Skip to main content

Top 10 Reasons The Raiders Aren't Going To The Playoffs. A Retrospective


As the season comes to a close, the fans have to ask themselves one question. What happened?

The answer is a lot of things happened. So in typical year-end style I present to you The Top 10 Reasons The Raiders Aren't Going To The Playoffs. A Retrospective.

10. The Offensive Line: Sure there were injuries, but the group wasn't that good to begin with. This group took a huge step backwards in terms of run blocking and the pass blocking was spotty at best. On the bright side, Mario Henderson looks legit.

9. Richard Seymour: The defensive savior that we traded a very valuable 2011 first-round selection for was only at times worth the franchise tag that he will certainly receive this offseason. He almost single-handedly helped the Raiders lose a game as well. He makes the list because so much was expected of him on and off the field, both football related and not and I didn't really see much from him. Greg Ellis seemed to fill this role and we didn't have to give up a pick for him. Shaughnessey's development may make that trade look worse going forward.

8. Johnnie Lee Higgins & John Fassel: What happened? He was on the verge of becoming a good receiver and one of the top punt returners in the game at the end of 2008. You can make excuses for anyone, but JLH just didn't get the job done like he should have. Maybe you can place part of the blame on Mr. Fassel, because whoever decided to let Gary Russell returned kicks on a team filled with a dozen or more track stars is an idiot.

7. Receivers: Schilens got hurt, but hasn't lit the world on fire since he returned. Murphy and Heyward-Bey were drop machines early, but have settled in a little now. Higgins is still dropping balls. Walker who? This unit still has loads of potential, but when JaMarcus does manage to hit you; you better catch it.

6. Darren McFadden: What else can you say, he is a big disappointment. Most fans actually were okay with seeing Bush and Fargas instead of McFumble. The criticism of you coming in was feet went dead on contact and that continues to be the case. You run hard, and you like contact and you have the speed, but those long legs make you slip a lot and holding the ball like a loaf of bread isn't going to get you more touches. Who knows what the future brings for McFadden, maybe if he stays healthy and takes things a bit more seriously we can still get a good Lightning and Thunder attack going on. Michael Bush should finally get his chance to be the undisputed starter and McFumble, you can be our Reggie Bush.

5. The Linebackers and DTs: I will say this, the LB group was better than in 2008. Losing Ricky Brown hurt. Trevor Scott moving to linebacker is a bright spot and putting Howard on the strong side seems to be a good thing so far. I'd much prefer moving Morrison out of the MLB spot. He is just too inconsistent and his skill set would make him a monster at the SLB position. I chose to combine the Defensive Tackles on this point, because in a lot of ways their play and the linebackers play is linked. Warren and Kelly both played better this season, but the Raiders still need to find a DT in the draft that can consistently draw doubles and give the DEs one-on-one pass rushing situations or the linebackers tackling lanes.

4. Paul Hackett: Rich Gannon says he is one of the best QB coaches there is. I don't dispute the fact that he may be able to teach a QB the fundamentals and footwork but can he teach the other things. Gannon, Chad Pennington, Bruce Gradkowski, these guys already had a kind of fire in them and leadership skills. Russell was looking pretty solid at the end of 2008, only to completely regress and fall apart in 2009 under Hackett's tutelage. That speaks volumes about Hackett, because Russell does have the raw talent to succeed. If Hackett couldn't get through to Russell, he should have lobbied for the move to Gradkowski earlier. It is an epic fail for any QB coach to have a #1 draft pick perform to badly, whether Russell is a bad egg or not.

3. Tom Cable: I will be the first to tell you I think Cable should be back because we need consistency, but he had way too many games he let get way out of control. Cable couldn't manage to win back-to-back games and was blown out badly multiple times. You can't blame Russell for blowouts, because Cable should have and could have benched Russell earlier. Cable could have also gone the Lane Kiffin route and realized his only chance was to run 80% of the time. Cable also has a nice ugly pattern going: L, W, L, L, L, W, L, L, L, W, L, W, L, W, L

2. Al Davis: You always have to look at the top and Al Davis' hands are all over this team. I'll leave the Davis bashing to others, but this was probably a playoff team if it wasn't for the #1reason on this list. Tom Cable thinks it and so do many NFL observers. Was that completely Davis' fault? I am not convinced, but seven years of losing will put a target on your head and the Nation's blood is boiling.

1. JaMarcus Russell: He lost his uncle, which was basically like his father in training camp. That is tough. He had a ton of pressure and Paul Hackett was drilling him on footwork, fundamentals and check downs. Hackett completely mishandled you. Still JaMarcus, you cost us the playoffs and those excuses will not fly. Now the pressure is gone, you have been labeled a bust and no one expects a thing from you. So get your chunky self into the weight room and do some cardio. Study like a fiend and get the young receivers to do it also. Because of reason #2, you might have a very small window to salvage your career, unless you want to forever live with the label of biggest bust of all-time, whether that is fair of not.





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Oakland Raiders Swing for the Fences in 2016 NFL Draft

[embed align="center"]http://gty.im/153039819[/embed] These aren't your daddy's Oakland Raiders or even your younger self's Raiders. If anything, these are your newborn's Raiders or your puppy's Raiders. These are the Raiders we've never seen before. Indicative of the freshness of the franchise was their 2016 NFL Draft. No longer slave to a high draft pick and desperate needs, the theme of the draft for the Raiders was upside. It's as if general manager Reggie McKenzie got so used to hitting his draft picks out of the park that he started swinging for the fences. We'll have to wait a couple of years before we know if he struck out or if he'll continue his Ruthian ways. First, McKenzie boldly went with a safety at No. 14 overall. Kyle Joseph is coming off a torn ACL and fills a major need, but safety isn't a premium position. Only a handful of safeties have been drafted in the first 14 picks in the last 15 years and include names like Ea

The Raiders aren't who we thought they were....they're better

The Oakland Raiders are tired of being the team that will be good in a year or two. The team expects to win now and it is winning now. We thought the Raiders needed more talent. We thought that being in the playoff hunt was a year away for this team, but we were wrong. This isn't the team we thought they were, they're better. On Sunday, they moved to 3-3 on Sunday with a 37-29 win over the San Diego Chargers that wasn't close until the final minute. It was also the Raiders second road win of the season. The last time the Raiders had two road wins by their sixth game was 2011. Before that, a five-year streak from 1998-2002. The Raiders went 8-8 in 1998, 1999 and 2011 and narrowly missed the playoffs each year.  They made the playoffs in 2000, 2001 and 2002. They didn't have a losing record in any of those seasons because teams that can win on the road are usually pretty good. As the season matures, there is more and more evidence that some of the "best-case scenario

Oakland Raiders' Studs and Duds From Preseason Week 1

[embed]http://gty.im/484069738[/embed] The Oakland Raiders finally look like a competitive football team again. That should be the biggest takeaway from their preseason rout of the St. Louis Rams. Quarterback Derek Carr and the offense looked significantly improved from a year ago, thanks in large part to some of the studs listed below. The starting defense was still a little shaky, but there were still a few bright spots. Overall, the Raiders can feel good about their first live action of the year, especially since there appeared to be no significant injuries to come out of it. Studs Rodney Hudson Of all general manager Reggie McKenzie's offseason acquisitions, he committed the most money to center Rodney Hudson. Offensive linemen rarely get the praise they deserve, but a great offensive line as anchored in the middle can be huge for an offense. Hudson was very solid in his debut against a very good defensive front. If Hudson and the offensive line can consistently protect Carr an