This week I’ll be taking a look at the Oakland Raiders and their visit from the St. Louis Rams.

The Rams have been the whipping boys of the NFC West in the last few years, and have only managed 6 wins in the past three seasons and haven’t had a winning season since 2003. This is a far cry from the team that made the Super Bowl in 1999 and 2001.

Steve Jackson

Steve Spagnuolo goes into his second season as head coach with two big offensive weapons. Firstly, Steven Jackson. The yards that Jackson has managed in this team are incredible considering that he’s been behind a weak line and is usually against defences that stack against the run.

The second, and newer addition, is rookie quarterback Sam Bradford. Anything that can be done to spread the defence will be of great benefit to Jackson, and Bradford looked calm and composed once he get going last week. The Rams passed in situations that last season would have been clear running plays. This is the kind of flexibility any team needs to be successful. Bradford’s statline, with its 3 interceptions, are misleading and the team as a whole can consider themselves unlucky to have lost the game against the Cardinals.

Defensively though, they need to improve a lot. They ranked 29th last year in yards allowed and 31st in points allowed. Even last week only 5 teams gave up more yards (and 4 of those teams won and the other – the Lions – should have done). They do have some playmakers, and Spagnuolo has a proven defensive record so this is a unit that can only improve.

Which brings us to the Raiders. Is there a more dysfunctional team in the NFL?

Oakland Coliseum

In this off-season, the Raiders finally gave up on JaMarcus Russell and traded for Jason Campbell from the Washington Redskins, and they got for an absolute steal. Rolando McClain was drafted in the first round (8th overall) and Nnamdi Asomugha is probably the best cornerback in the game.

Every season there is one team that comes from a seemingly impossible position to turn around and make the play-offs. This year I had thought that it might be the Raiders as they’d seemed to be getting things together but last week’s outing was pretty poor in all phases of play. Admittedly there is no shame in having your secondary unable to catch Chris Johnson, but the Titans bossed the game with the swagger. There were some positives for Oakland, and there were able to move the ball but in the end it was a bit of a blowout.

The bottom line is that this should be a close game. I like the Rams; what they’re doing and how they’re going about their business but I think that the Raiders have a better core of players that when they perform will be able to get a home win.

Image Credits
Oakland Coliseum – LA Wad
Steven Jackson – MOmilkman – Darin House

JaMarcus carefully lines up an interception

Really, you at the back? You thought they’d keep him on the books and pay that $6.45 bonus he’s due to warm the bench? Admittedly, he can warm a lot of bench, but still…

Less than two weeks after trading for Washington’s Jason Campbell, the Raiders have released Russell. The #1 selection from the 2007 draft leaves them after taking $39 million for a total of 7 wins.

It’s hard to imagine any team taking any sort of a chance on him now, though I guess stranger things have happened, which means we’ve seen the last of him in the NFL. I, for one, won’t miss him though I guess I do feel for the guy. A bit.

Anyway, wherever he his (my guess is comfort eating in an IHOP) he’s free of the Raiders and they’re free of him.

Image Credit: sgrace

It’s been a tough time for former Washington Redskins’ quarterback Jason Campbell. His days were numbered from the moment Donovan McNabb came over to the burgandy side (and I’ll be talking about that another time). He signed his tender, but no-one really expected him to stick around. In fact, the only real surprises have been how long it took and the price that the Redskins got for him.

Yes, Jason Campbell will be turning out next year in black and silver as he switches east coast for west to join the Oakland Raiders. He’s also got an extension out of it, and would look to be the starter or at least to compete with JaMarcus Russell. I’m thinking he’ll start, as JMR will surely be released before his massive salary for the season is due. I also think that it’s a good move for the Raiders and for Campbell. Campbell will have to learn yet another new system but he’s proven adaptable over the years and the Raiders will surely use his arm more than the recent schemes in Washington. Whilst I’ve not been his biggest fan, he did impress me last season to the extent that I’d have been happy to see him start again. By all accounts conducted himself with a high level of professionalism throughout his time at FedEx Field and you have to admire that attitude.

The Redskins don’t play the Raiders this year, so I can safely wish him well and say thanks for his service and wonder about just getting a 4th round pick (in 2012!) for a proven starter…

Image Credit: jf photo, with thanks.

Minnesota Vikings
An appeals court has cleared Pat and Kevin Williams (no relation) to play in Sunday’s clash with the Cleveland Browns, and for the rest of the season.

The NFL was attempting to suspend them due to anti-doping violations.  While the Williams’s were clearly happy with the ruling, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was not saying in a radio interview at New York station WFAN-AM –

“It is putting in jeopardy a drug program that has been put in front of the entire world as being one of the highest standards in all of sports. It puts in jeopardy that players in Minnesota in any sport—this could affect other sports—are subject to a different standard than in the other 49 states. You recognize that it is a fairness question for all the athletes.”

Drugs rules are important in sport and I can see his point.  It would be a shame if the image of the sport suffered in the way cycling did in recent years.

