All Is Not Lost, There Is Still Time To Right The Shi

Maybe my view is myopic, just a tad to positive or I realize that there is time to fix what we witnessed Saturday night from the defense, but all is not lost.

John Marshall, his coaches and the players have time to fix what was exposed during this game. Yes Coffee and Robinson ran around the Raiders defense as if they were cones used for drills.

From what we as fans have had to endure the past several years with sub par running backs looking like Pro Bowlers or worse Hall of Famers, one could mutter "not again".

But as I mentioned, all is not lost! There may be those people thinking, "why dont they switch to the 3/4 like other teams?" Well for one, since when do the Raiders follow everyone else and secondly, they dont have the personnel at this point to even attempt running that defense.

It's better that this was exposed during preseason than when it counts. If the linebackers are some of the fastest in the league as has been mentioned in previous seasons then this can be remedied by watching film and figuring out what was going on and then working this out during practice.

One thing that I want to impress upon the reader, is that every season there is a team that during the preseason either does not win one game or they look bad in one facet of the game, only to allow their play during the season to show that the team everybody thought they were during preseason is not who they actually are.

This is what I envision of our beloved team. This game was a mirage, there was no game planning by the Raiders coaches. Let everyone play, evaluate their perfomances and then figure out who will start against New Orleans.

This game was the next to last chance for many players to prove they deserve a spot on this team. Lets see how the bubble players play this next game, knowing that if they don't have a good showing against the Saints then come next Tuesday many guys who are out there now wont be playing the final preseason game.

Don't allow yourself to get all worked up about a preseason game, even if it is against the 49ers, this game doesnt mean anything! What happened to the defense is not indicitive of how they will play during the season.

Plus, preseason wins and losses do not end up on coaches resumes. So take heart Raider faithful, all is not lost. For those of you who like vanilla sit back, enjoy preseason football at it's finest and relax.