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Friday, May 22, 2009

SEEING THE SILVER LINING....



In the 50 years the Raiders have existed, they've made the playoffs almost half of the time (21 appearances) while winning the west 15 times. I know all of Raider Nation is looking up to the prospect of returning to that place. The post-season is an idea that is not so far fetched.....yeah, really. Think about it, Denver is re-tooling virtually everything in thier franchise and the success in '09 depends on Kyle Orton, the Chiefs traded away thier best offensive weapon in Gonzo (in my opinion, Bowe is almost there, and LJ's happiness is a ?), and San Diego is probably the favorite at this point - as much as I detest the Chargers there really isn't much I can say other than LT is on his last leg, thank God.




As much as the sports critics love to bash our boys, they can't and haven't denied that this youthful and talented offense is on the verge of being one of the most explosive, even Adam Schein (FOX) thinks the run game will be "spectacular in 2009, special, physical, dynamic, and diverse." Great adjectives, really appreciate that Adam. I agree 1000%, especially after the signing of Lorenzo Neal, this guy came right in and started to assume a leadership role on offense, his interview on NFL.com at practice really impressed me. We need more players like him - tough, strong, skilled, and a real passion and knowledge for team concept.


The emergence of Mario Henderson is a real plus too, watching him handle himself very well in those last handful of games was almost a relief. Gallery was playing well and appears to be picking up where he left off last year also. Yes, I know Khalif Barnes isn't the answer but his signing helps, we'll see, definitely need better play from the O-line. I was very happy to hear that out of everyone at the workouts, McFadden looks awesome, fully recovered and ready for his breakout season. I can't wait to see Bush pick up where he left off, this guy is a beast, and he is ready for whatever is asked of him (remember when he played a little FB and bitched for a nanosecond only to finish his comment with, "whatever the team needs of me", and "I'll be ready".......I love that shit, a team player, and I think if they all take a page out of Fargas' book, "Huggy's How To Be A Raider" we will be on the righteous road to victory. With Bush and McFadden averaging 4.4 ypc and Fargas picking up those very tough gains, we have ourselves a recipe for a FIERCE running game.




Let me shift the focus to the, gulp, passing game.




The brightest spot, I think, was the excellent and consistent play by Zach Miller. I believe that we have finally found our man at the TE position. After the Jolley project and courting Courtney, the right man was found for the job. We were actually fortunate that Miller had a poor combine showing and fell to us at the 38th pick in 2007. Last year he not only led our Raiders in rec. and rec. yds., he actually averaged 13.9 yards per catch - good for 1st in the NFL by tight ends with 43+ receptions and he held the longest play resulting in a TD by a TE, at 6'5" 255lbs. the kid gets open. He should also be credited with above average run blocking, he did a great job here too.




The WR's, oh the WR's. Only time will tell on DHB, I'll leave that until we start the season. I've read that the team is very high on the former Aztec Chaz Schilens, the 6'4" 225lb. receiver showed some nice flashes and decent hands and threw great outside blocks on running plays throughout the season. There are, I think, plenty of questions here. Is Drew Carter a Raider still? Can we just take the cap hit and cut Walker? Let's start DHB and Schilens, throw DMC or JLH in the slot when needed and call it a day. We absolutely need to improve on our 61 for 214 3rd down conversions.....about 28% success rate? Are you kidding me? This ain't gonna cut it. Defenses can exploit this WR weakness with ease. For our offense, which I hear has been revamped a bit so we can attack vertically, to have more success we need some threats out wide. I'm not sold on the resurrection of the vertical game, again, we'll wait and see.
I'm pretty confident we (the fans) can rest easy as far as Special Teams are concerned. Good ol' Seabass, our leading scorer, nuff said. Lechler, wow, nice contract and thank Christ! And the return game is the best and most explosive in the league, I don't care about the exact stats, I'm not even sure if we ruled the league in the return game but I do know that every time Johnnie Lee touches the ball there is a very good chance for an awesome return, be sure not to blink....
The next post will be about our defense, unless something crazy happens over the weekend. Everybody have a great Memorial Day, and if you see a soldier, thank him or her for the brave service they put in.
GO RAIDERS!

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