• WR Johnnie Morant, UFA
• TE Tony Stewart, UFA
• P Shane Lechler, UFA
• OG Cooper Carlisle, UFA
• OL Chris Morris, RFA
• LB Sam Williams, UFA
• CB Nnamdi Asomugha, UFA
• CB Justin Miller, UFA
• CB Duane Starks, UFA
• FS Rashad Baker, UFA

I could go without watching Tony Stewart on the sidelines with his head hanging low, helmet in hand, moving like an 80 year old man, ever again. Outside of giving Miller an occasional breather, he’s an overpaid backup. It’s time for Al Davis to cut the cord on Sam Williams. Al is watering a dead plant. If Sam is going to have success somwhere along the road, he’s proven it’s not goign to be in Oakland. I’m no fan of our OLine, so you won’t be shocked that I wish Carlisle and Morris the best as they pack their lockers and move on.

Now here’s the 3 moves we DO make, and they’re no-brainers.

Nnamdi Asomugha, CB
Two years ago Nate Clements, across the bay with the 49ers, signed an 8 year agreement worth $80 million, including just over $22 million in guaranteed money. Last year, the Raiders gave DeAngelo Hall a 7 year contract worth $70 million. Any contract Asomugha signs is going to be worth over $100 million, easily. It’s a huge pricetag, but one that Al Davis is going to have to reach down deep for and cover. If a contract isn’t agreed upon, and the Raiders slap the franchise tag on Asomugha again, this upcoming season will be the last time we see #21 in a Raiders uniform.

Shane Lechler, P
With good punters going for just under $2 million a year, our four time Pro Bowler is a much easier check to write and should be one of the first Free Agents the Raiders lock away.

Justin Miller, CB
Picking Miller off the waivers was part luck, part brilliance. He made an immediate impact on KOR duties. He’s a bargain and the Raiders would do themselves a favor by giving him a 4-5 year contract, giving some stability to the special teams. He’s 24 and has shown a lot of promise. It’s possible we happened to get the guy at the right time.

O-line: D
Henderson, Gallery, Grove, Carlisle and Green. There’s not one guy in that lineup worthy of keeping their job. JRuss spent far too much time being hurried or pulled to the ground. And Of course, promoting our OLine Coach to interim head coach mid-season probably didn’t help their progress a great deal. If your car keeps breaking down, you eventually need to decide between dumping more money into fixing it, or buying a new car.

Defense: C
The domination of our defense in 2006 has made me terribly unforgiving with their mediocre play over the last two seasons. Tommy Kelly’s contract didn’t help. My frustrations aside, Burgess, Morrison and Howard are the heart of our Defense and this group of guys has the potential to be one of the best D’s in the league.

Secondary: C
Nnamdi Asomugha is arguably the best CB in the game, maybe even the best player in the league. So let’s take him out of the equation here. DeAngelo Hall was a joke and cost us the game vs Denver when he got schooled by a ROOKIE. As soon as he was cut and replaced by Chris Johnson, things tightened up a bit. I know Asomugha was upset Hall was let go, but the CB tandem was much better with CJ. Gibril Wilson was solid at SS, but Huff has been a disappointment even after moving to FS, which should have enabled him to exploit his speed. We’re really hurting in that FS slot.

Special Teams: B+
Lechler gave us another Pro Bowl season and Janikowski snagged a few records – longest FG to end an overtime in NFL history as well as surpassing Ray Guy to have the most career points in Raider history. Johnnie Lee Higgins and his end zone back flips were a legitimate punt return threat. One of the better season-side acquisitions was picking Justin Miller up off waivers mid-November. He took over duties returning kickoffs, giving us 2 trips to the endzone, finishing the season as the AFC ST Player of the month. If it weren’t for our coverage, the ST squad would get an A.

Closing out 2008 with two back to back wins, including an impressive beat down on the Bucs in Tampa Bay, has left me a little less bitter about this season.

