The Raiders’ lingering issues on offense – temporarily
crowded from the picture by a brilliant defensive effort – can be summed up
sublimely by consecutive questions thrown at coach Art Shell during his Monday
press conference. Individually, neither question would be noteworthy. Taken
together, they were priceless.

Question No. 1: Are you happy with offensive coordinator Tom Walsh’s play-calling?
Question No. 2: Was Chad Slaughter the intended receiver on that third-down
play at the goal line?

Say
what you will about that Oakland
defense (can we call it the Silver Curtain yet?), the Steelers looked fairly
inept on offense Sunday. Ben Roethlisberger, whether residually concussed or
simply off his game, made numerous bad decisions and poor throws. He looked
nothing like the heady game manager who led Pittsburgh to the title a year ago.

But it
wasn’t just Roethlisberger. The Raiders overwhelmed the Steelers’ offensive
line, jumping all over Big Ben with very little blitzing. Bill Cowher and his
assistants chose to put right tackle Max Starks one-on-one against Derrick
Burgess on several occasions, and it was usually disastrous.

The
Raiders’ best shot at an offensive touchdown came just before halftime, when
they wound up in second-and-goal from the 1-yard line. They inexplicably sent
their goal-line run package into the game, though they were out of time outs
and therefore realistically limited to passes. With Randy Moss, Jerry Porter
and Ronald Curry watching from the sidelines, Andrew Walter threw consecutive
incomplete passes to lumbering tackle Chad Slaughter (in the game as an
emergency tight end) and Courtney Anderson. Moss threw a hissy fit in plain view.

Shell
said the first play was designed to go to one of the real tight ends, but they
got jammed at the line. Walter passed to Slaughter rather than take a sack, and
it was nearly intercepted. It was an embarrassing sequence for the Raiders and
Tom Walsh.

Is it
my imagination, or are Moss’ arms getting shorter by the week? I counted four
drops against Arizona,
and he missed a couple opportunities Sunday. Both were plays in traffic where
he managed to get his hands on the ball but couldn’t reel it in. Fans booed
after the second miss. Moss has always had a reputation for shying away from
contact, but it’s getting ridiculous.

When
the subject was raised at his Monday press conference, Shell wouldn’t touch it.
“You asking me is he afraid, is that what
you’re asking me?” the coach wanted to know.

Well, yeah.