Raiders Get Blanked, Lose Two Potential Starters For Season

Bad night all around for the Oakland Raiders. Not only did they get shutout by the Arizona Cardinals (never a good thing) 24-0, they also lost wide receiver Drew Carter and starting fullback Oren O'Neal , likely for the entire 2008 season, in the first four plays of the game.

O'neal went down on the opening kickoff and Carter soon followed on the third play from scrimmage. Both players suffered knee injuries.

Carter is coming off a season where he only caught 31 passes in Carolina, but the loss is big because he was expected to start, and as David White at the San Francisco Chronicle writes, he was one of the only receivers to really connect with Jamarcus Russell in camp.

Still, worse yet, the injury to carter now opens up the door for Javon Walker to be pretty much guaranteed a starting job, by default, even though he hasn't really done anything. And for the low, low price of $55 million!

Though, to be fair, he did catch four passes last night for 60 yards. So, it's a start.
Making matters worse for the passing game, I'm sure, is the fact Head Coach Lane Kiffin was more than a little annoyed at the Raiders' attempts at pass protection.

"We weren't very good in our pass protection," Kiffin said. "It looked like Kwame struggled a lot. We missed probably at least four blitzes ... so I'm very discouraged. It kind of reminds me of who we are."

It's becoming clear that Darren McFadden and Justin Fargas are going to have run for 4,000 yards for the Raiders to have a shot.