Post by TheShadow on Sept 22, 2012 15:23:48 GMT -5
www.insidebayarea.com
By Jerry McDonald
OAKLAND -- Don't expect the Raiders to radically change their approach just because they lost a couple of games.
The Raiders that host the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday at O.co Coliseum will do many of the same things they did in a competitive loss to San Diego in Week 1 and a decisive defeat in Miami.
The difference is they hope to do them much better.
"I believe in the system," coach Dennis Allen said Friday. "I believe in what we're doing. And when you believe in something, you stick to it and have patience with it. It's all about a belief. Most of the time, people, when they don't believe in something, that's when they want to make a lot of changes.
"I've got a belief in it and it's going to work."
Allen was referring to offensive coordinator Greg Knapp's plea for patience with his unit Thursday, but may as well have been talking about his team overall.
Fans being what they are, especially for a team which hasn't had a winning season since 2002, there hasn't been a lot of sentiment for the "wait and see" attitude.
A sellout crowd against an opponent that travels its fans well promises for a charged atmosphere -- and the potential for some unhappy paying customers if things don't go well.
"Fans, man, I love 'em because they support us," Kelly said. "But at the end of the day, if we're losing they're going to hate us and they're going to voice their opinion. If we win they're going to love us and they're going to voice their opinion.
"So you just let them voice their opinion and go about your business."
Pittsburgh (1-1) will be without their two marquee defensive players -- linebacker James Harrison (knee) and safety Troy Polamalu (calf). They'll also rest running back Rashard Mendenhall (knee) another week with a bye week coming up after the Raiders game.
"They play good defense without those guys playing, so we've got to prepare to play the Pittsburgh Steeler defense, whoever they put out there," Allen said.
Offensive coordinator Greg Knapp said, "The scheme is still the same. What it does help is it gives you a little cleaner picture. Polamalu doesn't always line up where you think because he's got such great intangibles and speed that he gives you looks that tell you one thing, but you actually get another. That doesn't happen as much when he's not in the game.
Knapp conceded Harrison's loss hurts the Steelers a little, but not a lot.
"They still have good edge pass rushers," Knapp said. "It still gives you a big challenge."
Although the Steelers have averaged just 70.5 yards rushing through two games, their identity usually includes a strong inside running game, the better to allow quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to operate in play action as well as get outside on broken plays.
"I don't care what the stats say, I still think they're a good rushing team and they've got the fastest group of wide receivers that we'll probably see this year," Allen said.
The message this week is to match the Steelers block for block, hit for hit.
"We've got to match their physical play and that's been our plan is to be able to match them physically," Allen said.
Kelly was despondent following the Miami game, but said he felt better once he saw the film and just wrote it off as a bad day.
"It's always how you bounce back," Kelly said. "You can have a bad game but don't put two of them in a row. Come back strong, keep improving and don't let that happen again."
By Jerry McDonald
OAKLAND -- Don't expect the Raiders to radically change their approach just because they lost a couple of games.
The Raiders that host the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday at O.co Coliseum will do many of the same things they did in a competitive loss to San Diego in Week 1 and a decisive defeat in Miami.
The difference is they hope to do them much better.
"I believe in the system," coach Dennis Allen said Friday. "I believe in what we're doing. And when you believe in something, you stick to it and have patience with it. It's all about a belief. Most of the time, people, when they don't believe in something, that's when they want to make a lot of changes.
"I've got a belief in it and it's going to work."
Allen was referring to offensive coordinator Greg Knapp's plea for patience with his unit Thursday, but may as well have been talking about his team overall.
Fans being what they are, especially for a team which hasn't had a winning season since 2002, there hasn't been a lot of sentiment for the "wait and see" attitude.
A sellout crowd against an opponent that travels its fans well promises for a charged atmosphere -- and the potential for some unhappy paying customers if things don't go well.
"Fans, man, I love 'em because they support us," Kelly said. "But at the end of the day, if we're losing they're going to hate us and they're going to voice their opinion. If we win they're going to love us and they're going to voice their opinion.
"So you just let them voice their opinion and go about your business."
Pittsburgh (1-1) will be without their two marquee defensive players -- linebacker James Harrison (knee) and safety Troy Polamalu (calf). They'll also rest running back Rashard Mendenhall (knee) another week with a bye week coming up after the Raiders game.
"They play good defense without those guys playing, so we've got to prepare to play the Pittsburgh Steeler defense, whoever they put out there," Allen said.
Offensive coordinator Greg Knapp said, "The scheme is still the same. What it does help is it gives you a little cleaner picture. Polamalu doesn't always line up where you think because he's got such great intangibles and speed that he gives you looks that tell you one thing, but you actually get another. That doesn't happen as much when he's not in the game.
Knapp conceded Harrison's loss hurts the Steelers a little, but not a lot.
"They still have good edge pass rushers," Knapp said. "It still gives you a big challenge."
Although the Steelers have averaged just 70.5 yards rushing through two games, their identity usually includes a strong inside running game, the better to allow quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to operate in play action as well as get outside on broken plays.
"I don't care what the stats say, I still think they're a good rushing team and they've got the fastest group of wide receivers that we'll probably see this year," Allen said.
The message this week is to match the Steelers block for block, hit for hit.
"We've got to match their physical play and that's been our plan is to be able to match them physically," Allen said.
Kelly was despondent following the Miami game, but said he felt better once he saw the film and just wrote it off as a bad day.
"It's always how you bounce back," Kelly said. "You can have a bad game but don't put two of them in a row. Come back strong, keep improving and don't let that happen again."