The Fall of the Silver and Black

               By: Arman Asgharzadeh

 

The Fall of the Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders were once known as a fearsome, hard-hitting defense with players such as Jack Tatum and Howie Long. They once had an offense led by the likes of Fred Bilentikof and Tim Brown. But now the franchise has fallen to the soft, two-hand-touching hands of safety Stuart Schwiegart and disappointing wide receiver Jerry Porter (who has had two 9 TD seasons but has yet to break the 1,000 yard mark). These guys are obviously not getting it done.

In order for a team in the NFL to be successful, you need more than just 11 players on each side of the ball. There needs to be trust and unity, accountability and responsibility. Most importantly, there needs to be discipline. As examples, I give you the Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Those are the teams that have won the last five Super Bowls. Each has had consistency, discipline and faith play a big part of their success. Faith in each other and faith in the head coach. This is why they are recognized among the best teams in the NFL.

For the Raiders it goes further than the head coach. It starts with the owner. And unfortunately for the Raiders, they have been particularly unlucky in that position because they have Al Davis. Davis is a Hall of Fame owner and one of the pioneers behind the AFL-NFL merger. But he has also single-handedly crippled his team and cut them down at the knees with the constant barrage of his authority. Davis' ego has clearly taken him over, which has definitely clouded his judgement in terms of what is best for the team.

So what is wrong with Davis' behavior? For starters an owner needs to let the coach do his job. Davis needs to check his ego and stop challenging the coach in front of his players. He needs to let the coach have control over the players, because right now it is the other way around. Answer me this: How can a coach run his team when all the players know he's just a puppet for the owner? This isn't healthy, just ask Jon Gruden and Mike Shanahan. Both of them were hired by Al Davis at a young age and later fired by him because they wanted to have control over the team. Control is something that every coach needs, but they were denied because of Davis' stubborn ways. Davis' ego and hunger for authority got in the way of the team's success and, in the end, both Gruden and Shanahan moved on to win Super Bowls with other teams.

It has been over 20 years since the Raiders have won a Super Bowl and five years since they have played in one. Coincidently, that Super Bowl loss was a blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who were coached by who? None other than Jon Gruden. At some point, fans have to ask, "Hey, Al it's been over 20 years, don't you think you should try something different?"

Since their Super Bowl appearance the Raiders have been ranked at the bottom of their division and have had a "whopping" 17-60 win-loss record. They have had four different head coaches and nine different starting quarterbacks. On defense they have not been able to stop the run, which is especially critical because they play in a division that features LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson and the Denver Broncos offensive line (which produces a 1,000 yard rusher each season). But what does Al Davis do? He drafts a DB in the first round of the draft in three of the last five years; because Al Davis loves speed.

One of the most basic rules of football is "protect the ball". So why would a team want to pass against the Raiders when all they need to do is hand it off to pick up 5 yards every play? Again, the ego and arrogance of Al Davis has clouded the team's judgement. How about drafting a DT in the first or second round instead of trying to rebuild your team through free agency? The last time Oakland drafted a player for the defensive line in the first round it was Tyler Brayton, a DE. Brayton is now labeled as a bust. There is a reason that the Raiders surrendered 100 yards to ten different rushers in 2007. If Davis hadn't used so many picks on defensive backs would they be in this situation?

With the flock of DBs that Oakland has drafted in the first round over the years, they should have a top notch secondary. But after being ranked #1 in pass defense in 2006, the Raiders fell to eighth in that category this past season. Let's not fool ourselves, the Raiders' pass defense was susceptible all year long. In the season-opener Jon Kitna of Detroit threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers. And the bleeding didn't stop there. With the team forced to play eight men in the box, to protect against the run, the Raiders' cornerbacks just got picked apart. It's pretty sad when your interceptions leader is a second-year linebacker (in this case, Thomas Howard).

The only player in the secondary who is worth anything is Nnamdi Asomugha, who had a career year with the Raiders in 2006. But this past season teams took note of Asomugha and hardly ever threw the ball to his side. The other DBs were a joke. Fabian Washington got benched in favor of Standford Routt, who wasn't much of an upgrade. Michael Huff was also a disappointment. Huff was drafted seventh overall in the 2006 draft for his playmaking skills, but since being drafted he has only 1 career interception despite making 32 starts.

As you can tell, defense was a main concern for Oakland in 2007. The Raiders had leads in the fourth quarter six times, only to watch the defense give up a big play to lose the game. Whether is was a big play against the passing defense or in the running game, teams just marched down the field and took the victory out of Oakland's hands. These late-game flaws led to rumors that first-year head coach Lane Kiffin wanted to fire defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. An argument raged back-and-forth between Kiffin and Al Davis. Since Ryan is a favorite of Davis', he ended up keeping his job. The question is: How can a coach not be granted the authority to bring in his own staff? Also, how can that coach work with someone (in this case, Rob Ryan) that he doesn't trust to get the job done?

Something has to change here. The Raiders need to start addressing their need at defensive tackle. With Warren Sapp retiring and Terdell Sands unlikely to be the player that everyone thought he would be, there is a gaping hole at that position. Gerrard Warren was recently on two different teams, both of which let him go without asking for much. It's obvious that the Raiders are thin at DT, but it's also true that they are weak at wide receiver. Ronald Curry was the team's leading receiver in 2007; he made some nice catches, but he also had some key drops. Curry also had only 4 receiving TDs, which is obviously not the level of production you want from a leading WR. On the other side, the Raiders have Mr. Underacheiver (Jerry Porter) who can't break seperation unless it's snowing in Denver. It's a possibility that Porter will be gone next year, so there is obviously a need for WR.

There need to be changes at the DT and WR positions, but what really needs to change is Al Davis. He has found a good coach in Lane Kiffin and players are really starting to buy into Kiffin's system. Davis needs to take a step back and try a different approach. He needs to start rebuilding through the draft and addressing his team's needs. He needs to stop letting his ego get the best of him and kick the idea that he is always right. At this point Davis is being a selfish owner; he makes it all about himself.

No matter how you want to look at it, Davis is clearly not doing what is best for his team. Hey Al, here's an idea: let the "coach" coach. That's what you're paying him for, right? If you don't trust Kiffin to lead your team to a championship, then why did you hire him in the first place? And here's another idea: support your coach in front of the players. Players need to know that there will be consequences for their actions. They need time to buy into a coach's philosophy and build chemistry with one another. What they don't need is a coach who always lets them off the hook.

The Raiders still have a way to go, but they are on the right path. In drafting JaMarcus Russell with the first overall pick last year, they have their QB of the future. Running back Justin Fargas broke the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the first time in his career in 2007. And with Michael Bush coming off of Injured Reserve to join Fargas, the running game is looking pretty solid. But all of this means nothing if the players do not believe in the head coach. In order for that to happen Kiffin needs to stay a while (not fired because the owner wants to act like the coach, too).

Ultimately it all boils down to one question: Does Al Davis want to win or does he want to win "his way"?