Gawd, I remember that Giants game. That's a bummer about Hester. We've got a kid like him in Washington - Brandon Banks - who is a lights-out return man, but I don't see him panning out at WR. His biggest obstacle is his lack of size - 5'7", 155 pounds. That's just too small for a WR in the NFC East (if not every division). The Redskins also screwed the pooch on their O-line in the off season. They haven't signed any good free agents and didn't do much in the draft to help themselves. I expect that we're not going to have much of a rushing attack and Robert Griffin III is going to be running for his life all season. On the upside, I don't need to tell you what an upgrade RGIII will be from Rex Grossman, the pop-gun interception-throwing machine...
The Jets need to get their ground game back on track. Sanchez is going to have another rough year if they don't...
That is what everyone expects and may very well be true in most cases, but the element of surprise is always a useful tool.
I like to keep my mouth shut until game one, that's when I know if the Raiders got a snowballs chance in hell to win any games. they are easy to analyze since they run the same defense and offense every single year.
Let's talk about ol Norv Turner for a second, the BUM. He was horrible with Raiders as he is now with the Chargers. you Chargers fans should've ran that guy outta town the first season yall didn't win it all with him. he's such an underachiever. he was the same way with the Raiders. terrible. We gave him ONE YEAR and that's all he deserved too. sooooooooo terrible. Chargers are going on 6 years with this loser....WHY? Let's see, since he joined the Chargers in 2007: 1. He ran off Drew Brees (Superbowl Champ now with a ring) 2. He had the BEST TE in Gates and wouldn't use him enough. 3. He just ran off Vincent Jackson 4. He ran off LT to the Jets 5. He made Jr. Seau so depressed, he had to change teams to sniff a Superbowl appearance with the Patriots. 6. His playcalling is that of a 12 year old. you know where he's going every down. 7. He doesn't know how to motivate his team. just talks in montone lame jargon. He's the worst coach in the NFL pound for pound hands down in my opinion. No other coach had so many weapons on so many teams and couldn't do jacksquat with none of them.
He didn't do much in Washington, either. I think the 'Skins went to the playoffs once with him in 1999, and then little Danny Snyder sent Brad Johnson off to Tampa Bay where he won a Super Bowl. The "Skins haven't been the same since Jack Kent Cook died...
The Raiders were my favorite team during the Madden era, so I'd like to see them do well again. They looked pretty good last year before McFadden got hurt, and regardless of what anyone has to say about Carson Palmer, he's an upgrade from Jason Campbell. Campbell used to drive me nuts in DC - he has a bad habit of holding on to the ball waaaaaay too long...
I've been a Raiders fan since dirty diapers, but I'm like you now, I wanna jump ship sometimes and become a ....*gulp*...Steelers fan like my Ol'Man. and yes, Palmer is still serviceable but that West Coast offense might get him killed if hedoesn't speed up his after-hike steps.
LOL - Don't do it, man!! Gawd, I HATE the West Coast offense, and that system doesn't seem to suit Palmer's skill set. I'll take an offense with a power running game and vertical passing attack over that dink-and-dunk crap any day...
And it really pisses me off to see all of Rivers' talent being squandered under such an awful, awful coach. Rivers has the talent and work ethic to be an elite QB. The only thing that is really keeping him from that title, is that the Chargers never do well in the off-season, and under-perform in the regular season. The guy posted 3 consecutive 100+ QBR, in his first 3 years as a starter. At the start of last years season, he was holding the record for highest career QBR ever. And if he stays with the Chargers, he's going to end up without a Superbowl ring. And it's a (*)(*)(*)(*)ed shame.
I don't hate it....I just hate the sorry ass QB's they draft to run it every time. If we had Aaron Rogers or Eli Manning, or Drew Brees we'd have trophy #4 going on #5 right now. but no, they let the Cal boy get away to the frozen tundra and he was in our backyard. !!!!! I hate the scouting click in Oakland, they SUCK! Raiders offense is built on speed and if the slowest guy on the team is the QB, that's not good..lol..we need a QB with good SPEED and field vision. last guy Campbell had the vision, just not the speed and release after the hike..sack!...wack! no legs.. we took Pryor from Ohio state and he's MIA...WTF!!!!
I can't say I've been terribly impressed with the Raiders' scouting and front office lately. Darren McFadden was a great pick-up, but then you look at JeMarcus Russell, one of the biggest busts ever, and Robert Gallery and all you can do is shake your head. Back during the Raiders' glory days they knew how to build an offense - from the inside/O-line out, but then Al Davis reversed course and things went down from there. Dan Snyder wrecked the Redskins doing the exact same thing, and until the current regime fixes that the 'Skins aren't going to be the team they were when the Hogs were leading them to championships. You don't build a successful franchise starting with the skill positions and working your way in towards the line...
The Chargers are a mystery to me. Sure, Turner's part of the problem, but you can't lay all the blame on the coach...
Admittedly, there seems to be something else weird going on with the Chargers. Ever checked out their history? No matter how talented their team, they just can't put it together. Tomlinson, Fouts, Coryell, Winslow, Brees, Gillman, Seau, Joiner, the list goes on and on... All that, and their team has 1 championship to its name, and no Superbowls.
I have been a Steeler fan since they got Bobby Layne from Detroit in '60....I recommend it highly...I also loved the Raiders in the days of Darryle Lamonica and Ben Davidson in the old AFC days....In the '70s, usually the winner of the Steeler-Raider matchup in the AFC championship game was a heavy favorite to beat whoever the NFC would send...Both the Raiders and Steelers need to concentrate on their running games in order to get to the show...We'll see how Todd Hayley works out as OC, and if our draft picks at O-Line are up to the task...At any rate the Steelers should be considered at least 2nd or 3rd best in the AFC preseason....Raiders could have a breakout season in the west if McFadden stays healthy and Palmer returns to form... Cheers
Run DMC was a great pickup, yes, so was Micahel Baush and we just let him go to the Bear. WTF??? and we kept Tayvon Jones? who?? Hopefully Al Jr does the right thing. we'll see. so far he's not doing that by allowing Hue Jackson to be fired. STUPID MOVES!!!
My Ol' mAN would LOVE nothing more than for me to switch over to his side. He's dying to buy me a Steelers jersey.
I'd like to see the Panthers defense improve, especially up front - they had a terrible time against the run last year. It'll be interesting to see if Newton can avoid the dreaded sophomore slump - he won't be surprising anyone this year. Watch for this battle between two young guns on November 4th: Cam Newton and the Panthers take on Robert Griffin III and the Redskins in Washington...
