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Raiders show life, stagger Eagles
Zach Miller hugs JaMarcus Russell after their 86-yard scoring hook-up. AP | Buy photos
Monday, October 19, 2009
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OAKLAND — Louis Murphy sprinted upfield and laid out a defender with a punishing block. Not satisfied, he caught up to the play again and delivered a second block that allowed Zach Miller to cruise into the end zone on an 86-yard catch-and-run.

For an offense criticized for lacking big plays, intensity and leadership, a rookie receiver gave the Oakland Raiders all three in one play that answered the skeptics.
Miller scored the only touchdown of the game, Justin Fargas helped control the clock by rushing for 87 physical yards and Oakland’s defense harassed Donovan McNabb all day in a 13-9 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

“We went out and threw a fight on somebody and said, ‘Enough. Let’s play,”’ coach Tom Cable said. “That’s all you can say. There’s no magic words or anything like that.”
It was a major turnaround from the last three weeks when the Raiders (2-4) lost by at least 20 points for the first time in franchise history, capped by a 44-7 loss to the Giants last week.

“You have to look yourself in the mirror and man up,” Murphy said. “We played flat. We didn’t play with any emotion. This game was totally different.”
The key Sunday was the Oakland defense. Coordinator John Marshall mixed in more zone coverages and blitzes than usual.

The Eagles abandoned the run early, only had Michael Vick on the field for two plays and were the first team in three years to fail to score a touchdown against the Raiders.

“They were able to get home and hit our quarterback,” coach Andy Reid said.

David Akers missed a pair of field goals for the Eagles, a 43-yarder wide left in the first quarter and a 47-yarder wide right in the third quarter that proved crucial down the stretch.

McNabb finished 22 for 46 for 269 yards. He struggled without left tackle Jason Peters, who left in the first quarter with an injured left knee.

“I’m embarrassed by the way we came out here and played,” McNabb said.

Richard Seymour and Trevor Scott each had a pair of sacks for Oakland as the Eagles ran the ball just 14 times against a defense missing star cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha for much of the game with an eye injury.

“I’m sure they watched the Giants game and thought we were sorry,” Scott said. “But all week coach Cable talked about persevering.”

JaMarcus Russell iced the game with a 12-yard pass to Gary Russell on third-and-10. He ran out the clock after that to the delight of the fans, who began the game by booing their quarterback.

Russell completed 17 of 28 passes for 224 yards, with two interceptions and the touchdown to Miller that was the longest pass play in 25 years for the Raiders.

Russell found Miller open over the middle on a pass 16 yards downfield. Miller then ran up the sideline and got sprung by a devastating block by Murphy that flattened Quintin Mikell. As Miller got close to the end zone, he slowed up to give Murphy time to catch up and block Ellis Hobbs to help complete the 86-yard catch and run.

“I came over to him and was like, ‘Man, that’s the best two blocks I’ve ever seen from a wide receiver,”’ Miller said. “I have to buy him something now. He deserves it.”

Miller had six catches for 139 yards.
1 comment(s)

109823 wrote on Oct 19, 2009 6:57 PM:

" The true test will be to sustain the drive and intesity. But my guess is they'll be satisfied with just the victory. They haven't played a game,yet, where all units (O,D and special teams ) performed at their best. "

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