Ownership (Al Davis): F
What were you thinking when you approved those obscene contracts for Tommy Kelly, Javon Walker and DeAngelo Hall? You left Nnamdi a FA AND you drafted McFadden when our RB depth chart was stacked with Justin Fargas, Dominic Rhodes, LaMont Jordan and Michael Bush. Not that McFadden doesn’t have skills, but really… being as IN LOVE with JRuss as you are, weren’t you maybe thinking he should have someone to throw the ball to? Or maybe a big body blocking for him so he would have the chance to throw in the first place. You FAIL.

Head Coaching (Lane Kiffin/Tom Cable): NA
They are talking heads. This would be like grading Katie Couric on the news stories of the day.

QB (JRuss): C-
There are two skill sets that I deem innate when it comes to the QB position. You either have it or you don’t. And that’s vision, reading the field as the play develops, and the other is pure throwing, some guys have a beautiful arm and some don’t. So JRuss has an amazing arm. You can’t learn that. Quick release, tight spiral, speed… all conducive to a great QB. Where he worries me is with his vision, decision making, leadership. I see improvement over last year, but he makes me nervous with every snap. I just don’t know.

WR/TE: C

Zach Miller: A - I love this kid. During camp I predicted he would be the primary offensive target. Zach has great hands, he’s strong as hell, and a solid blocker… easily my favorite player on the team. He and JRuss have a special chemistry. Miller also benefits from the accuracy JRuss has shown in short yardage situations.

Our WR’s are mostly a joke. I like what Rookie Chaz Schilens showed us. He’s got nice size and decent hands. I see potential there. Johnnie Lee Higgins is a firecracker and can make things happen with his evasiveness. He’s fast, but at 5′11″ (and even that might be generous) he’s going to have problems being an effective downfield target in coverage. Drew Carter should be healthy for camp this summer, but he’s been injury prone his entire career. Torn ACL’s in both knees? I’m not too optimistic about his return. Javon Walker wanted to quit. Ronald Curry lost his starting spot. What a mess.

Part 2, coming soon.

Stellar, as usual: during and since their 2000 Super Bowl run, the Ravens have built their team identity on defense.  This year they’re back in familiar form, ranking second in the league in total defense (allowing only 244 yards per game). 

No Burgess, No Problem:  Week 7 marked the breakout of rising star Trevor Scott, filling in for pass rush specialist Derrick Burgess.  Scott recorded two sacks and is expected to start again this week.  Another rookie, Chaz Schilens, got off to a rocky first start at WR, recording only two catches for 10 yards.  Give him a mulligan for his first time out of the gate, but he’ll have to step it up to help Oakland win in Baltimore and keep his starting job. 

Nearing the season’s midpoint, it was reported Thursday (by the Oakland Tribune) that Darren McFadden has experienced another setback in his lingering turf toe injury and may have trouble getting fully healthy this season.  With Ronald Curry absent in the passing game, a theme is developing in Oakland wherein the Raiders will lean heavily on veterans Justin Fargas and Javon Walker for offensive production.   Sunday’s matchup in Baltimore, in which two young quarterbacks face off, is likely to be decided by which signal caller makes fewer mistakes.

Catch 22:  As much as Coach Cable would like to assume a steady diet of running the ball (after an unsuccessful 35 attempts at New Orleans to the tune of 4 yards per attempt), the Jets’ strength, unfortunately, is run defense.   They rank third in the league at 2.9 yards per attempt; only the Steelers and Ravens are better in the trenches at 2.8 YPA.  Nonetheless, look for the Raiders to establish a presence on the ground with Justin Fargas, who has rushed for 517 yards and three touchdowns in his last five home games.  Fargas showed no signs of a nagging injury week 6, but had only ten touches as the Raiders abandoned the run in the second half.

The Pass, Defense:  In order to give their team a chance to win, Hall, Asomugha, Wilson, and Huff must show some of the grit in the defensive backfield that made Oakland one of the league’s top 2007 units.  The Raiders continue to slip, now ranking 25^th in passing defense.

