by John Czarnecki

This may sound strange to long-time Oakland fans, but it has been that way as long as I've been covering the NFL. And what makes this information all the more fascinating is that lame-duck head coach Lane Kiffin told the football world about how Davis and current coordinator Rob Ryan talk all the time. That they, not him, are responsible for what is called on defense and ultimately how the defense performs on game days.

In last Monday night's loss, the Raiders surrendered 41 points and 441 yards to Jay Cutler's Denver Broncos. Denver rookie Eddie Royal torched DeAngelo Hall, a big Oakland acquisition from the Falcons, and did it while Hall struggled in man coverage.

Kiffin's revelation led to Ryan holding an expletive-deleted diatribe with the media for 18 minutes on Thursday. The only thing missing was Ryan taking a swing at Kiffin, just like his old man, Buddy, did on the Houston sidelines with Kevin Gilbride, who happens to be offensive coordinator today of the New York Giants.

There is a lot of defensive knowledge in the Ryan family. Rob's brother, Rex, is the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, and Atlanta head coach Mike Smith will tell you that Rex is deserving of being promoted, too.

"Everything I do (out) here is educated," Rob Ryan said of his defense. "It may not look like it when you give up 41 points, all right, but it's the truth. I'm doing the best job I can, and I know it's good enough to win with. My legacy is going to be with this Ryan name. We've been in six Super Bowls, won five of them, five different teams. That's no accident."

Ryan and Kiffin are a very odd marriage. Kiffin wanted Ryan fired after last season, and Davis said no. Kiffin may be the head coach, but he is basically a glorified offensive coordinator.

Kiffin's biggest complaint with Ryan is his unwillingness to blitz more. Last season the Raiders blitzed only 74 times, tied with Indianapolis for the fewest in the NFL. What's killing the Raiders, though, is that defensive end Derrick Burgess had put his game in second gear when he was offered a new contract. He's jealous of Tommy Kelly's deal, and so it goes with the Raiders.

GAME: Chicago at Carolina

TIME: 1 ET

Chicago RB Matt Forte will look to have another big game in Week 2 against the Panthers after rushing for 123 yards in a win over the Colts. (Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images)

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The conditions figure to be very hot and muggy at game time, which figures to favor the Panthers, who practiced in the conditions in training camp. Both teams are relatively healthy and the Bears, who ran for 183 yards last Sunday, hope to keep rolling against Carolina. Rookie Matt Forte rushed for 123 yards, and if the Panthers crowd the line of scrimmage, look for some play-action from Kyle Orton. Defensively, the Bears are concerned with the Panthers' ground game because DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart present two dangerous threats whose styles are dissimilar. Chicago OLT John St. Clair held his own with Dwight Freeney, and now he faces the Panthers' Julius Peppers. Jake Delhomme will be looking for Mushin Muhammad and his new favorite target, Dante Rosario, early in the game. The Bears know Moose, who played in Chicago for three seasons. It will be interesting to see if Chicago takes some shots at Moose because of his criticism of the Bears in the offseason.

CZAR'S SCOOP: This is why coach John Fox hasn't won over everyone in Carolina. The Panthers are 24-24 at home under Fox compared to 28-21 on the road. There is no question that Carolina, with its power running game, is looking a lot like owner Jerry Richardson's favorite team, the Steelers. He and Pittsburgh owner Dan Rooney are very good friends. For some tackle depth, the Bears signed veteran Fred Miller, who may see some spot duty. The Panthers are counting on a big game from kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd against Devin Hester. Against the Chargers, four of Lloyd's six kickoffs went for touchbacks, including an inadvertent squib kick, which he missed, rolling all the way to the end zone.

GAME: Green Bay at Detroit

TIME: 1 ET

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Packers believe that CB Charles Woodson (toe) will play, but they plan to isolate CB Al Harris on Lions WR Roy Williams. Packers RB Ryan Grant remains bothered by a tight left hamstring, but he will start and plans to play as long as he can. The Lions may use a lot of nickel on defense, primarily using ex-Brown Leigh Bodden as a starter against the Packers' receiving corps. Aaron Rodgers' ability to scramble and run for first downs was one major reason the Packers wanted to start him and trade Brett Favre. Rudi Johnson is ready to run for Detroit, although he remains shaky in pass protection. Everyone figures that the Lions will play emotionally and at a high level in the beginning; the lone question is how long they can sustain it.

CZAR'S SCOOP: You can expect a lot of "Fire Millen" signs inside Ford Field on Sunday. For the third consecutive season, the Packers have the youngest team in the league, although this time they are tied with the Chiefs at 25.56 years. Kansas City started six rookies last Sunday. There is definite dissension on the Detroit offense, where Williams and QB Jon Kitna would like to see more passing. Last Sunday in Atlanta, Kitna got into a sideline argument with receivers coach Shawn Jefferson about tardiness in sending in personnel groupings with the right players. It was pretty ugly. The Packers keep saying that Brett Favre really didn't want to play this season and is with the Jets because his wife, Deanna, pushed him to return to football. Lions coach Rod Marinelli said that this team, once it was down 14 points to the Falcons, got away from the game plan.