Victory may have come at a cost though, with Troy Polamalu suffering a sprain to his left MCL. Scans are still underway, but he could miss up to 6 weeks. We’ll keep you posted. Before he left, he’d been playing an amazing game. Between closing on Chris Johnson to take him down for a loss to a one-handed interception he was all over the place making plays. If he is out for any serious time, he’ll be missed but the Steelers still have a solid defensive unit.

Oakland Raiders
With Richard Seymour still not showing up in Oakland, they’ve taken William Joseph back on the books. Joseph had been released to create space for Seymour earlier this week. With just a few days until their game with the visiting Chargers, even if he did show up now it’s not known how much of a difference he’d make, or indeed how well he’d be received by him team-mates. Perhaps he thinks the whole deal is a bad dream, and he’s trying to sleep it off? Whatever is the case, he doesn’t seem to be handling the move in the right way. With neither the Pats or Raiders commenting, we assume that it’s haggling of some kind and hope that nothing has happened to him.

Interestingly, Coach Tom Cable let Joseph know that he might still be needed when the DT was released.

“The day they let me go, they released me, coach Cable said, ‘Don’t go nowhere’, I was just around, sticking around, seeing what was going to happen.”

Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but whatever reason Cable thought “Don’t go nowhere” was worth saying last sunday.

Arizona Cardinals
Receiver Anquan Boldin sat out practice yesterday with a sore hamstring and may not be good to go on Sunday against divisional rivals the 49ers.

Whilst he’ll be missed, if there’s one team spoiled at receiver it’s the Cardinals. Don’t expect the gameplan to change either way.

Oakland Raiders
Richard Seymour, the five-time Pro Bowl selection who was acquired from New England Partriots on Sunday has failed to turn up in Oakland for a second day.

It is still unclear what the reason is. It could be a contract issue, or simply a protest from Seymour over the move.

Denver Broncos
Kyle Orton looks fit to play after having a good practice with his injured hand. Orton cut open his index finger nine days ago. If Orton is not able to play the Broncos will turn to Chris Simms, who is also recovering from injury.

Be sure to check out our Week 1 NFL Predictions which will be up on the site later today!

Seymour should give the Raiders defence a much-needed boost with his ability and experience.  He has played in three Super Bowls with the Patriots and been selected for five Pro Bowls.

Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles have dropped quarterback A.J. Feely and filled the roster hole with defensive tackle Antonio Dixon off waivers after being cut by the Washington Redskins.

Houston Texans
Houston and cornerback Dunta Robinson have signed a one-year deal.  Robinson was unhappy with the franchise tag and the $9.9m that came with it.

“I did what I felt I had to do,” he said. “I didn’t get what I wanted, but I’m here and I’m ready to go. Things don’t always work out in your favor. But you can let people know that this is how it’s going to be. I didn’t get what I wanted, but now I just have to prove it on the field.” Said Robinson.

In 2-3 weeks’ time, we’ll take a final look before setting our season predictions in stone (for future gloating and/or ridiculing).

Josh McDaniels has been running a tough camp. It remains to be seen if that’s the right way to motivate the players as in other places, players haven’t responded to it.

Kyle Orton will be wanting to shine, but has already had some boos and catcalls from the watching fans. He’ll be looking to get motivated from that. Brandon Marshall is sitting out with an injury at the moment, and don’t forget he has a court appearance coming up soon too. He could yet see a second suspension. In his absense Brandon Stokley has been stepping up. The veteran goes into what could easily be his final season and is surely looking to make an impact.

Rookies Knowshon Moreno and Roberts Ayers have signed and are in camp. I’ll keep an eye on these guys, Moreno in particular, to see how they shape up.

This is a difficult team to predict, but it would take a brave call to have them moving forward from last season.

Another coach who’s running a tough camp is Todd Haley at Kansas. The players there are getting put thoroughly through their paces an no-one is a guaranteed starter (well, he says that but we all know some players are).

Matt Cassel – assuming he’s the starter of course, not much of a stretch – will have Armani Toomer to add depth at reciever. He and Bobby Engrams being the old men here. Dwayne Bowe will be wanting to build on his 1,000 yard season in 2008. Here’s hoping he can hold onto the ball.

There are a few injuries across the defense, but nothing too alarming at this point. It remains to be seen how they adjust to the 3-4 scheme, something that should become clearer during the pre-season.

Haley apparently isn’t afraid of upsetting anyone, or selecting starters based on previous form. This all makes for Kansas City to be a story worth following this year. But not, I expect, into the post-season.

I was hoping to get all the Second Looks out before the pre-season started, but that’s not happened. Accordingly, some of my harsh words about the Raiders have been tuned down a little bit after they looked sharp against Dallas last night.

Oakland open the season with three back-to-back divisional games. So their season could effectively be over at week 4. But perhaps I’m being unfair. Darrius Heywood-Bey has settled in well after the usual rookie adjustment period. He could really do with having Javon Walker on the field as well, he’s currently injured, as if the Dallas game is any indication he’s being treated as a real threat and covered accordingly.

