Oakland Raiders Fans: Let Me Tell You Like It Really Is

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I will not sit here and tell you that Oakland is going to go 8-0 in their second half this year. I will not bet on three, four, or five wins.

I will not tell you that they will turn this around, make it right, or that they can make a playoff run.

I will tell you how I see it. I will give you my honest opinion, and you make of it whatever you will. With that said, here goes nothing.

I still believe in the coaches:

How can I say that? It's simple really, look at Cable's draft. Everyone knows Al Davis picked Darrius Heyward-Bey, but what are the odds that Davis liked the third round choice, Matt Shaughnessy?

Shaughnessy reminds me of Fargas, but not because he's a running back. He has heart, he is committed on every play, and he's a play maker. Shaughnessy really had a chance to show himself in San Diego. Against the Chargers when he had five tackles, a sack, and a quarterback hurry. You know who liked him? Cable's guy, Dwaine Board.

Louis Murphy had a good first four games, but in the last four, only one catch for two yards. OUCH! What the heck happened? Maybe he gave up because the league always turns over his best plays...maybe he needs more help, enter Chaz Schilens. Never the less, the kid has skills.

Tom Cable said, "When we saw him on the draft board, we knew we had to get him." He followed up that statement after training camp by stating, "I think we found one."

Brandon Meyers, a tight end from Iowa, who caught a touchdown every nine passes as a Hawkeye, but was considered to be a blocker by many—overlooked for his really good hands and redzone presence.

Mike Mitchell, a hard hitting, wide range safety from Ohio, some would say an Al Davis pick, but Al has Tyvon branch, and Michael Huff already, so he was surely influenced by an outsider to draft this kid so high.

What do all these guys have in common? They are seniors, team captains, team players, Tom Cable type players. Players that have heart, courage, desire, selflessness, and composure.

Cable might not be the best play callers, but to recall a statement from a fellow B/R colleague, "After watching the Pittsburgh/Denver game, I'm convinced that football is 20 percent play calling and 80 percent execution."

Not to rub anyone the wrong way, but that sounds eerily similar to what Tom Cable's been saying this year. Perhaps we should call for his head for developing the young talents on this team, but it takes time folks.

I know this isn't college, it's the pros. Go big or go home right? Well lets play make believe for a second. Let's say this is college, twenty of our players, on our 53 man roster would be under-classmen. Now, I'm no mathematician, but that's about 37.7 percent of our players.

Let's go ahead and throw a fact into the equation too, heck with it.

Since the fourth game of the year, 36.6 percent of our offensive starters have been out of competition, and since the second game of the year, we have been missing our best offensive lineman, as well as our best wide receiver.

Tom Cable is the most honest, up-front, realistic, and grounded head coach we've had in years. All the drama, side-shows, BSPN garbage, all that aside, this guy is a Raiders fan, living his dream, who deserves a chance to show us his team.

He is in good with the owner, has a great relationship with Al, the best that I've seen in my lifetime.

He wants to be here and he wants to win for the fans. Fans who evidently aren't willing to give him any time to turn around a franchise that has had three winning seasons in the past fifteen years, including six in a row with ten or more losses.

But let's go ahead and implement yet another system, Okay? 

I still believe in JaMarcus Russell:

I get beat down all the time for this, but my stance on this young man is unwavering. I think he has the potential to set records in the league, as well as for the Raiders.

He is a guy who can truly make all the throws. Some of you say he is not accurate, I call bullcrap. I believe when he was throwing to the ball over the receivers heads, it was because their route was wrong. It was because they were not where they were supposed to be when he made his reads.

Regardless of the reason, it went right where he wanted it. If you don't believe me go watch his college highlights on youtube.

Am I saying he is immune to bad throws? Of course not, mix that in with the other two factors, and then you get his first four games stats.

He is far more accurate to running backs and tight ends then he is to receivers. That is not because he can't throw it on target, it's because he has been throwing to two rookies and a second year receiver all year.

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