GAME: N.Y. Giants at St. Louis

TIME: 1 ET

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Rams' top three players on offense, QB Marc Bulger, WR Torry Holt and LT Orlando Pace, played poorly in the season opener and many believe Holt has lost his speed and that Pace, who re-injured his shoulder attempting to make a tackle in a pre-season game, is a shell of his former shelf. The Rams have gotten old overnight and really need RB Steven Jackson to have a huge game in order to stay close to the Giants. Rams CB Tye Hill, who struggled last week, will start again, although Plaxico Burress is a force. It's a huge mismatch with Hill only 5-feet-10. The Rams could be over-matched, too, by the New York running game. Rookie DE Chris Long could line up at both right and left end because Leonard Little is sidelined.

CZAR'S SCOOP: In their last five games (four last season, which were the playoffs and the Super Bowl, and their opener this year) the Giants have not scored more than 21 points. In fact, during that five-game span — which represented five victories — they have averaged 18.8 points per game. Still, the Giants have won 11 straight on the road, including all of their playoff games last season. Jessie Armstead, former Pro Bowl linebacker for the Giants, has been hired as a full-time consultant/special assistant. He'll work with players and executives and help with scouting and free-agent recruiting. The Giants have quit negotiating with the German insurance company Allianz for naming rights on their new stadium because of many complaints from Jewish interests linking the company to the Nazis.

GAME: New Orleans at Washington

TIME: 1 ET

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Despite the loss of WR Marques Colston, look for Drew Brees and the Saints to spread the field and attack an aging Redskins secondary. Washington will get CB Shawn Springs back, but look for Fred Smoot to be targeted in nickel packages after he struggled against the Giants. The dilemma the Saints pose is the ability to send their receivers deep and dump the ball off to playmakers in RB Reggie Bush and TE Jeremy Shockey underneath. The Redskins had the ball for just 9:25 during the first half of their season-opening loss to the Giants in which they converted just three of 13 third downs. The pressure is on QB Jason Campbell to be more decisive in the pocket, although new coach Jim Zorn wants to roll him out, too. The Saints will be minus four starters. David Patten starts for Colston and SS Josh Bullocks starts for Roman Harper.

CZAR'S SCOOP: Apparently, there were discussions inside the Saints about actually releasing RB Deuce McAllister during training camp. Brees had a phenomenal passing game against the Bucs, who complained about several poor officiating calls in that game. There was one play, a Bush touchdown, in which it was clear the Saints runner out of bounds on the 3-yard line before jumping into the end zone. Zorn has Sonny Jurgenson's support, which is always critical to owner Daniel Snyder.

GAME: San Francisco at Seattle

TIME: 4:05 ET

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The 49ers will run RB Frank Gore (6.2 yards per carry in four starts vs. Seattle) between the tackles in an effort to overpower the Seahawks' smallish front seven. Gore also will be involved in the passing game as San Francisco attempts to take the bite out of the Seahawks' pass rush, but QB J.T. O'Sullivan must play better than he did last Sunday. The Seahawks are really hurting at wide receiver and plan to start Courtney Taylor and Logan Payne, but don't be surprised if backup quarterback Seneca Wallace plays a lot. Seattle is without its top three receivers and probably won't have Deion Branch and Bobby Engram until next month. With a rookie at tight end in John Carlson, QB Matt Hasselbeck has no comfortable targets downfield. He also has no comfort in his line, which struggled mightily in Week 1 and he's minus two starters Sunday.

CZAR'S SCOOP: The Mike Holmgren-to-San Francisco rumors started again this week for obvious reasons, but right now there isn't a job available with the 49ers. Holmgren plans to take a wait-and-see attitude on his future, although he may be more interested in a front-office position than simply returning to the sidelines. It's pretty apparent that injured QB Alex Smith probably has played his last game for the 49ers, particularly if Mike Nolan returns as head coach next season.

GAME: Atlanta at Tampa Bay

TIME: 4:05 ET

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Falcons want to keep Michael "Burner" Turner running, allowing rookie QB Matt Ryan to adjust to the action and not force his throws. The Falcons have been helped this season by very few injuries and a consistent offensive line. Now, that will be challenged by the Bucs, whose front four is much better than Detroit's. New Bucs starting QB Brian Griese won't be afraid to go deep to Joey Galloway, who was open deep twice last week but never saw a decent pass from Jeff Garcia. This is a must-win game for the Bucs, who don't want to fall to 0-2 in the division. The Bucs won't get guard Davin Joseph back until next Sunday. Luke McCown will be the Bucs' backup, not Garcia.

CZAR'S SCOOP: The Bucs called the 49ers to see if they had any trade interest in Garcia, who complained to the coaching staff that he was hurt on Monday, and that's why he played so poorly against the Saints. Jon Gruden decided to start Griese because he's always played well in the Bucs' system and he had a very good preseason and training camp, something that wasn't true with Garcia. Gruden simply didn't believe that his team could continue to play an injured Garcia and hope for the best. Garcia has been upset with the front office because they declined to re-do his contract and give him a $1 million bonus and also because of the Brett Favre trade talk all offseason. Bucs OLB Derrick Brooks figures to make a token start to extend his streak to 210 consecutive games played.

