2007 Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders’ tradition of excellence has been nearly forgotten following four consecutive seasons with five of fewer wins. Last season’s 2-14 performance was far worse than anyone affiliated with the Raiders organization could have imagined. The can’t due no wrong, flashy owner, Al Davis, even had to swallow his pride and admit to making a mistake in rehiring Art Shell. Davis has given us another surprise in his hiring of 31-year-old Lane Kiffin. Perhaps, Davis thinks this youngster can bring a much needed fire to his franchise or perhaps Kiffin is just the only one stupid enough to take the job.

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Lane Kiffin has already made one good decision as Oakland Raiders coach (not that he had any choice), keeping the defensive coaching staff in tact. These boys have managed to put together a very talented unit. On the offense, Kiffin had made former 49ers and Falcons offensive coordinator Greg Knapp his guy. They say two heads are better than one, but it may take about ten heads put together to get anything out of an offense which scored just 12 touchdowns all of last season. These two are going to have to try every trick in the book to complement a defense ready to rule the AFC West.

Oakland’s defense was the best in the league last season against the pass and finished third overall in yards allowed. One would never guess a unit could be so solid on a team which won just two games. That just goes to show you the dismal state of the offense. Kiffin has a shot at turning this thing around because he does have a great defense in place. I’m going to need to see five victories this season to believe its possible in the near future.

I’m not sure Kiffin really wants the scrutiny of calling the offensive plays, but he’s going to take it. He and Knapp will team up and try to devise a scheme best suited to number one draft choice QB JaMarcus Russell. He is looked upon as the savior of this offense, perhaps he can bring the same magic to the Raiders that Vince Young was able to bring to the Titans in his rookie campaign. The Raiders have fortunately drafted well, especially on defense, and the scouting is starting to pay off. Hopefully Al Davis will still be living when his Silver and Black finally emerge again.

The oddsmakers have set Oakland’s total wins number at five which would mean that this team would be making a three game improvement from last season. The defense will get better and one wouldn’t think the offense could get worse, but a rookie QB and a new offensive coaching staff gives this team more hurdles to conquer. We’ll take action on the Under five wins getting solid value for this bet. Three of the last four seasons have gone under this number and our thinking is that a two win improvement is the best the Raiders can really bank on in 2007.

By Jeff Alexander – 7/16/2007

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