LFR Sports

BOO BIRDS DUMP ON RAIDERS QB

The baseball infield that once cut through the center of the Raiders gridiron is gone. Yesterday, the Coliseum turf was again healthy and whole. Painted with the familiar silver and black. Too bad, they didn't leave the pitchers mound intact because Oakland's Kerry Collins could have used a visit from the A's pitching coach, Curt Young.

Collins' performance against Denver was much more of a wreck than his three interceptions. He bared the brunt of a strong Denver pass rush, but the loud boos raining down from the sellout crowd might have been more of a distraction.

Throughout the game, Collins was throwing the ball without any touch or heat. He consistently threw the ball high or behind his receivers.

Usually these are the symptoms of either a young quarterback or a signal-caller under an intense pass rush.

Collins isn't young, so throw that one out and Denver's pass rush was formidable but they only sacked Collins four times and failed to knock him down very often.

When a pitcher starts throwing the ball wild and high, it's usually bad foot work. Curt Young would tell one of his pitchers to lengthen his stride to bring the pitch down and make sure his front foot in pointing at his target. Alas, Curt wasn't there yesterday.

For most of this season, Collins has played well enough not to be mentioned as part of the team's troubles. After two consecutive games where his accuracy was atrocious, the loud boos at the Coliseum may start to ring in coach Norv Turner's headset.