The Raider Dark Age of 2003-2009...What Went Wrong?? Simple Version.

[LINQ]

Wish I could like this more than once.

[dmauke]

2004 Larry Fitzgerald
2005 Aaron Rodgers
2006 Haloti Ngata
2007 Patrick Willis
2008 Darren McFadden
2009 Clay Matthews
2010 Jason Pierre-Paul
2011 Nate Solder
2012 David DeCastro

[Hungary87]

Agree with the people who pointed out that the "what went wrong" should start before 2002. Recall Willie Shaw and Eric Turner (we would have 2 more SBs if he didn't die way too young) being a breath of fresh air that was continued by Gruden after a bad run. The suckage started long before 2002. Art part I was the last time I saw us look good before Shaw. Should probably go to "1990, what went wrong".

That definitely gives us a more nuanced perspective than the 40-year span cited in the OP. It didn't happen overnight.

1963-1985 = 20+ years of elite play
229-91 (.716) record, 3 SB wins, 11 division titles, 13 playoff appearances

1986-2002 = inconsistent, but still contenders
143-128 (.528) record, 1 SB appearance, 4 division titles, 6 playoff appearances

2003-2011 = collapse, attempt at rebuilding
45-98 (.315) record, 0 playoff appearances

[Hungary87]

I thought Al had some kind of skin cancer that lead to his death, and it was my perception that these kinds of things often spread bit at a time to organs. But I do not know the circumstances of his death, and meant no offense when saying he was terminally ill. Simply remove that part from my statement.

"There are maybe 100 people in the world that can run an NFL franchise. That Al davis couldn't do it in his 80's is not a strike against him. That he didn't recognize it perhaps it."

It is my opinion that over the last decade Al was not capable of running an NFL franchise.

God bless him and may he rest in peace, but according to the only evidence that counts (W-L), he was NOT capable of running a successful NFL franchise.

[als_shadow]

2004 Larry Fitzgerald
2005 Aaron Rodgers
2006 Haloti Ngata
2007 Patrick Willis
2008 Darren McFadden
2009 Clay Matthews
2010 Jason Pierre-Paul
2011 Nate Solder
2012 David DeCastro

Rodgers is a system QB, he would't have helped us. Ngata gets way too much love on this site he's not a 4-3 guy. Willis = Kirk Morrison the guy we ran out of town for making too many tackles from behind after missing the first time. McFadden is a great part time HB. Matthews is pretty and plays hard, but is he better in a 4-3 than Curry?

I get your point but I don't agree that a 3-4 was the answer.

[als_shadow]

Check. Notice of impending checkmate.

[paul0660]

God bless him and may he rest in peace, but according to the only evidence that counts (W-L), he was NOT capable of running a successful NFL franchise.

Al ended up being the poster boy for Luck counting for more than Being Good. IMO.

[BelongInOakland]

also, did Lane Kiffin, did he know that Jamarcus Russell was going to be a bust? because thats one of the reasons why he got fired by Al Davis, because of his disagreement on drafting Jamarcus Russell

[cheapshotartist]

Willis = Kirk Morrison the guy we ran out of town for making too many tackles from behind after missing the first time.

Shadow I hope your just running your mouth because If you are trying to compare Kirk Morrison to Patrick Willis you have lost your &^%$#@!~ mind! Tell me your just kidding shadow, If your serious you need to check yourself into your nearest Rehab Center first thing in the morning unless you have one open twenty four hours. If you do you need to check in NOW!

[Naphtali]

Rodgers is a system QB, he would't have helped us. Ngata gets way too much love on this site he's not a 4-3 guy. Willis = Kirk Morrison the guy we ran out of town for making too many tackles from behind after missing the first time. McFadden is a great part time HB. Matthews is pretty and plays hard, but is he better in a 4-3 than Curry?

I get your point but I don't agree that a 3-4 was the answer.

I think its more of a case of the inconsistantcy with us as a coaching staff, we couldn't develop anybody. Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard, would of been effective in a tampa 2 scheme, or if we played a 2 gap system up front to keep them cleaner. Instead we exposed there weaknesses.
Ngata would be a great nose, but we dont runa 3-4
Rodgers wouldn't of developed here, maybe Hue albeit different system, but no farve to sit behind for years.
We would of probably screwed up a lot these players

[als_shadow]

Shadow I hope your just running your mouth because If you are trying to compare Kirk Morrison to Patrick Willis you have lost your &^%$#@!~ mind! Tell me your just kidding shadow, If your serious you need to check yourself into your nearest Rehab Center first thing in the morning unless you have one open twenty four hours. If you do you need to check in NOW!

see the post by Naphtali in response to my post

[Raidermofojeff]

Would the last decade hurt so much had we beaten TB in the SB 2002?

I always like to ask Raider fans that.

It certainly would have been more palatable...

Yeah it would be more palatable.........
but put the question this way.........
Would you trade a SB victory for 7 subsequent losing seasons.........
My answer.......Hell no!

[s_adams66]

Agree with the people who pointed out that the "what went wrong" should start before 2002. Recall Willie Shaw and Eric Turner (we would have 2 more SBs if he didn't die way too young) being a breath of fresh air that was continued by Gruden after a bad run. The suckage started long before 2002. Art part I was the last time I saw us look good before Shaw. Should probably go to "1990, what went wrong".

I'm rehashing this because I agree it started before 2002. I think Keating's, Hubbard's, and Christensen's opinions reflect some truth.

I think the problem started when Al Davis traded for Jay Schroeder. Jim Lachey had just made the Pro-Bowl in the season before we acquired him. Schroeder had lost his job with the Redskins to Doug Williams. Schroeder had the gift of an arm but his mechanics were all messed up. He had the size of a franchise QB but not the numbers. So Al traded a Pro-Bowl OL for a physically gifted QB. Todd Christensen went on the record at the time that Al Davis was "always the guy that overcame numbers. He didnt believe that you had to be a certain size or have the right time in the forty. Now he's got a QB who comes right out of the computer-Jay Schroeder has the perfect size and a great arm. But he's not a great QB."

Furthermore Tom Keating and Marv Hubbard noticed that Davis and his scouts were succumbing to the same weakness with other players. "He used to be a guy who looked at what a player did, not what he looked like" Keating said. "His strength was that while everybody else was going by a guy's forty times , or his height and weight, he would pick a guy who didn't fit the numbers but who got the job done. Like me. I was never big enough, according to the scouts. But now he seems captivated by the numbers. He'll pick a guy on the strength of his speed or his size, and a lot of these guys have been busts."

[Willmark]

What amazes me the most is the absurd lengths people will go to defend Al.
First there was the "Decade of Mediorcity" 1988-1999, a four year Return to Glory which the old man cut short because he showed the whole world of Football one thing: it's more important to lose his way then it is to win someone else's. This was then followed by the "Decade of Disaster" 2003-present"*

Two notes: one, for the pendantic, I'm referring to decades as a ten year span rather then common appilation of the years strictly from say 1990-2000, 2000-2010, etc. Two: I'm not dismissing the glory years, but sadly they were done by the early 80s.

[HITMAN]

Yeah it would be more palatable.........
but put the question this way.........
Would you trade a SB victory for 7 subsequent losing seasons.........
My answer.......Hell no!

Agreed...I would prefer consistency! and at least challenging for a Super Bowl every couple of seasons...