Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Seattle 17 at Oakland 31 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Seattle Seahawks: The winning margin of this game could have been much larger. Consider Seattle won the turnover difference 2 to 0 and were down 31-7 after the third quarter. The second half was an exercise in monotony from a fans perspective. Oakland controlled both sides of the ball the entire game. Shaun Alexander is still the star on this team. It is simply a very poor team right now without Walter Jones, John Randle, Trent Dilfer, and Anthony Simmons. However, Alexander will still get his touches. Matt Hasselbeck played amazingly well for how often he was hit. 2 passing TD's and no INT's was a commendable effort for the disparity in line talent. Isiah Kacyvenski is no run stuffer, but he was credited for 12 tackles and 5 assists. He could represent great value for players in IDP leagues as it looks like the Seattle defense will be spending lots of time on the field. Oakland Raiders: The Oakland running game is a running back by committee (RBBC) situation. Charlie Garner had some monster runs through some monster holes that helped him on his way to a huge game, but his rushing stats may give some Garner owners a false sense of security. Garner totaled 20 touches on the day while Wheatley had 21 touches. Jerry Rice and Tim Brown are still an integral part of the passing game. Their numbers were down in this game only because Oakland did not need to pass the ball farther than 5 yards down field. Only one pass was targeted to a WR in the entire second half. This was due to a lack of necessity, not player performance. Oakland dominated on both the offensive and defensive lines. The rushing totals tell the entire story here. Oakland: 221 rushing yards. Seattle: 43 rushing yards. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Seattle Seahawks QB: Matt Hasselbeck - Completed 23 of 32 for 155 yards and 2 TDs. The longest Seattle pass play of the day was 16 yards. Hasselbeck was under heavy pressure all day. He was sacked 3 times and hit on several other plays. Considering the lack of a running game his play was admirable even though he will be shown the bench next week if Trent Dilfer is ready to go. All signs point to Dilfer starting next week in Seattle against Arizona. WR: Darrell Jackson - Was targeted 4 times in the game and was given a carry on a reverse. Totaled 3 catches for 7 yards. Seemed nonexistent and had a tough time getting off the line against press coverage. Jackson was covered by Charles Woodson on the day and Seattle clearly wanted to steer clear of Woodson. Koren Robinson - Was targeted 7 times in the game including 5 times in the first half. He grabbed 5 balls for 39 yards. Only deep ball attempt of the day went towards Robinson. Bobby Engram - Is clearly the third WR. Targeted twice. Caught both balls for 25 yards. RB: Shaun Alexander - Alexander totaled 19 touches in the game for 72 total yards and 1 TD. Alexander had nowhere to run as the Oakland defensive line dominated Seattle. Alexander was targeted 7 times in the passing game, but only once during the first three quarters. No need to panic as 72 yards and 1 TD is plenty respectable against this team. Dilfer should help his numbers. TE: Itula Mili - Started at TE. Was targeted 4 times. Caught 3 balls for 23 yards and a TD. TD was play action at the goal line. Jeremy Stevens - Was in the game early and targeted 4 times. Caught 3 balls for 18 yards. Was open on a corner route in the end zone but was overthrown. Seahawks Pass Defense - Springs and Lucas were solid at CB, but were not challenged after the second quarter. Only one pass was targeted to an Oakland WR in the entire second half. Willie Williams played the nickel and covered the slot WR. Williams had an INT, but it was from a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage. Seahawks Run Defense - The Seattle defensive line was blown off the ball play after play. Oakland ran the ball 40 times for 221 yards, mostly up the gut. Isiah Kacyvenski was in on 17 tackles, but most these were at least 5 yards down field. An already injured Anthony Simmons was furthered dinged (ankle). Seahawks Special Teams - Rookie Maurice Morris returned a kick 66 yards that led to the first Seattle TD. PK Rian Lindel missed his first FG attempt at 39 yards and hit later on from 32 yards. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Oakland Raiders QB: Rich Gannon - Completed 19 of 28 for 214 yards, 2 passing TD's and one INT. Managed a textbook ball control offense. Gannon attempted a pass no longer than 10 yards only once in the second half. Gannon's lone INT was the result of a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage. WR: Tim Brown - Targeted 4 times in the first half catching all 4 balls for 46 yards and a TD. Don't be concerned about the low numbers, as stated above, it was more an issue of Oakland protecting a lead and the effectiveness of the Raider rushing attack. Jerry Rice - Targeted 2 times in the first quarter and once in the third quarter. Totaled 2 catches for 25 yards. Ditto the concern issues for Tim Brown. He'll be fine and about what most folks expected. Jerry Porter - Saw lots of time during the second half, but never saw the ball due to the Oakland RBBC show. Was also given a carry on a reverse. Oakland set this up with several fake reverses earlier in the game. RB: Charlie Garner - Benefited from tremendous offensive line play and holes any running back could easily hit. To his credit, Garner hit those holes with explosiveness and broke several runs back to the outside. Garner totaled 127 yards on the ground on 15 carries and a TD. He also caught 5 balls for 64 yards and another TD. With Wheatley's role, Garner probably looks better today than he might really be. And that's always the right recipe for a trade if you find an owner willing to give up too much. Tyrone Wheatley - Actually totaled more touches than Garner in the game (21 to 20). It's important to note that these touches occurred throughout the game and in a fairly equal proportion. It would be inappropriate to think that Garner was used like a feature RB while Wheatley was playing second fiddle. Three of the final Oakland possessions were 10 play drives that featured a mix of Garner and Wheatley. TE: Roland Williams - Was targeted only once in the second quarter for a 16 yard gain. Raiders Pass Defense - Weren't challenged down field even though the corners were left on islands most of the game. Of note, Charles Woodson totaled 8 tackles and forced 2 fumbles. Raiders Rush Defense - Played most of the game with 8 in the box and completely stuffed Seattle's running game. Only gave up 43 rushing yards on 16 attempts (2.7 yard average). Raiders Special Teams - Janikowski hit his only FG attempt (27 yards). The kickoff coverage team allowed a return of 66 yards to Maurice Morris. On 6 kickoffs Janikowski put 3 in the endzone for 2 touchbacks. Punter Stemke averaged 50 yards on 2 kicks including a 56 yarder. Ray Buchanon totaled 22 yards on his only punt return. Terry Kirby returned kickoffs and was unspectacular with a long return of only 31 yards.