Feed: Raidernation4Life - AggScore: 73.4

Rarely do you ever hear good news about the Oakland Raiders, but this week Oakland will get four starters back from injury to play this week against the arch division rival Kansas City Chiefs.

Once again, rarely do you ever hear that the Raiders are favored to win a game, but this week against the Chiefs the Raiders chances are looking pretty good with the return of players like left guard Robert Gallery, right tackle Cornell Green, wide receiver Chaz Schilens and most importantly running back Darren McFadden.

With these players healthy and back in the mix for the Raiders their fortunes might begin to change. I don't think the Raiders will be playoffs contenders this season as there is virtually no way they will be able to catch up to the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos, but at least they can get some positive things happening for them to finish out yet another disappointing season in Oakland.

Obviously right now all the Raiders want is something positive to happen for their franchise after having a disappointing year like this filled with controversy surrounding head coach Tom Cable and protests asking for the benching of JaMarcus Russell, it might not come this season, but like the Atlanta Falcons last season, a winning season could be right around the corner!

It has been a long and disappointing season for the Raiders thus far as they haven't really made any kind of improvement from last year's team and sit at the bottom of the AFC West yet again with a 2-6 coming into week 10 against Matt Cassel and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The biggest question that all Raiders fans are asking this season is:

When will JaMarcus Russell be benched?

A few years back Raiders fans thought they had something to look forward to and hope for the future after Oakland selected LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell number one overall. Russell seemed like the total package with a cannon for an arm and a Ben Roethlisberger like frame that would make him hard to bring down, but it hasn't been his body or his strong arm that has let the Raiders down, it has been his terrible accuracy and inability to lead this team.

Along with Russell the Raiders were able to get their hands on a promising young running back Darren McFadden last season, but have yet to really see what the kid can do because of injury problems.

Needless to say, the Oakland Raiders mess and they are not a team you consider if you are an avid sports bettor and are trying to make some extra dough with NFL betting.

There is a definitely an upside to the Raiders despite all their faults as their defense is quite good when it has time to rest on the sidelines, but that hasn't happen as of late due to the inconsistent play by Russell and the offense.

This week the Raiders might be able to get a much needed victory against the lowly Kansas City Chiefs in week 10. The Chiefs looked to have a promising season coming into this year with the addition of quarterback Matt Cassel from New England and new offensive minded head coach Todd Haley, but the combination of the two in Kansas City has not resulted in more than one win this season.

Even though both of these teams aren't all that entertaining to watch this season, this matchup between these AFC West rivals might just be a game to watch as the Chiefs and the Raiders will not want to lose this game just to be able to say they are not the worst team in the AFC West.

Is all hope lost to salvage this season?

Honestly, it is really starting to look like the season is lost unless they decide to switch quarterbacks in my opinion. JEFF GARCIA COMEBAAAAAACKK!

The Raiders running game isn't all that bad. Yes, they don't have a great runner like Adrian Peterson, Frank Gore or even Ahmad Bradshaw, but the combination of Michael Bush and Darren McFadden will get it done when the second year back comes back healthy in a few weeks.

In the meantime though they need to get it done through the air and on the defensive side of the football. Much like the running game I believe the defense can be a dominant defense if they actually had sometime to catch their breath on the sidelines. The Oakland offense is so bad these days that the Raiders defense is on the field basically the entire game and no defense, no matter how good they are, can get it done with no time to rest.

The one thing that has to change before anything is the quarterback position. JaMarcus Russell may have a cannon for an arm and can throw the length of the field, but he has terrible accuracy and has not lived up to expectations in his time in Oakland. It is time to admit it Al Davis, you got a Ryan Leaf type pick out of Russell, time to make a change and go get Jeff Garcia back to Oakland.

The New York Giants on the other hand came into this game with a lot of question marks involving their superstar quarterback Eli Manning. Last week Manning sustained an injury that looked like it would force him to sit out some time, but just like his brother Peyton, Eli got back on the horse and had an impressive performance playing through pain in the win against Oakland.

