What’s different between 06-07 and 08?

[leafs43]

Originally Posted by pokeinrichmond

Anything is possible. I could have sex with Aishwarya Rai.....

And the Raiders could win the super bowl in 2009 or make the playoffs too. So yeah, anything is possible....

Keep praying, and maybe one day....

(of course if it does ever happen it will be after the day I keel joo because she is mine!)

[or24]

Originally Posted by leafs43

The NFL is probably the most up and down league in professional sports.

Anyone thinking that a team isn't capable of the playoffs is just being pessimistic, because in reality it is very possible.


If you would have told me a year ago that the Giants were going to win a super bowl over an undefeated Patriot team I would have laughed right in your face. Not only the Giants who lost their star RB but the Pats also being undefeated. That as an example just goes to show you that anything can happen when the ball bounces the right way a couple of times.


Anything is possible, yet some people are convinced it is against all odds that we win more then 3 games because we are going to field a bunch of 5th grade pop warner players in a professional sport.

And yet they were still both playoff teams the previous year. Besides Tampa and Washington, every team that made the playoffs in 07 was at least 8-8 in 2006. And both Was and TB made the plyoffs in 2005. We haven't even had an 8-8+ season since 2002. Many teams take a year or 2 of steady improvement before they make they playoffs. Oh, but nevermind my post, If I'm not predicting 9 or more wins I'm just a pessimist even though I provide facts while other peeps just assume their opinion is better than everyone else's. Stupid me...

[leafs43]

Originally Posted by or24

And yet they were still both playoff teams the previous year. Besides Tampa and Washington, every team that made the playoffs in 07 was at least 8-8 in 2006. And both Was and TB made the plyoffs in 2005. We haven't even had an 8-8+ season since 2002. Many teams take a year or 2 of steady improvement before they make they playoffs. Oh, but nevermind my post, If I'm not predicting 9 or more wins I'm just a pessimist even though I provide facts while other peeps just assume their opinion is better than everyone else's. Stupid me...

The ball bounces our way last year we were pretty much an 8-8 squad.

Keep in mind, with the exception of the end of the year, we were pretty much in every single game. With a first year rookie head coach no less. It is more then possible to see a 9 win season.

[raidersrocker]

Originally Posted by or24

Optimism is a good thing. But so many people take it too far. You can't tell me it's not overly optimistic to say we will make the playoffs this year. A few offseason moves don't turn you from one of the worst teams in the league to a superbowl contender. After seasons of 4, 5, 4, 2, and 4 wins I think 6 or 7 wins is pretty optimistic.

Everyone just wants to be the surprise of the league. We have yet to solidify any unit of ours besides our run game. People think money will motivate Kelly to being one of the best players in the league. If anything, he will get lazy knowing he's got it easy for the rest of his career. But maybe his incentives will motivate him, I don't know.

I'm not gonna say a good player will turn out to be great after 1 season because he won the lottery thanks to some help from Rob Ryan. Sands has potential but hasn't tapped into ANY of it and is one of the worst starting lineman in the league. When you have major issues like that up front, it trickles down throughout your defense. So unless Sands has an epiphany and starts playing football, we will once again see horrible play from our defense.

Offensively, we have lots of playmakers and tons of potential. I think in a year or 2 we will have one of the better offenses in the league. Just give them some time to grow. But remember Russell is a rookie behind a very questionable line.

Special Teams? It's been horrible for years. I don't even know how to determine if it's improved this early. Maybe Branch will be a gunner and tear it up like Coop, or maybe we will see stu out there whiffing like crazy. No idea who will be on kickoffs or punts. Higgins had 1 big return all of last year that was called back. Hall may or may not be out there. Jano is inconsistent while Lechler is reliable. Time will tell lol

I know we have improved but how much of an impact do all these moves make? Russell has all these weapons to form a solid air attack, but how will Walker perform off another knee injury facing Cromartie and Bailey twice a year? How long will he last? Are Curry, Carter, and Miller good enough compliments to Walker? Will Darren make an impact as a reciever? Will the unit be cohesive or just sparatically make plays with a rookie at the helm?

All questions that are left out by most people and they just call everyone a beast All we have right now is a good team on paper. That doesn't mean sh!t. If it did, we wouldn't play the games. It's not like e have a roster full of all pro players. When you compare to ther teams around the league, our talent isn't far and beyond everyone. With all these young guys who we have hardly seen play, if at all, we don't know what our team will look like. Let's not crown them before they earn their throne.

I don't really see how being overly optimistic about a sports franchise is harmful, unless one can't handle disappointment. I really don't care how others choose to approach a new day or a new season. Personally I'm optimistic and hopeful every new season that the team will be better than the year prior. So I'm not thinking SB, or totally awesome, (although I've seen it before and am sure I can handle seeing awesome again). And as the season progresses, my level of optimism may rise or decline.

You're right, there are alot of questions remaining to be answered. There are alot of what ifs that may or may not happen. I also realise that these things will be answered, for better or worse, on the field. I'm optimistic that there will be more positive answers, and at least 7-8 wins. I'm hopeful that the team will exceed my expectations, but I know I can handle it, if it turns into "here we go again".

