Category Raiders

Week Seven: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Week 7 was another week of football where there are a few key injuries to star players. Brandon Aiyuk is said to have a Torn ACL. DeShaun Watson is rumored to have an Achilles Tear. Both of these two are likely done for the year. In lesser injury news, Aidan O’Connell broke his thumb. He’ll probably be out for at least a month. Injuries notwithstanding, here are my good, bad, and ugly:

Good: The Raiders defense showed marked improvement. Yes, they allowed 20 points. All of the points they surrendered, including the scoop-and-score, were the fault of a pathetic offense. More on that later. Honorable Mention: Russell Wilson still has it.

Bad: The injuries are a noteworthy mention but I’ll have to say that the Patriots have seen better days...

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Week Six, Good, Bad, and Ugly

Week Six was a sign that teams need quarterbacks and coaching to play in the NFL. Here are my good, bad, and ugly this week:

The Good: I could go with the LA Chargers or the Atlanta Falcons, but after everything the Buccaneers went through this week with the hurricane, I’m going with them. Honorable mentions (besides the teams I mentioned above): Green Bay crushing Arizona, Houston over the Patriots, Indianapolis over Tennessee.

The Bad: Dallas Cowboys being beaten by Detroit on their owner’s birthday. One thing in life all should know is not to make your boss mad on his birthday. Other Noteworthy Mentions: Cleveland losing to Philadelphia, Washington losing to Baltimore, Jacksonville losing to the Bears.

The Ugly: The Raiders offense and offensive coordinator and previous GM Dave Ziegler ...

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Week Five, Good, Bad, and Ugly

Week five was a banger, that is, if you like low-scoring games and lack of offense. There are at least five teams who, offensively, can’t get their heads out of their rectums. Quarterback play in a bunch of these games has been dreadful. What we are seeing, world, is not a rebirth of greatness on the defensive side of the ball, it is an illusion because the offenses are lackluster. Anyway, here are my good, bad, and ugly for Week 5.

Good: Atlanta being one exception to the rule. Their come from behind overtime win against Tampa Bay. Bo Nix shredding apart Las Vegas’ defense, the New York Giants winning with defense, the Vikings looked like they’re favorites in the NFC to go to the Super Bowl, and Miami beating an awful Patriots team.

The Bad: San Francisco...

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Week Four, the Good, Bad, and Ugly

Week four is (mostly) in the books, but I am here to discuss the undercard of each week, that being the 1 pm and 4 pm ET games. The main card is tonight and tomorrow night. The day featured games like the Chicago Bears defeating the LA Rams, the Las Vegas Raiders holding on to beat the Cleveland Browns (more on that game later), and the New England Patriots getting crushed by the San Francisco 49ers. Here are the takeaways from Week Four of the season:

Good: The Raiders showed they have a pulse when they narrowly escaped with a win vs. the Browns. Last week they flatlines but Coach’s criticism acted as a defibrillator and it must have succeeded because, even without their best offensive player and defensive player, among other key pieces, they took care of business...

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Week Three Good, Bad, and Ugly

Week three shows us even dreadful teams, like the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos, can rise from the ashes of the land of zero wins, and upset decent teams, like the Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Neither of the latter two teams looked decent today, but do either of them deserve my scarlet letter? Here we go:

Good: The Los Angeles Rams. They managed to beat an excellent San Francisco 49ers team that had a great day from their quarterback. Honorable Mentions: Carolina Panthers decisive victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles beating the New Orleans Saints, and the Green Bay Packers crushing the woeful Tennessee Titans.

Bad: The Cleveland Browns losing to the dreadful New York Giants...

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Week 2 Good, Bad, and Ugly

Week two of the NFL season was known for not being good for the heavy favorites. Upsets ran the day. Here are the good, bad, and ugly this week:

Good: The New Orleans Saints. They dismantled the Dallas Cowboys and Derek Carr is making Raider Nation think “Why did we cut him last year?” Alvin Kamara was solid while the defense held the Cowboys to only one touchdown. Honorable Mentions: Arizona crushes the Rams; Las Vegas comes from ten down in the fourth quarter to stun Baltimore.

Bad: The New York Giants decision to go for the two point conversion twice when they didn’t have to...

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Week 1 Takeaways

Here are my three Takeaways from this weekend’s NFL Action

The Good: The Chargers are for real. In the second half of Sunday’s game vs. the Raiders, they demonstrated why many are convinced that this team is going to the playoffs. The defense, who I thought was terrible, proved me wrong when they held the Raiders to ten points and the offense took advantage of a defense who couldn’t stay off the field for most of the game.

The Bad: Caleb Williams’ efficiency. His only saving grace were the Bears’ defense and special teams, who scored a touchdown each in their win. I saw him miss three deep passes long. If he wants to be in the Hall of Fame he should spend some time on his timing.

The Downright Ugly: The Panthers effort...

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Three preseason Lamentations of the 2024 Preseason

Welcome to my inaugural edition of preseason Lamentations. On this topic I will pick three teams who I now project to be worse (or better) than I expected at the start of the preseason.

BETTER: Cincinnati Bengals. They have the one QB not named Tom Brady who has defeated Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs. The defense is passable, so they’ll be in the mix to win the AFC North.

WORSE: Las Vegas Raiders. Great defense, great coach, but no consistent QB. To his credit Gardner Minshew almost led the Colts to the playoffs, but I went from 11-6 to 9-8 with slim playoff hopes with this team.

BETTER: Carolina Panthers. QB Bryce Young is showing signs of improvement and the RBs and receivers are improving as well...

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2024 NFL Draft Grades (for the Raiders Only)

Here are my final grades for the Raiders’ picks in the 2024 NFL Draft: (NOTE: Undrafted FA signings are NOT included in this analysis).

Day 1: A+

Day 2: B+

Day 3: B-

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Raiders FA scenarios and Draft implications

Well, 2022 didn’t go as expected for the silver and black. Back to the drawing board.

Legend has it that Tom Brady wants to be a Raider. Two days ago I tweeted that if that were to happen I wouldn’t support the team for as long as he was a Raider, but I am having second thoughts… if they re-sign Josh Jacobs at all costs. I’d rather have Brady and Jacobs than no Brady and no Jacobs. But as for the quarterback position goes, I’d rather have Aaron Rodgers, Jimmy Garappolo, or Lamar Jackson sign with the Raiders over Brady. Rodgers is still in his prime, Garappolo seems to know only how to win. Lamar Jackson is the most electrifying QB since Randall Cunningham. In terms of financial sense, Jackson is commanding the most and Garappolo would be a bargain.

In terms of the draft, if they get any o...

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