Eli Manning may have been in some serious pain, but it didn't stop him from throwing for 173 yards and two touchdowns in just one half of play before being switched out for David Carr due to the blowout.

44-7 was the final score and this game wasn't even close, in fact it was a joke as the Raiders seemed absolutely hopeless with Russell throwing for a pitiful 100 yards and the Oakland offense only amounting to a total of 124 yards. Just pitiful to say the least.

There are bitter rivals in the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers don't like each other, the Patriots and Colts always have epic battles, but few of these rivalries are as heated as the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers when the two AFC West rivals go head to head.

These two teams don't just dislike each other, they hate each other with an undying passion!

It isn't a personal thing like the way Phillip Rivers and Jay Cutler openly hate each other, but these two teams absolutely despise losing to one another and in this match up it has been the Raiders getting the short end of the stick in the last eleven meetings between these two.

Coming into this season the Oakland Raiders don't have expectations of being a great team or even a good team as they are still very young and struggling to establish an identity. Last season was forgettable, in fact, the past seven years have been very forgettable as this franchise has just fallen apart since their last Super Bowl appearance back in 2002.

Despite not looking great on paper, the Oakland Raiders do have some young and promising players on their squad starting with JaMarcus Russell.

Russell is a freak of nature with a 6'6" 260+ frame at quarterback. That is unheard of and closest thing to him is Big Ben Roethlisberger with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but even though this kid is huge he lacks finesse and accuracy on his throws and that was never more obvious then this week one game against the San Diego Chargers.
The positives to come out of this loss against he hated Chargers is that the tide is changing in Oakland, yes they have some work to do at quarterback, but the defense looks great and the running game is firing on all cylinders with the deadly combination of Michael Bush and Darren McFadden.

The Raiders ran the ball down the throat of the Chargers all night long as San Diego just couldn't find an answer for Bush and McFadden, but the problem was the passing game as Russell continues to struggle. At times it was the receivers faults as Russell either put it right on the numbers or on their hands, but with two rookies starting at wide receiver in Darrius Heyward-Bey and Louis Murphy, there are bound to be problems in the passing game.

Russell did have a moment of brilliance near the end of this game throwing a 57 yard bullet to Louis Murphy for the go ahead touchdown with 2:34 left in the fourth quarter, but that was plenty of time for Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers to drive down the field and hand it off to Darren Sproles for the game winning touchdown and end the game 24-20.

There were a few things for both the Raiders and Chargers to look at after this game that will drastically change the look and feel of both teams. For one, the Raiders will have to work the running game until Russell can get some confidence or look at bringing in Brad Gradkowski who actually got in the game when Russell got hurt on a quarterback sneak. Gradkowski threw the ball twice and completed both passing for 17 yards.
So sit Russell, milk the running game with McFadden and Bush who combined for 123 yards and a touchdown or see if Russell can get back on track in the coming weeks.

The Chargers on the other hand seem to be in the passing of the torch mode as we could be witnessing the end of the LaDainian Tomlinson and the emergence of Darren Sproles. It seemed more and more obvious as the game went on that Norv Turner has become comfortable using Sproles in place of LT as Sproles was the back to get the call at the end game and came through with the game winning rushing touchdown.

San Diego did struggle in the passing game though despite Rivers finishing with 252 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Even though you would think it was Rivers just having an off night it was actually the much improved Raiders defense keeping the Chargers in check.

So the positives for the Raiders is a great running game with two backs and a much improved defense. Negatives for Oakland is inconsistent play by JaMarcus Russell and failure to capitalize on offense. Positives for San Diego is Darren Sproles and negatives are LT and struggling offense.

Even though there has been Super Bowl talk surrounding the Chargers I still think they have a ways to go before they can be considered legit contenders this season. As for the Raiders I see nothing, but positive things coming out of this game. Yes, Tom Cable and company have to deal with the problems at quarterback, but the defense looks good and their is potential to turn this offense back into a major force in the AFC.