The Pass, Offense: The Raiders top six receivers are a tight end, two runningbacks, a fullback, and their third and fourth receivers.  Noticeably absent from the list are Oakland’s top two wideouts – Javon Walker and Ronald Curry.  The pair drop balls quite routinely of late.  Cable intimated early this week that the team may be due for a shakeup atop the WR depth chart.  Unless Walker can return to his 2006 (or ’04) self, let’s hope that shakeup comes sooner than later and that rookie Chaz Shilens gets an opportunity to prove himself.  Another due shift would move Curry back to the slot where he’s been most effective in past seasons.

The Key: in last week’s installment, the key was improving third down efficiency which the Raiders did (from 24% to 37%) but not to a high enough degree.  This week, Oakland will have to get more involvement and less drops from its wideouts, especially since the battle on the ground promises to be one of attrition.

The press conference held to announce the firing of Lane Kiffin was eye-opening for me. Al Davis is sharp. He remembers every play of every game. He knows exactly what he wants and exactly how his organization should operate. Listening to him talk reminded me of the great Raider teams. His passion for the Raiders makes you want to believe that the return to glory is just around the corner. The sad truth is that over the last 15 years, the game has passed Mr. Davis by. He has us buried in quicksand, and the harder he tries to pull us out, the deeper we get sucked under.

On Sunday, the Raiders were destroyed in New Orleans by the Saints. Drew Brees passed on our defense at will. JRuss looked unsure and hurried, connecting on only 13 of 35 passes. The sole Raider score was a 24 yard FG just 5 minutes into the game.

I’m usually great at finding a silver lining, but today, I see none. Al is large and in charge and his mother lived to the ripe old age of 103. There is no light at the end of this long dark tunnel.

To Pass or Not to Pass? Offensively these two teams couldn’t be more different: the Saints put it in the air 39 times a game (2^nd in the league), but the Raiders pass less per game than any other team. While New Orleans hasn’t quite given up entirely on the run, the Raiders have clearly been a team that is run-committed.

Kiffin foretold in August of possibly 600 rushing attempts on the season. Surprisingly, the Raiders aren’t all that far off that pace (a 520 pace so far) , but we can expect the 33 rushes to 25 passes per game ratio to level off some as Al Davis has both installed a new playcaller and given his unqualified vote of confidence to Jamarcus Russell.

Question is: is this really the right game for the Raiders to go out and get pass happy? Despite a fluke stoppage of Adrian Peterson Monday night, the Saints are far from an elite run-stuffing unit. Injuries up front only exacerbate New Orleans’ liability against the run. The Raiders will be well-served to prescribe healthy doses of Fargas and Michael Bush; controlling the game’s tempo on the ground will be key for the Raiders success.

Mending Fences: from an injury standpoint this is an intriguing point in the season for both teams. Justin Fargas returns to his starting role after Darren McFadden (who may or may not play Sunday) was unable to cement himself in Fargas’ absence.

This week the Saints lost rookie CB Tracy Porter for the season, while another rookie – DT Sedrick Ellis – nurses a two to four week injury. Both rookies were making substantial impacts for the Saints. Unexpectedly, word surfaced Wednesday that both Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey could be active for Sunday’s matchup, a shot in the arm for a passing attack that hardly needed one.

Third Downs: The Raiders success Sunday will hinge largely on their ability to remedy the offense’s abysmal 3^rd down conversion rate (24%, ranked 31^st in the league). Conversely, the Saints offense is third best in the league at converting third downs: a 46% clip. To curtail that efficiency, the Oakland pass rush must bring its A-game to hurry Drew Brees in the pocket.

