Alright Raider Nation, welcome in to your 2014 regular season preview for the Oakland Raiders presented by yours truly. All 4 preseason games are in the books and a lot is on the line heading into season 3 of the McKenzie-Allen era. The way the Raiders headed into the offseason, they added a lot of guys that display veteran leadership, what it takes to win, and motivation to prove they have something left at the tail end of their careers, then in the draft they focused on building towards the future and selecting the best player available that can help them now. During the first three preseason games, the Raiders didn't look like they were ready enough to face the difficult schedule ahead of them, but after last night's win over the defending Super Bowl champs might've boosted some confidence that hey the team doesn't care if the opposing team is one of the NFL's elite, Super Bowl contender, or Super Bowl champ, they will compete their hearts out to prove experts wrong.
Let's look at the Raiders' offense. A much better QB situation, healthy, bigger offensive line, potential dynamic running back duo, and solid receiving corps. The way the offensive line was built displayed the identity on offense that the Raiders are going to be a run first team and they will run it until the defense can stop them. Yes, the loss of Jared Veldheer still hurts because Donald Penn is known for his run blocking rather than his pass protection; let's not forget Penn gave up a high number of sacks for the first time in his career, but he's only a short term solution. It's obvious this team is grooming Menelik Watson to play that left tackle spot in the future and rookie guard Gabe Jackson is an absolute steal and I'm hoping he beat out Barnes for that left guard spot. Overall, the O-line is a lot better than last season to say the least. At the QB spot, man even though it's better, it's a tough decision for DA to decide who the starting QB is, but the way I saw it in the preseason, it should come down between Derek Carr and Matt McGloin. Yeah we traded for Matt Schaub, but Schaub hasn't done much in the preseason to convince us that he has his confidence back, he hasn't even thrown his first TD as a Raider yet, but Carr has and that's saying something. Looking at Carr's performance last night, I think out of the QBs in this draft class, he's more ready based on his drive to win and his leadership around the offense. I think being passed up in the first round and being unfairly compared to his brother David is going to give Derek the job because the way I saw him play against the Seahawks looked like he has something to prove, he wants to prove he can help the Raiders win now rather than later. Moving on to the running backs, MJD, DMC; almost 4 years ago, these two put on a rushing clinic in Jacksonville and when healthy, they can be a deadly 1-2 tandem. Out of the two, DMC has a lot more on his shoulder. 1 year contract, maybe the last time they'll let him don the S&B, injury-plagued seasons, MJD taking away his spot, no excuses for McFadden to injure himself and stay off the field for a long period of time or he can kiss his 2nd string position goodbye to Latavius Murray. Receiving corps-wise, they say the Raiders need a primary go to guy. I say look at the Saints offense or the Packers offense, they don't revolve around a #1 receiver, sure Brees has Graham, sure Rodgers has Nelson, but they distribute the ball evenly to each receiver in the passing game. Streater, D. Moore, Jones, Holmes, Butler/Little, and Rivera and hopefully Ausberry as security blankets, the receiving corps will be fine.
On the defensive side: pass rushers, pass rushers everywhere, in and out secondary. Losing Lamarr Houston was a big loss definitely, but the Raiders replaced him with three proven pass rushers in Justin Tuck, LaMarr Woodley, Antonio Smith, drafted a stud in Khalil Mack, moved Sio Moore to the weak side. Lack of pass rushing was a big concern last season, but that's what Reggie McKenzie emphasized on when retooling this front seven. On paper the front seven is great, Tuck, Sims, Smith, Woodley, Moore, Roach, Mack, I like that front seven. If the Raiders had this front seven and mixed it with last year's secondary, they would've been a top 10 defense for sure. And this brings me to the next topic, the secondary. The most concerning position in the secondary is definitely the cornerback position. D.J. Hayden, out for who knows how many games, Tarell Brown, got burned many times this preseason against first team offenses. Neiko Thorpe, T.J. Carrie will they make the team? Should the Keith McGill project speed up? Let's rewind back to D.J. Hayden. I'm not saying I'm completely giving up on the D.J. Hayden experiment, he's just on a trend of bad luck injuries since his heart trauma, but it's McKenzie's biggest reach to take him in the 1st round when the Raiders needed to fill more important roster holes. Unless Hayden comes back and becomes the shut down corner they drafted with little memorization of the playbook, he's been a disappointment so far and the depth the Raiders have in the cornerback position is putting big smiles on Rivers, Manning, Smith and their receivers' face because they know that the cornerback position is vulnerable and C-Wood and Tyvon Branch cannot guarantee safety help on time.
Onto the regular season schedule, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, that schedule probably came from Hell itself. From an expert view, the most possible wins are Cleveland and Buffalo and the rest of the schedule is all losses. From my view, this Raider team is competitive enough to snatch a few wins among the elite. The past Raider teams from the last decade would probably pack it in, call it quits, and lock on that top pick if they had a schedule like that, but this team has a lot of winning veterans on this roster and they will give the team a reason to not be afraid and keep playing their hearts out. It is a given Denver is still the AFC West king, but I am not scared of the Chiefs, they haven't done much this offseason, I am not scared of the Chargers, the Raiders proved they could hang with them. The NFC West is definitely a scary conference, but the Rams lost Sam Bradford, history has shown that Carson Palmer doesn't have a good track record against the Raiders, the last preseason game against the Seahawks is a confidence booster heading in to face them again with the 12th man, and Week 14 is a potential trap game for the Niners because both Seahawks games are sandwiched in between the Battle of the Bay game. Overall the schedule is difficult, but it is not impossible to overcome.
In conclusion, I believe in this team, the Raider Nation believes in this team. Reggie McKenzie has done a great job giving us hope with his offseason moves and draft strategy this year and now it's time for Dennis Allen to do the same. 4-12, double digit losses is not an option anymore. I'd say at best in order for DA to save his job, he needs to take the Raiders to a 7-9 or 8-8 record to clearly show that progress is being made under the new regime. I think we have a competitive Raiders team, we just need a few more pieces to even talk playoffs or the Super Bowl, but that's just my realistic point of view. This is potentially the last season in Oakland considering the Raiders one year lease at the coliseum. If the Raiders are seriously considering shocking the football world this season after nearly 12 years of futility and frustration among us fans and give the city of Oakland a lasting memory, they need to compete their hearts out and they need to, above all else, "just win baby." GO RAIDERS! ALL IN!
Week 1 @ NY Jets, Q-by-Q reaction, Halftime Post, and Full Recap on Sunday, September 7, 10:00 AM Pacific Time
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