Where did this move come from? Good news for the Raiders, but why would the Patriots do something this drastic, this close to week one?

Obviously the Oakland Raiders have been in somewhat of a desperation mode for quite some time now as they try to get back to dominant status in the AFC, but why the New England Patriots would want to get rid of a five time Pro Bowler like Richard Seymour is beyond me.

The Raiders will definitely get an upgrade at their defensive line with the addition of Richard Seymour, but it didn't come without a price as they had to give up their 2011 first round draft pick which has been a very high pick in the draft in recent years as they have brought in high profile players like JaMarcus Russell, Michael Huff and Darren McFadden.

The main motivation for Al Davis to pull the trigger on this deal was to help stop the run as the Oakland Raiders have struggled stopping the run ever since their last Super Bowl appearance in 2002. In fact the Raiders have been the worst team in the league at stopping the run since 2002 allowing 141.7 yards per game on the ground.

As for the Patriots point of view this somewhat of a surprise, but maybe it shouldn't be as the New England defense is starting to looking quite different this season. First move the Patriots made concerning the defense was trading away linebacker Mike Vrabel in the Matt Cassel deal then both Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi decided to call it a career and retired from the NFL.

The one thing about the Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick though, they always seem have some master plan and end up coming out on top.

So in the short term I believe the Oakland Raiders defense just got a lot better, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the New England Patriots turn their new first round pick into something special.

It is no secret that the Oakland Raiders are one of the most troubled NFL franchises in the league if not the most troubled franchise. One of the main reasons for the Raiders troubles has been the combination wacky NFL owner in Al Davis and bad decisions with team personnel.

Over the past couple of seasons the Raiders have had nothing, but bad publicity. One bad move after another like getting rid of arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL in Randy Moss, firing head coach Lane Kiffin in a very embarrassing fashion and now cutting veteran quarterback Jeff Garcia.

Now Jeff Garcia isn't the quarterback he used to be when he was a Pro Bowler with the San Francisco 49ers or even the Philadelphia Eagles, but he is still one of the best backup quarterbacks in this league, too bad the Raiders didn't think so as they cut the veteran only a week before week one.

Since Garcia will no longer be in silver and black as the backup to JaMarcus Russell, the Raiders will be using Bruce Gradkowski and Charlie Frye as the backups.

Along with Jeff Garcia 21 other players were cut from the team to set the final roster.

It is no secret that quarterback JaMarcus Russell has hit a few bumps in the road as he tries to become a prime time QB in the NFL, but after just two seasons are the Oakland Raiders justified to pull the rug from under the young quarterback's feet and hand the starting job over to veteran quarterback Jeff Garcia?

In my opinion, no, it isn't justified and the kid deserves one more shot before he gets dropped to the backup role. Obviously when the Raiders pick Russell number one in the draft a few years ago they were planning for the future and intending to make him the face of the franchise, but just the drastic mid season firing of head coach Lane Kiffin, Al Davis has absolutely no patience and wants to win as soon as possible.

Wanting to win in the NFL or any professional sport in the US for that matter is natural and admirable, but what Davis is asking for is just ridiculous. Yes, the Raiders have potential to be at least a playoff team, but the way he is imposing his will on the Raiders is not healthy and will continue to tear the team apart with frustrated coaches and unhappy players.

The Raiders went out an made somewhat of a drastic move by signing veteran quarterback Jeff Garcia to motivate Russell and secure the quarterback position as best they could for the next NFL season.

Garcia has been great quarterback throughout his career starting with another bay area team in the San Francisco 49ers where he had to deal with the ego of a young Terrell Owens. Once Garcia started to get on in years and the Niners started to drop off the veteran quarterback started to hop around the NFL with stops in Philadelphia and Tampa Bay before signing with the Oakland Raiders this offseason.

