Why Won't The Raiders Be Any Good?

I don't see any reason why they wouldn't improve from last season. They have already gotten rid of the cancer of that team in Russell, they have a solid defense that should get better with the additions of MLB McClain and DT John Henderson, along with having a solid draft and adding a decent QB in Campbell. Plus, look at the division they play in, and I think they play the NFC West this year, so really their is no reason to think that they won't improve, and anyone who says otherwise, probably just doesn't like the Raiders.

Being a football fan for many years I have my own twist on the issue and it has nothing to do with the players or the coaches. The problem in Raider town is Al Davis. He wants to run his team the exact same way that he did when they were winning super bowls and he does not want to make any changes to the bad boy concept. He has chased away at least one great coach that I know of Mike Shanahan. He thinks that the bad *%% player works still but it just gets you penalties. When Al Davis dies and another person holds the control of the team that is when you might see the Raiders take off. Al Davis wants to control the coach and his old school thinking will make it hard to function in the year 2010. Ask yourself when was the last superbowl won by the Raiders. He is stuck in a time warp and the team suffers because of it. Sorry

why all the blame on Al Davis? I dont think its all his fault, but when the team has been horrible the last 7yrs who else can they blame, especially now that Russell is gone.

I do think Oakland will be a much better team, maybe not a playoff team but i see them ending 2nd place in the Division. They upgraded their whole Run Defense. New QB who is all about staying late coming early. WRs are good just look at how they played when Russell was in the bench and they were getting good passes(look at Steelers game)

If this team will succeed in 2010 only two things will need to change from last yr..

#1 - The Oline needs to be much better.

#2 - The HB need to get it rolling with the running game.(McFadden)

with new Offensive Coordinator, this is possible. We will see a much better Raiders team.

9-7

I'm predicting 9-7 for a few reasons.

1.Getting rid of Fargas will give Bush more carries,which is a great thing because he's a fantastic player.Proof?Week 17,2008 season,facing Bucs who were fighting for the play-offs,he ran for 165 yards and 3 tds.Last year,Fargas gets hurt in the Broncos game,he gets in,first carry is a 25 yard TD.That's obviously not all the proof,but the man is a monster.

2.When Russell was starting the Raiders were 31st in pass offense.After week 9(when he was benched) they were 16th.THEY HAVE RECEIVERS.

3.Rolando McClain,LaMarr Houston,and John Henderson will beef up the run defense dramatically.Their pass D was already 7th so no problem there.

Cut and dry it's AL Davis. He's been criticized for thinking what worked with the Raider's when they won Super Bowls still work's now it doesn't He's a egomaniac. He has a bad habbit of not sticking with a coach, trying to micromanage the entire team, and there is so much dysfunction. You know there are major problems when another losing team the Bills makes fun of you, and still manages to finish one game better than you.

watch out nfl

this year the raiders have improved immensely. They WILL make the playoffs.

there linebackers were the weakness on defense and that got fixed.

Jamarcus got released!!!!! They were 3-1 with gradkowski playing the whole game. Campbell is three times better.

Prediction 9-7 mark my words

the raiders are on the verge of singing login makins which would make the o-line solid also albert hansworth is also prospect.

It all starts at the top. Al Davis is notorious for shaking things up mid-season without a reason. If Oakland starts the season off slow, Al will start publicly looking over Cable's shoulder.

Then there is Cable himself. Last season, he tried to call the plays. This season, he brought in Hue Jackson to call the plays. Jackson has no history of successful play calling. Sure, he does have history of being the offensive coordinator, but he's no offensive genius. Cable is an offensive line coach. I would expect that to mean that he would want a system based on the run. Jackson is known for calling pass heavy systems.

Then we finally get to the players themselves. On offense, there are no weapons. Campbell is a good quarterback, but not one capable of winning games by himself. Heyward-Bey looks like a downward bust. McFadden can't run between the tackles. Fargas has been a backup most of his career for a reason. The defense has some potential with Asomugha and drafting Rolando McClain, but if you can't score, then you can't win.

A team can`t just simply turn around that quickly, that has been going down hill for years and years. Like everyone else mentioned, two words: Al Davis.

It`s a step in the right direction they got rid of Jamarcus Russell, but in the end, it will take some time, for them to rebound, and get used to a new QB.

Don`t rule them out though, like you said, winning at least seven games could be a possiblity for them. It`s sad, that winning seven games is an improvement for the Raiders, but it is what it is.

Seven games?

I can see them maybe getting 7 games in the division they are in.

They have Kansas City twice, should be able to beat Denver once, play the Rams, and could possibly beat Jacksonville.

That's 5 winnnable games there. So with a couple upsets they could conceivably win 7 games.

I am a firm believer that no team is as bad, or as good as they look in the off season.

I won't go as far as to say they would win the division, that is a stretch for me with San Diego in the same division.

Everyone starts 0-0 and has the same chance, so anything can happen.

I think the Raiders can only get better without Russell. Campbell is a solid QB and they have a few good young HB's (Bush, McFadden) who can provide a balance on offence. The D needs to step up and the Raiders can maybe get to .500 this year!!