OAKLAND - Raiders interim head coach Tom Cable said he wants creativity in the offense.
But the offensive set that has the most potential to be creative has been pretty bland.
The Miami Dolphins call it the Wildcat. The Raiders call it Stallion.
With any name, it's about putting your running back at quarterback and allowing him to make plays.
The Raiders have Darren McFadden, who ran the set at Arkansas, but their Stallion is just a boring little pony.
There's no motioning someone like Ronald Curry or Michael Bush - two players that have played quarterback in the past - into the backfield to take the ball for run/pass options.
McFadden hasn't faked a run and tried to pass to Zach Miller.
How about a double pass since JaMarcus Russell is lined up as a receiver?
Nope, just a basic, boring running play with no impact on the game.
"It's something we haven't put in there yet,' McFadden said. "We haven't gotten to doing the motion and moving around. Right now we're just going to stand pat and play smash mouth football."
The Raiders were in the Stallion four times and gained a total of five yards with a long run of four yards by Justin Fargas.
Twice McFadden gave the ball to Fargas. The other two times, he McFadden ran into the middle of the line
"It's just one of those things where if a defense plays it right it's not going to be there," McFadden said.
And the Raiders are making it easy on defenses to play the formation with the lack of creativity out of the formation - minus last week when Curry tried to pass out of it after taking the snap.
But this formation is supposed to be about McFadden.
And when he's been at quarterback, there's been nothing of note outside one nice run against the Broncos for 11 yards, not the big plays the Raider offense needs.
After all the buildup of all the Raiders could do out of the formation, there's really nothing to be excited about yet.
The Raiders have nothing to lose in their final four games. It's time to show everyone reason to be excited for 2009 and get really wild on offense.
*Upon further review it looks as if the botched fake field goal could have also been a pass to tight end Tony Stewart.
When you look at the replay Stewart would have been wide open or been the lead blocker on the run.
It was still a bad call.
Maurice Leggett would have hit Sebastian Janikowski likely forced a fumble if Janikowski held on to the ball to attempt a pass.
--Jason Jones
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