Oakland Raiders great George Atkinson #43

Oakland Raiders Superbowl Ring

Former Oakland Raiders great George Atkinson #43 lit the Torch in memory of late owner Al Davis before the start of an NFL football game between the Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012.

The Raiders Quarterback: Carson Palmer

Oakland Raiders Quarterback Tom Flores

When I began watching the Raiders we had Jamarcus. Then there was Gradkowski, Frye, Losman, Boller, and even Pryor took one snap.

They all sucked.

When Carson Palmer came to the Raiders we finally had a chance.

2011 imploded, and the best team in the division lost the tiebreaker in first place, so the broncs went to the playoffs.

The death of Al, the most penalties in football history and the most injuries in our division made it a lost season, and a lost chance to achieve something good.

2012 has started off poorly.  How anyone can blame Carson is beyond me. Least picks in the division, 400 yards a game, playing his heart out. This guy is our best QB in 10 years. It’s really not his fault that our team can’t seem to catch a pop fly out in the open.

When Knapp dynamited our Offense and installed his own playbook, Raiders started from scratch.  The result so far has been 1 win and 4 losses. That is entirely on the coaching staff, and Raider fans are pissed. We had a good team at the end of 2011 and these guys chucked it in the trash.

Carson Palmer is a great player and a good leader for the Raiders. If he can’t do it, I just don’t see how anyone can.

Los Angeles Raiders Quarterback Jim Plunkett #16

Raiders have played their worst games of the season and will continue to improve as the year goes on.  I suspect we will make up games against the AFCNorth, Palmer’s old enemies. No one knows their defenses better than he does.  We will exploit this knowledge, and there is a good possibility that we go 4-0 against them, giving us a chance to get back in this division race.

The AFCWest is weak, but the Raiders are not yet strong. This weekend needs to change that!

GO RAIDERS!

Second Quarter Begins: Against the NFC South

The second quarter of our season has begun. The first quarter was a failure, going against 4 old rivals, we were only able to defeat one of them.

Raiders Quarterback #3 Daryl Lamonica

The second quarter is composed almost entirely of the NFC South teams and the KC Chiefs.

The Falcons defeated the Raiders 23-20 in an great game that was down to the final seconds.  It could have easily gone either way.

Penalties returned with a vengeance along with the old refs.  But Raiders played with heart. As Tim Brown said, he expects the 2012 Raiders to play their best games in the second half of the season. This game showed how possible it could be for Raiders to achieve something this season.

We’ve been average for two years in a row trying to take that forward step.  Going 1-4 to start the year is not what we were hoping for. But AFCWest division foes are also sure to lose a few games, so the Raiders are still in the fight.

Raiders versus Falcons

How we fare against the rest of the NFC South will determine the Raider season.  Either rise to the level of a good team or sink back to badness again.

I trust Reggie to lead us down the right path, adding small parts to improve the team on a weekly basis. If we keep heading in this direction, Raider will be back sooner than anyone thought…