There is quite a bit of talk these days concerning the Oakland Raiders and their continued difficulties. Following a horrendous 44-7 beating at the hands of the New York Giants, many are beginning to contemplate what may lay down the stretch for this team. In this column, I will attempt to project just exactly what is to be expected in a detailed week by week analysis.
Week 6: The Philadelphia Eagles travel to Oakland to challenge the Raiders. Coming off of a couple of victories, the eagles will play with intensity and focus, and will attempt to make a powerful statement in this game. Donovan Mcnabb has played well since his return from injury, and will continue to do so against the Raiders. It is not unreasonable to expect that Philadelphia will score five or six touchdowns in this game. However, the Raiders will continue to struggle on offense. They should not score more than a couple of field goals. Philly wins 35-6. ( A conservative estimation)
Week 7: The Raiders face another solid opponent at home as the New York Jets pay a visit to Oakland Stadium. The Jets should be 4-2 at this point, and will be seeking further redemption after their loss to Miami. The Jets defense should show up to play big time, and a couple of defensive touchdowns could be a strong possibility. If this does happen, the Raiders offense becomes too demoralized to perform, and the game ends in a shutout. For this one I predict Jets 24, Raiders 0.
Week 8: This time the Raiders to travel to San Diego to take on the Chargers. Following Jamarcus Russel's miserable performance versus the Jets, He is benched and the backups are given a shot. I predict here that they do not rise to the challenge though, as the Chargers should be motivated to improve their record here, especially if they do not pull off the win against Denver. Oakland's offense will perform better than usual, as Darren McFadden is able to provide some assistance here. Despite their effort, San Diego wins 31-10.
Week 9: For this week, the Raiders get a bye, but this does not provide much relief as it only provides for more time for the players and coaches to reflect upon their woes. At 1-7, Many in the organization are starting to feel the heat. Raiders head coach Tom Cable frantically tries to adjust his game plan, while the powers that be try to shake things up. Expect for at least one of the coordinators to be fired.
Week 10: The Kansas City Chiefs come to town. For the sake of this article, lets assume that the chiefs will still be winless at this point. That being the case, the pressure on the Raiders to win here will be severe. Unfortunately, Oakland chokes and fails to produce once again. Matt Cassel has a remarkable game. The Chiefs win by a margin of more than two touchdowns. Tom Cable finds himself beaten by Al Davis, then fired.
Week 11: For this week, The Raiders find themselves outmatched yet again as the Cincinnati Bengals make an appearance in Oakland Stadium. Following the dismissal of Tom Cable, strength and conditioning coach Brad Roll is named interim coach. This is mainly due to the firing of both of the coordinators, and several assistant coaches as well. Things do not improve here as the playoff bound Bengals deliver Oakland one of the worst beatings in NFL history. Cincinnati wins 70-0. Brad Roll is fired late in the third quarter. Special Teams coach John Fassel is named his replacement, for now.
Week 12: The Raiders take a trip down to Texas to face off against the Dallas Cowboys. Despite all the disharmony in the organization, Oakland performs much better here than expected. With the game deadlocked late in the fourth quarter, the Raiders suffer a critical turnover at their own 40 yard line. Though the defense holds, Dallas is able to make a long field goal, winning the game in the final seconds. Cowboys win 20-17.
Week 13: Al Davis is starting to get very disturbed by this point. In a moment of what he considers to be football genius, he makes an unprecedented move and names former backup quarterback Charlie Frye head coach. Though Mr. Davis had very high expectations for this young man, it turns out that balancing the responsibilities of head coach and starting quarterback is nearly impossible. When this is combined with the fact that Oakland has to play the Steelers at home, who are making a late season playoff run, disaster results. The Raiders suffer another God awful beating and lose 48-0.
Week 14: Raiders vs Skins. Skins win!
Week 15: The implosion of the Raiders organization is now equal to that of a very massive star collapsing under the force of its own gravity. Quarterback Charlie Frye has quit the team at this point, and so has Darren McFadden. Because no replacement coach is named in a timely manner, all decisions are made by the team collectively. Of course, no one is able to come to any reasonable agreement, and further degradation ensues. No practices or team meetings are held of any kind for the remainder of the week. As a result, the red-hot Broncos replicate the infamous beating Georgia Tech unleashed upon Cumberland college in the early 20th century. The Broncos score on almost every play, and win 222-0.
Week 16: Al Davis, on the brink of insanity, decides to take a hands on approach. He declares himself head coach in an attempt to restore his all but hopeless franchise to glory. To increase motivation, he threatens the lives of all the players and all of their first born children. He is quoted as saying, "Unforeseen consequences will result", should anyone fail to perform. With Certain death looming over their heads, the Raiders play a valiant game against the Browns. Leading the game late in the 4th quarter, The Raiders defense pin Cleveland deep in their own territory. However, Derek Anderson, who only made a handful of completions all year, throws a hail Mary to win the game. Cleveland wins 10-7.
Week 17: For the final game of the season, The Raiders go up against the stalwart Baltimore Ravens. Unbeknownst to them, Al Davis has been ready for this day, and has formulated a new strategy. In what has been described as a custom made version of the wildcat, the ball will be directly snapped to Al Davis, allowing him to personally lead his team to victory. Ignoring warnings from the team medical staff and his own personal physician, He takes the field. On Oakland's first offensive play of the game, Al Davis tries to run the ball up the middle for positive yardage, but is met with a violent helmet to helmet collision from Ray Lewis. As a result, Al Davis suffers fatal head trauma, becoming the first player to die during an NFL game in many years. Ravens win.
Aftermath: Following the disastrous season, It did not seem that there was much light at the end of the tunnel for the beleaguered Oakland franchise. However, in the off-season, Rush Limbaugh made a bid to purchase the team using a fake identity. To the dismay of Al Sharpton and Donovan Mcnabb, he was awarded the franchise for 800K.
Of course, things will probably never get this bad. I'm just joking here. Its always fun to speculate, though.
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