Oakland vs San Diego, 28-18 LOSS

• The walk across the overpass from BART to the Coliseum a maze of bodies, ticket scalpers and merchandise vendors. There wasn’t much chatter today, and the vibe was tense. A vendor on the right had a display of various Barack Obama pins. A passing fan asked, “Are you doing voter registrations? Can I vote for a new coach?” That got a lot of laughs.
• The next sideshow was the idiot scalper of the day. He was wearing a makeshift sign around his neck advertising the section and seat numbers of the tickets he was scalping. One officer was trying to hold his camera steady, as he held in laughter, in order to take the scalpers photo. No doubt that picture will be making rounds on the Internet soon. The final stretch of the pass crosses over fan parking. The aroma of tailgating fare hit me head on, while Nelly’s “It’s Getting Hot in Here” blasted from a party right below us.
• When I got to my seat I noticed that in every cup holder there was a black pompom courtesy of “Viva Latina” day. Sometimes you have to wonder if the marketing department knows it’s market. Brenda K. Starr, of 80’s pop music “I Still Believe” fame, sang the National Anthem and did a wonderful job.
• The Raiders run onto the field, and when typically only the Offense or defense heads to the Black Hole to be announced, the entire team lined up. Instead of any player being announced by name, they were announced as a unit; the specialists, the kickers, the OLine, WR’s, etc… QB’s were last. And not a single acknowledgment of Lane Kiffin or the coaching staff. I’m sure that was intentional as to not inspire a reaction from the fans.
• One of the slogans this season is, “There is a little Raider in all of us, and on game day we let it out.” It seems as though a lot of us were letting it out in the parking lot because the stands were only about 60% full until deep into the first quarter. In hindsight, they should have come in on time, and left after the 3rd to continue the party. The game fell apart and they stopped serving beer.

Oakland vs Denver, 44-14 LOSS

• We were favored to win the game. On paper, we seemed to have the advantage. Our tough defense could certainly shut down Cutler and his rookie WR, Royal. The game was a sellout. 62,762 fans present to launch our 2008-9 season in appropriate style. The emotions were high, it was truly a Super Bowl like atmosphere.
• Gloria Loring took the field for our National Anthem. Monday Night Football, national television, and for the National Anthem we get Gloria Loring? Now I’m an old school “Days of Our Lives” fan (on which Loring starred as Liz Chanlder for six years), so I have a fondness for Gloria. But “Raider Nation Favorite Gloria Loring”? I think her son, Robin Thicke, would have been a more popular choice. But I digress… Gloria did deliver a lovely version of our National Anthem as local school children unfolded a large flag on the field behind her. The traditional NFL flyover, with missing man formation, followed. Perhaps the upcoming anniversary of 9/11 fed the atmosphere, but the moment gave me goosebumps.
• Raiders loose the coin toss, Denver receives. Their immediate drive, eating our defense alive, and subsequent score was deflating. However, our next possession drove a knife through our collective hearts. JaMarcus Russell fumbled the ball in the redzone, losing a critical opportunity for us to tie the game or at least get some points on the board. His fumble seemed to rattle him pretty badly and our offense never recovered.
• Our best defensive play of the night was Asomugha’s hit on Cutler as he scrambled to get back to the line. Cutler cart wheeled into the air and landed with a thud. Those kinds of hits feel good even when you are down 17-0. I think our big screen replay guy felt we needed to feel good about something, because that hit must have been replayed 6 or 7 times. Thanks, dude.
• I’m sending DeAngelo Hall a bill for $402.09. That is exactly 1/62,762th of the $25,550,000 he has pocketed to date. Our 25 Million Dollar Man got schooled by rookie Eddie Royal to the tune of 146 yards. And to thank us for his warm welcome, Hall gave us two back to back personal fouls. His performance inspired these classic quotes from Warren Sapp, “DeAngelo Hall has been getting burnt since he was in Atlanta. DeAngelo Hall is the flashiest burnt-up corner ever in the history of the game. I mean, he gets burnt more than anybody else, and he all of the sudden is this great Pro Bowl cover corner. I never saw that in DeAngelo Hall.”
• Talk of Kiffin’s firing began sometime in the 3rd Quarter. We have to blame someone… and we know Mr. Davis isn’t going anywhere. And most likely, neither is Rob Ryan. Al Davis was a great NFL Owner. Without Mr. Davis the NFL would not have achieved the status is enjoys today. That’s not a homer view, and that’s not an exaggeration. It’s fact. However, we, as Raider fans, need to know it’s ok to say – OUTLOUD – the man needs to step aside. He’s not only killing his legacy, he’s killing our franchise. There is no dishonor in professing our admiration, gratitude and affection for Mr. Davis. But we don’t need to cosign this insanity anymore.

