The Case for Hope

So what is my case for hope? I really don't know, I just liked the sound of it.

To be honest, I'm not very hopeful about this season. How could I be?

NY Raider pointed out this unfortunate little observation from the newspaper: "This offense is the NFL's worst in total offense, net passing yards, passing average per game, pass completions, pass completion percentage, passing touchdowns, overall first downs (tied with the 49ers), passing first downs, red-zone possessions, red-zone touchdowns and fumbles lost."

NY Raider added: "This 2009 team has a good chance to rank statistically as the worst offense (worse than B&B) and defense the Raiders have ever fielded. How is that even possible?"

How, indeed? I just don't foresee a quick turnaround at this point. So it's all about 2010 and beyond at this point.

Some folks get mad when I make negative observations about the Raiders. Well, give me positive information, and you'll get positive observations. Garbage in, garbage out, right?

At the same time, I'm getting tired of being the garbage man. I wish the Raiders would stop filling up the trash cans at a record rate. The repetitive nature of so many consecutive seasons is mind numbing.

I want to be hopeful. I want to be jacked up about my team, and to recapture that feeling of the Raiders being a force, not a farce.

I do not agree with those who want to run Al Davis out of the building. What I want is Al Davis to get the help he needs and deserves. Why he has been unwilling to do that, in the wake of so much failure, is beyond me. What will it take?

To say that Al Davis needs help is not disrespectful. All great leaders need help. The president has a vice president. Generals have lieutenant generals. CEOs have VPs. Where's the shame in that?

The hallmark of greatness isn't doing it yourself. The hallmark of greatness is getting it done. It's not about intentions, philosophies or anything else. It's about results. Just win, baby.

But we are not getting results under the current operative mindset (far, far from it). The operative mindset of the organization needs to be radically rebuilt before the team can be rebuilt. That much is obvious.

I've always said that we'll know when true change is afoot when you can see and taste the change. It won't be a tweak or an adjustment, a nudge or a nuance. It will be a fundamental shift that will be evident to all of us.

Dare I hope for something like this? It's the only case I can make at this point.

One Postgame Take

Once upon a time, we were dazzled by the Mad Bomber, Daryle Lamonica.

Today, we are confounded by The F-Bomber, JaMarcus Russell, who produces little more than profanity from the mouths of the Raider Nation.

I'm not sure what to say tonight. This was the Raiders' worst home loss ever in terms of points margin. It was the most sparsely attended Oakland Raiders home game since 1968, for good reason, apparently.

Sure, the offense stinks. But the defense didn't exactly step up, either. Allowing more than 300 rushing yards isn't acceptable under any circumstances, especially at home.

We now have just one wide receiver with more than five catches total after seven games. It's mind boggling. Murphy, our only receiver to exceed more than five catches total after seven games (16 total), is on pace to lead our receivers with a total of 37 catches.

Benching Russell was the right thing to do. The wrong thing to do was to create a QB depth chart with absolutely no depth, leaving our hopes in the hands of Bruce Gradkowski.

We are now 31st in the NFL in total offensive points (62, just two points ahead of the Rams), and we are currently trailing our offensive points-per-game average of 2006.

What else can I say? How can we find ourselves in such a dismal state, still, after so many seasons?

For once, I am at a loss for words. Take it away, amigos...

Who Let The Dogs Out? (Jets Pregame)

Who let the dogs out? Prior to playing the Eagles last week, the Raiders blitzed less per defensive snap than any other team in the NFL.

Then, suddenly, they decided to bring it, blitzing like crazy, sacking Donovan McNabb six times and notching an improbable victory.

Afterward, Nnamdi Asomugha said that defensive coordinator John Marshall admitted he might get "yelled at" for employing such a defense, which tells you something, does it not?

With the the Jets and their rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez struggling lately, it seems to me that the Raiders should continue to mix things up and bring pressure when warranted.

Don't put the dogs back in the pen!

One Postgame Take

Bravo! The Raiders delivered a stout defensive performance and won one for the home crowd. It was a true effort, one that turned the ugly tide of the previous three weeks.

Leading up to the game, Tom Cable and staff taped articles around the locker room quoting Antonio Pierce about the previous week's "scrimmage" against the Giants. The Raider Nation did essentially the same thing, rising up en masse to smite the malingerers.

Shame was the last resort of motivation for both Cable and the Raider Nation, and apparently it worked.

