How long until the Oakland Raiders are good again?
By Dan Salem
Credit: Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports
How long until the Oakland Raiders are good again? Coach fired, rookie quarterback injured, and a swath of losses heading into their bye. The Raiders need help. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in part one of this week’s TD Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream and debate the NFL and sports.
TODD:
The Oakland Raiders are guaranteed not to lose a football game week five of the NFL season.
At 0-4, having just fired their head coach Dennis Allen, a week without a loss is a god’s send. Unfortunately, the reprieve from losing stems from Oakland being on a bye traveling back from the throttling it took in London.
Glancing at the remaining 2014 schedule seems fruitless. Whether this team wins one game, two games, three games, or never wins at all, it doesn’t matter. This year is lost. It’s about having the young players get better.
But how long until the Oakland Raiders are good again? It wasn’t THAT long ago that this team made the Super Bowl with Rich Gannon, right? That happened this century.
Taking a peak through the roster, there are reasons to be optimistic.
Derek Carr, although injured now, has looked competent through his first month in the NFL. His completion percentage is solid, but he’s not throwing downfield enough. That could be because he’s not comfortable in the pocket yet, his line isn’t giving him enough time or his receivers aren’t making plays past 20 yards. Whatever the case, if his arm is strong enough to compete in this league, that is a fixable problem.
The real problem with this offense are the skill players. The wide receivers are generating nothing right now. I have no idea what happened to Denarius Moore and Rod Streater. These were solid weapons just last year. Streater, although now injured, saw 100 targets in 2013. And Moore was good last year and even better the season before, where he saw 115 targets. Not to mention James Jones and Vincent Brown, talented guys brought in from the Packers and Chargers respectively. These were players defenses had to pay attention to.
Maybe it’s just a case of opponents have no respect at all for Oakland’s running game. The team is averaging 3.4 yards per carry, and that doesn’t seem likely to improve even with Maurice Jones-Drew back to “full strength.” Luckily for the Raiders, running back is the easiest position to fill and improve at.
On the defensive side, there are already pieces in place for the future. Khalil Mack and Sio Moore seem like young linebackers with a future in this league. LaMarr Woodley is still only 29 years old. Tyvon Branch is a good safety if he returns to 100 percent next season.
The odd juxtaposition with Oakland is that they employ a number of elderly defenders. Charles Woodson, Justin Tuck and Carlos Rodgers are not going to be in the picture when this team is ready to compete. That doesn’t mean much for the future other than they will all need to be replaced pretty soon.
For most teams in this league, turnarounds can happen in one offseason if the right moves are made. Is Oakland in a different boat? Does the figurative stink of Al Davis still linger? A lot depends on who they hire as the new head coach. There are pieces here to like. Not a ton, but a few. I could see the Raiders being good again in time for divisional foe Peyton Manning’s retirement.
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DAN:
I want to go on the record as saying that firing your coach during the first half of the NFL season is asinine. The Oakland Raiders just spit in their fans’ faces again. For most teams this would be unheard of, but for the Raiders it almost feels predictable.
I understand if a general manager fires a head coach in the offseason. This makes sense. I also understand if they fire their coach after week ten. The fate of your season is decided if you suck and getting a head start by elevating an assistant to see what he’s got, or by simply opening the door to outside hires, is a positive. You are accepting reality and getting ahead in the new coach arena. But in week four? Seriously?
Dennis Allen did not do well in his two and a quarter seasons as the Raider’s head coach. He went 8-28, an atrocious record for a team with lots to like. However, he was not fired after two 4-12 seasons. He was given the opportunity again this season with a new rookie quarterback. An opportunity I assumed to rebuild, groom Carr, and build for the future. Apparently I was wrong. After four losses he is out. What sense is there in that?
The Raiders replaced Allen on an interim basis with the man who was his assistant head coach for the last season and a quarter, for four wins and sixteen losses. Tony Sparano is a good NFL coach, but the jury is out on whether he is a good head coach. He had one winning season in Miami. How does this help the Oakland Raiders?
If I had not watched the Raiders play in week one, I would say they are years away from being good enough to have a winning record. That the year Peyton Manning retires, be it in one, two, or three seasons, is not nearly enough time to right this sinking ship. But I did watch the Raiders play and what I saw was a solid work in progress.
Derek Carr looked like a leader with the abilities to win in the NFL. He’s a rookie, but he had starting quarterback moxy and skill as opposed to backup QB tendencies. The defense played well too. Granted this was all against the New York Jets who have yet to prove if they can be a good team, but the Raiders were not a lost cause.
Now, three losses later, they are completely done? They played the New England Patriots to the wire in week three and have only been at home once this season. But this team is finished?
I never thought the Raiders were a playoff team this season, never thought they would be 8-8 or 9-7. But firing the coach after week four helps no one. Let the young players develop with consistency at the coaching position. This Raiders team can finish at 9-7 next year, certainly the year after. I don’t think it takes until Manning retires to make the Black Hole formidable. Unless Peyton is done after this season, then the two align.