Raiders going backwards at 2-6

Oakland had its worst offensive output in 47 years during a loss to Atlanta.

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — JaMarcus Russell was drafted to be the face of the Oakland Raiders franchise when he was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in 2007.

That face spent most of Oakland’s latest loss glumly sitting on the bench watching an overmatched defense or buried in the turf after another sack on offense.

Even going 6-for-19 for 31 yards, an interception and four sacks in a 24-0 loss that featured Oakland’s worst offensive output in 47 years wasn’t enough to shake Russell’s confidence even if he knows that blame will be coming his way.

“When it all falls down to it, everybody looks at the quarterback and the head coach,” Russell said Monday. “Whether you like it or not, it’s going to fall back on those two guys. To be a bigger man, you have to take it and run with it.”

The Raiders (2-6) already fired a coach, cutting ties with Lane Kiffin after just four games. So the focus now turns to Russell, who is essentially a rookie quarterback after a lengthy contract holdout last year led to him missing all of training camp and starting only one game.

Russell showed some gradual progress throughout the opening month. There was a strong fourth quarter in an opening-week blowout to Denver, a turnover-free win the following week in Kansas City and a few big plays that helped the Oakland Raiders take fourth-quarter leads that they couldn’t quite hold the next two games against Buffalo and San Diego.

For the past month, both the Raiders offense and Russell’s play have taken a giant step backward. The falloff for the Raiders offense since Kiffin was fired and offensive coordinator Greg Knapp took over the play-calling duties has been stark.

Oakland had seven touchdowns, while averaging 19.5 points and 308 yards per game under Kiffin. Since the coaching change, the Raiders have scored only two touchdowns, while averaging 7.3 points and 220.3 yards per game.