Every year in the NFL there is that one team that comes out of no where to surprise all of football to be the team that rises from obscurity to become a playoff contender. A couple of seasons ago it was the Arizona Cardinals, last year that team was the New York Jets and ironically this year the Oakland Raiders will use a very similar formula that propelled the New York Jets into the playoffs last season to become a playoff competitor themselves.
Make no mistake about it the biggest improvement the Raiders made during the ...
Quite frankly, Darren McFadden's tenure in Oakland has been a poor one.
He spends most of his time off the field, but when he's on the field, he's mediocre at best.
Let's take a look at his career so far.
DMC was drafted fourth overall in 2008.
In his rookie season, he had one great game against the Chiefs in Week Two, and suffered from a turf toe the rest of the season. This past season, he had two solid games against the Chargers in Week One and the Broncos in Week 15.
I realize our line has many issues. Robert Gallery was ...
Coming into Friday night's games, it appears that the Oakland A's may have come out of the starting gate with a small, although not decisive, lead in the division race.
That's in spite of the fact that the four teams of the American League West have very similar records. And the first month of the season is just closing.
There are two considerations that put Oakland a little ahead. One is how well they've done in the division itself. The other is how many tough games outside the division they've played.
Oakland is 6-4 against Western Division rivals, leading in the season series ...
If you were to ask me in mid-March who I thought would be the A's leader in RBIs through the first month of the season, I probably wouldn't have said Cliff Pennington.
Well, Pennington, a former first-round pick, is off to a strong start for the A's this season. Through 24 games, Pennington has managed to hit .250/.337/.461 and has collected a team-leading 15 RBIs.
While his batting average is nothing to excited about, his unexpected display of power, however, should make even the most pessimistic A's fan feel all giddy inside.
Along with Pennington, second baseman Adam Rosales has emerged as a ...
JaMarcus Russell showed up for mini camp today. Contrary to rumors issued by the media, he is still a member of the Oakland Raiders. I think we can finally say that he is going to be given a chance to make the team.
He threw today and looked good doing it. His passes had an incredible zip on them that only his arm can deliver. He also showed good accuracy with his passes.
One thing that was very good to see, he is not 300 pounds as previously reported. The quarterback made the following statement to the Oakland Tribune, "My thing is ...
The A's have had a promising start to the 2010 campaign. Some have left A's fans weeping saying "this looks all too familiar!" But there is room for optimism, and since I'm the optimism king of my Oakland A's, I feel it's my duty to keep fans uplifted.
At the beginning of the season I predicted a season winning percentage of no worse than .500 in 2010. I stand by that. The A's have the talent that goes far overlooked by the rest of the league. In fact, the A's could surprise everyone. I've compiled a list of things that ...
Part One
Did Al Davis give in to pressure when he drafted Eldridge Dickey back in the day, and did he make history by doing so?
A historian seems to believe that the peer pressure and social pressure of having an African-American quarterback was too much for the Oakland Raiders' fans to handle in the Sixties.
Could that same covert pressure be present in both the fans and media as it relates to JaMarcus Russell?
T.J., a biology major and former football player, says:
"When you are a first round draft choice, there are a lot of expectations on you to turn a losing team ...
The common word, of course, is 'bust'. And the simplest way to describe the Oakland Raiders is a worthless, pathetic, chaotic franchise mired in disarray. If there was ever a proper time to bash an enigmatic front office that has made some of the dumbest blunders as far as draft picks goes, now marks a suitable time to critique the Raiders' draft selection.
His name, of course, is JaMarcus Russell, the No. 1 overall draftee in the 2007 NFL Draft. It’s always a risk to venture and trust in an athletic prospect, a usual trend ruining the Raiders rebuilding projects and ...
What a great offseason it has been.
For once the Raiders draft and trades have been almost universally approved by the sporting media, and just about every transaction has addressed an important need on this team.
The move for Jason Campbell was a very good one.
But in all this talk and acclaim of our new players, there is one guy who appears to have been lost in the shuffle.
Bruce Gradkowski.
Gradkowski was the Raiders' saviour last year, when he rescued the team from a dangerous downward spiral, in terms of both results and morale.
The players had just about given up on winning ...
Of late, everyone has an opinion on whether or not Al Davis will cut JaMarcus from the Silver & Black.
If he is cut by Al, will he ever be back in the NFL? I for one, am not of the opinion Jamarcus deserves another opportunity to play in the NFL. So these are my visions of where The Greatest Draft Bust of all time will possibly land in the year 2010.
His life after football.
1. I think JaMarcus goes Hollywood.. Just think the McDonald's corporation brings back Ronald McDonald's friends. JaMarcus comes in and picks up the purple costume, and ...