Playing Devil's Advocate

  Many proud, loyal soldiers of the Raider Nation have been calling for Tom Cable to be fired.  Whether it be for the Raiders terrible play or his off-field violence habbits, Raider fans want him out.  With accusations of punching Randy Hanson and beating past girlfriends and an ex-wife, it seems like Tom Cable is "beating" everyone except the Raiders opponents.  I have mixed feelings for Tom Cable as our head coach so I will do something new in this article, I will defend Tom Cable.

  For starters he should stay because players like him.  Namdi Asomugha had two demands when he re-signed with Oakland, one of those was to not have a coaching change.  Cable gets his players motivated and he can't be the only one to blame for the poor execution, there is a coaching staff full of coordinators and positions coaches that deserve a share of the criticism. 

  Another reason is his passion for not only football, but for the Raiders.  He wants this job.  He wants to turn this thing around and he has shown his desire to win be waiving DeAngelo Hall to give more competitive non multi-millionare players their chances to play.  Chris Johnson, Hiram Eugene, Mario Henderson and Chaz Schilens all turned out to be better than DeAngelo Hall, Michael Huff, Kwame Harris and Javon Walker.  Those moves have helped those who were benched.  Huff took the responsibility for his mistakes, studied hard and has made 3 INTs so far this year.

  This reason is the biggest.  If Al Davis still runs this team, which he does and it is true that he wants JaMarcus to start no matter what, Cable has the cajones to defy Al Davis and bench JaMarcus Russell and play Bruce Gradkowski. 

  My last reason is that Cable has shown he can be competitive.  All the blowouts aside (though they shouldn't be ignored) Cable has beaten the Houston Texans, ending their 4 game win streak last year.  He knocked Jon Gruden and the Bucs out of the playoffs.  He upset a team led by Brett Favre when he got his first win in an overtime thriller against the Jets.  He upset the Eagles this year, a team that is playoff-bound.  He has gotten the Raiders to nearly beat the Chargers twice this year, the defending AFC West champs and Cable led a comeback win at Arrowhead Stadium in week 2. 

  So even though Cable is likely gone in the off-season, I don't think he is the worse coach to wear the silver and black.