Raiders Season Predictions

Week by Week

Week 1 - vs Chargers - Raiders win 21-16 - Strong start as Palmer proves his doubters wrong with 3 TD passes.

Week 2 - @ Miami - Raiders win 27-3 - The new defense show their 'top 5' ability with 5 sacks and 3 interceptions.

Week 3 - vs Pittsburgh - Raiders win 14-10 - a tough game but the Raiders come out on top however McFadden goes down with an injury.

Week 4 - @ Denver - Broncos win 28-14 - Peyton shows why the Raiders will need to draft a top CB next year throwing for 4 TDs as the backup RBs have an awful day with 3 fumbles.

Week 5 - Bye - McFadden uses the bye to get back to full health with the Raiders at 3-1.

Week 6 - @Atlanta - Falcons win 40-24 - DMC is back but Palmer can't keep up with the unstoppable Falcons offense.

Week 7 - vs  Jacksonville - Raiders win 20-0 - after giving up 40 points to the Falcons the Raiders D shuts out Gabbert and MJD.

Week 8 - @Kansas - Raiders win  23-20 - Crucial win for the now 5-2 Raiders as a Janikowski kicks a 50 yarder as time expires at Arrowhead.

Week 9 - vs Tampa Bay - Bucs win 16-13 - Slip up for the Raiders as our only TD comes from a Jacoby Ford kick return however he injures himself while celebrating and is out for at least 3 weeks.

Week 10 - @Baltimore - Ravens win 10-6 - Another poor day on offense with Palmer throwing 3 picks and suddenly the Raiders are 5-4.

Week 11 - vs New Orleans - Saints win 28-27 - Painful loss for the Raiders as they are reminded of the defeat to the Lions last year as Brees pulls of a 99 yard game ending TD drive to beat the .500 Raiders.

Week 12 - @Cincinnati - Raiders win 31-20 - Palmer destroys his old team with 400 yards passing and 3 TDs

Week 13 - vs Cleveland - Raiders win 17-16 - Scrappy game but still a W as the Raiders move to 7-5 on the first of a run of 3 home games

Week 14 - vs Denver - Raiders win 24-7 - Crucial win against the division rivals after Peyton goes down injured in the first quarter and Dmac runs wild for 212 yards and 3 TDs

Week 15 - vs Kansas - Chiefs win 17-10 - Bad game for RBs as both Charles and McFadden go down injured with the Raiders at 8-6

Week 16 - @Carolina - Panthers win 21-6 - Raiders look lost without McFadden and go to 8-7 with 1 game to play against the Chargers, seem familiar anyone?

Week 17 - @San Diego - McFadden is a game time decision and to everyone's surprise he plays! A stalemate in the first quarter, Raiders need the win to clinch a playoff berth while the Chargers are just playing to beat us after a poor 5-10 season so far. Its 14-14 at end of the 3rd, tension is at a maximum. Chargers get a FG with exactly 2 minutes remaining to go up 17-14. Carson Palmer will have to play the best 2 minute drive in Raider history and he does with a touchdown to DHB as time expires wins it. Greg Papa is heard all around the world as the Raiders win 21-17 to clinch a playoff berth.

AFC West

Denver  11-5
Raiders  9-7 (Wildcard)
Chiefs  8-8
Chargers  5-11

Playoffs
Manning is Injured and the Broncos get knocked out first round and unfortunately so do the Raiders but it was a season the Raider Nation will never forget!!

Do the Raiders really need Chris Cooley?

Yesterday (Aug 28) the Redskins announced that they will release veteran tight end Chris Cooley. Cooley has played his whole career in Washington after being selected in the third round of the 2004 NFL draft. Cooley was very productive during his eight seasons with the Redskins recording 428 receptions for 4,703 yards and making 2 Pro-Bowls but has missed time in recent years due to Injury. However Mike Shanahan noted that health was not the reason Cooley was cut and that he can still be productive elsewhere in the NFL and that it was "tight end competition" that forced the move.

The Raiders are a possible suitor for Cooley and Raider-Nation seems very keen on this move. The Raiders are inexperienced at tight end and Gregg Knapp's offense likes to utilise tight ends so it would seem logical to grab Cooley as there will not be a better player at the position than him available.

Unfortunately I do not see this move happening, It seems the perfect addition but for some strange reason I do not think it will happen. Firstly the Raiders declined the opportunity do go after Kellen Winslow Jr. when the Bucs wanted to get rid of him showing that the Raiders are not that desperate for a TE. While Brandon Myers, Richard Gordan and David Ausberry are not top-tier TE's I think they will do the job nicely and have been helped lots this off-season by Knapp and Al Saunders. Furthermore Cooley is not a top-tier TE any more and has clearly lost some talent. Another question mark is if it would make financial sense, Cooley has hired a top agent and will not want to play for a veterans minimum and we all know how tight the Raiders are with cap space. Lastly for some reason I just cannot see Cooley in the Silver and Black and who would we cut? Gordan, Myers and Ausberry are all fairly equal and developmental guys, it would be hard to choose who to loose.

