No More Tears

Hello All,

What a glorious week this has been. Of course I am speaking of the 2008 United States Presidential Election. We have elected our next President and he is Barack Obama. A man who is up on sports. Oh yea, he is a Black man. Martin's dream has come to life, at last. I know I am suppose to talk Raiders here, but I have been so filled with happiness over the election, I could not pass this moment up. All the racist people who have continued to spew hate over the past two days, should stop and think about what they are saying. If they do, they will understand how Un-American they are being. I will stop now or I will not be able to get to the topic at hand.

Here I go! I want to thank all who commented on my past postings. I have a near full inbox as everyone responses via email and not on the site. I do need the comments to come via the site so I can show the size of my readership. I can not post the comments from email via this route.

I do have to answer one such reader, my dear Big Brother. He, along with my Sister, is a central reason why I am a Raider fan to this day. He responded to my last posting, in email, and it contained such good points and expresses the sentiment of the fans in the Bay Area, that I must address it before moving on. (This will make for a long post)

He writes (Please read it so you can follow my answers. His remarks are in blue.) I will try to answer each point as it is made:

It is a major stretch to say the Raiders played the Jets like the 70's Raider teams.  That simply is not true.  These Raiders have not earned the right to wear "Silver and Black" yet.  Simply put - - they were lucky last week!!

When I say they played the Jets like the 70's Raiders, I kept the pressure on. They played hard and they rattled the Jets. Yes, they were lucky, but they got the job done.

I can forgive the Coaching errors last week because we have a rooky coach.  That forgiveness is only on the table for "last week".  No Raider organization member will get a pass this week.  I fully expect Raiders to adjust to last weeks errors as they prepare for this weeks combat.  They all need to be ready to leave every ounce of their Professional Football Experience on the field today.  RAIDERS need to get down and dirty - - real dirty.  They need to do what you suggested - - "PLAY LIKE THE RAIDERS THAT CAME BEFORE THEM IN THE 60'S AND 70'S !!!!

I agreed with the coaching comment until this week. More later.

All this bellyacking needs to stop right now!  I am a totally loyal Raider fan.  I expect my team to deliver or go down bloody trying.  I just don't see that in my Raider team today.  Now lets talk about our quarterback - JAMARCUS RUSSELL:

I know our quarterback is a gifted, talented, and totally qualified, great quarterback that will (hopefully) someday be enducted into the Football Hall Of Fame.  He can start his climb to the top of the ladder by doing just 3 things MUCH BETTER THAT HE IS DOING THEM TODAY:

I do not agree about JaMarcus, This is equal to a rookie season for him and he is trying to learn in a system that is dysfunctional to say the least. I do not think any rookie QB can step into this offense on this team, start and be much better than him. His problems are not all his fault. He does have much to learn, but he is learning.

1 - JaMarcus needs to make the decision to throw or run the ball much earlier.  If he is going to throw the ball - - then release it and let th receiver run to the spot where the ball will be waiting for him to catch it in stride.  That way the receiver will be able to catch the ball and run for yardage, if not a touchdown.

He will learn.

2 - JaMarcus must deliver the ball just over the head of the receiver (NOT JUST OVER THE RECEIVER'S OUTSTRETCHED ARMS)!!  Better yet - - The ball needs to be delivered right in the chest of the receiver or just in front of him in full stride.  Marcus is waiting for the receiver to get almost to the spot where the ball is going to be delivered.  That simply will not work.  Marcus is playing like he is worried about interceptions.  That will only lead to failure.  He must let the receiver earn his money.  All Marcus needs to concentrate on is keeping the ball down at the delivery point.  The receiver is paid to do the rest.

He will learn. The receivers need to learn how to catch him, as well. They will.

3 - JaMarcus is a big strong quarterback.  He must make the decision to run the ball when needed - - then take off like a halfback or fullback.  He must take advantage of the gaping holes in the front line of the defensive line that is in front of him.  I want him to think FIRST DOWN - - FIRST DOWN - - first down - - because that is the only way the ball will be advanced effectively down field..

Much of that comes from the guidance of his QB coach.

Did you see Marcus get sacked in the end zone today - - that sack makes my point exactly - - Marcus needs to release the ball much faster.  He did not have to be sacked in that end zone.  There is no time to scramble around in the end zone - -   He should have handed the ball to a runner or throw it to a point where he knows a receiver would be.  That my Raider fan - - will lead to RAIDER SUCCESS !!!!!!!!!!!!!

You are so right, Big Bro. I love you!

Now, on to week 10. It is mid-season, things will be gin to tighten up. Last weeks game was a true let down. I can not defend what happened on the field. I can not remember when the Raiders were ever totally shutout of a game. Not even a field goal.

I can tell you this. The players appear to have bailed on the coaches and the owner. They are not playing with the heart and drive I know they have. The coaches have begun to throw the players under the bus. It is not the players that need to go, but John Herrer,  the defensive coach and the head coach. The head coach is not ready to be a head coach in the NFL. You, the loyal Raider fan, saw what went on and I know you are angry.

John Herrera is Al Davis' right hand man. He has spent the last 2 years lying to Al Davis and the media about Raider operations and inside information. It has been proven, dozens of times, he is the source when you here ESPN and other media outlets say "According to sources inside the Raiders camp..." John Herrera is that source. His reason, he and Rob Ryan want Rob Ryan to be the Head Coach. Al Daivs does not think Ryan is ready to be Raiders Head Coach and he has made that clear.

Ryan has tanked the Raiders defense by putting them in situations that he and everyone watching knows they can not succeed. The Raiders get a big lead and he calls a soft defense for the entire 4th quarter. Never challenging the players to play thru the aches, pains and fatigue. The result...lead blown game lost. It will get worse before it gets better. Mark my words.

Yesterday, Al Davis released Donte Hall. He told Donte, who believes him, that it was not because of him as a person or player, but it was because of business. He needs to get rid of the higher paid players to make room for growth. Donte says he is glad. Glad. He signed a 7 year, $70 million dollar contract. He is cut and only gets $8 million. My take...he is happy because he did not want to play for the Raiders in the first place. He signed because it was big money for him and he would get the chance to me Al Davis. He said that last night. He was getting beat on almost every play, because the Raiders were calling the wrong defense for his talent. He is short, quick and needs to play a different style of defense. Yea, he made lots of mistakes, but again, he was fighting out of position. Now, the coaches have thrown him under the bus.

Al Davis is doing this to shake up the team. More plyers will be cut. My guess...Tommy Kelly will be next to go based on the results of the Panthers game. He is the highest paid at his position and has not produced. Keep that in mind.

This week the Raiders host the Panthers. A team I know they can beat. But, watch and see one of two things will happen. Either they will lay down like they did last week or they will dominate the Panthers for 3 quarters and play soft in the 4th.

I will be watching closely to see what happens this week. I know the Raiders can still turn this season around. I am in the minority, but I hold true to that. With the other teams in the division not playing to their potential, the door is open. It is up to the players to pull together and handle their business. Focus on the game and the game only. It tough with the coaching going the way it has, but I think Big Al will get that worked out and the Raiders will be victorious once more.

Until next week,

Raider-man out.