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The Oakland Raiders have fallen to 3-8 after a 10-34 whooping delivered by the Cincinnati Bengals. Prior to the start of the season, this is a date that Carson Palmer had circled on his calendar, a chance to get revenge against the team he felt hadn’t done enough to put talent around him. The Bengals on the other hand think that Carson Palmer quit on them, and they are happy with Andy Dalton as his replacement. If today’s game by Palmer was an indication of how he plays when he’s angry, than the Raiders need to make sure they keep him happy, because he didn’t play well.

The Raiders fell behind to the Bengals early, and the deficit just kept increasing until the half when the score was 0-24. The Raiders narrowed the deficit by 10 in the third quarter, but were unable to build on that as the Bengals finished off the Raiders with a field goal and Dalton to Gresham touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Carson Palmer completed 19 of his 34 attempts, but only threw for 146 yards and one touchdown. However, he also threw one interception, lost one fumble, and was sacked four times. With Darren McFadden inactive for the game, Marcel Reece got the start and played well with 74 yards on 15 carries and 29 yards on four receptions, but he was far from a difference maker.

Next week the Raiders will host the Cleveland Browns, who just defeated an injured Pittsburgh Steelers team to increase their record to 3-8, the same as the Raiders.

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The Raiders had the perfect opportunity to finish the first half of the season with a 4-4 record and a three game winning streak, however, the Buccaneers rookie running back, Doug Martin, had other plans. Doug Martin was named the offensive rookie of the month in October, and has already established himself for the lead candidate to not only earn those honors again in November, but to also earn rookie of the year. How did he do it? By running for 251 yards and four touchdowns against the Oakland Raiders.

Once again, the Raiders got nothing out of McFadden yesterday, and to rub salt in the wound, the Buccaneers had their running back put on a show against the Raiders, Martin had the kind of game that Raiders fans had hoped to see similar from their own back, Darren McFadden. But on the day that Doug Martin ran for 251 yards on 25 carries, McFadden was limited to 17 yards on 7 carries.

We like to see Carson Palmer throw the ball, and we think he can be a very good quarterback at times, but we never want to see Palmer throw the ball 61 times in a game. With the Raiders running game once again doing nothing, the Raiders were forced to throw, throw, and throw all game. Carson Palmer threw for 414 yards and four touchdowns, but also threw three interceptions. Palmer did a great job of spreading the ball out among his receivers, but the positives from the 32 year old quarterback are not worth mentioning when the defense gives up 515 yards and 42 points.

We thought that the Raiders were improving after their bye and that they found a way to mitigate the weaknesses on their defense, however, we were wrong and it was the Buccaneers that showed us all how bad this Raiders defense can be.

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It feels pretty good to say that, the Raiders are now on a two game winning streak following their 26-16 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. For the first time since their win over the Steelers, Darren McFadden ran for over 100-yards in a solid performance. It took him 29 carries to get 114 yards, but McFadden also added 23 yards through 4 receptions and we are in no position to complain after a very rocky start to the season for Darren McFadden.

The Raiders never trailed in the game, and led by as much as 17 points until Dexter McCluster scored with 2:27 left in the game. This was without a doubt the Raiders best performance as a team, and they seem to be picking up momentum following their bye and narrow defeat against the undefeated Falcons.

The Raiders have a group of young receivers who are all filled with potential, last week it was Heward-Bey showing off his skills, but this week it was Denarius Moore showing off what he can do by hauling in five receptions for 96 yards and one touchdown.

Next week the Raiders will be facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who so far this season have been a disappointment. It will not be an easy game, but the Raiders can potentially be a .500 club with a 4-4 record by this time next week.

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After playing what was arguably their best game of the season in a losing effort against the Atlanta Falcons, the Oakland Raiders could care less that left a lot on the field in their 26-23 overtime win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. That doesn’t mean the Raiders haven’t acknowledged that they will need to play better, but they will look to build off of their second win of the season, which is more enjoyable than thinking about those few plays that could have made the difference between a defeat and a victory.

On Sunday at the O.CO Coliseum, the Oakland Raiders struggled on offense, Darren McFadden wasn’t able to get anything going against the weak rush defense of the Jaguars, and Palmer only completed 56.5% of his passes and threw one interception. Additionally, the Raiders turned the ball over three times, and lost the turnover battle three to one, however, it was that one forced turnover in overtime that allowed Sebastian Janikowski to ice the game with a 40-yard field goal.

The offense has a lot to work on, but it was nice to see Darrius Heyward-Bey finally have a good game, it was his best of the season so far. Heyward-Bey had four receptions, but led the Raiders in receiving yards with 85. Heyward-Bey’s turnaround was a pleasant surprise, but the most noticeable improvement was the Oakland Raiders defense. The defense held the Jaguars to only 209 total yards, only gave up one third down conversion on 15 attempts, help the Jaguars to only 10 total first downs, and recorded three sacks. Prior to the game we said the Raiders will need to get pressure on Gabbert, and they did just that. The Raiders took Gabbert out of the game and forced Jacksonville to insert Chad Henne. This was without a doubt, the Raiders best defensive performance of the season.

Next week the Raiders will travel to Kansas City to battle the Chiefs in a divisional matchup. The Chiefs will be starting Brady Quinn in place of Matt Cassel in an attempt to get better quarterback production and to inspire the team to perform better.

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The Oakland Raiders just played their second best game of the season in week six against the Atlanta Falcons, but unfortunately for the Raiders, it wasn’t enough for them to capture their second victory of the season. With the demoralizing loss, the Raiders now have an abysmal 1-4 record and they are now in a hole that just may be too deep to get out of. This loss was their best fought loss of the season, but was demoralizing because the Raiders squandered an opportunity to upset one of the leagues goliath’s in their own backyard.

The game was ended on a 55-yard field goal by Matt Bryant, but looking at the squandered opportunities is just tough for any Raiders fan to swallow.  In the first half the Raiders got within the 5-yardline, but were unable to get into the end zone and they were forced to settle to Janikowski field goal. And prior to halftime, Carson Palmer connected with Denarius Moore for a 25-yard touchdown and the Raiders had a 13-7 lead at the half. But the second half is where everything went downhill, the Raiders were outscored by the Falcons 16-7, and as a result, they leave Atlanta with so much left on the field.

The biggest disappointment of the day was Darren McFadden’s inability to produce for the Raiders running game. He had only 70 yards on 27 carries, and it was the backup running back, Mike Goodson, who looked like the better back. Goodson finished with only 4 carries, but amassed 59 yards on those carries and added a 37 yard catch and run to his day. I am not saying or even suggesting that Mike Goodson is better than McFadden, but I am hopeful to see more of Goodson in the upcoming weeks, and believe he could take some of the carries that Michael Bush left behind.

The Raiders schedule does get a little easier with the Jacksonville Jaguars coming to Oakland next week, but as Raiders fans know, nothing ever comes easy for the Oakland Raiders.