After saying all that, the Raiders will probably go out and get him but I'm sorry Raider Nation, I just don't see this move happening.

Top 100 players of 2012 - Where is Seymour?

I didn't really pay much attention to this years 'Top 100 Players' list complied by the players. Last year there were lots of questionable picks and some strange placings for some players. The same is also true for this year.

The only raider represented in the list was Darren McFadden who came in at no.60, 38 places higher than his ranking of 98 last year and this pleasantly surprised me. I'm happy the players are starting to realise what a threat Run DMC is and I think 60 is about right for Dmac, the 9th highest RB on the list. After McFadden I was sure we would see Seymour as the next raider on the list but to my and everybody else's surprise Seymour was left out. Big Rich was ranked no.66 last year and after another strong, pro-bowl season I was sure he would be on the list and even crack the top 50 but nope. He was left out while players like Tim Tebow and John Kuhn got in.

How, Why and for What reason? Some fans say he is ageing and losing a step but surely the players of all people must realise he can still beat 1 on 1's with ease and get to the Quarterback on a regular basis. Either the NFL have got it out for the Raiders and left his name off the voting list or the players are all just going insane. Either way, Seymour is not going to be one happy bunny after hearing of this and I fully expect him to be as good as ever next year and prove all the players wrong!

Best team in AFC West?

Excluding the Raiders (As I am inclined to say they are the best) , going into the 2012 season who is the best team in the AFC west?

The Broncos? - The Broncos won the division on a tie-breaker last year and now have this new quarterback called Peyton something.. The Broncos won most of their games last year due to Dennis Allen, their defense and Matt Prater. With the addition of Manning on offense most people will assume that Denver are now the best team in the AFC west. Along with Manning, Tracy Porter, Joel Dreessen and Jacob Tamme are just a few of the other free agents Denver brought in. However Denver had a quiet draft, even trading out of the first round and there is no one from their draft that stands out as an immediate starter. In addition the loss Brodrick Bunkley is massive, he was very important to the Broncos defense. Denver got lucky with Tebow last year. Had Kyle Ortan remained the starter the Broncos would have had a losing record and even with Manning I don't see Denver winning any more than 10 games this year.

The Chargers? - The Chargers had a late resurgence last year to finish 8-8 and spoiling the Raiders chances to win the division. The Chargers have a good team and many are saying that San Diego improved the most out of any team in free agency and the 2012 NFL draft. I'm not sure that is quite the case as although they added Robert Meachem, Jarret Johnson among others and came up big in the draft grabbing highly rated LB Melvin Ingram they did lose key players like Vincent Jackson and Mike Tolbert. Furthermore while adding talent to positions like OLB and WR they didn't really do much to help where they were weakest last year, the O-Line and Cornerback and until they address those key positions I don't see them making a playoff run. Phil Rivers will quickly become agitated and without Jackson, he will have another poor year. I expect the Chargers to finish about where they did last year at 8-8.

The Chiefs? - Kansas City were very unlucky last year losing several key players to injury early on in the season. However they still went on to finish 7-9. The Chiefs are a bit of a mystery, with Jamaal Charles back in the backfield and a healthy Matt Cassel who knows what they could achieve. They have also had a successful offseason picking up Peyton Hillis and Eric Winston as well as former Raiders Stanford Routt and Kevin Boss. There is a strong possibility that the chiefs could go from worst to first in the division this year and if they stay healthy they could easily get 10+ wins.

Two years ago the Raiders went 6-0 in the division. This year I don't see why the Raiders cannot repeat that however it will be hard. All teams have aspects of their game that if used effectively could dismantle the Raiders team and all 6 games will be close.

To answer the question 'Who is the best team in the AFC west excluding the Raiders?' I would have to say the Chiefs followed by the Broncos and then the Chargers. All 3 teams are close in talent and I wouldn't be surprised if come the end of the year, the teams will be ranked in reverse order.

The Oakland Raiders Soccer Team

Being English I have grown up watching Soccer, or football as we call it over here, and it is only recently that I have started watching American Football. It is just a week to go till the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament and it has got everyone over here very excited. England will probably have another disappointing campaign but I also wondered what American Football players would be like playing soccer. This being a Raiders blog, I have decided to name a team of Raiders players and their positions if they were to switch over to soccer.




Goalkeeper - Denarius Moore - D.Moore has the ability to adjust to the throw which will help him at Goalkeeper.  While he is not the tallest option, I still put him at GK due to his hands which glue to the ball (Just look at his fingertip catch) and his arm length is 33 in which is longer than most other receivers.

