Can the Raiders spoil anyone’s party?

By Os Davis  |   Wednesday, November 19, 2008  |  Comments( 15 )

Oakland Raiders
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As the homestretch of another NFL season hits the homestretch, the Oakland Raiders again find themselves in a familiar, unenviable role: that of spoiler. Though the jury is still out on whether this particular non-coached and quarterback-wrecking crew could upset any playoff contender at all at this point, RealFootball365.com takes a brief look at the remaining schedule for traps.

Week 12 at Denver Broncos. No time like the present, eh, Raider Nation? After the 41-14 humiliation the Broncs handed the Raiders in Week 1, the silver and black would surely like to take the hated rivals down a peg, even if to San Diego’s benefit. Oakland’s special teams, a relatively standout unit for the Raiders, certainly have the capacity to make Denver’s slack special teams look bad; Oakland must take advantage here. Welcome to the Raiders, Justin Miller!

Also crucial here will be the Broncos’ stunning ability to gift-wrap key turnovers and lots of ‘em: Do you realize Denver is a ridiculous minus-10 in turnover ratio, a mark currently “topped” by just two NFL teams? Poor as the Raider offensive “attack” has been, JaMarcus Russell and the boys have shown they can at least manage a short field; if the ‘D’ provides this, the Broncos could well be looking at a measly 6-5 going into a game at the New York Jets.

Week 14 at San Diego Chargers, Week 15 vs. New England Patriots. If any consolation may be had by the Raider Nation in 2008, it’s that other teams have proven well more disappointing. While only the most blindingly devoted reckoned Oakland to go deep into the playoffs this season, expectations were extremely high in San Diego and New England: What percentage of prognosticators formal and informal had one of these two teams as the AFC representative in Super Bowl XLIII?

In any case, the Chargers, deep in the throes of Norv Turner fungal rot, could be essentially finished off for 2008 by the Raiders in Week 14. Even if San Diego somehow manages to pull off back-to-back wins against the Indianapolis Colts and Atlanta Falcons, a loss to Oakland would nail the Chargers back down to 6-7 and most likely to seventh or eighth place in the AFC.

But can the Raiders upset the Chargers in their own house? In 2008, San Diego has certainly proven the old adage about “any given Sunday.” Or maybe they “just ain’t that good.” The Raiders gave them a little bit of game in Week 4, buoyed by a nice 277-yard performance by Russell. (Tip to fantasy owners: Activate Zach Miller; dude had his game of the year against San Diego that week, while the Chargers are giving up 77.7 yards per game to opposing TEs, over 16 more per game than the second-worst Jets.)

And the Patriots? Well, it might be an amazing symbolic cap to the Patriots Era which began more or less with the Tuck Rule for the Raiders to quell the last bit of New England enthusiasm with an upset win, but things rarely work out so neatly. Factor in the difference in coaching ability here, and you probably should be taking the Patriots minus the points right now.

Week 17 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Back when the 2008 schedule came out, the Raiders' official team Web site ran a poll asking fans which away game against a non-AFC West team was their most highly anticipated. But even back then when we figured Oakland might make some noise in the league, the question was a no-brainer: It was always this game. Today, with the NFC South as jammed as it is, the Buccaneers are basically already guaranteed to be fighting for, if not necessarily their playoff lives, their playoff spot in week 17.

Enter the Raiders, either calm, cool and finding some interpersonal connection on the football field with one another, or apathetically awaiting the offseason and time off from the madness. Will the silver and black give the fans some positivity to head into the dead time with (though one must note that the vaguely inspiring Week 17 win by the Detroit Lions in 2007 did little for that limp team’s fortunes) or will Chucky once again be able to laugh at a Raiders team “dragging ass out there”? It’s a tad too early to tell, but let’s all hope someone or something sparks these Raiders before season’s end.

Official RF365 prediction, Week 12: After trying and trying and trying some more to come up with a scenario that gives Oakland the win even if Jay Cutler throws four picks, I’m giving up. Can’t do it. Denver Broncos 27, Oakland Raiders 24.
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's ...
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