Oakland Raiders: Oh so Close.

Well, another close game....another loss.

But for a team that is supposed to be hopeless....this weekend, they looked pretty determined to win.

Oakland's defense was solid, picking off Jake Delhomme 4 times, and kept him harried all day long.

The Panthers 2 TDs came from short field situations, one created on the opening kickoff, the second on a busted play that had DeAngelo Williams go off big time for 69 yards.

Even through all of this, Oakland was down 14-6, late....a Touchdown and a 2 point conversion from a tie.

Andrew Walter, starting for JaMarcus Russell, had done a good job learning on the fly. Sure, he wasn't perfect, but considering his last start came almost a year ago, and has started only 9 games total, he didn't do bad....except for hurting himself throwing for a first down.

Probably the two things that frustrated me the most, was that Oakland's attempts at the end zone either were botched, or, hitting guys like Walker on the hands, and not able to reel in sure catches.

Probably the hardest part for this game, was late when Walter got injured, and they had to bring in Marques Tuisosopo, the longtime journeyman.

And his age showed.

When Oakland needed a Touchdown....there wasn't one to be found. And Oakland's last attempt to score, a 58 yard field goal attempt, clanged off the crossbar.

But, at least with this game, we can hold our heads up....we played a great game on defense.

Now we just have to hope the offense can play that good someday.