Central Defenders - Tyvon Branch and Jared Veldheer - Branch will be very good at reading the play and dealing with corners and crosses into the box. On the other hand Veldheer, who is 6'8", will be an intimidating and physical obstruction to opposing attackers and he will help protect the goal like he protects Palmer's blind side.

Fullbacks - DeMarcus Van Dyke and Chimdi Chekwa - The Future (fingers-crossed) for the Raiders at CB. Both DVD (4.28) and Chekwa (4.40) are incredibly fast and both can defend from opposing attacks as well as having the ability to push forward, speeding down the wing and helping with the attack.

Center Midfielders - Darren McFadden and Shane Lechler - McFadden will open up defences with his all-round ability and play making skills setting up many goal scoring plays and scoring a few as well. Lechler is the David Beckham of this team. He has got experience and a very good shot on him.

Wingers - Jacoby Ford and Darrius Heyward-Bey - Both quick receivers than will use their speed to their advantage while playing soccer. Jacoby will use some flash skills to get round defenders and Heyward Bey might be better suited to soccer as he won't have to use his hands which have been a headache for Raiders fans since we drafted him !

Forwards - Sebastian Janikowski and Terrelle Pryor - Seabass will play the role of the strong power forward who has the strength to run through defenders and has a very powerful shot, a bit like Wayne Rooney (He looks like him too!). Pryor will play in a role more similar to Lionel Messi and he will be the one providing all the assists and doing all the hard work.

Surprise players that will make it onto the final 53-man roster

There is still a lot of training camps and preseason games to go before the Raiders have to trim their roster down to 53 players. However after what I've heard after the first few OTA's and just from a gut feeling I think that these relatively unknown players will make it onto the final roster.

Rod Streater WR - The Raiders are deep at WR and I can see us having 6 wideouts on our final roster. 5 of them are obvious choices but the sixth is a question mark. It could go to Eddie McGee, Thomas Mayo or Duke Calhoun among others but I think it will be Rod Streater that steps up and grabs the place. Eddie McGee  has been working out with Palmer and is the favourite but from what I hear from OTA's Streater hasn't dropped a catch yet. While there isn't any contact yet, OTA's do show glimpses of what a player will be like and just look at this catch from his college days. Streater will be the first surprise to make the Roster.

Lucas Nix G - Nix was one of the best UDFA out there and at 6'5", 317 lb he won't be hard to miss on the practice field. Nix fell out of the draft due to his knee injury keeping him inactive in 2011 but has been said to possess a 'mean streak' and will be playing as hard as possible to get that roster spot. I think the Raiders take him on because of his ability to play center and his size and talent.

Kaelin Burnett LB - Both Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen have been talking about wanting players who are versatile or as Coach Allen calls it 'multiple'. Burnett played both LB and DE in college and is just what the new-look Raiders are looking for. I also see the Raiders having at least 7 LBs on the final roster so Burnett who was very productive in college is almost certain to make the roster.

Aaron Henry S - I see Henry beating out Matt Giordano for a roster spot as he will be a lot more productive on special teams and is probably the better player. Like Nix, Henry was one of the top players to go undrafted and chose the Raiders over the Cowboys, Browns and Lions. Henry was selected to the 2011 All-Big Ten First Football Team and is just what the Raiders need. As well as making the Roster, I like Henry to be very productive for the Raiders this year and I see him as a future star.

Brian Banks - Why the Oakland Raiders should give this former High School Star a tryout

Most Raiders fans have probably never heard of Brain Banks. Once a top ranked Linebacker recruit who was awarded a scholarship to play college football at USC. However in 2003 he pleaded no-contest at the age of 16 to a rape charge. 9 years later, Brain, now 26 has been exonerated from that rape charge that he was actually wrongly accused of.

According to the 'Brian Banks' website, Banks is now training again with his dream to become an NFL player revitalised. "I want to reinvent myself" Brain says, "Professional football will be the first of many notably accomplishments of my life post-exoneration".

Banks is a 6'3'', 245-pound Linebacker that has not played football in a decade. However with McClain likely out for most of the season and the Middle Linebacker position a big question mark It would be worth a gamble giving Banks, who obviously has a lot of talent, a tryout at least. He boasts a 4.5 forty time and has the size to be an NFL player so why not? Reggie McKenszie has made a thing of adding 'good guys' to the Raiders roster this offseason and after all he has gone through, Banks is a humble and hard-working guy. There is a 99% chance that it turns out he doesn't have the skills for the pro-game but there is that 1% that just might be what the Raiders need. Banks deserves the chance to prove himself and this could be the feel-good story of the year.

Visit brianbanks.org for more information on this incredible story and watch the emotional official trailer for the upcoming documentary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfnDfQsjbJQ&sns=tw