Speed Kills: The Story of the Oakland Raiders

Rob Fetter — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:04:52 -0400

In football they say that speed kills, and right now it’s speed that is killing the Oakland Raiders. Unfortunately for the franchise Al Davis seems to be too slow to realize that everyone in the NFL is fast and some things are more important than how fast someone can run the 40.

The Raiders have been known for surprising people with their first-round picks, but this year they have outdone even themselves. By picking Darrius Heyward-Bey with Michael Crabtree still sitting on he board, they have continued to showoff why they are such a mess, and continue to erase what was a great tradition and at one point the most winning team in all of sports.

I will be honest, that this season I watched one Maryland game, so I am not a Darrius Heyward-Bey expert, but from the one game that I did watch, I didn’t walk away with any notable memories of a spectacular player at Maryland.

After watching all I could find of him on YouTube, I recognize what everyone else already seemed to know, he’s fast. He seems to be a guy that can make big plays, and looks as if he can develop into a tremendous second receiver in the NFL. However, to me I don’t look at him and see a clear No. 1 receiver as the world could see in Michael Crabtree.

There are so many problems with the pick that I don’t even know where to begin. To start with, if he’s that high on your board, just trade down and pick him up later at a cheaper price. Don’t even worry about getting fair value for moving down, just trade down for a third rounder so you won’t have to pay him as much.

Last year the Raiders offense was anemic, struggling to find their way into the endzone. It seemed as if the only time the Raiders were able to punch the ball into the endzone was on big game breaking plays.

This could be where you look and say well, DHB is a perfect fit, since he can deliver some of those game breaking plays with his speed, but the problem is that the Raiders already had him in Johnny-Lee Higgins.

A flash of a wide receiver who can also help in the return game, so now what the Raiders have are two great speed receivers with no one to be that dependable go to guy at wide receiver.

Last season Jonny-Lee Higgins was the Raiders leading receiver with 22 catches, which is about what it seems you can expect from DHB. Looking at the stats, Heyward-Bey was a guy that had some big games, with 11 catches against Wake Forrest, but averaged under four catches per game including two games with zero catches, and no multiple touchdown gmes.

On the flipside the Raiders had the opportunity to grab that clear go to receiver in Michael Crabtree who averaged over eight catches and two touchdowns per game.

Crabtree could have been that receiver that helped turn the tide on the lack of scoring for the Raiders as with his size and speed could have turned some of those redzone fieldgoals into touchdowns, especially considering that last season he only had two games without touchdown catches.

Crabtree could have been a difference maker for the Raiders offense, but instead they got more of the same, more speed. If Al Davis was working on building a college team, or a track team he’d probably do pretty well, but as for the NFL some things are more important than speed, and those are the things that you need to win football games, and that’s what the Raiders lack.

Why Winning the Super Bowl Is Overrated

Rob Fetter — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:08:41 -0400

Ever since the Super Bowl ended this year I cannot stop thinking about how overrated winning the Super Bowl is. I know that in sports the emphasis is always placed on winning championships, but I think in the NFL there is far too much emphasis placed on the Super Bowl. Placing all the importance on the postseason tournament isn’t going to give you the best team when there is a one-and-done format like the NFL's.

Because of the playoff system winning the Super Bowl doesn’t mean you’re the best team, it just means you got hot, or lucky, at the right time. Teams can put on tremendous performances all season, loose one game, and all of a sudden they're not the best team in the NFL.

Obvious case in point here would be the 2007 Patriots; it’s hard for me to believe that many people really felt that the Giants winning the Super Bowl meant New York had the best team that season. The Giants were the Super Bowl champs that year, but there was no question that the Patriots were the NFL’s best team.

I don’t think that this was the only case of the best team not winning the Super Bowl. In ’98, when the Vikings were red hot, the game we needed in the Super Bowl was Vikings vs. Broncos, but that game was killed by a lucky Falcons win. The Patriots first Super Bowl win over the Rams is another example.

I’m not sure if Kurt Warner should go into the Hall of Fame, but the talk going into the game all week was that if he wins, he’s a lock. I could understand the argument, two Super Bowl championships, a Super Bowl MVP or two, and third Super Bowl appearance with some sick regular season numbers.

Sounds like a HOF resume to me, but my problem with it is that he did his part, he led the team downfield, and got the Cards the lead. That should have put the stamp on his Hall of Fame career, right? But then Roethlisberger leads the Steelers down field, makes some amazing plays, and now Kurt’s out of the Hall of Fame for something that happened while he was on the sidelines? That doesn’t seem right.

Thinking about the Cardinals possibly winning the Super Bowl from the flip side of things, would that have meant the Cardinals were actually the best team in the NFL last season?

Now, don’t get me wrong, winning a championship should count for something, but I’m just not sure that it should count for everything, as it seems to in the minds of many. Call me crazy, but I think what teams do in the regular season and consistency is more important than winning the tournament at the end and that it should be recognized more.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Rob Fetter

Speed Kills: The Story of the Oakland Raiders

Why Winning the Super Bowl Is Overrated