My point was, why does it bother the "homer" if another fan wants to be low key, doubtful, while waiting for something worth cheering for or something real to give him hope. Why does it bother the "doom and gloomers" if another fan wants to get carried away with his dreams, fantasies, or predictions of glory? By bothered, I mean the few that can't or won't tolerate the other to the point of somebody getting banned. See if I come on this site and post

RRRAAAIIIIDDDEEERRRSSS!!! on game day, and someone comes along and tries to reason with me because the team is 0-3, don't bother; I know they're sucking, I know why they're sucking, and I know there's a possibility they may suck to 0-4, but I may just want to have fun and cheer for my team.

Finally,the '06 season really tapped me of my overboard optimism,( to the point of down right disgust and expecting more of the same), but I'm not going to **** on someone who still has it. Now if the Raiders start off 3-1 or 4-0, well I'm going to start dreaming playoffs Baby! 'Cause if you can go 3-1 by week four, why not 6-2 by week 8 and so on?

[or24]

Originally Posted by leafs43

The ball bounces our way last year we were pretty much an 8-8 squad.

Keep in mind, with the exception of the end of the year, we were pretty much in every single game. With a first year rookie head coach no less. It is more then possible to see a 9 win season.

It's pretty sad when all you have to look forward to is competing, not winning. It takes a good team to finish games. Neither our offense or defense is(or at least wasn't last year) capable of doing so. There were plenty of times last season where our defense blew the lead and where our offense couldn't muster up a score on the final possession. We were not an 8-8 team last year. Believe what you want. I'm not even saying 9-7 isn't impossible this year. Maybe a bit of a stretch, but 8-8 is very achievable. 8 wins is a good first step in making progress. However, I've said plenty of times before how we can't count on our defense and I think we will fall a bit short. I don't expect Russell to mount a bunch of comeback drives as a rookie. I'm expecting 6 or 7 wins.

[or24]

Originally Posted by raidersrocker

I don't really see how being overly optimistic about a sports franchise is harmful, unless one can't handle disappointment. I really don't care how others choose to approach a new day or a new season. Personally I'm optimistic and hopeful every new season that the team will be better than the year prior. So I'm not thinking SB, or totally awesome, (although I've seen it before and am sure I can handle seeing awesome again). And as the season progresses, my level of optimism may rise or decline.

You're right, there are alot of questions remaining to be answered. There are alot of what ifs that may or may not happen. I also realise that these things will be answered, for better or worse, on the field. I'm optimistic that there will be more positive answers, and at least 7-8 wins. I'm hopeful that the team will exceed my expectations, but I know I can handle it, if it turns into "here we go again".

My point was, why does it bother the "homer" if another fan wants to be low key, doubtful, while waiting for something worth cheering for or something real to give him hope. Why does it bother the "doom and gloomers" if another fan wants to get carried away with his dreams, fantasies, or predictions of glory? By bothered, I mean the few that can't or won't tolerate the other to the point of somebody getting banned. See if I come on this site and post

RRRAAAIIIIDDDEEERRRSSS!!! on game day, and someone comes along and tries to reason with me because the team is 0-3, don't bother; I know they're sucking, I know why they're sucking, and I know there's a possibility they may suck to 0-4, but I may just want to have fun and cheer for my team.

Finally,the '06 season really tapped me of my overboard optimism,( to the point of down right disgust and expecting more of the same), but I'm not going to **** on someone who still has it. Now if the Raiders start off 3-1 or 4-0, well I'm going to start dreaming playoffs Baby! 'Cause if you can go 3-1 by week four, why not 6-2 by week 8 and so on?

I can't tell you why. I guess I just express my opinion and like to argue my point because I see the same stuff every year about how we are playoff bound and it never happens lol. I don't see enough evidence as to how we can make the playoffs this year based on research I've done. If someone wants to ignore the facts, that's their right to do so, but people can't tell me we are playoff bound just because we got beastley JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden. People understimate how important run defense is and how bad ours is.

[Kira22]

Without reading tha entire thread....

- Stable QB. No more switching between tha weak armed McCown and Daunte. Note: JRock will still have his growing pains.
- Combined, tha best RB's in tha NFL
- Better receivers w/two guys with a ton of potential who are both big and fast
- Continued improvement from Zack
- OLine...hmmmm....still a concern. Still needa OT anda C imo.

- DLine...again another concern. Terdell needs ta step it up in tha middle and we only have one pass rusher capable of double digit sacks on a team that doesn't blitz very often. Not sure we'll even get 30 sacks.....way too low.....again. Top prioriety for '09 imo.
- Can Ed Hartwell stay healthy?? Great pickup if he can!
- Maybe tha best overall secondary in tha NFL!! I expect/hope for much better tackling than we got from our secondary last season.

Love tha switch from DE ta UT for TK
Love tha switch from SS ta FS for Michael

Still current needs in order imo:
DE
OT
C
QB, maybe LB if Ed and Sam don't work out

Expecting 7-8 wins
Thoughts on DMac.....Love tha pick!! Still wish we could've filled a bigger need however.

[Toad22484]

without reading too much I will say one thing that hasn't changed. The headcoach! Hoorah!

[Rudimus]

Kerryisthaman LOL awesomeness

[pure_raider]

I love #5. Wilson was a very underrated signing, he will be instrumental in improving the defense.