Oakland Raiders, the Sky Is Falling! (If You Believe the Pundits)

The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

Yep, another fairy tale—this one, from the media, former players, and even some so-called experts in the NFL.

Depending on which source you want to credit, the Raiders won't win another game this season. That's pretty harsh, if you consider the good things this team has done so far.

For one, remember last year when teams had us for lunch with the running game? This year, we're holding up at 18th, putting 14 other teams below us. That's almost middle of the road.

Against the pass? A shade worse at 20th. Still, not dead last by anyone's imagination.

Like last year, several games that could have been won in the fourth quarter, have been lost. Last year, we had the lead in nine games in the fourth quarter. Several others were a TD or less losses.

This year, we've had a last second loss to the Bills and a meltdown against the Chargers. While the pundits like to say this bodes poorly for a team that can't hold a lead, I'd call it learning steps. And how many teams can pull off a comeback, and run it to perfection? I wouldn't start thinking the sky is falling.

Another aspect a lot of the pundits like to call attention to is the switch out of coaches. Sure, Kiffin wasn't given a lot of time to turn it around, but he did put in good progress for his team, progress that Tom Cable can take onto the field for the rest of the season.

That, and while Oakland looked okay against the Bills and Chargers, can you imagine what it would have been like with an extra back like Justin Fargas adding his running to the game? Instead of Oakland having to go for it on 4th-and-5 late in the game, they could have been running alternating backs, milking the clock, and giving our defense time to rest. These are critical factors.

The rumor mill has Fargas coming back after the bye.

In all, 1-15 is not going to happen. I'd bet a $100 on it.