Reece gets it going in passing game

ALAMEDA -- Whispers that Marcel Reece had been underutilized through two games grew to shouts heading into the Raiders' third game.After all, the versatile fullback had just four total catches in losses to San Diego and Miami, but totaled 51 yards. Surely, Reece and his 12.8-yards-per-catch average had to be used more, right?In the Raiders' 34-31 defeat of Pittsburgh on Sunday, Reece caught a career-high four passes from Carson Palmer. And while Reece only averaged 6.8 yards per catch, he was that chess piece for which the Steelers had to account.INSTANT REPLAY: Raiders 34, Steelers 31
Yes, Reece looked comfortable after not having a single touch in the preseason."Like I always say, you take preseason with a grain of salt," Reece said Monday. "Im always going to be comfortable with the ball in my hands. Thats the easy part of the game. Carson is comfortable throwing me the ball. Whatever happens, whatever is in the game plan, lets do it."Reece is, after all, a converted wide receiver so he's just as comfortable catching a ball in the flat out of the backfield as he is lining up wide.All of which makes him a matchup nightmare. Even more when Palmer is running the no-huddle offense."Another piece of our game," he said. "Another thing we bring with our versatility."Carson is always great. Thats what Carson does. He has a high football IQ. He loved taking control of things. Thats his mojo."And of course, a day after the Raiders finally looked comfortable in a game running the zone-blocking scheme -- at least on Darren McFadden' 64-yard touchdown run -- I had to ask Reece about the ZBS, and how different it truly is from what they had been utilizing."Man, weve been running zone blocking since Ive been here," said Reece, who joined the Raiders' practice squad in 2008. "Its nothing new to us. Were a very versatile running attack, offensive attack as a whole. Zone scheme is the first scheme I learned. Its been the meat and potatoes of our offense since Ive been here. Its nothing new to us."Like I said, we just need to get our legs underneath us and start running the ball. Thats it."Well, that and start using Reece more in the passing game.