Daily Madden: Raiders Disappoint In Low-Energy Season Debut
OAKLAND (KCBS) - In a game with few highlights and many mistakes, the Raiders lost to the San Diego Chargers 22-14 at the Coliseum Monday night.
"Neither one of those teams looked good," John Madden told the KCBS morning crew. "You'd think for the opener and the sellout crowd, that there ought to be a lot more energy in the teams, and there didn't seem to be a lot of energy in either team."
The Raiders were again hurt by pre-snap penalties in key situations.
"It's those types of things I think that the new regime is trying to get rid of, you know, the stupid things," Madden said. "When you line up on the ball, the ball is right in front of you, and you have to leave when the ball snaps. There's no reason to jump offsides. Those are the things that have to be eliminated. They've been hanging around the Raiders for a long time, way too long."
The Raiders also were hurt by the loss of their long-snapper to injury. The back-up snapper, linebacker Travis Goethel, botched two snaps and a punt was blocked on a third, each leading to points for the Chargers.
"I think it's something that maybe was overlooked," Madden said, noting the importance of strong backups at each position. "You have 53 players. It's pro football...If you don't have (a good back-up snapper), you have to go get one. You have to have someone on your roster that can snap a ball in a pro football game." (7:55)
Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM. And catch John's extra report at 9:15 a.m. Mondays and Fridays during the NFL season.
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