Janikowski had one of his worst days as a professional on Sunday as he missed three field goals, two of which were well within his range and one that was nothing more than a chip shot. This, however, was not the only area in which the Oakland Raiders struggled against the Cardinals.
If Janikowski had made even one of those field goals, the Raiders would have won. Janikowski, however, was not the only person to blame for the loss. The Raiders squandered a number of scoring opportunities and settled for field goals when they needed touchdowns.
Besides the missed field goals, the worst part of the Raiders' loss was their shocking lack of discipline, as Oakland finished the game with 11 penalties for 123 yards.
One of those penalties moved the Raiders from a goal to go at the one-yard line to a goal to go at the five-yard line. That series resulted in a field goal rather than a touchdown. That penalty cost the Raiders four points, as I find it hard to believe that they would not have been able to pound the ball in from the one-yard line.
At least two of those penalties were pass interference penalties that gave the inept Cardinals offense huge chunks of yards and helped lead them to points. With the way the Raiders defense was playing on Sunday, I would find it hard to believe that the Cardinals would have put up anywhere near as many points if not for the abundance of penalties.
The penalties on Sunday would have kept Oakland out of the game if it were not for the fact that the Cardinals are the second worst team in penalty yards per game in the NFL and had their share of penalties on Sunday as well.
As bad as the penalties were against the Cardinals, they should not have been a surprise to anyone who has been...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