Chaz Schilens got a lot of looks from JaMarcus Russell and could be worth bearing in mind for those in deep fantasy leagues.

Perennial backup QB Jeff Garcia has been injured, likely pushing Charlie Frye towards the number 2 spot. Garcia can never be counted on to not make an appearance at some point during the season though.

In short though, and despite last night’s showing, I still don’t see much I like here. Certainly nothing to make me think this is a team making huge strides forward.

I don’t really know what to say about the Chargers. To me, they’re so obviously head and shoulders above the rest of the division it’s almost unfair.

On top of that, it seems the biggest news coming from their camp is that Antonio Cromartie doesn’t rate the food. With Quentin Jammer on the other side, if Cromartie is fit (and gets a good meal) this is a corner pairing as good as any across the league.

Darren Sproles and his new contract will be one to watch. With LaDanian Tomlinson now ‘getting on’ (in running back terms) and, it seems, notoriously absent in the post-season, it’ll be interesting to see how the backfield shakes up. One thing’s for sure – most coaches would love to have these two guys to call on.

Summary
I can’t look past San Diego here at all. Second place to be tight between the Chiefs and the Broncos, but neither to make the post-season.

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We can’t vouch that these will be the best players in absolute terms, have the biggest fantasy upside or even be any good (though they might be)… but they’re players that we like to watch.

This time we look at DeAngelo Hall.

DeAngelo Hall will be looking to settle into his new long term deal with the Washington Redskins this season after a promising spell there towards the end of last season.

Hall covers ground against the Cowboys last year.

As with all my picks I like a bit of controversy in players, but I feel that this year he would do well to concentrate on his football and show just how good he can be in Washington. Word out of the Redskins’ training camp is that he’s there in body and mind, is contributing well but also listening to coaches and wanting to learn. He’s said that he’s happy playing again now and that’s a major factor.

If he can keep that spirit up, and play like we know he can, then the Redskins fans should be happy too.

Previous favourite defensive backs:
Will Allen
Shawn Springs
Troy Polamalu

He’d barely been appointed 10 minutes when Josh McDaniels managed to alienate Jay Cutler to the tune of a deal to the Bears. I’m sure it was a more deep-rooted issue than that, but true or not, that’s the image the new coach has. Kyle Orton certainly isn’t an upgrade and QB, but he’s capable and wasn’t really given a good chance in Chicago. With a coach that beleives in him, and a system he can get behind he could be a surprise to many people this season.
However, with new systems on offense and defense and a lot of roster changes look like there could be a lot of settling in issues this season. That’s not to say the Broncos are set for success… they may be, but it’d be a braver man than me who’d say so today.

The Chiefs seem to have got away with very little bashing from most quarters, despite a disastrous season iin 2008. Obviously the Lions helped them out in taking a lot of attention, as did the nearby Rams.
Their big signing is Matt Cassell, who comes in fresh from his great season in New England. He’s still a risk, but the deal – which included Mike Vrabel – looks extremely good on paper. They’ve made a number of depth signings, but haven’t changed too much overall, looking to build on the team that in 2008 was improving all season. It’s worth noting that it was a young team last term – the youngest average age in the NFL – as their mammouth draft from 2008 bedded in and the team grew into its systems.
The comparative weakness of the division means they can’t be ruled out for a good run.

Oakland continue to stumble on, but aren’t a team I’m particularly familiar with. As with the Chiefs and Bronces, there is potential QB controversy here with JaMarcus Russell facing a make or break season. No-one would be surprised to see Jeff Garcia stepping up at some point, in fact some would say it’s a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’. I think that’s probably a but harsh, but no-one is ever surprised to see Jeff Garcia pop up as a starter.
Greg Ellis comes in a DE, but at 33 it remains to see if he can make a huge difference to a defensive unit that is pretty terrible. Nnamdi Asomugha at corner is probably the best CB in the league, but he’s pretty much alone back there.

Graham and I had the privilige to see the Chargers last year at Wembley, and whilst we spent most of the time jeering them, they’re a good unit and Rivers is an elite quarterback. LDT was also amazing to watch: the way he made space and ran. He 30 now, and that’s traditionaly a watershed time for running backs, but with Sproles to share the load with there’s no good reason to assume that he can’t be the threat we know him to be.
This is a strong unit overall, and one that can’t be counted out. Even at 4-4 last year, no-one reckoned them as an easy game – their off-season victory against the Colts proved that. There are questions about the team, but none big enough to think they won’t take the division again.

Summary
The AFC West is matched against the AFC North and NFC East, two strong divisions that could have some tough matchups.
I am pretty close to putting the Chiefs above the Broncos, but not quite. I’ll look at it again in 4 weeks or so, as I have them pretty close for now. Oakland to prop up the division, and I can’t see anyone touching the Chargers

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