The crowd was rocking, the team was rolling, and his message was
being delivered to a national audience.
By Monte Poole – The Oakland Tribune
OAKLAND
The crowd was rocking, the team was rolling, and his message was being delivered to a national audience.
This, more than anything else, including simply winning, is what Hue Jackson constantly talks about.
The first-year Raiders coach harps on his desire for victory, but he’s fixated on simultaneously creating specific images.
Jackson wants an imposing, high-velocity squad. He wants it to be feared and envied around the NFL. He wants it to earn the intense love and support of its fans, yearns for it to regain the marquee status in which it once reveled.
The Raiders pretty much hit the bull’s-eye Sunday, charging back from a 10-point first-half deficit to pound out a 34-24 win over the perennially contending New York Jets before a delighted full house at O.co Coliseum.
“Magic Johnson showed up. The Raider Nation showed up. The players showed up. The coaching staff showed up,” Jackson said. “It should be like this every week. Our players deserve it.”
Most of the sellout crowd (61,546) was on its feet from start to finish, hooting and hollering and dancing. This facility, synonymous in recent years with empty sections and invisibility _ the vast majority of Raiders home games have been blacked out _ thundered and shook as it has not since Network Associates owned the naming rights at the turn of the millennium.
The Black Hole, which once split the eardrums of opponents around the league, was back with a vengeance. The energy it brought, as much as anything the Raiders did, delivered this potentially seismic triumph.
“We definitely felt the energy,” linebacker Kamerion Wimbley said.
“They were the 12th man,” defensive tackle Tommy Kelly said. “Loud . . . obnoxious . . . like Raider fans are. I love ’em to death.”
All things considered, the victory was as impressive as any Raiders home game since 2002 and any Raiders home opener since they returned in 1995, when owner Al Davis not only expected but firmly believed the Coliseum would gave his team a decided advantage.
And there is, to be sure, a lot to consider. There is the new coaching staff, led by Jackson, trying to make a potent first impression. There was the ominous backdrop of last week’s loss at Buffalo, devastating insofar as Oakland’s second-half collapse looked a lot like those we’ve seen all too often over the past years. And there was the packed house, with local and national TV _ networks love those New York teams _ providing a prime opportunity to advertise it is a new day in Oakland.
“It ain’t the same old Raiders of the past five, six years,” Kelly crowed.
The Raiders made a statement against a powerhouse opponent. That the Jets have played in the last two AFC Championship games makes this victory as impressive as any Raiders home opener since ’95.
After the Raiders fell behind 17-7 midway through the second quarter, running back Darren McFadden bolted 70 yards for a touchdown with 3:40 left in the second half. Kicker Sebastian Janikowski booted a 54-yard field goal, tying the game 17-17 at halftime.
With fans dressed mostly in black shaking the house, and the Raiders pass rush stalking Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, Oakland’s offense scored two touchdowns in the first 15:02 of the second half to seize a 31-17 lead.
The Raiders held on, despite two furious New York drives in the fourth quarter.
This win was an important milestone in Jackson’s grand plan. He won his home debut, yes, but it’s more than that. He has spent months openly courting the fan base, speaking pointedly of his desire to fill the stadium. His goal is to re-create the home-field advantage the Raiders once had but have surrendered while missing the playoffs for eight consecutive years _ an unprecedented stretch of futility since Davis’ arrival in 1963.
Also unprecedented is the number of fans who have quit coming to the Coliseum. Where once upon a time one could not find an empty seat, tens of thousands have stayed away. Several times during the past few seasons, the place was no more than half full.
“I’ve been here when it’s been like a ghost town,” said Jackson, who arrived in Oakland as offensive coordinator in 2010 but on several occasions was part of a visiting contingent at the Coliseum.
“We can do better. We’re one of the best organizations in football. We haven’t been lately. But we’re going to be again. We’re chasing it. And we’re not going to stop.”
The fans came Sunday, some because they were curious, others because they believe, plenty because they so badly want to believe that this time, after so many lost years, their beloved Silver and Black can bounce back.
The Black Hole was in full force and the Raiders were resolute, both breaking a good opponent. Nothing beats an impressive show when everybody is watching.