Now maybe we can get back to the business of exerting 100 percent effort to the final whistle, and to salvaging the remainder of the season.

This win reminds me of the startling defensive shutdown of the Steelers at home in 2006.

Let's hope the comparison to 2006 ends there, that lessons have been learned, and that momentum is, finally, on our side.

Eagles Pregame Take

Or is it a pre-scrimmage take? We shall soon see.

It's been interesting to listen to the Raider Nation over the past three weeks. I am now far, far from alone in believing that the threshold of unacceptability has been breached. Even the most loyal fans in the world have their limits, it appears.

Thus, we have our second consecutive blacked-out home game, as well as countless vows of abstinence with regards to merchandise and ticket purchasing until things change for real. That's what happens when you shamelessly produce a scrimmage-level effort while on the verge of extending the NFL record for consecutive seasons of futility.

Maximum effort from each player, for a mere 30 minutes of actual game play on each side of the ball, 16 times per year, for millions of dollars, is not too much to ask.

If things are going poorly, I want to see JaMarcus Russell huddling with his teammates and coaches on the sideline, trying to figure things out, and pumping each other up to go at and reclaim the momentum. If someone pulls another stupid foul or stunt, I want Cable in his grill. If the Eagles are picking us apart, I want to see some smart, swift adjustments.

In other words, I want to see some real fire and energy; not, in the words of Antonio Pierce, a "scrimmage," a bunch of inert jerseys, falling to the ground.

Speaking of smart, swift adjustments, I want to see them on the organizational level as well. I want to see true change that you can see and taste, as I've said before.

When I said these things last year, many people would respond, "Well, who the hell are you?" and "Your opinion has no leverage whatsoever."

Who the hell am I? Apparently, I am the Raider Nation, judging by what I'm hearing.

As for the Raider Nation's supposed lack of leverage, well, things are getting pretty interesting on that front, eh? The fans' subsidizing of serial mismanagement and reckless disorganization is no longer a given.

Which brings us to tomorrow's blacked-out game. Just win, baby? Let's start with maximum effort, baby, and see where that takes us.

One Postgame Take

Earlier this week, someone who thought I was being too negative about the Raiders said, "What will you say if the Raiders beat the Giants?"

Well, that settles that.

The opposing coach removed his starting quarterback out of mercy, and CBS pulled the broadcast plug in favor of a Lions game. That's all you need to know about today's drubbing by the Giants.

The Clown Car is picking up speed, and now it's being chased by a Napa police car. The forecast for the remainder of the season is, to use a charitable word, grim. We have been outscored 96 to 16 over our past three games.

I hate what has happened, and is happening, to the Raiders. A little part of me is dying inside. I have been screaming for substantive and significant change, change that you can see and taste, but there's nothing I can actually do about it. The organization has to want change.

Until then, we are all left wanting.

P.S. I would be interested in everyone's thoughts on where do we go from here? Memdf said, "Now what?" That's a great question.

I think we know what the core problems are (at least most of us do, the rest are running away, plugging their ears). But how to go about solving them sooner rather than later?

Mid-season coaching change...again?

Bench Russell...and then what?

Hire a GM...when?

Clean house...how?

It's easy to say do this, or do that, but how do we do those things in the most efficient and effective manner possible, so that we don't end up on a 12-year plan to reaching the .500 mark?

Giants Game Thread

You play to win the game, not for "moral victories."

Beat the Giants, and please don't make me break out the Clown Car (again)!

One Postgame Take

Ladies and gentleman, what we have here, just four games into the season, after setting an NFL record for consecutive years of 11 or more losses, is yet another dumpster fire.

When will it end? Today’s first graders were tumbling out of the womb the last time we consistently played competent football. Two presidential elections have been held in the time it took Rich Gannon to go from team leader to banned in Alameda.

When I pointed out earlier this year that our head coaching “search” was a farce, that our resistance to hiring a general manager was reckless, that our draft was bungled and that our preseason was an exercise in bad mojo, I was pilloried here for being “negative.” In fact, people are still wagging their finger at me for being “negative.”

What some folks call “negative,” I call simple observation. It's up to the Raiders, not me, to change the tone of the conversation. Don't like negative? Do something positive.

Today, we had a chance to prove that last week’s game was an aberration, not a sign. We had a chance to right the ship. Instead, we steered it straight into the iceberg. We couldn’t catch, we couldn’t tackle, and we couldn’t coach.

