Raiders will be lucky to find three wins in final nine

By Anthony Carroll  |   Friday, October 31, 2008  |  Comments( 59 )

Oakland Raiders
Got something to say?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans!
Oakland Raiders fans are in no unfamiliar place. The season’s about half over. The losses more than double the wins. And, once again, the future looks bleak.

Not to ruin the next nine games, but Oakland will again struggle to finish between 4-12 and 5-11 this season. Expect another six or seven losses to close out 2008.

I’m not being a cynic; I’m being a realist.

And the main reason for yet another bottom-of-the-NFL season for the Raiders? (Besides Al Davis, the unceasing front-office pest …) The offense.

What was supposed to be Oakland’s major strength on the offensive side of the football this season, the running game, is looking worse and worse each week. Injuries, a lack of any aerial attack whatsoever and instability on the sidelines have caused the Raiders’ ground game to deteriorate with each passing contest.

The Raider rushing game currently ranks seventh in the NFL, down from being in the top three just a few weeks ago. Oakland averages 129.3 yards rushing per game, but hasn’t ran for more than 100 yards as a team in the past four contests. In a 29-10 loss on the road against Baltimore last week, Justin Fargas & Co. ran for just 47 yards on 19 attempts, good for 2.5 yards per carry. As a whole, in its first seven games this year, Oakland has only fielded the game’s leading rusher twice, each of which came in the first two weeks of the season.

Making matters worse is injuries. Fullback Oren O’Neal was placed on injured reserve in late August after sustaining a knee injury. Now, the team’s starting FB is set to join him. Veteran Justin Griffith will miss the remainder of 2008 with a torn knee ligament. To replace both injured fullbacks, Oakland signed Jason Davis from the Chicago Bears’ practice squad; the 24-year-old blocker was cut twice by the Eagles over the past two years and has spent the bulk of his NFL career on the practice field.

“You lose a terrific person, a lot of leadership,” interim head coach Tom Cable said of Griffith to the San Francisco Chronicle. “He’s solid as a rock. He comes to work every day. He does things to the best of his ability every opportunity he gets. [He’s] someone who’s familiar with the system. You’re losing quite a bit there.”

As for those carrying the football, rookie first-round pick Darren McFadden is sporting a new protective boot, this time on his right foot. The 21-year-old has been struggling with a sore right big toe on his left foot since the second week of the season, but the kicks he sports on Sunday, a pair of Nike cleats, are reportedly causing problems to both feet now.

“I guess [this injury happened] the same way: Planting. I don’t know when it happened. First it was the right toe. This is the left toe,” McFadden said Thursday.

The ex-Arkansas running back missed last week’s contest at Baltimore, and hasn’t rushed for over 45 yards since Sept. 14 (Week 2).

Also not helping matters in Oakland is the passing game. Opponents have no respect for the team’s JaMarcus Russell-led 30th-ranked passing offense. The Raiders have just six aerial touchdowns all season long, the second-worst completion percentage in the league and a 29th-ranked first-down percentage.

Try running the ball when the opponent knows that’s all you can do. And you have no fullback.

“I have thought about it -- just like, ‘Man, this season, it’s running away on me,” McFadden said. “But at the same time, I try to look forward to it, ‘Hey, we still got nine games left.’ So there’s always an upside to it.”

Unfortunately, the next nine games don’t look promising for McFadden and the 2-5 Raiders.

Two or three more wins. One ensuing hectic offseason. Another new head coach. And a stubborn owner.

Those seem to be the only sure things in Oakland’s future.
Got something to say?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans! (59)

About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
read more
Article Tools Share!   |  RSS  |  Bleacher Report About Bleacher Report