Raiders Mid-Season Evaluation

Before I get into this, a quick 2LO update.  Once again, illness stood in the way of getting into the studio.  Brian just couldn't pull it off.  We'll try again, hopefully sooner than later.  But with the holidays coming up, you never can tell.

On to the Raiders.  Well, it looks to be another season of futility.  We're 2-5, & I can honestly only see one more possible win on the schedule.  Oh, what a glorious legacy we're building.

Let's start from the beginning, the preseason.  Things looked a little better, even though our record didn't show it, which was 1-3.  But one thing was evident, they were gonna have one hell of a running game.  Justin Fargas was coming off his first full, healthy season.  Looking like he was gonna pick up right where he left off.  Darren McFadden appeared to be as good as advertised.  And, Michael Bush, after missing his entire rookie season, recovering from a broken leg, looked to be worth that gamble of a late round draft pick the year before.  The passing game was something else entirely.  JaMarcus Russell was essentially starting his rookie season, having made only one start the year before.  And he looked just like it.  The receiving corps was old and/or injured, & it showed.  The defense was the only thing that looked the same, uneven.  Hope was, this would all come together as the season went on.

I'll break up the rest into two parts, pre-bye week & post-bye week.  Or, the Kiffin era & the Cable era.  Pre-bye record, 1-3.  Even though the record wasn't so great, the team showed promise.  The Raiders did get blown out in their opener by the Broncos.  But the other two losses came late in the game, with Raiders actually leading going into the 4th quarter.  The only problem, the defense got gassed.  The offense just wasn't able top stay on the field for any extended time, to let the defense rest up.  The main thing that you could take away from these first four games, was the Raiders were improving.  They were playing with more heart than I had seen since their Super Bowl run in 2002.  Lane Kiffin had these players buying into what he was selling.  But, nothing good is meant to last in Raiderland these days.  In only what could be called a "I'm taking my ball & going home" move, Al Davis fired Kiffin, going into the bye week.  Embarrassing himself, & his organization with his self-serving news conference & was once again stunting whatever growth his team could have made.  At this point, enter Tom Cable...

Post-bye week record, 1-2.  Every week, from here on out, will be an adventure.  I have no idea the identity of this team.  JaMarcus Russell, has hell of a cannon for an arm, but lacks the ability (so far) to make that soft, touch pass.  McFadden has been slowed by a turf toe injury & Fargas healthy, full season run ended at one.  He was out a couple weeks with a groin pull.  The aging receivers seem incapable of consistently catching a pass.  The defense is still uneven, & week against the run.  As far as the new coach goes, I'll just quote Mr. Davis from his news conference, "Who's gonna introduce Tom Cable?  I don't know that much about him."

Eight weeks down, nine more to go.  Just win baby...  please!