Other games

Tennessee at Cincinnati: There are some inside the Titans who think the team is better off with Kerry Collins at quarterback. Who knows how this Vince Young saga will end? With his knee injury, he could be out 3-4 weeks and many of the veteran players know he quit on them, not really wanting to return to the game last Sunday. Bengals QB Carson Palmer has thrown for 802 yards and five touchdowns in three career games against the Titans, although the Bengals were awful on offense last Sunday. In his 14-year career, this is the first time Collins has played the Bengals.

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Buffalo at Jacksonville: This is a huge game for the Jaguars, who really can't afford to drop to 0-2 in September. The Jags' running game will have three new interior offensive linemen while WR Troy Williamson won't play and newcomer Jerry Porter wants to play. How productive Porter can be is the major question. The Bills have super special teams, but it's always difficult for northern teams to play in Florida in September. They tend to wilt in the second half. Buffalo activated LT Jason Peters, who missed all of training camp.

Oakland at Kansas City: Well, high-priced Oakland WR Javon Walker is expected to make his debut against a very young Kansas City team. The Chiefs have lost 10 straight games and the Raiders — on Oct. 21, 2007 in Oakland — were the last team they beat. The loss at New England last Sunday was the Chiefs' 10th straight. Dating to his time with New York Jets, coach Herm Edwards will be making his 15th quarterback change in his last 51 games as a head coach. Damon Huard starts for Brodie Croyle, who suffered a bruised A-C joint in his throwing shoulder last Sunday. K.C.'s Tony Gonzalez needs 129 receiving yards to pass Shannon Sharpe (10,060) for the NFL all-time record among tight ends.

Indianapolis at Minnesota: There is a very good chance that Colts TE Dallas Clark won't play, meaning that Peyton Manning will have only two healthy tight ends, Gijon Robinson and rookie Tom Santi, and likely would go with more three-receiver formations. Center Jeff Saturday (knee) is making progress; if he doesn't play Sunday, he should be ready next week. This is a weird matchup in that the Colts don't have a big defense to handle Adrian Peterson, whereas the Vikings are shaky in the secondary and Manning figures to have a big day.

New England at N.Y. Jets: The Patriots have won seven straight at the Meadowlands, but this time they have Matt Cassel starting for injured Tom Brady. Amazingly, Cassel is making his first start in nine years, or since he was in high school. Look for the Pats to play more of a four-man line on defense in order to get more pressure on Brett Favre, who still doesn't have a commanding knowledge of the entire Jets' playbook. Both teams may prefer to come out running, but Cassel does have a big arm and don't be surprised if he goes deep early to Randy Moss.

San Diego at Denver: The Chargers are still reeling from the last-second home loss to the Panthers last Sunday and now LaDainain Tomlinson has a big-toe injury. Tomlinson says he will play, but how long will he go? Philip Rivers is 4-0 as a starter against the Broncos, and remember that he and Broncos QB Jay Cutler exchanged heated words during their last meeting. Cutler looked awesome against the Raiders, and the Chargers better be prepared for rookie WR Eddie Royal.

Miami at Arizona: The interesting news of the week was that Arizona's disgruntled WR Anquan Boldin wants to play for the Dolphins. Boldin had only eight catches last week in the win over the 49ers. The Dolphins will want to pound the ball with Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown and keep the ball away from Kurt Warner. After beating San Francisco last Sunday, the Cardinals don't play an NFC West Division opponent again until Nov. 2 at St. Louis, about which coach Ken Whisenhunt said, "It seems weird, doesn't it? We've still got to play and hopefully, we'll still be leading the division at that time."

Pittsburgh at Cleveland: Ben Roethlisberger, from Findlay (Ohio) who played at Miami (Ohio), has never lost in Ohio since coming to the Steelers in 2004. He is 9-0 starting in his home state — 5-0 vs. the Cincinnati Bengals and 4-0 vs. the Cleveland Browns. "I joked with the Cleveland media today and told them my friends won't let me live it down if I don't win in that state,'' Roethlisberger said. "It's something added for Cleveland because I think they had a pick higher than 11th in my draft." Browns WR Donte Stallworth is out, but Joshua Cribbs is hopeful of playing with a high ankle sprain.

Baltimore at Houston: Postponed until Nov. 9 because of Hurricane Ike, following damage to Reliant Stadium's roof. Texans are on the road for their next two games.

Philadelphia at Dallas: Jim Johnson's defense might be better than last season's version, and that means the Cowboys better be prepared for some unusual blitz schemes. One stat to remember is that Terrell Owens is 1-3 vs. Philly since abandoning Donovan McNabb, who he claims couldn't deal with his much greater public persona. Cowboys claim RB Marion Barber (ribs) is fine, and there's a very good chance that CB Anthony Newman (groin) will be active and play a significant role in the Cowboys' nickel package.