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While the year is coming to a close, the Raiders’ season is very much still alive. With playoff hopes looming, there are few things the Raiders need to do both this current season and in the season to come. This means starting the new year off with a bang against the Division rival San Diego Chargers. The Chargers have become a formidable opponent in recent weeks, especially amidst the Raiders' inconsistent play. So, these are some of the resolutions the Raiders need to make in the upcoming year: No More Penalties While they've been better about minimizing penalties recently, certainly better than they were at the beginning of the season, the Raiders still need some work on avoiding penalties altogether. Many people complain that their team is unfairly penalized, but the fact of the matter is that the Raiders are like a team of Ndamukong Suh's, meaning that the refs already have their eye on the guys. Just this season, the team has given up over 1,200 yards in penalties, wh...

Quarterback Carson Palmer is lighting up the field now, and helping to win football games. With the recent slew of quarterback injuries league-wide, you should seriously consider picking up Palmer. He's back in the saddle and playing well, even in the Fantasy world. Last week he threw for 300+ yards, but had one interception. Depending on if you have a league that's focused more on yards than points then play him, however, if you rely heavily on a QB's ability to score, he may not be as beneficial. Last week he threw for no touchdowns, but his stats were great. Again, play him if you're looking for yardage, but do so while accounting for one or two interceptions. Running Backs Michael Bush is a must play this week. Darren McFadden in still out with no word on when he'll return. Rookie Taiwan Jones also did not practice on Wednesday, which doesn't bode well for his chances on Sunday. These factors taken into account, Bush is going to get a ton of carries. While h...

Quarterback Carson Palmer is a name that is generating a lot of buzz this week, partly because of his solid stat line in Week 10 (299 yards, 2 TD passes, 1 INT). It also has to do with the fact that a lot of quarterbacks are injured in fantasy land (Matt Schaub, Matt Cassel, Michael Vick). Facing off against a depleted Vikings secondary this week, Palmer is a recommended start this week. The Vikings placed cornerback Antoine Winfield in injured reserve and will be counting on Benny Sapp. Unfortunately for Sapp, he will most likely going up against one of the hottest receivers in the NFL in Denarius Moore. With a plethora of options in the passing game, fantasy owners should be able to count on Palmer against a weak Vikings' secondary this week. Running Backs Michael Bush has been a force in the running game, scoring double-digit fantasy games in three straight games. While Darren McFadden has been seen out of his protective walking boot, he has been ruled out for week 11. Fantasy o...

Quarterback There’s absolutely no way you should play Carson Palmer this week. He’s averaging 3 INTs a week and his yardage certainly isn’t making up for that. He threw for 3 touchdowns last week, but the INTs nearly balance out the point gain. The only reason he should start on your Fantasy roster is if it’s 10 minutes before kickoff, you have no backup and your usual starter is on a bye. Otherwise, no Palmer for you! Running Backs From all appearances, DMC will be out again this week. If you didn’t pick up Bush or Jones, then you didn’t miss too much. Bush had an impressive showing in comparison to previous weeks. He had 96 yards and his first touchdown of the season. That being said, the Chargers are fairly tough against the run, but Bush is going to have the majority of work in this game. Jones, however will get a few touches, but it most likely won’t translate into fantasy points. Consider Bush a strong RB2 this week after back-to-back strong showings. Wide Receivers What in Al Da...

It's been a NFL season full of abnormalities due to the lockout and the Raiders have been no exception. Many thought the Raiders would finally find their grove. The team finally had a guy they could call their franchise quarterback in Jason Campbell and they were full of young talent at just about every position. Hue Jackson, a fiery new coach, seemed to have the right formula for success. It started well enough, until week 5 when the wheels started to come off. The Raiders lost their fearless leader Al Davis. While the Raiders were able to rally to beat the Texans that week, it was easy to tell that things were not the same in Oakland. Although often scrutinized for his managerial decisions, Al Davis ran things his way and answered to no one. Meaning when it came time to make decisions, they were made, and people moved on. Uncertainty was the word of the week when it came to how the Raiders would move forward. It didn't take long to find out who was now making the calls. Hue J...

