text: During all this time, Al Davis, who was now past his 80th birthday and in increasingly poor health, refused to hire a general manager or relinquish his absolute control of the team's on-field activities and he continued to make all major decisions regarding draft picks, trades, or signings himself. He came under fire both for this and for strategies that were out-of-step with the contemporary NFL, in particular, his attempt to recreate the vertical game used by Daryle Lamonica and Jim Plunkett. Jamarcus Russell was drafted due to Davis's assumption that he had the proper physical traits needed for this style of play. The signing of Randy Moss in 2005 also proved a costly mistake that consumed large portions of salary cap space.
  The Raiders' biggest off-season moves were trading quarterback Bruce Gradkowski to Cincinnati and cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha to Philadelphia. With their new coach in place, the team opened 2011 in Denver for their first prime-time appearance in three years. On a rain-slicked Monday night, Oakland won an extremely sloppy game 23–20 after repeated penalties and Broncos mistakes. Kicker Sebastian Janikowski also booted a 63-yard field goal for only the third time in NFL history. In Week 2, the Raiders lost a wild shootout match in Buffalo 38–35, beat the Jets 34–24, and then lost to New England 31–19 for a 2–2 start.