Oakland Raiders: If the Numbers Tell a Story, Then Don't Bash JR

Do you believe the numbers tell a story? Well, they do.

The numbers do not tell the complete story, but they certainly measure efficiency and effectiveness in some categories.

After visiting an archive of the data for the Nov. 1 game between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers, several observations were made.

It may surprise you to see that certain numbers for the Oakland Raiders' were almost equal to those of San Diego.

For example, the time of possession of the ball differed by only .967.  That is 58 seconds difference in possession time. Not bad!

Oakland's yards per rush exceeded the measure for San Diego. See the chart above.

Now, the point of interest for me is the measure of the quarterback's efficiency. The ratio of completions-attempts for JaMarcus Russell is 0.636. The opponents quarterback had a measure of 0.64.

This means that Russell's performance, as measured by this parameter, was very, very close to that of the opponent. In fact the difference is the infinitesimal 0.004.

So, during the game on Nov. 1, Russell, in my opinion did a better job of "doing his job."

A concern is our total yards are down, too much, in fact. We tend to have very short passes, with an average of 3.7 yards per pass.

What does that mean? You tell me.

Teamwork is what it is all about.

With a two-week break before the game with the Kansas City Chiefs, we ought to see a leap in progress.

Finally, if the numbers tell a story, then we should be careful who we dump the blame on.

Based on these numbers, Russell improved.

Now, it looks like his teammates need a threat of being "benched," so they, too, can sprout up in efficiency and effectiveness in the next game with Kansas City.