Raider Nation shows up to Baltimore; Raiders defense doesn’t

We had a great weekend in Baltimore, meeting up with fellow members of the Raider Nation from all over the world, including Oscar and his Raider TailGator and Crusader Raider.  Once the game started though, we all waited for a defense that never seemingly took the field.
Carson Palmer continues his Raider record-setting pace.  He’s now #3 in the league in passing yards, and #1 in the AFC.  Unfortunately, those yards haven’t equaled nearly as many points as they should.  Still, Palmer was able to work with the makeshift backfield of Marcel Reece and Jeremy Stewart.  Palmer sent touchdowns to each of the Raiders’ primary receiving targets, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Denarius Moore.  Seabass added two field goals and two extra points, and that was it for the Raiders’ scoring for the day.
If I wanted to write all of the Ravens scoring on the site, I’d need additional room.  The Ravens scored at will, only being stopped once in the first half by a Michael Huff interception.  The Ravens did not punt until the second half.  Oakland’s game plan was to stop Ray Rice.  They did; he scored a touchdown, but it was in the red zone.  Overall, they contained him well.  But, Joe Flacco fired at will to receivers, and absolutely lit up the Raiders secondary.
One of the more questionable moves over the weekend was the cutting of Pat Lee.  I understand it was to make room for Ron Bartell, and Lee was  pretty bad early on, but was he really worse than Philip Adams and Coye Francies?  At this point, it may be better just to fair catch and touchback each punt and kick.  At least Oakland would hang onto the ball.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Raiders.  They have New Orleans at home this Sunday.  A win would keep the playoff hopes (or at least respectable season) on life support.  But New Orleans’ offense is dangerous, and Oakland’s defense is hazardous.