FanHouse Hiram Eugene

The Oakland Raiders nearly watched yet another fourth quarter lead turn into defeat, only to find a way to sneak out of Sunday's game with a 16-13 win over the New York Jets, giving Tom Cable his first win as Head Coach.

It had to a bad omen, or something, when Cable tried to ice Jets kicker Jay Feely at the end of regulation as Feely was lining up to kick a 52-yard field goal. Cable tried the "I'm going to call a timeout just before you snap it" trick, and was laughingly burned when Feely hit the upright on the kick that didn't count. Feely drilled the mulligan, of course, sending the game to overtime.

I figured this strategy would play its way out of the NFL after a few moments like that, yet here we are.

Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski mercifully ended a brutal overtime period -- personally, I was rooting for the tie -- when he crushed a 57-yard field goal with less than three minutes to play. The kick probably would have been good from about 65. Either way, it was the longest overtime field goal in NFL history.

Things are bleak for the Oakland Raiders right now. The owner is crazy, the new head coach thinks the second-year quarterback may be in over his head, former players think they suck ... it's mayhem out there. Of course, there are some positives in the bay area, starting with cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who may be the closest thing the NFL currently has to a "shutdown corner."

Looking at the numbers, there's nothing that really jumps out and makes you say, "wow, that guy is awesome." He currently has 11 tackles, three passes defended and zero interceptions. You might be asking what the big deal is. Well, it's tough to bat down passes and register interceptions when nobody throws to your side of the field. From Raiders beat writer Jerry McDonald:

Asomugha recounted one pass thrown at him in each game, with the exception of the Chiefs game, when there was two. Every week he talks himself into believing it will be the game where teams will come after him, and every week he's wrong. He writes all of it down in a spiral bound notebook he showed to reporters Wednesday. "Don't get lazy because they're not throwing at you," Asomugha wrote in his book, followed by reminders of what can happen if he happens to let his guard down for even a single play.