Oakland Raiders: Hue Jackson, Mark Davis and Amy Trask Made a Wise Decision

Sometimes, life and football have their twist of fate. The Oakland Raiders are in a period of testing, ever since Oct. 8.

When those surprises and swift transitions occur, you have got to "hang tight." You have got to make wise and quick decisions to stay afloat.

The recent acquisition of Carson Palmer is a wise move, in my opinion. His data is similar to that of Jason Campbell, when you look at quarterback rating. Campbell is ranked above Palmer, but Palmer had far more touchdowns in 2010 than Campbell. In fact, Palmer's number of touchdowns are double that of Campbell's.

Yes, Palmer played 16 games in 2010, while Campbell played only 13. However, one thing you can do when you compare these two quarterbacks is perform a simple interpretation to see how the quarterbacks would match up if they had played the same number of games. Of course, this is simply an estimation and based on theory. However, note that theory and philosophy drive almost everything, including professional football.

The new movie about the Oakland A's, Moneyball, is an example of a story in which one man used data to strengthen his decision-making as he built a team on limited resources. It tells of a success story. It also suggests that data-driven decisions can drive good thinking, even in the NFL.

Why do you think so much data is complied on the NFL? The answer is that it is useful to those who know how to use it.

If Carson starts the game between the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs, we will be better able to see how he functions in the context of the dynamics of the Oakland Raiders. Since Palmer seems to be a strong, decisive person, his force and strength of personality ought to transform the already improving interaction among the Oakland Raiders.

I expect this team to continue to move in a positive direction. This expectation assumes that no more unusual injuries will distort the performance patterns that have been recently witnessed.

Go Raiders!