The Oakland Raiders have lost six straight games with Carson Palmer behind center, and with only three remaining games on the schedule, it's time to give Terrelle Pryor a chance to prove his worth.Misguided fans assume I've been calling for Pryor because I don't like Palmer or don't believe he's a good quarterback. This isn't the case, I assure you.Reggie McKenzie needs to insist that Dennis Allen start Pryor in Week 15, and there are three main reasons why. Pryor Could Be the Face of the FranchisePalmer is a serviceable—perhaps better-than-average—starting quarterback, but he isn't the future of the franchise. He ...
It has been a disastrous season in Oakland to say the least. The Raiders' playoff hopes for 2012 are a distant memory. Injuries have continued to hurt the team. A former first-round draft pick has been suspended and could possibly be released at the end of the season. The offense, which was a juggernaut last season, has regressed horribly under the new schemes of Greg Knapp. Reggie McKenzie came to the Raiders from Green Bay hoping to bring the success of the Packers organization to Oakland with him. McKenzie was known for being able to find gems in the draft and ...
The Oakland Raiders are a team in transition. The team and the fans hoped it would be a moderately successful transition year, as Reggie McKenzie brought in several veteran players until he could bring in young talent through the draft. That transition has turned into a full-blown rebuild because of Oakland’s poor play this season. McKenzie started to part ways with veteran players like Aaron Curry at positions where he has young players who need the experience. That transition will continue, as the Raiders announced on Monday that they will waive veteran cornerback Ron Bartell and fullback Owen Schmitt. Phillip ...
If the world really is supposed to end in 2012, it would be perfectly fine with the Oakland Raiders.The Raiders are riding a six-game losing streak, their longest since 2007. With each week that passes, they become less of a threat and more of a joke to the rest of the NFL.The aura of "Commitment to Excellence" and "Just Win, Baby" have been lost this season, and nobody is doing anything to restore them.The Raiders have learned some hard lessons this season and will have three more games to decide how they will finish off 2012.Begin Slideshow
The Oakland Raiders returned to normalcy last Thursday night when running back Darren McFadden was in the lineup against the Denver Broncos. While his 64 total yards and one score on 13 touches were certainly positive signs, McFadden tweaked his injured right ankle and would finish the game on the sidelines. This is the same injury that kept the running back out of action the previous four games—seeing the field last against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9. After a breakout season in 2010 that saw McFadden rush for 1,157 yards and seven touchdowns, he has played in and ...
Oakland Raiders wide receiver Denarius Moore has fallen on hard times. He was once considered a quality No. 2 option for fantasy football teams. Lately, he hasn't even been a flex-play option. Can he be trusted going forward?In Weeks 2-10, Moore averaged 71.9 yards per game with five touchdowns in eight games. That's an average of double-digit fantasy points in non-PPR (points per reception) leagues.Recently, though, Moore has had his production scaled way back. In his last four games, Moore's high water mark is 43 yards. After scoring in five of his first eight games, he has only scored in ...
As the Oakland Raiders' nationally-televised game against the first-place Denver Broncos was minutes from kick on Thursday night, I imagine the thoughts on my mind were similar to those of Raiders fans around the country: just don't embarrass us.To be fair, Oakland did a reasonable job at that.As expected, however, all hope of winning had dissipated just minutes after kick.After Denver marched down the field hitting wide open receiver after wide open receiver, Peyton Manning found his tight end (once again, wide open) in the end zone for the game's first score.Just minutes later, Carson Palmer and the Raiders offense ...
The Oakland Raiders are a football team under renovation, and there are holes all over the place and key parts missing. When the Raiders took on the souped-up Denver Broncos on Thursday night, no one really expected that they would be able to win the game. The Raider Nation was just hoping for the team to show signs of life after five straight losses. Characteristically, the Raiders played well in spurts but ultimately buckled, and the much better team pulled away in the second half. The Raiders are now 3-10 after losing 26-13, and the weight of each loss is ...
For one reason or another, the Oakland Raiders don’t have a lot of franchise cornerstone-caliber players.First-round picks—guys expected to fill those roles—who have spent time on their roster have generally not panned out. The team released (via profootballtalk.nbcsports.com) linebacker Aaron Curry (selected No. 4 overall in 2009 by the Seattle Seahawks) and seems to be on the same path (via espn.com) with Rolando McClain (No. 8 in 2010), albeit for entirely different reasons. Quarterback Carson Palmer (drafted No. 1 in 2003 by the Cincinnati Bengals) is 32 years old. The team will likely be headed in a different direction at ...
Wide receiver Rod Streater was one of the lone bright spots for the Oakland Raiders during Thursday night's 26-13 loss to the Denver Broncos. The wideout caught four passes for 100 yards, and over his last two games has seven receptions for 196 yards and a score. Though inconsistent at times this season, Streater is showing that he can be a weapon in this league. However, the Raiders are likely to continue giving their more highly-touted targets a chance to prove their worth. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Denarius Moore and tight end Brandon Myers have been targeted the most by Carson Palmer ...