Oakland held to just 77 yards en route to 24-0 loss against
Atlanta
OAKLAND
To think these Atlanta Falcons have had it bad.
A look at the first-half yardage provided a glimpse of just how lopsided Atlanta’s win over Oakland so quickly became Sunday: The Falcons outgained the Raiders 309 yards to minus-2.
First-year Falcons coach Mike Smith has been preaching to his players the need to sustain their energy and effort on every down for 60 minutes – and he had few complaints after this one.
Atlanta scored all of its points in the first half, and that was plenty in a 24-0 victory that surpassed the Falcons’ win total from last year only halfway through the season. Of the small number of Raiders fans who stuck around through it all, many booed their team as the game ended.
“During the week, we look like we’re a Super Bowl team, and we come out there and we’re damn near the laughingstock of the league, and it’s ridiculous,” said Raiders safety Gibril Wilson, who came to Oakland from the Super Bowl-champion New York Giants in the offseason. “I’ve never been in a situation where it’s been like this, and I don’t know what it is. …
“The people in this locker room have to look at themselves in the mirror and see exactly what they’re bringing to the table, and if they’re not bringing anything to the table, then get off the ship, period.”
Smith’s squad, on the other hand, was looking forward to a relaxing, enjoyable flight back east after a methodical, dominant performance by a team that has been through so much in the past year.
From Michael Vick being jailed for dogfighting to former coach Bobby Petrino’s in-season departure last year, the turmoil seems to have settled down for the Falcons.
“This is a long process. We’re eight games into this process and we’re excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish,” Smith said. “I think what it has done for our football team is it has confirmed that when we started back in March that we are doing things the right way.”
Quarterback Matt Ryan would have liked to put a few more points on the board after halftime, but insisted the offense would only learn from the missed chances. He led scoring drives on his team’s first four possessions and efficiently ran the no-huddle offense.
“Ultimately we did a good job of maintaining and holding the football,” Ryan said. “Time of possession was big for us, especially when we got up early. You’d like to finish some of those drives and that’s something we’ll continue to work on. We have a lot of improving to do. It’ll be good to get back to work and continue to get better.”
The Raiders (2-6) reached new lows. Oakland was limited to only 77 yards for its worst total since getting 58 in 1961 against the Chargers, when 79-year-old longtime owner Al Davis was an assistant coach with San Diego.
Justin Fargas ran 13 yards for Oakland’s initial first down of the game with 9:26 remaining in the third quarter.
“It’s a slippery slope, and you can’t let it fall off,” Fargas said. “We’ve just got to keep fighting, keep working, and do whatever it takes to get a win. That’s all we can do.”
The Falcons (5-3) only made things worse for the home team late. Free safety Erik Coleman intercepted a pass by JaMarcus Russell in the end zone midway through the fourth quarter on the Raiders’ best drive of the day. Oakland had reached the Atlanta 10 at that point.
That play preserved Atlanta’s first shutout since 2002. The Falcons set a record for fewest total yards allowed in a game, allowing one fewer than Tampa Bay got in a 17-0 loss in 1977.
“That was a huge win for us,” Coleman said. “The offense started the game off with a great drive and we took that momentum and kept it going. The defensive line did a great job stopping the run and keeping pressure on the quarterbacks to pass. It really made our jobs easy back there in the secondary.”
It was the first shutout since 2006 for the Raiders, who won in such dramatic fashion in their previous home game two weeks ago – getting Sebastian Janikowski’s 57-yard field goal in overtime to beat the New York Jets. But this ugly loss left interim coach Tom Cable with back-to-back defeats following a 29-10 setback at Baltimore.
Notes:
Oakland’s 77 yards were the fewest in the NFL since Cleveland gained 26 on Dec. 12, 2004, against Buffalo. … John Abraham had three sacks for Atlanta, giving him 10 for the season.
