Tom Cable says Jason Campbell will start Sunday for the Oakland Raiders
Tom Cable, head coach of the Oakland Raiders, said that Jason Campbell will remain the team’s starting quarterback despite being pulled for Bruce Gradkowski during a 35-3 loss on Sunday to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"They turned up the blitz a little bit more on him, and it started to get out of hand," said Cable. "[Campbell will] be the starter next week, there is no issue there. We just felt like a change was needed."
Oakland was losing 21-3 in the third quarter when Campbell was pulled from the game. Campbell completed 7 of 19 passes for 70 yards, and Gradkowski was 13 for 14 with 98 yards. Both threw an interception and neither had a touchdown pass.
"We played against a really tough defence today that got after us," said Campbell. "Once we got behind the eight-ball and they got all the momentum, they just kept bringing it and bringing it."
Pittsburgh’s defence was in peak form during the game. Not only did they limit Oakland’s passing attack to 168 yards, they forced three turnovers and held running back Darren McFadden to 14 yards on 10 carries.
The loss, and a win by Kansas City, dropped Oakland to second in the AFC West with a 5-5 record. They’ll play the Miami Dolphins in Oakland next week and will be looking to re-establish their offence.
Miami has the 5th ranked pass defence and the 20th ranked rushing defence so Campbell may find himself handing the ball off a lot next Sunday. If he is unable to complete passes, and the rushing game suffers as a result, expect Cable
to again pull him in favour of Gradkowski.
Oakland has the second best rushing attack in the NFL, but if there is no legitimate threat in the passing game, defences will adjust to stop starting running back Darren McFadden. Campbell, or Gradkowski, will need to improve if the Raiders want to win
the division.
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