Raiders Blog and Q&A: Award time

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Raiders Blog and Q&A

News, observations and reader questions about the Oakland Raiders

November 24, 2008

ALAMEDA - Interim head coach Tom Cable promised a lot of game balls would be awarded after the Raiders beat the Denver Broncos, 31-10, Sunday.

Here are the winners:

Offense
WR Ashley Lelie - four catches, 92 yards, touchdown
QB JaMarcus Russell - 10 of 11, 152 yards, touchdown
RB Justin Fargas - 24 carries, 107 yards
RG Cooper Carlisle - Team ran to the right a lot Sunday
TE Zach Miller - three catches, 41 yards
RB Darren McFAdden -10 carries, 38 yards, two touchdowns

Defense
CB Chris Johnson - Held up in coverage as Denver attacked him deep repeatedly, two passes defended
S Gibril Wilson - Six tackles, fumble recovery
S Rashad Baker - Five tackles, good coverage downfield
DT Tommy Kelly - No tackles, but anchored the middle of the defense and didn't allow Jay Cutler to get comfortable in the middle of the pocket
LB Thomas Howard - Team-high eight tackles, interception and pass defended.

Special teams
PR Johnnie Lee Higgins - 89-yard punt return for a touchdown
LB Marquis Cooper - No tackles but was a big part of the special teams coverage units.

Coaches
Willie Brown - Spoke to the team about the importance of the Oakland-Denver rivalry

*The Raiders have a chart in the hallway near their locker room detailing 12 aspects of special teams and whether the team accomplished its goal in each area.

Among the goals is 100 percent kick and punt coverage, winning the battle of net punt average, making a big play, scoring and keeping the opposition from starting across the 50.

For the first time this season, the Raiders had sticker marking off an achieved goal in each category, including the most important: win.

*LB Ricky Brown (groin) and C Jake Grove (calf) are day-to-day, Cable said. S Michael Huff (stinger) is expected to be OK.

--Jason Jones

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Paul was born in Barstow and attended Barstow Community College before transferring to UNLV, sadly, after Ickey Woods, Randall Cunningham, Keenan McCardell and Suge Knight had made the Rebels a football, um, powerhouse. Paul has worked for Sports Illustrated, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Los Angeles Times and The Bee. While stringing for the Barstow Desert Dispatch, Paul was about 10 yards away from Bo Jackson when he suffered his career-ending hip injury in a 1991 playoff game at the L.A. Coliseum against the Cincinnati Bengals.