In the three drafts since the offensive debacle of 2006, we have chosen three offensive skill players in the first round. And yet, a quarter of the way through this season, against less-than-stellar competition, our offense is rivaling the incompetence of the 2006 model.

We have scored three offensive touchdowns in four games, which means we’re on pace for 12 total. Would you like your breakfast in bed? We're serving the 2006 Special this morning.

Don’t look now, because here come the Giants, Eagles and Jets. This could get a lot uglier in a hurry.

But maybe I’m just being negative?

Texans Game Thread

Six words: Run the ball, stop the run!

UPDATE

Six words: Can't catch, can't tackle, can't coach.

Broncos Postgame Take

Well, that was just unacceptable, plain and simple. What do you want me to say? I could point out the obvious, but why bother? Russell, two picks and 61 yards total? Zero catches for Heyward-Bey? More than 200 rushing yards given up to the crappy Broncos on our home turf?

Well, at least we vanquished our real enemy today: Rich Gannon.

In my pregame take, I wrote: "It's only week three, but I believe that this game will tell us a lot about where this team is headed."

Unfortunately, I think I might be right, but not in the way I wanted to be.

PREGAME TAKE...
This Rich Gannon business is regrettable. Today’s game is blacked out, the Broncos are in town, we are trying to establish a new regime and leave the years of epic failure behind...and our executives are worried about what a television commentator is saying? Don’t we have bigger fish to fry? It’s weird, and it’s belligerent.

We nearly failed to sell out the opener against a division rival, and now we have a blackout, against another division rival, no less? Wow. Sure, the economy is bad. But it’s bad everywhere, and only the Lions and Raiders games are being blacked out today. The Lions have lost 20 straight games, so that explains that. But the Raiders? It must be the marketing chicken coming home to roost.

For example, the Raiders made little effort to get me to renew my season ticket package this year. Their communication was essentially limited to threats about my seats being in "high demand," and that I would lose them. It was no carrot and all stick.

Suddenly, they’re tossing carrots all over the place, with discounts and coupons for everyone, and the Coliseum still isn't sold out. I’ve been saying for a long time that the Raiders will eventually pay for their poor marketing, and the bill has now come due. It's really sad if you can't figure out a way to get the NFL's most passionate and loyal fan base to sell out your stadium in week three against a division rival after a win on the road.

Well, onward and upward, the stadium might not be full, but I am confident that it will be loud, because I expect the Raiders to put the hurt on Donkeys. Won't that be fun?

This is nitpicking, but on our last scoring drive in Kansas City, with timeouts in our pocket, in the red zone, with over a minute left, we snapped the ball with 19 seconds left on the play clock. We scored quickly thereafter, giving the Chiefs plenty of time to mount a final scoring drive. That type of clock mismanagement will bite us in the ass if we’re not careful.

It's only week three, but I believe that this game will tell us a lot about where this team is headed. I am encouraged by what I've seen during the past two weeks. There's a fresh sense of toughness on defense, and if our offense can find a way to start clicking, I think we could make a run for the division title.

RAIII-DERRRS! RAIII-DERRRS! RAIII-DERRRS!

Chiefs Game Thread

Despite some immature play in our passing game last week, I believe that coaching, more than anything else, let us down and cost us a victory.

The Chargers play the Ravens this week, and we missed a marvelous opportunity to possibly put them in an 0-2 hole while positioning ourselves for early command of the division.

On Monday, our coaches abandoned two things that were clearly working for us: an aggressive defensive scheme and a rowdy rushing attack.

Our running backs rushed the ball 21 times in the first half for an average of 4.9 yards per carry. Yet in the second half, we gave our running backs just eight carries while JaMarcus Russell was tossing fluttering pigeons all over the field.

I don't need to mention what happened to our defense. All I'll say is that we inexplicably went soft on the final drive with predictable results.

Today, we just need to turn up the heat, and keep it up. Run the ball. If it doesn't yield big results early on, keep at it. If we give Bush and McFadden time and opportunity, they are bound to reward us.

As for the defense, they don't need to do anything different except not get cute at the end of a close game.

Oh, yeah, one other thing. The joint is going to be loud. Watch the false starts and stupid penalties. They always seem to happen at Arrowhead. But not today, right?

Last Monday was a beacon of hope. Now it's time to light the bonfire.

RAIII-DERRRS! RAIII-DERRRS! RAIII-DERRRS!

One Postgame Take

When I was growing up as a Raiders fan, being pleased after a loss was unthinkable. However...Everything in context. Which is why, tonight, I have smile on my face.

