MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- There was a reason Carson Palmer seemingly held onto the ball forever before throwing to Darren McFadden at the goal line late in the first half of the Raiders' eventual 35-13 defeat Sunday, and Palmer's pause seemingly had something to do with McFadden bobbling and dropping the pass.Rolling out to the right from the seven-yard line, Palmer was trying to look off a creeping cornerback in the end zone and get him to commit to one side."The cornerback had outside leverage on us and I came outside the pocket and got him where I wanted him," Palmer said. "I looked him inside and (he) stopped his feet and looked up, and I threw the ball to (McFadden) and unfortunately we didn't convert that play."Rather, the ball popped off McFadden's chest for an incompletion and three plays later, the Raiders had to settle for a 25-yard field goal and a 10-7 halftime lead.
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Keep in mind McFadden had been pocked in the left eye earlier in the quarter and would return with a protective visor on his helmet. He said he would wear the shield for the foreseeable future."It's very disappointing, but like I say, It's a long season, it's not a sprint," McFadden said of the team's 0-2 start. "It's a long run so we have to just keep pushing forward and getting better every week."Denarius Moore made his season debut and started, finishing with three receptions for 67 yards, including a 31-yard catch and run.But he was also targeted five other times as he and Darrius Heyward-Bey were each agreed a team-high eight times.Moore also had to leave for the locker room in the third quarter with cramping issues. So did the South Florida heat and humidity overwhelm Moore and the Raiders?"Man, you cant look at it like that," Moore said. "At the end of the day, it's 11 guys lined up against each other, playing football. That's all we know how to do and we just got to come out and compete."Long snapper Jon Condo, who was knocked out of Monday's season opener with a "friendly-fire" concussion and cleared to play on Saturday, admitted he was nervous before the Miami game."Am I going to be timid running down the field?" he said of the thought floating through his pre-game mind. "I just wanted to get that first rep and get running down the field. I got out there and I felt the energy and stuff like that and I felt like it was any other day out there snapping."Except, it was not. Not when he was wondering how he would react after the first hit."I just wanted to get some contact to the head to see how it feels, and I did," Condo said."The first punt, running down the field, there was a kid (on the Dolphins who) kept on saying something to me, I don't remember, but I just wanted to hit him, just to feel, just to see if I was really all right."He was. There were no long snapping snafus, as there were a week earlier, though a few of his snaps to punter Shane Lechler were a but high. Condo said he spent the week resting up and staying out of the sunlight to recuperate from the concussion.For the second game in a row, tight end Brandon Myers set a personal record for catches and yards, going for six receptions for 86 yards against the Dolphins. On Monday, he caught five passes for 65 yards.He was in no mood, though, to discuss his personal accolades. Not when the Raiders were embarrassed by the Dolphins."We've just got to establish the run," he said. "Our whole offense is based around the run. So, we've got to get there, fill in the holes and make some plays."Keep grinding. It's a long season. It sounds cliche but we just got to stick together."Per coach Dennis Allen, the only Raiders injuries to report were a strained groin to right tackle Khalif Barnes and a sprained right foot by cornerback Shawntae Spencer.Palmer, on how close the team is to breaking out offensively, despite two demoralizing losses: "Just one win gives you that confidence, it gets that bad taste out of your mouth and this team can catch fire. This team's explosive enough to catch fire and it starts with one win and we're looking to do that once we get home at the 'O' and play in front of our fans."In running for -1 yard on six carries after halftime, it was the second time in as many games the Raiders had negative yards rushing in the second half this season. They had -3 against the Chargers on Monday. The only other team Oakland had negative rushing yards in the second half was a -4 against San Diego in 1998.
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