Quarterback This position, in regards to Fantasy, is less of a crap shoot than it was two weeks ago, but there's still no way to confidently say play Palmer over other QBs in the NFL. Palmer's play against the Chiefs was not an indication of his future play because he was unprepared and didn't have his go-to: Darren McFadden. He was just trying to clean up Boller's mess. This week he still won't have McFadden, but he will have T.J. “Who's-Yo-Mama” Houshmandzadeh with whom he practiced during his “retirement.” Housh will give Palmer a reliable target that he's comfortable with and can go to on third downs, or any other down for that matter. It would irresponsible to give a definitive “go!” for starting Palmer on your team this week. On the bright side, Tebow will make him look like a pro-bowler again. Running Back All of you who have been reaping the benefits of McFadden's success have probably been drinking yourself to sleep after seeing him leave practi...

For the first time in a long time, the focus of the NFL has been on the Oakland Raiders quarterback.  We just don't know who that quarterback is going to be... Hue Jackson is dancing with the media; winking, hinting, manipulating, and enjoying every second of it.  Reports came out early in the week that newly acquired Carson Palmer would start after just three practices.  Yesterday ESPN and several other news sources stated that it was "unlikely" Palmer was going to start on Sunday. We may see Kyle Boller, Palmer, and even Terrelle Pryor at some point against KC.  Hue Jackson is an absolute wild man with his play-calling...he will throw everything at you.  We're not even halfway through the season and we've seen a fake punt, fake field goal, flea flicker, and numerous reverses.  How can we have the slightest idea of what to expect? One thing you can bank on, Darren McFadden will be a very busy man.  Everybody knows it including Kansas City Defensive Coordinator Ro...

Kickers are usually the guy you tease; the “weakling” on the team. When they make tackles, guys nudge each other and say “That was the kicker! Bet he's happy.” Sure, everyone knows that the kicker is absolutely essential. At times the entire game rests on his shoulders. Even still, special teams is the “special” team on the field. This is absolutely not the case with the Raiders, and the entire NFL knows it. Perusing the Raiders' longest plays in history, current Raiders like Shane Lechler, Sebastian Janikowski and Jacoby Ford hold many of the records. Janikowski in fact holds just about every field goal record ranging from 55 to 63 yards. Lechler has the longest punt at 77 yards. Jacoby Ford holds 4/6 of the longest kickoff returns, after last week. All this to say, while many teams' special teams are decent, none in the NFL compares overall to the Raiders. Some may have a key player or two, like Devin Hester, but the Raiders have special teams weapons at every turn. Last ...

Alright fantasy football die-hards, if you are looking for information regarding the Raiders players, you’ve come to the right place. Each week we will break down the fantasy impacts of the Silver and Black in case you own any or most of them. There were no major injuries to speak of when it comes to the skill positions and the only area where the injury bug has hit seems to be in the Wide Receiver position as was the case last week. Notable returns this week include the enigmatic Darrius Heyward-Bey and Tight End Kevin Boss, which will be discussed in our picks.   Running Backs This week you need to start both Darren McFadden and Michael Bush. McFadden isn't at the top of his game, but he has been practicing and will play. As long as he's on that field, you better believe that he will be carrying the ball (and hopefully holding onto it). Expect him to put up similar numbers to last week, around 60-70 total yards. Since McFadden is a bit banged up, Bush will get more carries th...

