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Published: July 17, 2010
It was another losing season for Raider Nation to endure as the 2009 Oakland Raiders finished the regular season with a 5-11 record.
The club has won just 20 games over the past 5 seasons missing the playoffs every time while winning no more than 5 games during that span.
The Raiders started 2-7 out of the gate and never contended for a shot at the post season.
The team struggled on both sides of the ball but the offense really stunk in 2009. Oakland ranked 31st in the league in total offense averaging just 266.1 yards per game. Their passing game was atrocious with a league ranking of 31 behind just 159.8 yards through the air per game.
Defensively the club defended the pass very well buy behind an extremely weak linebacker unit. The Raiders defense sat 29th in the NFL against the run allowing 155.5 yards per game.
The Raiders cut ties with struggling quarterback and former first round draft pick JaMarcus Russell during the off season.
The team acquired through trade former Washington Redskins starting quarterback Jason Campbell and he will be inserted as the starter with Bruce Gradkowski as his backup.
With the quarterback upgrade the Raiders have the opportunity to improve on a -13 turnover ratio that ranked 30th in the NFL.
Russell had only 3 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions in 2009.
The Raiders drafted well and with the first pick they improved their linebacker position by acquiring Rolando McClain from Alabama.
The 2010 season could be the last for head coach Tom Cable as he barely survived the off season as JaMarcus Russell took the bullet for him.
The Odds:
Bodog sportsbook has set the Oakland Raiders 2010 regular season win total at 6 wins with over and under returning -115 odds.
The Oakland Raiders have been posted as the 80-1 underdog to win the Super Bowl in the 2010 season.
The Raiders are lined at 45-1 at Bodog to win the AFC Championship and are +700 underdogs to win the AFC West.
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2010 Oakland Raiders Regular Season Schedule:
As a participant from the AFC West the Oakland Raiders will play a game home and on the road to the San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs.
The Oakland Raiders division will be matched from every team from the AFC South and NFC West in the 2010 regular season.
The AFC South opponents for Oakland will be home to the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts with road games to the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Raiders will compete against NFC West opponents St Louis Rams and Seattle Seahawks at home with road games to the Arizona Cardinals and cross town San Francisco 49ers.
The Oakland Raiders finished in third place in the AFC West in 2009 so that means the club will compete against the two other third place teams from the AFC conference so the Raiders will host the Miami Dolphins and travel to play the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Raiders will play no games in prime time television this season.
Week 11 will be a challenge for Oakland as they visit Pittsburgh in what will be a huge revenge game for the Steelers. Oakland went up to Pittsburgh last year and defeated the Steelers 27-24 in the closing seconds.
Oakland Raiders season win total bettors take note. They do catch the Indianapolis Colts at home in week 16. Usually the Colts at this time of the year have playoff and home field scenarios clinched and usually rest players by this time. We will see if this is the case for the Colts in 2010.
Offense:
Thankfully the JaMarcus Russell era is over and now past news. Looking forward all signals point to Jason Campbell starting the season as the #1 quarterback for Oakland. The 6 year veteran is coming off a season where he completed 64.5% of his passes for 3618 yards 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Campbell’s yards per attempt average was only 7.14.
The knock on Campbell is that he holds the football too long and often throws underneath the first down markers on third down resulting in punts thus the very low yards per attempt average. Some of this was him too slow reading opposing defenses and a lot of it was his receivers inability at Washington to get open downfield.
The Raiders go from the three headed running attack to a two headed as Justin Fargas was let go in free agency. It is time for former first round pick Darren McFadden to produce more consistently. McFadden had a poor year in 2009 with 104 carries with just 357 yards for a 3.4 yards per carry average and 1 touchdowns. The back battled injuries in 2009 missing 4 games. He had three games with 3 more catches and could be a viable weapon in the passing game as Campbell likes to throw to his backs.
Michael Bush has shown positive signs throughout his Raider career. He produced 589 yards on 123 carries for a 4.8 yards a carry average and 3 touchdowns. It would be nice to see Bush get 20 carries a game sometime soon. In a season high 18 carries at Denver he produced 133 yards. He had 14 carries against Kansas City and rushed for 119 yards. His two games with his highest carry total he produced his best games. It may be time to make Bush the feature back in Oakland.
The receiving crew gets a huge incomplete based on an inept quarterback so we will find answers about this bunch as the season progresses. Darrius Heyward-Bey and Chaz Schilens are penciled in as the #1 and #2 entering camp with Johnnie Lee Higgins and Louis Murphy as the #3 and #4. Higgins has shows some big play potential and has sparkled at times in the return game. Tight end Zach Miller returns and led the team with 66 catches and produced a solid 12.2 yards per reception average for his position.
The Raiders offensive line shapes up with Samson Satele at center flanked by Robert Gallery and Cooper Carlisle at the guards position. Mario Henderson and Khalif Barnes play the tackles. The offensive line allowed a high 49 sacks in 2009. Bruce Campbell the offensive tackle from Maryland comes via the draft in the fourth round to add much needed depth. Jared Veldheer a tackle was drafted in third round.
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Defense:
The Raiders run a 4-3 defense with veteran Richard Seymour and Matt Shaughnessy at the end positions with Tommy Kelly and Desmond Bryant at tackles. The Raiders struggled mightily against the run allowing 155.5 yards per game and ranking 29th in the league. 2009 starters Greg Ellis and Gerard Warren were not retained so the team is hoping for better production from their backups. The club drafted Lamarr Houston defensive tackles from Texas to add needed depth at this position.
The linebackers were atrocious last season and were just god awful against the run. They had a horrible time getting away from blockers last season. The club drafted Rolando McClain with their top pick in the first round to help shore up this unit. Rolando McClain is slotted at the middle with Trevor Scott and Kamerion Wimbley starting outside. Wimbley comes over from the Browns in free agency.
The Raiders have a good secondary led by Nnamdi Asomugha and Chris Johnson at corner with Tyvon Branch and Hiram Eugene as safeties. The team was 7th against the pass in 2009 allowing 206.4 yards passing per game. The issue is they didn’t get too many interceptions with just 8 ranking 31st in the league. Michael Huff shined in a backup role last season at safety.
And now to my Selection:
The Raiders won 5 games last season with an inept quarterback under center for most of the season. Competence returns to the quarterback position for the Raider in 2010 and the club just needs 1 more win to get a push and 2 more wins to cash the play on the over. More workload for Michael Bush will open up things for the passing game for Jason Campbell. On the defensive side of the ball first round pick middle linebacker Rolando McClain is the real deal. They catch Indy very late and hopefully with Peyton Manning sitting out most of the game with nothing to play for as has been the norm for the Colts by week 16. The Raiders get to at least 7 wins in 2010.
Selection: Play Over 6 wins in 2010 Regular Season.
