2009 Oakland Raiders NFL Football Predictions

2009 Oakland Raiders Predictions
Preview courtesy of Ted Sevransky, An award-winning professional football handicapper featured on Touthouse.com. If you are interested in football betting this season, be sure to buy Ted Sevransky’s football picks at Touthouse.com

Overview:
Hope springs eternal for Oakland Raiders supporters. Oakland hasn’t won more than five games in a season since their Super Bowl campaign in 2002, staying Under their season win total in each of the last six seasons. Al Davis has kept the coaching carousel churning: Bill Callahan, Norv Turner, Art Shell, Lane Kiffin and now Tom Cable. Cable went 11-35 in four years as the head coach at Idaho and 4-8 in an interim role last year – not exactly a track record of excellence. And Cable is already embroiled in controversy, allegedly involved in an assault that resulted in a hospital visit for one of his assistants. Aging owner Al Davis continues to pull the strings here, leading to numerous dubious personnel decisions, both in the draft and in free agency. There’s no shortage of speed or talent on the Raiders roster, but transforming that speed and talent into a rare winning season is another story entirely.

Offense:
The Raiders skill position talent base looks like a ‘who’s who’ of recent collegiate stars. Quarterback JaMarcus Russell, running back Darren McFadden and rookie receiver Darius Heyward-Bey (Maryland) were all Top 7 picks in NFL draft over the last three years; each loaded with potential. Of course potential doesn’t necessarily produce results. Russell has shown no ability to carry the offense with his arm, struggling repeatedly when the Raiders running game isn’t carrying the load, as Oakland finished dead last in passing yardage in 2008. The Raiders went 1-6 in games that Russell was forced to throw more than 25 passes last year, the six losses coming by an average of more than 19 points per game. Aging backup Jeff Garcia was brought in to challenge Russell but the 39 year old veteran is nothing more than a stop-gap measure as the Raiders braintrust wait for Russell to live up to his #1 overall draft choice billing.

Oakland was a run-first team last year and should be a run-first team again this year. The McFadden/Justin Fargas/Michael Bush trio in the backfield is as talented as any trio of backs in the league. Last year’s leading wide receiver, Johnnie Lee Higgins, caught a grand total of 22 passes for 366 yards. Last year’s big free agent signee Javon Walker was a complete bust, and he’s been too banged up in training camp to get on the field. Heyward-Bey has been a pass dropping machine in training camp, leaving tight end Zack Miller as Oakland’s only proven, consistent pass catching threat.

Once again, the Raiders spent little effort and money upgrading their suspect offensive line in the offseason. They haven’t spent a pick in the top two rounds of the draft on a lineman in the last five years. Khalif Barnes was brought in to man the left tackle position, but he broke his ankle in training camp, out six to eight weeks. Samson Satele was acquired from Miami to replace the lone OL mainstay, Jake Grove, but he has struggled mightily here, just as he did with the Dolphins. On paper, this offensive line looks even weaker than last year’s unit – a unit that paved the way for the NFL’s 29th ranked offense.

Defense:
Nnamdi Asomugha singed a fat contract in the offseason to stay in Oakland, one of the premier shutdown cornerbacks of the NFL. Linebackers Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison are both among the better players at their positions in the league. Aside from those three, Oakland’s defense is completely and utterly devoid of playmakers and star power. The Raiders ranked 27th in total defense last year, 31st against the run, so there’s plenty of room for improvement.

Defensive tackle Tommy Kelly was a relative non-factor after signing a fat contract prior to the start of the 2008 campaign. After dumping Derrick Burgess to the Patriots, there isn’t a single pass rushing threat on the roster. New coordinator John Marshall will have a tough time coaxing production from the underachieving line. In the secondary, Chris Johnson, Michael Huff, Hiram Eugene, Stanford Routt, Tyvon Branch and rookie Marko Mitchell (Ohio U) are all battling for playing time, another unit with all kinds of instability and uncertainty.

Schedule:
Somehow, someway, the league always seems to find a way to screw the Raiders. Oakland’s division mate, San Diego, doesn’t play a single early start game in the Eastern Time Zone. The Raiders, on the other hand, have five ‘early start’ games that kick off at 10 AM local time in Oakland, including Eastern Time Zone games at Pittsburgh, Cleveland and the New York Giants. Despite playing in one of the two weakest divisions in football, contests against the ultra-tough NFC East and the AFC North give the Raiders a ‘middle of the pack’ strength of schedule this year, similar to what they faced last year. With three divisional games right out of the gate, the Raiders have a chance to make a statement—positive or negative– before the calendar turns to October.