The toughness and energy displayed tonight felt like fresh blood in the veins. I'd almost forgotten the feeling. Wow! Seymour, Bush, McFadden, Murphy, the offensive line...If Russell could have hit the broad side of a barn on half of his throws, and if the officials had not continued to perpetuate the biggest conspiracy this side of Roswell, the game would have been ours.

Sure, our defense broke down in the waning minutes (surprise!). But this was still a game to hang a hat on. This was a game that made the ESPN announcers nervous, their voices quivering as they tried to comprehend and cope with the reality of the Raiders smashing the mouths of their darling Chargers. This was a game played with vigor and intensity, focus and purpose. This was competitive football. In Oakland. In prime time. Long time coming.

This was ultimately game upon which hope can be built, and upon which momentum can be established. Don't hang your heads, Raiders. Job well done. Just make sure you close the deal next time.

Time to Restore Order

The San Diego Chargers are the most overrated team in the NFL. They went 8-8 last year in a weak division, yet everyone talks about them with hushed reverence. Show me another 8-8 team that gets to strut around as if they laid the golden egg, and as if they've already won their division before a single ball has been snapped.

As much as I've scratched my head about the Raiders lately, I am hopeful that they can pop the air out of San Diego's over-inflated balloon on Monday night, sending both teams on opposite trajectories.

We have the opportunity to break two mind-boggling streaks in one fell swoop: 11 straight losses to the Chargers and 10 straight losses on prime time television. If our time is not now, then when is it?

The key to the game is so obvious it's almost insulting to mention it: stop the run. On that front, Richard Seymour gives hope where there was precious little just seven days ago.

The Broncos just beat the Bengals on a fluke play at the end of the game. The Chiefs nearly beat the Ravens. Crazy stuff is already happening in our division.

It's time to crazy it up even more. It's time to shut L.T. down, and to shut 'Lil Phil's trap. It's time to paint another pained grimace on Norv Turner's face. It's time for the return of true Raiders football, and for order to be rearranged and restored in the AFC West.

Time to Grill The SeaChickens

Okay, no real take here, except that I hope we leave the clown car in the garage and play some real football.

Also, with this thread, I hope to clear out some of the noxious air that blew into the comments section of the previous take.

We can always agree to disagree. Vociferous debate is the lifeblood of this site. So have a take, and defend your take, but please keep it classy and avoid the personal stuff. I'm not going to let this site become another run-of-the-mill forum full of unproductive finger pointing.

We are all Raiders fans. At the end of the day, we are a team, and we stick together. It's the other teams that we need to start beating.

Raiders Fan Reparation Plan

Well, the Raiders say they are “embarrassed” by Saturday’s “effort” while many fans are declaring this a “wake-up call.”

You'd think that the wake-up call might have been the Falcons game last year. Or the pathetic showing in 2007. Or the 2-14 record the year before that. Or recently setting the NFL record for most consecutive seasons of 11 or more losses. Or maybe the 275 rushing yards given up to the 49ers last week.

We've become the Rip Van Winkle of the NFL. Nothing wakes us up.

Now we have Greg Ellis calling out his comrades for partying instead of game planning. And no one is even pretending that Ellis is mistaken in his perception.

Credit JaMarcus Russell for admitting that Saturday’s performance was “disrespectful to our fans, ourselves and our family."

Then Cable said: "I am excited about the fact the we really show a lot of remorse."

Who said Raiders fans have nothing to be excited about?

And people wonder why I wasn't confident enough in this group to renew my season tickets this year? I can’t tell you how happy I am to not have subsidized the turd that was laid on Saturday.

Season ticket holders are required to buy tickets to the preseason games. They are thus owed, at the very least, a professional effort in the preseason as well as the regular season.

Therefore, I feel that all season ticket holders should be offered a full refund for Saturday’s “disrespectful” display of unprofessionalism.

Put your money where your remorse is, Raiders, and give back the money you essentially stole from your fans on Saturday.

They were sold tickets to a professional football game, and what they got was an abomination staged by a bunch of unprepared, hungover clowns. Reparations should be made accordingly, and immediately.

P.S. Follow Raider Take on Twitter.

Beatdown by New Orleans

After today's beatdown, Tom Cable said, "I'm embarrassed."

You know it's bad when you're embarrassed by a preseason effort, or lack thereof.

