OAKLAND — The home team has been booed in this stadium many times over the past decade, but one person who has been spared the ire of Raider Nation is Sebastian Janikowski. At least, he was until Sunday, when the home crowd turned on the struggling placekicker.
Janikowski has been one of the NFL's best kickers for years, and he was all but automatic over the previous two seasons, connecting on 62 of 69 field-goal attempts. But he has missed that many already this year, going 15 of 22.
Even Seabass' successes were dicey Sunday. He hit a 48-yarder on a line drive that never got more than 20 feet off the ground, and a 52-yarder that barely had enough distance — not something we've come to expect from the guy who shares the league record for longest field goal at 63 yards.
Most troubling, Janikowski has been missing even the short ones. His misfires against the Titans included a 32-yarder. Sunday marked just the fourth time in his career than Janikowski missed two field goals from inside of 50 yards in a game, and just the second time since 2002.
"We're not making them, not consistently enough," Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. "We have to continue to work to get better there. I feel like Sebastian is gonna work through this. I still have all the confidence that when I send him out there that it's going through."
Janikowski is 35, but the real culprit might be the departure of his longtime friend and holder, punter Shane Lechler, who signed with Houston in the offseason. No one has said so publicly, but there is speculation Janikowski is struggling to adjust to his new holder, punter Marquette King.
"I'd say it's a field-goal unit problem," Allen said. "There are 11 guys out there, it's not all on one guy. We have to improve in that area — snap, hold, kick, protection. The goal is to get the ball through the uprights, and there are 11 guys who are responsible to make sure that happens."
HAND ON THE BALL
The Raiders were leading 9-6 in the second quarter when Jeremy Stewart came up with what might have been the special-teams play of the day, breaking through to block a punt by Tennessee's Brett Kern.
"The coach (special teams coordinator Bobby April), we called a nice block rush, and I just went hard and stuck my hand out and got it," Stewart said.
The play set up the Raiders at the Titans' 37 with 11 seconds left before halftime, but Janikowski wound up missing a 32-yard attempt. "I was hoping I could have scooped it and scored," Stewart said of the punt. "That would have been ideal."
BURRIS BACK AT 'BACKER
Miles Burris got his first action of the 2013 season at linebacker, taking the field for most of the Titans' final, game-winning drive. He also played on the Raiders' punt-return, kickoff-return and field-goal-block units.
It was a long time coming for Burris, who spent the first 10 weeks of the regular season on the Physically Unable to Perform list after undergoing an offseason knee procedure.
"It just felt good to be here with my brothers on game day, and being a part of it," said Burris, who started 15 games as a rookie last year. "Obviously, we all would have liked a better outcome."
TRAGEDY AT THE COLISEUM
After Sunday's loss, the Raiders issued the following statement:
"At the conclusion of the fourth quarter of tonight's football game, a female fan fell approximately 45 feet from the west upper deck (300) seating area to the upper west concourse below. Witnesses state the individual jumped from the top of the section. A good samaritan located on the upper west concourse tried to break the individual's fall and was injured in the process."
The Raiders said both fans were attended to on-site by officers from the Alameda County Sherriff's office and paramedics, who transported them to a nearby hospital. There was no information on the condition of either.
EXTRA POINTS
=Janikowski's six field-goal attempts tied a franchise record. He has done it six times; Chris Bahr and Jeff Jaeger each did it once.
=Tennessee S Michael Griffin was hit with a 15-yard penalty in the second quarter for a blow to the head of Mychal Rivera on a downfield pass — a hit that sent the tight end's helmet flying 20 yards downfield. Rivera left the game with a concussion.
=Oakland CB Mike Jenkins also suffered a concussion. WR Rod Streater was shaken up after falling awkwardly on his neck and head while making a sideline catch, but tests proved negative.
=RB Darren McFadden (hamstring), WR Denarius Moore (shoulder) and DE Jason Hunter (foot) all sat out the game with injuries.
You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.
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