Daily Madden: No Silver Lining For Raiders
OAKLAND (CBS SF) - The Oakland Raiders were crushed by the New Orleans Saints 38-17 Sunday. They've given up 135 points in their last three games, and are 3-7 for the season.
"Usually when a defense cracks or doesn't play well, it's kind of like baseball, you look right up the middle," John Madden told the KCBS morning crew. "And you look at the tackles, the middle linebacker and the safety. And I don't think they're getting good play in those areas... So they have to get some better players, probably look at their scheme and go from there."
On the positive side for the Raiders, running back Marcel Reece ran for 103 yards on 19 carries.
"I'm one of those guys that believes if you get whipped like that, embarrassed like that, there's no bright spot," Madden said. "He's a good prospect, but to get all excited and say 'yeah, you beat us, but we got Marcel Reece,' doesn't do anything to me, and it doesn't do anything to him either."
New England beat Indianapolis 59-24 Sunday, but lost star tight end Rob Gronkowski when he broke his arm late in the game blocking on a PAT.
"Other than (quarterback) Tom Brady, he's probably the best player on their team, so that's a big loss." Madden said. "If I were going to question anything it would be having him on (the extra point) team at all."
Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan threw five interceptions and no touchdowns, but the 9-1 Falcons still beat the Cardinals 23-17 Sunday.
"If you're going to have a good year," Madden said, "you're going to have games like that. You're going to have games where you play really well and everything goes right and you get a blowout. You're going to play games where you're in a fight and it goes right down to the end. And you're going to play games where some of your players stink and you can still win." (8:30)
Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM. And catch John's extra report at 9:15 a.m. Mondays and Fridays during the NFL season.
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