. He is most familiar with the left side but he might be asked to learn the right side in case Green’s struggles continue.

 
It’s hard to fault Johnnie Lee Higgins for the ball he dropped late in the game. He ran a nice route, cradled the ball and appeared to have a first down in Chargers territory until safety Eric Weddle flattened Higgins with a punishing blow.
Higgins was unable to finish the game and his status is unknown at this point. Higgins can be faulted for the pass he dropped earlier in the game.

 
Quarterback JaMarcus Russell showed that he has a ways to go before he can be considered a top-tier player.
He completed 9 of 12 passes to tight ends and running backs but only 3 of 18 to wide receivers. He also was intercepted twice.
Russell’s first interception was the result of him locking on to Murphy and making it obvious where he was going with the ball. All you had to do was watch Philip Rivers to see how a seasoned quarterback looks off the defender before throwing the ball to another target at the last-possible second.
It’s something that Cable and quarterbacks coach Paul Hackett have worked on with Russell for many months, yet Russell can’t seem to get it drilled into his head.
Russell did make some nice throws. He did a great job finding tight end Zach Miller six times for 96 yards, and his well-thrown pass to Murphy for a 57-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-14 play late in the fourth quarter is the kind of play the Raiders expect from him on a consistent basis.

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