The Oakland Raiders are Not Good and Other Brilliant Observations

Like many hardcore NFL fans, I get restless in the offseason. With the draft over and most free agents signed, the 2009 season can not get here fast enough.

I've read all of the power rankings, draft grades, and quarterback lists that I can find. Yet my thirst for all things NFL—related remains unquenched. I know there are many others like me, and I am here to help.

Please enjoy these random observations that are sure to stimulate, irritate, and hopefully entertain.

The Oakland Raiders Are Not Good

After the way the media got on the Raiders during the draft, Raiders fans feel like the franchise is being picked on. I'm sorry Raiders fan, but the truth is that your team is historically bad.

The Raiders have won five games or less for six consecutive seasons. I did some research to find the last team that pulled that off and I found something surprising.

It has never happened—at least since the introduction of the 16 game schedule in 1978.

So, congratulations to the Raiders for reaching a level of futility that even the worst Cincinnati Bengals, Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New Orleans Saints teams were unable to achieve.

Rock on Al Davis! And rock on Oakland Raiders!

Joe the Pizza Guy, You Are Not Qualified To Grade an NFL GM

Do not get me wrong, we should all talk about the draft and give our opinions on how our team did in the draft. But please do not break out the grade book.

If you work as an assistant manager at Food Lion, you are not qualified to give Thomas Dimitroff a C+ for his 2009 draft.

Do not try to tell me that Chris Owens and William Middleton were bad picks for the Falcons because I know you have not watched any San Jose State or Furman University football games. Just shut up already.

Hey Eagles Fans, Power Rankings Do Not Actually Count

Whenever I am reading any of the various power rankings on Bleacher Report or anywhere else, there are always fans from different teams that will get offended. Still, none of them compare to Eagles fans.

The other day I saw an article where one of the B/R writers had the audacity to rank the Eagles like 12th, and Eagles fans were actually creating new fake B/R accounts to threaten the guy.

It was quite hilarious actually.

So I just want to clear this up for some of those Eagles fans. POWER RANKINGS DO NOT COUNT. IT'S JUST SOME DUDE'S OPINION.

What Am I Not Getting About the Jets' Draft?

Ok, I've seen some pretty outstanding reviews of the Jets draft and I do not get it.

The league gives each team at least seven picks each year right? Yet somehow the Jets only managed to come away with three players in this draft.

With the first pick, they drafted a one-year starting QB that played on a team that always outclassed the opponent. I hope somebody told him that it is not like that in the NFL. His own coach did not even think he was ready.

With the second pick, the Jets picked another one-year starter at the RB position. I think the Jets have a guy on their roster at that position that ran for over 1300 yards and went to the Pro Bowl last year.

A team that only has three draft picks using one of them on a position where a current Pro Bowler is in place is odd to me.

The Jets drafted an OG in the fifth round.

The Jets' defense finished 18th in the league in 2008, but the team drafted no defensive players in the draft.

Good luck with that.

Isaac Bruce Is the Most Underappreciated Player in the League

I recently saw an internet discussion on the Hall of Fame worthiness of Isaac Bruce and it made me realize that this guy has never received the credit he deserves.

What do your remember about the Titans / Rams Super Bowl? If you are like most people, you probably only remember Mike Jones tackling Kevin Dyson on the one-yard line on the final play of the game.

That's not the play you should remember.

You should remember Kurt Warner lofting a badly underthrown deep ball with just over two minutes left in the game. You should remember Isaac Bruce brilliantly cutting inside Denard Walker to catch the ball, then juking the safety badly en route to a 73-yard historic touchdown.

Oh yeah, now you are starting to remember. Here are a couple of other things you might have forgotten about Isaac Bruce or maybe never knew.

Isaac Bruce is second in NFL history in career receiving yards to Jerry Rice.

Isaac Bruce had 1,781 receiving yards in 1995—the second highest total ever behind Jerry Rice, who had 1,848 yards in the same season.

Let me reiterate this; If Jerry Rice did not exist, Isaac Bruce would be the NFL's all—time yardage leader and single season yardage leader.

Isaac Bruce has eight 1,000-yard receiving seasons and 46 100-yard games.

Isaac Bruce caught six passes for 162 yards and the game winning touchdown in Super Bowl XXXIV.

Unlike Terrell Owens and Randy Moss, Isaac Bruce is not going to tell you how great he is. Unlike Marvin Harrison, he has not played his entire career with one of the best quarterbacks of all time.

Isaac Bruce just plays football, and he does it as well as almost anyone who has ever played the game.

The Atlanta Falcons Are Coming To Blow Up Your Scoreboard

I think teams should be aware of this because scoreboards can be expensive. When the Falcons come to town, maybe you should turn that thing off and go with old school flip over numbers.

The Falcons have an up and coming Rookie Of the Year quarterback and Pro Bowlers at WR, RB, and TE. On the bench they have two explosive threats that can take over games themselves in Jerious Norwood and Harry Douglas.

The 2009 Falcons offense is the perfect storm, so get your popcorn ready and enjoy the show. But before you do, you might want to turn that scoreboard off.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed. In just three short months, we can start discussing actual football games.