Some say Garcia is over the hill and others believe he still might have a few good years left in him like Kerry Collins in Tennessee. The one thing that has made Garcia successful every where he has gone has been his will to win and never say die attitude which he fully intends to bring with him to Oakland as he tries to compete for the starting job with JaMarcus Russell.

"Not knocking JaMarcus or anybody else on the team, but I have a belief in my own abilities," Garcia said in a phone interview from his home in San Diego.. "[That has] me feeling I am the best quarterback on the team. That's just how I approach the game."

The debate in Oakland now is: Who to start at quarterback?

JaMarcus Russell has tremendous upside with a cannon for an arm, quick feet and a big body, but he lacks experience and has had problems with his weight. Garcia on the other hand is a proven quarterback with experience and the competitive fire sorely lacking in Oakland.

Who will get the starting job? Honestly, I couldn't say, but I think they will either put Russell on a short leash and once he makes a mistake pull him out or start Garcia at the get go and have Russell use Garcia as a mentor.

Either way, it will be interesting to see what happens and who will be taking the snaps when the season begins.

It seemed like a forgone conclusion that Terrell Owens would end up with the Oakland Raiders where all troubled stars in the NFL seem to land.

In somewhat of an unexpected move the Dallas Cowboys decided it was time to give TO the boot in Big D. Some may say they made a bad move, but in my opinion he is locker room poison who only cares about himself and will never change his destructive ways. Great player, very talented and a game changer, but at times nothing but a distraction.

Every NFL analyst was predicting it and Raider fans were waiting for it, but TO didn't end up signing with the Oakland Raiders after all. He may have been more trouble than a young JaMarcus Russell could handle, but he might have been the key ingredient the Raiders needed to become a force in the AFC West again.

No one could have seen it coming, but the Buffalo Bills were the team that eventually got their hands on Terrell Owens for a $6.5 million one year contract.

Smart move by Buffalo? I would say so. I don't think the guy will change, but maybe he will have better luck on a team that is not surrounded by the media like the Cowboys and Eagles.

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Well, this decision seemed like to be inevitable. Crazy Raiders owner Al Davis has made his decision on the Oakland Raiders head coaching job, arguably the most undesired position in all NFL football.

With finishing the season they way he did I think Tom Cable was a no brainer to be the new head coach for the Raiders. First of all, I don't know a single coach who would want to come to Oakland right now with all the drama Lane Kiffin endured last season, but Tom Cable seems to be up to the task and in my opinion they got the right man for the job.

Cable did only win four games out of the eight he had coached to finish the season after Davis gave Kiffin the ax, but I would say that is one hell of an accomplishment considering the circumstances.

The Raiders may not be contenders for a few years, but after the team started to come together under Cable the future in Oakland looks brighter than it has in quite some time.

Darren McFadden didn't exactly have a season to remember, but not all rookie running backs are going to turn out like Adrian Peterson did in his first season. The one-two combo of Justin Fargas and McFadden will prove to be deadly in the near future as Fargas seemed to come into his own last season and McFadden will not be rushed into doing too much too soon.

JaMarcus Russell also seemed to have somewhat of a breakout season as well, not one like say Kurt Warner or Peyton Manning, but it has become obvious that Russell is starting to become more and more comfortable in the Raiders offense.

Needless to say, the Raiders for once have made the right decision by giving Cable a chance and the way things are looking Oakland will be poised to make some waves in the AFC in the coming years, especially if they make good use for the #10 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

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Although Al Davis seems to always be famously quick on the trigger firing head coaches, he is not exactly taking quick action to hire a new one, but maybe that is for the best.

Davis isn't exactly in the good graces with anyone these days with his erratic and almost idiotic decision making, but I have to think he may have learned his lesson for being quick on the draw with this past decision like signing free agents DeAngelo Hall, Javon Walker and hiring a young head coach in Lane Kiffin.

It is pretty much common sense these days in professional sports that there is no such thing as instant success. Some teams get lucky by things coming together quicker than expected like the Atlanta Falcons experienced this season by gambling on rookie quarterback Matt Ryan and running back Michael Turner and having it pay off immediately, but that barely ever happens.

