Will the Owner of the Silver & Black Jet Please Report to Lost & Found

By MikeBullock  |   Saturday, October 24, 2009  |  Comments( 7 )

Oakland Raiders
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No one, including myself, expected Richard Seymour and the Raiders defense to lead the team to a victory over the far superior Philadelphia Eagles last week. No one saw Zach Miller’s 86-yard touchdown coming. No one saw Donavan McNabb getting sacked six times, four of those from two players. Sure, a lot of the Nation’s faithful hoped for it, but no one could have predicted it as a certainty.

And, now that it’s over, most still can’t believe it. But, “any given Sunday” is a cliché for a reason. Maybe McNabb and the boys will remember that the next time they expect a team to lay down and lose for them.

What you can believe going into this weekend is Oakland’s legitimate shot at taking Mark Sanchez and his green striped peers to the cleaners.

Why would you believe this? It’s simple: The Raiders own the Jets. Just like Ben Roethlisberger owns Cleveland and Norv Turner owns nothing resembling a great head coaching resume.

Why else should you be sure? The Jets are in a free fall right now, spiraling out of control with nothing to hold on to except high expectations and fear of the New England Patriots.

The Raiders, however, have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Their coach just cleared a legal hurdle that had to be a distraction. Their newly acquired defensive bell cow just guaranteed a playoff trip and the hungry young players on that team have the sweet taste of victory still stewing in their mouths.

The last time they met, the lowly Raiders beat the Jets with future Hall of Famer Brett Favre behind the wheel. Sanchez on his best day isn’t Favre on his worst.

Right now, the Jets are traveling to Oakland. On the road versus the Raiders, the Jets are a historic 2-12-1. Do not let it go unsaid that several of those twelve losses came at the hands of underachieving Raider teams.

Kris Jenkins is out, Sanchez is rattled, Rex Ryan is reeling and the Raiders are hungry.

On paper, the Jets are the better team, possessed of a better coaching staff, with better offensive schemes, better defensive strategies and no one in the front office causing problems for the people doing the real work. But, for whatever reason, Oakland simply owns the Jets.

Granted, the “any given Sunday” pendulum can swing either way, but chances are, this week it won’t be swinging in favor of the boys from Jersey.
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