The draft is over, training camp is complete, and all the preseason games have been played. The roster, barring one or maybe two last-minute additions or subtractions is set. The coaching staff have drilled their plans and schemes into the players during the off-season. There is little else left to do apart from prepare for the Tennessee Titans, because Week One of the 2010 season is actually here. The Raiders are widely believed to be one of the most improved teams this year. After dumping last year's starting quarterback JaMarcus Russell, and making some smart moves on the trade front. ...
The Oakland Raiders face off against the Tennessee Titans at LP Field in Nashville, TN. on Sunday, September 12, 2010. Game time is 1:00 PM ET. This matchup is sure to be one of the more interesting ones rounding out Week 1 of the season, and the NFL spreads show the Titans -6 over the Raiders with a total set of 47.5 points.
Could this be the year that the Raiders return to their commitment to excellence? Let’s face it without JaMarcus Russell, Oakland have turned out to be a better team, winning three of their ...
It seemed like Tom Cable was just trying to give Stanford Routt some confidence when he hyped up the battle to start at corner. Based on his response, Chris Johnson did not seem to take it seriously either.
Since Oakland drafted Routt, he has never lived up to his potential. He quietly made the team each year, but was never more than a nickelback.
On Saturday, it became clear that Routt had won the starting job. After Johnson’s final preseason showing it wasn’t a huge surprise, but it marked the end of Routt’s career long goal to start in the NFL.
It also marked the beginning of his next ...
For a young pitcher starting out in the Major Leagues, success can come and it go as quickly as it came. A perfect example of this is the case of Vin Mazzaro, who from June eight to July 18 saw tremendous success and looked like a mainstay in the rotation for the A's.
During that period of time Mazzaro went 4-2 with 31 strikeouts to 16 walks, had an ERA of 2.82, and held batters to a .235 average. The one knock on Mazzaro during this time was that he did have the tendency to hang his slider and when that ...
I have recently played the new Madden quite extensively. I can admit that I love the Madden games, although I discourage perceptions derived from Madden.
For instance, one writer on B/R once wrote that interceptions in the real game are circumstantial because the Madden defender will intercept a pass that looked like it was over his hands.
By the same idea, the receivers often make catches that a real player would not make.
Yet, many know about the Madden curse of being the player on the cover.
I caution against deriving too much from Madden, but I cannot deny the fact that Madden has ...
Well the preseason is now over, with the Raiders posting a respectable 3-1 record, the only loss being against the hated San Francisco 49ers via a touchdown in garbage time.Although preseason records themselves mean little, the games can definitely highlight a team's strengths and weaknesses as they head into the regular season.The addition of Jason Campbell and Hue Jackson to the offense has sparked a definite improvement on that side of the ball, but there is still a long way to go.Adding Rolando McClain and Lamarr Houston early in the draft and trading for Kamerion Wimbley has improved the run ...
For the last few years, the AFC West has been considered one of the weakest divisions in the NFL. San Diego was the only team that was considered a playoff and Super Bowl contender before the season.
Meanwhile, the Oakland Raiders had the Al Davis-Lane Kiffin Civil War of 2007-08 which followed a two-win season under Art Shell in 2006.
The Kansas City Chiefs fell into a nose dive which included coaching changes, Priest Holmes' retirement, Tony Gonzalez asking for a trade and receiving one to Atlanta. Let's not forget the Larry Johnson ordeal that left a sour taste in the mouth of Chiefs fans.
Then the Broncos ...
The Oakland Raiders have been mired in futility for some time now, and to say that Raider Nation is a little sick and tired of being laughed at by others in NFL circles would be the understatement of the century.The ever rabid and loyal fan base needs some tangible goodness to hang their hats on, as despite the recent struggles they remain steadfast and loyal to the Oakland Raiders and deserve to be rewarded.The team has gone a long way to improving their chances of success for the upcoming 2010 season, with the addition of Hue Jackson at offensive coordinator, ...
This should be a fun season for Oakland Raiders fans. They should be a much improved team and should have a better record than the past few dismal seasons.With Jason Campbell at quarterback instead of JaMarcus Russell, the offense should score a lot more; meanwhile, the defense seems poised to allow fewer big plays and points.What follows is my prediction of how the season will go. Of course everything that follows is predicated on key Raiders players remaining, or getting healthy. The same goes for their opponents. So let’s use that ugly word, and assume everyone stays healthy this season ...
The final roster cuts were made and now it is time to evaluate them.
To me a 53-man roster has to be two deep at each position, one kicker, one punter, one deep snapper, a third QB, a third TB, a third TE, a fifth WR, a seventh LB, and a ninth DB.
The Raiders apparently have a different philosophy on that. Let's take a look at each position (or unit of positions) and how they graded out.
Quarterback
Jason Campbell is the starter and will be a major upgrade over JaMarcus Russell. As far as I know Bruce Gradkowski will ...