Raiderstation

After a successful week one win, the Raiders are going to their second home at the Chargers this week.

View from the enemy

https://www.thepowderblues.com/forum/fo ... gers-forum

These Charger coaches need to lay off the weed man

Attyla wrote: Thu Sep 17, 2026 5:05 pm

...every Sunday, when the moon is full, ....

...reminds me of Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein.......every night, when the moon is full,I turn into a werewolf. lou: ...you and thousands of other guys.... (...or something like that....)

raidersince63 wrote: Thu Sep 17, 2026 5:02 pm Yeah, I'm sure that Kirk's arm is not as strong as it once was. But I seem to remember him airing out quite a few long passes in camp but none in the Miami game. And we have no way of knowing if Kubiak even called any plays that called for Cousins to throw the ball 40-50 or more yards.

In the Miami game, the running game was doing it's job and with the exception of the INTs, Cousins seemed to simply take what Miami's defense gave him, so it didn't really require long passes. Running the ball and short underneath passes are a well known page out of Kubiak's playbook.

Throwing the ball with a red jersey on is substantially different than playing live snaps. I disagree that Cousins took what Miami's defense gave him. 1-7 on passes over 10 yards paints a very clear picture of his inability to push the ball downfield. Beyond the two interceptions there was at least two other passes, the one miss to Malik Benson, that would have gone for 35 yards minimum if not a TD. He double clutched quite often, showing an obvious lack of confidence in his arm.

You can get by with a guy like that but it's a severe handicap to this offense reaching it's potential.

As long as we show we belong on the same field and not just compete but compete to the end, I’ll be satisfied with that amount of improvement.
Make the flight home hopefully with a win but if not, a game we can hang our hats on and build on. Play hard and go out like f kn bosses

....I think that in the first real game, and with a new system and with what are all K K was more striving to get the system going as efficiently as possible, initially, awhile getting everyone up to speed, and then go from there. ...despite cousins concerning arm strength concerns raised, I think he got what he wanted out of the first week, and will go from there, and that should give us all a better read on how limited, or able he might be to execute the offense being the popgun stuff, and which will also likely give us somewhat of a clue on how much sooner, than later, we may see the kid.

NoThanksSir wrote: Fri Sep 18, 2026 4:59 am Throwing the ball with a red jersey on is substantially different than playing live snaps. I disagree that Cousins took what Miami's defense gave him. 1-7 on passes over 10 yards paints a very clear picture of his inability to push the ball downfield. Beyond the two interceptions there was at least two other passes, the one miss to Malik Benson, that would have gone for 35 yards minimum if not a TD. He double clutched quite often, showing an obvious lack of confidence in his arm.

You can get by with a guy like that but it's a severe handicap to this offense reaching it's potential.

i agree you can get bye a game or 2 but he becomes a hindrance to the offense sooner rather then later...kirk reminded me of cooper rush being the starter for atl

Viper wrote: Fri Sep 18, 2026 5:05 am As long as we show we belong on the same field and not just compete but compete to the end, I’ll be satisfied with that amount of improvement.
Make the flight home hopefully with a win but if not, a game we can hang our hats on and build on. Play hard and go out like f kn bosses

thats the way im looking att his season "i just wanna see our team compete and look like a pro team with a pro plan" we did that week 1 vs miami, hopefully we can do it again wk 2

The two picks Kirk threw weren't even tight window throws that were snagged because his arm couldn't get it there with zip. They were just dog shit throws that had no chance. The second one was worse than the first. The first one, I have no clue what he was doing. Maybe leading the receiver or just plain missed the throw

Goodtimes333 wrote: Fri Sep 18, 2026 6:55 am The two picks Kirk threw weren't even tight window throws that were snagged because his arm couldn't get it there with zip. They were just dog shit throws that had no chance. The second one was worse than the first. The first one, I have no clue what he was doing. Maybe leading the receiver or just plain missed the throw

In my opinion he showed a lack of confidence in his arm. Once you start questioning yourself on the field I think it's time to hang it up. Don't get me wrong I hope we can get a few more games out of him, but I think this is the end of the road for him.

No complaints because a W is a W. That being said, Kirk's arm appears fried (not that he was a gun slinger to begin with). The coaching staff has to pick their poison. I agree with going with Kirk for the time being. Lets wait and see how our OL (looked great week #1) reacts against REAL NFL teams. If our OL continues to impress, we have got to play St. Francis. Why? He obviously gets developmental time without getting crushed. In addition to that, I believe he can push the ball down field which is something that Kirk MAY no longer be able to do. I am not crucifying Kirk (the backup QB is always a fan favorite on a shit team). However, we are going to see defenses stack the box (stop Jeanty while not worrying about the threat of a downfield pass). I am not saying Mendoza has a cannon, but his arm is stronger than Kirks. Mendoza is also a maestro at working the sidelines (out routes) which would elevate the games of our wideouts (while hiding their SHORT-comings).

NoThanksSir wrote: Fri Sep 18, 2026 4:59 am Throwing the ball with a red jersey on is substantially different than playing live snaps. I disagree that Cousins took what Miami's defense gave him. 1-7 on passes over 10 yards paints a very clear picture of his inability to push the ball downfield. Beyond the two interceptions there was at least two other passes, the one miss to Malik Benson, that would have gone for 35 yards minimum if not a TD. He double clutched quite often, showing an obvious lack of confidence in his arm.

You can get by with a guy like that but it's a severe handicap to this offense reaching it's potential.

Perhaps this is good news, we weren't looking for him to be our any possible term qb other than very short term answer.
Lets see how we block week 2.

NoThanksSir wrote: Fri Sep 18, 2026 4:59 am Throwing the ball with a red jersey on is substantially different than playing live snaps. I disagree that Cousins took what Miami's defense gave him. 1-7 on passes over 10 yards paints a very clear picture of his inability to push the ball downfield. Beyond the two interceptions there was at least two other passes, the one miss to Malik Benson, that would have gone for 35 yards minimum if not a TD. He double clutched quite often, showing an obvious lack of confidence in his arm.

You can get by with a guy like that but it's a severe handicap to this offense reaching it's potential.

Disagree...nobody knows what he was thinking while scanning the field, and double-clutching is not by default, evidence of an obvious lack of confidence in his own arm.

And the discussion was about his ability to throw long, and he can, and he proved that during camp...and that ability does not simply disappear when real games begin. I've already stated multiple times that I want to see us go more vertical in order to stretch the field.

And though I brought it up before, I'll ask again, does anyone actually know for sure what plays Kubiak called for? Cousins is a temporary "place holder" for Mendo and even Cousins knows that. So I don't get all of the putting Cousins under a microscope, especially after 1 game and a game that we won handily.

We'll see Mendoza soon enough.

.

Kirk's arm is pretty ragged, but at least he's not at a Garoppolo level yet.

People are making to big of an issue about Cousin's arm. Pushing the ball vertically was never his game and we don't have the outside speed to impose it anyways. With Mayer, Jeanty and Bowers we have the talent to work underneath and be effective provided the interceptions are cleaned up.

Right now, it comes down to football intelligence. Everyone knows Mendoza can make all the throws Cousin can (and then some), but would Mendoza have made the same reads, the same decisions and the same completions?