• I knew when I hopped on BART an hour before the game it was going to be a light crowd. My trip to the Coliseum is usually a close personal experience with my Raider brethren, including spontaneous cattle calls of “Raaaaaaaaaaaiders.” But I had my choice of seats and it felt more like a library than public transportation.
• The Defensive squad is announced. Gibril Wilson gets a modest ovation. DeAngelo Hall gets a roaring ovation. Nnamdi Asomugha is announced last and the Coliseum explodes. We’re a small group tonight, but we’re still an earful.
• There seemed to be a lull on the field when we noticed a montage on the big screen of our beloved #63. When a familiar clip of Eugene Upshaw played, with his taped and muddy hand raising the football in victory, our ovation peaks. We stood together in a moment of silence, a small tribute of respect to one of our greats. At the coliseum, we do well when it comes to being loud together. When it comes to being quiet? Not so much. At first you could hear echoing mumbles followed by a distinct “Shhhhh” – and then we were silent. It was a touching moment. Thank you, Gene.
• Coin flip – we receive. Rackers kicks, Higgins calls the touchback, Oren O’Neal lays squirming on the field and is half carried off.
• JRuss moved the ball well on our opening drive, starting things off with two complete passes to Zach Miller. He was 4-4, we were driving, he eyes Carter open downfield, throws the pass and Drew falls to the turf grabbing his knee in agony.
• In the first two minutes of play, both Drew Carter (a FA WR acquisition from Carolina) and second year FB, Oren O’Neal, go down with injuries and were gone for the game. In Kiffin’s post game interview he delivered the devastating news that they are probably gone for the season with knee injuries. Drew has been playing well and was expected to be our starting WR. Our 5 deep will now likely be Ronald Curry, Javon Walker, Johnnie Lee Higgins, Todd Watkins and Chaz Schilens. The loss of O’Neal is not as easy to put a band aid on. We only have one other true FB on the squad in Justin Griffith. Marcel Reece, the rook out of Washington, isn’t ready to step in. We could look at moving Michael Bush, or even Adimchinobi Echemandu into the role. Echemandu seems to be more physically able to meet the blocking demands of FB. Or we might scan the FA market and sign someone. Either way, Kiffin and Rathman have some work in front of them on this.
• Matt Leinert is not impressive. He may be total eyecandy, and parties like a rockstar, but the boy had zero impact on the field. If Warner doesn’t get the nod as starting QB, I’ll be shocked.
• We fed the ball to McFadden quite a bit, he got more carries than any other RB on the field last night – 12 carries/40 yards. You know what I love about him? He does not stop. There were two runs in particular where he pushed a second or third time before they drug him down. His longest run of the night was 8 yards, but he did that carrying about 3 Cardinals on his back.
• We had the chance to match the Cards on the scoreboard with a FG, but Elling (whom Kiffin referred to as “the other guy” on his post game) hit the upright. So don’t go memorizing his name quite yet.
• First Half Over. Cards 3 – Raiders 0. We’ll stop there, as we could easily have been tied or ahead. But Kiffin was following a specific agenda in order to make squad decisions. He’s got to cut 5 guys after our next game against Seattle, then 27 more the week after.
• As the players headed toward the tunnel at the half, old teammates Derrick Burgess and Roderick Hood found each other and shared a hug.
• The guys who sat behind me were fun. They were only in those seats for this game and obviously just casual Raider fans. They didn’t help with my need to discuss the game but their random comments gave me a laugh now and then; “It sucks that my wife is a cheerleader. Everyone is looking at her, dude.”

Next home game – season opener on Monday night against Denver!!