In the Oakland Raiders case, Al Davis tried way too hard to make a winner immediately by signing a bunch of overpriced free agents and expecting it to pay off without consequence. As everyone in the sports world knows, that didn't exactly turn out all that well as the Raiders lost a bunch of close games, fired a coach and paid a DeAngelo Hall a million per game for the eight games he played in silver and black before releasing him.

As for the the newly vacant head coaching position, interim coach Tom Cable should be the front runner for the job since he took a seemingly hopeless Raiders and turned into a team with promise going into next season.

I kind of get the feeling that some of the best available head coaches around aren't exactly going to be jumping at the chance to coach in Oakland with all the drama and a dictator like Al Davis running the show. No way in hell Mike Shanahan is going to go back to the Raiders, Bill Cowher has said he doesn't want to coach again and Eric Mangini will probably end up being the Cleveland Browns head coach.

Of course there are a ton of head coaches out there dying to get the chance to make the jump to the professional level in the NFL, but in my opinion, Cable should get the job.

Who knows what Davis is thinking or planning, but hopefully he gets some sense and doesn't make another rash decision going into 2009.

The season is basically over, the playoffs were never a factor and the Oakland Raiders have arguably been the one NFL franchise filled with the most drama and bad blood this season, but they looked like a team out to prove something when they convincingly beat the Houston Texans last Sunday 27-16.

An 80 yard punt return for by Johnnie Lee Higgins, JaMarcus Russell near perfect with two passing touchdowns and no picks and the team playing they way they should have played all season, the Raiders were playing for some sense of dignity in a season filled with disappointment in Week 16.

At the end of the game the Texans just looked shocked, bruised and beaten as the Raiders just had their way with they by putting up 27 points and while holding Matt Schaub and company to only 16 points.

The Texans got one rushing touchdown from Vonta Leach mid way through the first quarter, but it was all down hill from there as they had to settle for field goals three times after their only touchdown of the game. The Raiders on the other hand got their game going early with a 20 yard passing touchdown from Russell to Chaz Schilens followed by two field goals from Sebastian Janikowski to close out the first quarter.

In the second quarter the Texans seemed to get back in it as they held the Raiders from scoring and got two field goals out of Kris Brown, but it was a different story in the third as Johnnie Lee Higgins pretty much took the game over with two touchdowns of his own. One from a 29 yard pass from Russell and the other an 80 yard punt return touchdown which put the game out of reach for the Texans.

Texans quarterback Matt Schaub who has been awesome since he returned from injury was no match for the Raiders defense as they picked him off once and held him to no touchdowns while sacking him three times. Even though he didn't look it against the Raiders, I believe Schaub will be one of the best quarterbacks in the league in the near future.

Although this was a great win for the Raiders in terms of seeing what can happen when both the offense and defense are clicking, it is just a shame that they couldn't get it together earlier in the season.

NEXT RAIDERS GAME: Oakland Raiders @ Tampa Bay Bucs Sunday, Dec. 28th 10am PST

In what was supposed to be an easy win for the AFC West leading Denver Broncos, the Oakland Raiders had perhaps their best performance of the season as they pulled off the unlikely upset 31-10.

All season the Raiders have struggled as much as an NFL franchise can struggle. With a coaching change, a nutty dictator of an owner in Al Davis and injuries to their go to guys. Even though all this controversy and bad blood has been going on in Oakland, JaMarcus Russell and his Raiders came in Denver, where they are hated more than any Broncos opponent, and just destroyed their arch rivals.

Although their season is over unless both the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos absolutely blow it to finish the season, which could happen, then the Raiders are just playing for pride.

With that being said, the Raiders made a huge statement Sunday by being the best offensive team on the gridiron in Denver. So far this season, Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler has been as impressive as you can be at that position as he consistently hooks up with up and coming wide out Brandon Marshall along with all the other talented receivers on the Broncos, but he just couldn't get the job done against a Oakland team determined to upset Mike Shanahan's boys in their house.

