NEW RAIDERS...FAMILIAR RESULT

The expectation inside the Coliseum could almost be felt on this side of the pond last night, the Nation was ready, unfortunately so were the Detroit Lions.The end result in the win loss column was the same as opening day last year but the Silver and Black of 2007 offer some light in what has been a very long tunnel of late.
The shut out of the first half was painful to watch, in as much as the Offense were alternating between the good, the bad, and Seabass.This is surely the last year we can put up with the lottery that is a Raiders FG attempt.McCown looked tense and alot of passes seemed to be underthrown, Jordan was , well, Jordan.One good run followed by a run straight into a linemans backside, and Ron Curry was class again.The reaction from the stands was unfortunate for the team in one respect, but understandable considering the frustration.I too was calling for Daunte at halftime, but to be honest the half time numbers showed that as well as the Lions had played on Offense, we were neck and neck and a little more composure on third down here or there could make a big difference.
The second half saw McCown play with more confidence and the drives were well called by Kiffin and to be honest at 21-20 I thought we had the game, we had the momentum and the team was pumped, one stop by the D and that was it in my mind.But Mike Martz was not reading the same script, and the Raiders D never looked like stopping them from scoring, but I was confident that we could mount one last drive to sneak it, because their D had looked tired and the OL had been giving McCown time to throw.
It wasn't to be, but I'll tell you something I never want to see Lamont Jordan turn his back on a block ever again, which is what he did on the play that resulted in the turnover which effectively ended the game.Jordan is not a favourite of mine, but I had seen some good things during the game from him so was prepared to turn over a new leaf with him, but that play summed up why I didn't like him to start with - HALF ARSED ATTITUDE, simple as that.We may not have gone down the field and scored but that non-block was terrible, and I have seen it three times now and it gets worse.
I am still fully IN, and we got beat by a team that were better than most of us expected, but I think that realistically we should be looking for progress this year, and lets face it 7-9 or so would be that, the Kiffin era has just begun and he will be learning with each week and we should remember that.The Chiefs are bad, the Donkeys didn't look particularly great either so divisional respectability is a good possibility.Its onwards and upwards to Donksville, and you never know what any given Sunday will bring.