Oakland Raiders: They've Thrown Us Their Worst, but Can We See Their Best?

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Oakland, right now, is 2-5, facing an upcoming divisional opponent and has issues of maturity in its quarterback, JaMarcus Russell. Questions have also been raised if the WR corps, young and raw, are even going to catch on.

But at the same time, people who have been growing tired of the same old song and dance think a player switch here or a change there will suddenly make this team viable again.

Maybe, maybe not.

A lot of people have been clamoring for JaMarcus to park his wideload on the bench and give us another QB that "should" be able to win. Tom Cable apparently saw something wrong from the get-go during the Jets game and since he was able to pull him in the second quarter although after the damage was done, we got to see what Bruce Gradkowski could do.

Then we learned what problem No. 2 is.

The offensive line, which started out the season looking good is starting to mirror the 2006 squad. The three step drop before being sacked line was bad enough to the point some wondered if even Joe Montana could do anything with the line that bad.

Oakland's offense will not be able to function without some stability along this line, because if JaMarcus can't get time to lumber back and throw, Bruce is going to run into the same difficulty, witnessed by his fumble on his blindside against the Jets.

So, you could expect continued problems from whoever QB's this group...right?

Well...here's one problem that doesn't help either. JaMarcus Russell is used to being a shotgun passer. If you took a guy who could be a fullback (possible football-career saving switch) and tell him to use a three-step drop, you're asking a guy to backpedal, rely on that same line that has been bad to keep the pocket intact and give him time to throw.

Having JaMarcus Russell start in the shotgun would give him time to watch his teammates go into their patterns, look for positions to work with, and hopefully find an open guy. It was interesting, but if the numbers for his offense are better than those playing under the center, it might be something for Cable to consider.

Of course, this logic also goes against Cable's run-first plans, but since we don't know when McFadden will be back or when Michael Bush will be out of the doghouse, maybe it's time to let Russell feel his normal stance.

The second aspect, that doesn't help the offense, is what the defense does. This group we presently have has talent, but they can't stop the run.

At all.

Something the Raiders did well, in week one was lost right away, somewhere. We had LaDainian Tomlinson tied up and Darren Sproles for the better part of the game shut down.

Then the team got stupid, and they salted it away.

We got another look at that defense, against the Eagles in week six, when Donovan McNabb was punished.

The defense relies on two things, staying healthy and fresh. Healthy-wise, the team has had a few issues, losing a few players to injuries here and there, John Bowie for the season and Ricky Brown with an ankle injury. As the season goes along, the team needs to learn to compensate for these losses and keep moving. The Raiders don't have the depth to take much more injury as it is.

The staying fresh problem has been a constant, and this can be tied back to the offense. If your team is staying out on the field for over 35 minutes because the offense can't get a first down, then the problem becomes more pronounced over the course of the game. It also comes back to the injury problem, as if you are already into the second player for a position, he won't be as good as the first team player.

Oakland needs to find a solution to all three problems, but again, a lot of it comes from Oakland's inability to put points on the board. Points mean two things, one that the team is functioning well, players are making catches and the offense is all on the same page. Well designed drives kill the clock, gives the defense a chance to stay fresh.

Now, what about this "Best" that I mentioned in the title?

How many of us remember the debacle of 1998? Oakland had a new coach, some guy named Jon Gruden, known to the faithful as "Chucky."

We had a roller-coaster ride for the season, with three different QBs starting games.

One QB, who went one for seven won a game...his lone completion? A touchdown to James Jett beat the San Diego Chargers. That was Wade Wilson.

Most people don't remember the early games that year, when the team was 6-2 or 7-3, because Oakland finished the season going 5-1, to finish 8-8.

A good start, completely thrown away.

If Oakland can right this ship, find out what they need to do to be successful and start to build, they could still make it to 8-8.

But the team needs to make that first step.

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