"I think it's a great breath of fresh air having Tom Cable come in. I felt, to be honest, I felt a lot of stuff was pointed at the defense that I wasn't necessarily agreeing with," Ryan said. "It's been well-documented, we lost six games giving up one offensive touchdown last season and it seemed like every single game was the defense's fault.

"Attribute that to whatever it is. Bottom line is I think we've got a damned good leader in front of the group now and everything's fine."

--Quarterback JaMarcus Russell, having beaten Brett Favre in a head-to-head matchup, will look across the field Baltimore and lock eyes with another one in Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis.

Russell smiled at the thought.

"It's going to be a lot of fun, I promise," Russell said. "Just growing up and seeing him out there playing, you get a chance to play against some of the top guys in the NFL and bring your level up as far as how good they play, you'll play the same way or better."

--Defensive end Trevor Scott, a sixth-round draft pick out of Buffalo, saw his most significant playing time of the season and responded with a pair of sacks against Jets quarterback Brett Favre.

He spent much of Monday morning sorting through text message, voice mails and e-mails from friends and family.

"Going into the game I was definitely thinking about how cool it would be if my first NFL sack was Brett Favre," Scott said. "He's a legend at quarterback. Just to be able to do that was pretty special."

Scott didn't switch from tight end to defensive end until his junior year in college. Listed at 255 pounds, one coach said he actually weighs less than 250. It wasn't until he reached the Raiders that he actually had a plan of attack.

"In college, I just went out and played," Scott said. "I was thrown into the position and I really didn't know much. I knew I could turn the corner every time so I got pretty good at doing that."

Teammate Jay Richardson, at 6-foot-5 and 280 pounds, got his first look at Scott and didn't think they played the same position.

"I thought he was our new strongside linebacker," Richardson said. "He's not your prototypical defensive end, but he's fast. Two sacks against Brett Favre, you can't draw it up any better than that. He's got something to tell his grand kids."

--Count Kwame Harris among those who believe Tom Cable has what it takes to make the Raiders a team in every sense of the word.

"It's not about gimmicks with him," Harris said. "It's not about going out for ice cream socials or watching movies together. He does real stuff -- stuff that really works."

Asked for an example, Harris said, "It's kind of like being locked in a room and told to get along. I could see how he could fix the Mideast crisis."

--Kicker Sebastian Janikowski sees a difference in the Raiders special teams this year. They're still capable of excellent play, only are doing it much more consistently.

Last season, the Raiders could shut down the Bears' Devin Hester one week, and then give up punt returns for touchdowns in back-to-back weeks.

"It's different in the meeting rooms," Janikowski said. "It seems like everyone really wants to be there this year and is listening."

His 57-yard field goal against the Jets, an NFL record for an overtime, came because the Raiders lost the toss but got to pick their direction.

"If we were going the other way, I could have gone 54 or 55, maybe," Janikowski said.

BY THE NUMBERS: 45 -- First downs passing by the Raiders this season. Only the St. Louis Rams (42) have fewer.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I like to be quiet and professional. He's an arrogant (expletive). Other than that, he has some big bullies to stand behind, just like I do. But great players make great defenses, and two of the best defenses in the league are going to show up on Sunday." -- Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, talking about his battle with his twin brother Rex, the Ravens' defensive coordinator.