I'm sure I'll hear the all-too-familiar refrain: Don't worry, be happy. It's not that bad. It's not part of a trend, or indicative of a pattern. It's just preseason. Just because our defense has been awful for years, and just because it's been awful this preseason, doesn't mean anything.

We live in a world of dots, not to be connected. Or so I'm often told.

Well, sorry. I'm with our coach on this one. I'm embarrassed.

The question for the Raiders is: How many times can you be embarrassed before you no longer can legitimately claim to be embarrassed? It's becoming an empty word. It's practically becoming a slogan: Oakland Raiders, We're embarrassed.

So go ahead, try and convince me that there's nothing to worry about. Tell me why I shouldn't fear that our head coach might be in over his head, that our defense isn't just more of the same old cirque du soleil (clowns flying around, hitting nothing), and that our offense isn't suffering from arrested development.

It'll all be fine come September.

Right?

The Cable Incident

I was initially amused by the reports of the Raiders players rallying around Tom Cable, chanting rather creatively "Cable Bumaye!" in support of their coach after it was reported that Cable had been in an altercation with an assistant.

I liked the fact that the players were circling the wagons and exuding a sense of spontaneous team unity. I created a shirt commemorating their chant.

However, my friend Calico Jack has opened my eyes to a different perspective on the matter, as detailed in the following comments. I don't want to contribute to anything that is perceived as condoning off-field violence or mocking a victim of it. That was not my intention. Therefore, I have removed the shirt.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Hopefully, it was just a brief skirmish in the heat of the moment, one that can serve as a positive rallying point for the team. The concern is that it was a detrimental lapse in professional judgement, and that there is a mean-spirited undercurrent running through the situation.

I'll wait for more details to emerge before having a true take on the situation.

Give Al Davis His Due

A lot of folks get upset with me for criticizing Al Davis as the man most responsible for the state of the Raiders over the past several years. These folks prefer to point fingers elsewhere.

Well, the problem with failing to apply most of the blame to Mr. Davis is that it also robs him of what he most deserves: the credit.

After all, if the Raiders get on a hot streak and make the playoffs this year—which I think is possible, especially given the state of the AFC West, where eight victories won the division last year—who should get the most credit? Our general manager? Oops, we don’t have one. Tom Cable? Sure, he’ll get some of the credit, but not nearly as much as the man who had the vision to tap him for the head coaching job.

See how this works?

People forget that I’ve been an ardent defender of Mr. Davis against those who would say that our success earlier this decade was all the work of Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen. It was all Gruden’s work? Are you kidding me? First off, Mr. Davis is the one who had the vision to tap Gruden. Also, don’t tell me Mr. Davis didn’t have a firm hand in our free agent signings and draft picks during that era. He always has, and he always will.

I’ve always said that you can’t blame Mr. Davis for the bad times without giving him the credit for the good times. But if I’m being intellectually honest, then the inverse is also true.

More than any other owner, Mr. Davis’s hand is on our results, both good and bad. The problem is that the results have been mostly bad lately, and the blame must be assessed accordingly. I suspect he would agree with me.

I had to laugh when I criticized Mr. Davis for our dreadful free agent activity in 2008 (during which we threw bags of gold at DeAngelo Hall and Javon Walker, among others), and folks actually wanted to blame Lane Kiffin for those signings. Say what? You mean you let that punk—whom you already distrusted, whom you knew didn’t have the organization’s best interests at heart—write blank checks in free agency? Geez, that would be even worse and more blameworthy than writing the checks yourself.

The same goes for the hot topic of just how much influence Mr. Davis wields over our defensive schemes. It’s the subject of much debate and speculation here at Raider Take, with some suggesting that he's not culpable in what transpired on our defense in recent years. Yet Jay Richardson the other day called it the “Al Davis defense,” apparently without a hint of sarcasm.

Well, what’s so wrong with that? I’d rather it be Mr. Davis’s defense that failed over the past several years than the alternative—which would be that he was just idly letting Rob Ryan run with scissors year after year. Better to try and fail than to be blind and absent.

The upside of all of this is that when our fortunes take a turn for the better, Mr. Davis will be the biggest beneficiary of the accolades to follow. Now wouldn’t that be cool? At his age, to show that he’s still got it, and to poke a sharp stick in the eye of his jealous haters? I can’t wait, and I’ll bet he can’t, either. I hope it happens as early as this December.

The bottom line: Let’s be intellectually honest now, so that when the time comes, we can legitimately give Mr. Davis what he will amply deserve: the credit.