It was just the same old story for the Broncos in week 12 as they proved they still can't stop anyone with there pathetic defense. The Raiders just torched the Denver D, especially with the ground game. Both Darren McFadden had great games. McFadden hurt the Broncos with 2 rushing touchdowns while Justin Fargas gain all the yardage with 107 yards.

JaMarcus Russell also had a pretty decent game with one passing touchdown and 152 yards. Jay Cutler on the other hand had a nightmare of a game as he failed to throw a single touchdown and turned the football over twice, once with a fumble and another with an interception.

Although the Broncos are still in first place in the AFC West, it is painfully obvious that they still need a lot of work on the defensive side of football field. As for the Raiders, anything positive is good news in Oakland. They may be out of contention in the AFC West 3-8, but maybe they can take this win and build on it for the future.

NEXT MATCH UP WEEK 13: Kansas City Chiefs @ Oakland Raiders Sunday, Nov. 30th 1:15pm PST

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More bad news for the Oakland Raiders, as if it weren't bad enough with all that is going on with the Raiders this season.

Reportedly, the Oakland Raiders number one wide receiver Javon Walker will miss of the rest of the season with a ankle injury that requires surgery. The injury was sustained in the 17-6 loss to the Carolina Panthers in week 10. Javon Walker was quoted as saying:

"I'm done for the season," Walker said. "They've got to put some screws in."

Nothing, I mean absolutely nothing has gone right for the Oakland Raiders this season. First it was the firing of coach Lane Kiffin for reasons that we will probably never understand. Then it has just been loss after loss, week after week. After few promising performances, mainly against the San Diego Chargers and the Buffalo Bills, it seemed as though the Raiders were on the verge of turning the corner, but it just hasn't happen as Oakland has been plagued with injuries to key players ever since.

In the off season, Javon Walker signed a huge contract of $55 million. Walker was just one of a few huge deals made by the Raiders and Al Davis before the season began.

This season Walker has only made 15 catches for 196 yards and only one touchdown. Big chunk of money for not much production.

Some people believed that the Oakland Raiders had no chance in hell of upsetting the 6-2 Carolina Panthers in week 10, even though the Silver & Black weren't able to pull out the upset, they definitely gave Jake Delhomme and company a run for their money.

Coming into this game the Raiders were as banged up as they have been all season with both quarterback JaMarcus Russell and rookie running back Darren McFadden sitting out due to injury.

With both Russell and McFadden out of the lineup the Raiders chances were pretty slim to come out on top or even keep the game competitive, but surprisingly they did make a game of it, mostly from the defensive end of the gridiron.

The Raiders did lose this contest 17-6, but it was no easy task for the Panthers as the Raiders shut down the Carolina's air attack and kept superstar wide receiver Steve Smith from becoming a factor in this game. If Oakland came out victorious in week 10 the reason for the victory would have definitely been limiting Panthers' quarterback Jake Delhomme to only 72 yards passing and picking him off 4 times, 2 interceptions of which by Rashard Baker.

Raiders backup quarterback back Andrew Walter didn't have a career worst game like Delhomme, but his performance was far from commendable as he threw for 142 yards and 2 interceptions. Not only were his numbers terrible, but he also went down with an injury that kept him out of action late in the game.

Although Oakland was able to keep Delhomme and Steve Smith out of the game, DeAngelo Williams was another story altogether as he rushed for a game high 140 yards and a touchdown. Justin Fargas had a decent game rushing with 89 yards on 22 carries, but was completely overshadowed by the impressive performance of Williams.

Even though this turned out to be yet another loss for the Raiders in week 10, the defense showed some promise against the Carolina Panthers, lets hope that continues.
NEXT MATCH UP in WEEK 11: Oakland Raiders @ Miami Dolphins Sunday, Nov. 16th 10am PST