Oakland Raiders: A Litmus Test for the League

Now, first and foremost, this could be your team. Step back from the fandom, the glory, and the stats, and look at your team, by the record.

All teams have good times, bad times, and times where they look like something the cat coughed up.

It doesn't matter if it's the Cowboys, the Patriots, the Eagles, the 49ers, or even the Raiders...everyone can relate to a season of misery that makes you think of better times.

With Oakland, nothing can match the 1976 season. Only one loss in the regular season, and then beat the same team in the playoffs. This group of Raiders had truly a hard, solid core, with guys like Fred Biletnikoff, Dave Casper, Ken Stabler, and on defense, Jack Tatum, Willie Brown, Ted Hendricks, and others.

Pure and simple, damage incorporated.

On the bad side, you could put down any of the losing records, but the one season that sticks in my memory, is the 1987 season. In LA, the Raiders had just won two games, bringing their record up to 5-8, and as a 14-year old, you were hoping they could run the table and finish up at 8-8, maybe steal a playoff spot.

Instead, in the last three games, they lost to the Chiefs by six, to Cleveland by seven, and then by three to the Bears. What probably hurt the most about this season was that it led to the end of Tom Flores' career in LA, but also brought in Shanahan, who quickly gutted a team.

And now, please pass the bucket for the ugly season.

Yep, it was in recent memory the Art Shell Disasterpiece Theatre show.

A team made up of Randy Moss, Jerry Porter, LaMont Jordan, and others should stand a pretty good chance of doing something, right?

Wrong. Porter, after having a tiff with Shell, played four games. Off and on, Randy Moss played like he was afraid of contact, giving up on plays that resulted in interceptions. And finally, a tired and worn-out defense broke apart, and the last weeks of a lost season went from bad to worse.

Now, here's where we get to have some fun.

Now, on paper, a 2-14 team and a 4-12 team don't seem that different, right?

Wrong again.

First of all, there's a difference between losing a game by a field goal at the end of the game and being throttled by 30.

There's a difference between being shutout at home and having a nailbiter in an opposing stadium.

And there's a difference between having a meaningful win for team pride and lucking out against a Super-Bowl champ.

The Raiders have had good, bad, and ugly seasons. Some people like to laugh and point...but if you can't see your team for all it's facets, then you're missing a lot of the picture...and you need a reality check.

Looking forward to a stronger 2008 season...RCA signing off for the night.