RB Darren McFadden accounted for 150 yard of total offense (95 rushing, 55 receiving) and a touchdown in the Raiders loss at Tennessee. Photo by Tony Gonzales.
After a tough loss to the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, The Oakland Raiders returned home to Alameda to begin preparing for the first home game of the 2010 season vs. the St. Louis Rams. Rather than dwell on the defeat, players arrived at the practice facility ready to study film and start the preparations for the second game of the season.
"The good thing about this league is that you get to play again next week. We just have to come back and bounce back against the Rams," said LB Quentin Groves.
According to Raiders Head Coach Tom Cable, the team will watch and analyze the game film in order to improve individually and as a team. "I told them bring your notepads and bring an open mind because we've got a lot of work to do," Coach Cable recalled. "We've got to straighten some things out and when you see the film, as we talked about in the team meeting, you're going to be very shocked and a little bit angry to see yourselves doing things we used to do, things we hadn't done all preseason and things we felt we had moved beyond."
Groves believes some of the team's struggles stemmed from over-thinking rather than just playing. "When you think a lot you don't hit them in the mouth first and that gets you on your heels," explained Groves. "So that's what we have to do. We have to go out there and forget the X's and O's and go out there and hit them in the mouth first."
Coach Cable echoed Groves' sentiments. "One thing we know about us is when we just go cut it loose and play fast in any of the three phases, that's when we are a good football team," Cable said."
For RB Darren McFadden, each week has to be viewed as a fresh start. "We have to go back to the basics, back to getting things right. We just have to come out and get better every day," said McFadden. "You want to just come out here and take what you can from [the game]. Take what was good and leave the bad behind and get better and start preparing for the game next Sunday."
The Raiders look to improve their performance against the St. Louis Rams at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum for the first home game of the 2010 season this Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