Last year the Raiders had many bad streaks going against them. 0-13 against the Chargers, losing seasons since 2003, and seven straight seasons with 11 or more losses. The Raiders turned all three of these around last year by sweeping the AFC West and going 8-8. The streak the has still lingered is winning outside the division and on the road. This Sunday the Raiders have a chance to make a statement that they are for real. ESPN experts still have counted out the Raiders and look at them as a second class team. See:  Panel Shuts out Raiders Again The issues for this game is who is healthy and which player will be the next man up. The Raiders haven't started 2-0 since the 2002. That year they went to the Superbowl. Too early for that talk. The current report out of Oakland is that Jacoby Ford is out unless there is some kind of miracle that happens overnight. Richard Seymour looks like a go for Sunday and the Raiders really need him to play. His presence in this defense is vital to ...

Who played well on Monday? Maybe a few are obvious, maybe a few weren't obvious. It's always a little more difficult to determine a dud, expecially if the player didn't make any glaring or obvious mistakes.   Studs Darren McFadden - 150 yards. That should be enough to tell you everything you need to know about McFadden's night. The Raiders rode on McFadden's back to victory. Matt Giordano - The interception was just icing on a very good game from Giordano. He was solid in coverage and a willing tackler and his excellent play enabled the Raiders to use Michael Huff as the nickel corner. Who Stevie Brown? Giordano didn't even make the initial 53-man roster. Quentin Groves - He forced a fumble and held his own in coverage making minimal mistakes. He did his job in the run game. For all the abuse Groves has taken for being the weakest linebacker he played like the best one on Monday night. Kamerion Wimbley - He had his way with the rookie right tackle for the Br...

During the night telecast of the Monday night opening double-header between two bitter AFC West rivals, something ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer said caught not only my attention, but I'm sure a lot of other residents of Raider Nation as well. Dilfer assumed that of the Raiders' penalty-filled night, scuffles and aggressive nature meant that the team lacked discipline. Granted the 15 penalties for 131 yards were deserved, I argued that it was exactly what this team needed. Many forget that there was actually no NFL preseason this year. For Dilfer to assume that a clean-fought game was to be expected in week one was ludicrous. While there was no overwhelming evidence of penalties in the other week one games, the talk of the NFL after one week centered around ballooned passing yards. Tom Brady passed for over 500 yards and Chad Henne, the other quarterback in the game passed for over 400 yards (Chad Henne everybody! Who saw that coming?). This further explains that not only are the pl...

Last season, the Raiders went into Denver and got a win on the back of JaMarcus Russell. Charlie Frye started the game and Russell came in when Frye was injured to lead the Raiders to victory. Michael Bush had 144 total yards and a touchdown. Darren McFadden had 74 yards rushing. Chaz Schilens made the game-winning catch. Brandon Marshall had seven receptions and a touchdown and Kyle Orton went 19/34 for 278 yards. The Broncos couldn’t run the ball that day and haven’t been able to run the ball much this season. The worst rushing offense in the league happens to be doing very well passing. The addition of receiver Brandon Lloyd and subtraction of Brandon Marshall has the Broncos ranked third, behind San Diego and Indianapolis in the NFL. Offense The Raiders may not be able to run the ball on Denver like they did last season. The Broncos added nose tackle Jamal Williams to help with their woes stopping the run and have held five of six opposing rushers under 100 yards. Maurice Jo...

Studs Richard Seymour (+8/-1) His hamstring didn't seem to bother his play. He was applying pressure consistently and was a force stopping the run. The Raiders are paying Seymour elite money this season and can't be disappointed with his play. Seymour and Henderson have both missed a game this season and have really stepped up in each others absence against the run. Seymour missed practice Wednesday, but if he can stay healthy he will have a chance to make this list weekly. Marcel Reece (+8/-0) It isn't often a fullback will make a list of studs, but Reece had an amazing game last Sunday in Phoenix. He did an excellent job picking up blitzes and finding players to block in the run game. He became a receiver on multiple occasions and looked more like a running back catching the ball and running with it. He has come a long way and deserves some recognition for his efforts. Rolando McClain (+7/-1) McPain has game. He still learning things in coverage, but is beginning to tr...