8:12PM
No revenge for Tom Cable, just victory
8:12 PM
OAKLAND -- He’s a rough-hewn sort, which is what an offensive line coach is supposed to be. But now Tom Cable is a head coach, of the Oakland Raiders, and his appearance, background and recent problems have not fit the image that some prefer.
We’ve heard it all. Tom Cable is Al Davis’ tool. We’ve written it all. Tom Cable is just filling space until he’s fired.
The last few days, with the Raiders getting crushed the previous weekends, with the accusations that Cable punched one of his coaches, the news and the rumors had been particularly nasty. A season on the brink? It was a season in the sink.
So when the unexpected took place Sunday, when the Raiders sacked Donovan McNabb six times, when the Raiders held an opponent without a touchdown for the first time in 43 games, when the Raiders upset the Philadelphia Eagles, 13-9, Cable could have extracted a measure of revenge.
Could have pointed out we know less about football than about conjugating verbs, less about football than about restaurants in Barcelona. Could have gloated and said hey, he knew what he was doing all along. Which very well could be the situation.
He knew they could play, that it wasn’t a matter of tactics and strategy but of competition. And if deep down he was burning from all the words hurled his way, he wouldn’t be letting us in on the revelation.
“I think this makes a statement,’’ Cable said, making his own statement, “that we have good enough players, we have a good enough football team, and it’s a matter of whether we go out and fight for it. And today we fought to win. We deserved to win. We beat a good team.’’
What that makes the 2-4 Raiders, ending a three-game losing streak, is a legitimate question. In the NFL, good teams lose and bad teams win, if in either case not consistently, which is why they’re either a good team or a bad team. And why the Raiders can get battered one week by the New York Giants, 44-7, and then the next week defeat the Eagles can be attributed to the “Any Given Sunday’’ Sunday.
But if the Raiders with their few hours of success satisfied a Coliseum crowd announced at 49,642, Cable was waiting for new answers. Like whether this was just the Eagles acting as if they would have been better off taking a swim in the Atlantic or whether the Raiders actually deserved to be a member of the NFL.
“The biggest issue in the locker room,’’ Cable insisted, and correctly so, “is how we handle this. How do we grow? . . . How do we turn it around and make it consistent, grow from it?’’
Cable had been telling us the Raiders were “about to turn the corner,’’ although you wondered if the corner were at Telegraph and 51st or one of the intersections of the Champs-Elysees. So Sunday he did give us a little post-game reminder.
“I said to you guys time and again,’’ was Cable’s instructional commentary, “stop looking to write negative things or worry about the BS. ... We’re developing a team and an organization that has struggled to win the last few years, and you don’t flip a switch to that overnight. Don’t wake up the next day and everything is rosy and ready to go. There’s a process.’’
On Sunday, the process included quarterback JaMarcus Russell, as taunted as Cable, connecting on 17 or 24 passes for 224 yards and, on a great catch and excellent blocks by rookie Louis Murphy, an 86-yard play for the game’s only touchdown.
The process included the defensive line chasing down McNabb and holding the Eagles to 67 yards rushing. “We got home after the Giants game,’’ said defensive end Trevor Scott, who had two sacks as did Richard Seymour, “and asked, ‘Is this what we want?’ We can’t be playing ball like that.’’
The process included Justin Fargas rushing for 87 yards on 23 carries and then on third and one, with 2:02 on the clock and the Eagles out of timeouts, JaMarcus Russell throwing to Gary Russell for the ultimate first down.
“It was coming,’’ said Cable of JaMarcus’ play. “He’s been throwing balls much better.
“Our defense played pretty good, (and) we had enough of a run game to eat up the clock, maintain drives and keep them off the field. We went out and said, ‘Enough. Let’s play.’ There were no magic words.’’
Just for the first time in a month, a magic ending.
We’ve heard it all. Tom Cable is Al Davis’ tool. We’ve written it all. Tom Cable is just filling space until he’s fired.
The last few days, with the Raiders getting crushed the previous weekends, with the accusations that Cable punched one of his coaches, the news and the rumors had been particularly nasty. A season on the brink? It was a season in the sink.
So when the unexpected took place Sunday, when the Raiders sacked Donovan McNabb six times, when the Raiders held an opponent without a touchdown for the first time in 43 games, when the Raiders upset the Philadelphia Eagles, 13-9, Cable could have extracted a measure of revenge.
Could have pointed out we know less about football than about conjugating verbs, less about football than about restaurants in Barcelona. Could have gloated and said hey, he knew what he was doing all along. Which very well could be the situation.
He knew they could play, that it wasn’t a matter of tactics and strategy but of competition. And if deep down he was burning from all the words hurled his way, he wouldn’t be letting us in on the revelation.
“I think this makes a statement,’’ Cable said, making his own statement, “that we have good enough players, we have a good enough football team, and it’s a matter of whether we go out and fight for it. And today we fought to win. We deserved to win. We beat a good team.’’
What that makes the 2-4 Raiders, ending a three-game losing streak, is a legitimate question. In the NFL, good teams lose and bad teams win, if in either case not consistently, which is why they’re either a good team or a bad team. And why the Raiders can get battered one week by the New York Giants, 44-7, and then the next week defeat the Eagles can be attributed to the “Any Given Sunday’’ Sunday.
But if the Raiders with their few hours of success satisfied a Coliseum crowd announced at 49,642, Cable was waiting for new answers. Like whether this was just the Eagles acting as if they would have been better off taking a swim in the Atlantic or whether the Raiders actually deserved to be a member of the NFL.
“The biggest issue in the locker room,’’ Cable insisted, and correctly so, “is how we handle this. How do we grow? . . . How do we turn it around and make it consistent, grow from it?’’
Cable had been telling us the Raiders were “about to turn the corner,’’ although you wondered if the corner were at Telegraph and 51st or one of the intersections of the Champs-Elysees. So Sunday he did give us a little post-game reminder.
“I said to you guys time and again,’’ was Cable’s instructional commentary, “stop looking to write negative things or worry about the BS. ... We’re developing a team and an organization that has struggled to win the last few years, and you don’t flip a switch to that overnight. Don’t wake up the next day and everything is rosy and ready to go. There’s a process.’’
On Sunday, the process included quarterback JaMarcus Russell, as taunted as Cable, connecting on 17 or 24 passes for 224 yards and, on a great catch and excellent blocks by rookie Louis Murphy, an 86-yard play for the game’s only touchdown.
The process included the defensive line chasing down McNabb and holding the Eagles to 67 yards rushing. “We got home after the Giants game,’’ said defensive end Trevor Scott, who had two sacks as did Richard Seymour, “and asked, ‘Is this what we want?’ We can’t be playing ball like that.’’
The process included Justin Fargas rushing for 87 yards on 23 carries and then on third and one, with 2:02 on the clock and the Eagles out of timeouts, JaMarcus Russell throwing to Gary Russell for the ultimate first down.
“It was coming,’’ said Cable of JaMarcus’ play. “He’s been throwing balls much better.
“Our defense played pretty good, (and) we had enough of a run game to eat up the clock, maintain drives and keep them off the field. We went out and said, ‘Enough. Let’s play.’ There were no magic words.’’
Just for the first time in a month, a magic ending.
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