National Football League

Oakland Raiders notebook: Futility with piecing together back-to-back wins continues

Published Oct. 18, 2010 10:12 a.m. ET

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With Sunday's loss to the 49ers, the Raiders failed in their seventh consecutive opportunity to win back-to-back games, a streak of futility that dates to 2008.

Raiders coach Tom Cable has made winning back-to-back games a huge priority since he replaced Lane Kiffin four games into the 2008 season. The Raiders accomplished the feat the final two games of that season but not since.

"We've made such a big deal out of it," Cable said. "What you did last week didn't mean anything unless you follow it up. We've addressed it, we'll continue to do that. Get a win next week, and we'll go for it again the week after."

Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said he and his teammates haven't made as big a deal out of winning back-to-back games this season as they have in the past.

More important, they wanted to beat the 49ers so that they could go 2-0 against the other California teams. The Raiders beat the San Diego Chargers 35-27 on Oct. 10.

"It's not like one of those situations where you're always harping on something and then that makes you blow it," Asomugha said. "We didn't even talk about it. The thing we talked about was winning another game, owning California after two weeks. It didn't happen. It's a great point, (though). We haven't been able to put those two together."

The much-awaited matchup between Darrius Heyward-Bey and Michael Crabtree, the first two wide receivers selected in the 2009 NFL draft, turned into a rout on one play.

Crabtree ran a post pattern and hauled in a pass from Alex Smith for a 32-yard touchdown that turned a 6-3 deficit into a 10-6 lead for the 49ers on the final play of the third quarter.

The Raiders used Asomugha on Crabtree for most of the game, to great effect. Crabtree had three receptions for 25 yards before he split Oakland's zone and snared the well-thrown pass a split second before cornerback Chris Johnson could make a play on the ball.

Heyward-Bey caught two passes for 12 yards before Crabtree showed up for the first time, and Heyward-Bey finished with a team-high three for 19.

He said the 49ers did a nice job of mixing up their coverages and making it difficult for quarterback Jason Campbell to get the ball to the wide receivers. Wet and colder than usual conditions made it even more difficult.

"We had a little bit of the rain early in the game, but that's never an excuse," Heyward-Bey said. "We just tried to establish the run, tried to do some play action. We got it rolling at some parts of the game, but it wasn't consistent enough."

Asomugha gets precious few opportunities for interceptions because of opponents' penchant for steering clear of him. As a result, he has only one interception each of the past three seasons and none this season.

On Sunday, Asomugha came close on a Smith pass off Crabtree's hands early in the second quarter. Asomugha dived for the ball, but he was unable to hang on before it hit the ground. He later got his hands on another pass for Crabtree, but he couldn't make the leaping grab.

Two Raiders front-office people scoffed at an ESPN report that said every player on their 53-man roster is available before the league trade deadline Tuesday.

As one front-office person said: "Does (the reporter) really think that we would trade Nnamdi (Asomugha), Richard (Seymour), Rolando (McClain) or either of our running backs? You do that math on that one."

The 49ers took away tight end Zach Miller for most of the game and forced Campbell to look more to his wideouts.

Campbell and Miller finally broke through in the fourth quarter with back-to-back completions for 48 yards. Linebacker Manny Lawson intercepted one of the two other passes for Miller, Oakland's leading receiver.

The Raiders entered Sunday's game with a league-leading 398 yards in penalties and the second-most infractions (47) through five games. They tacked on eight more for 60.

Campbell recorded a career-low 10.7 passer rating Sunday, one week after he posted the second-best rating (117.6) of his six-year NFL career.

The Raiders fumbled 14 times their first five games, but they lost only two of those. The trend continued Sunday, as the Raiders recovered both their fumbles.

Quarterback Bruce Gradkowski (shoulder) and running back Darren McFadden (hamstring) were among the eight players deactivated by the Raiders. Kyle Boller was the No. 2 quarterback for the first time in six games.

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