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Oakland Raiders
Colours: Silver and black
Mascot: Raider Rusher
Stadium: O.co Coliseum
Home City: Oakland, California
Super Bowl wins: 3 (4 appearances)
Records over last 5 years: 29 wins, 51 losses, 0 playoff appearances
Best Players: Marcel Reece, Denarius Moore, Tyvon Branch
Bio: The Oakland Raiders haven’t had a winning season since 2002. They have suffered through 11 straight seasons of 8 or less wins including six seasons with 4 wins or less. They haven’t had a playoff berth since they lost the Super Bowl in 2002, and that is the second longest active streak in the NFL behind the Buffalo Bills.
The reason for the Raiders lack of success is simple; they have been the worst run team in the NFL for the past decade. They have failed to make the right decisions at quarterback or with the coach, leading to 18 starting quarterbacks and 7 head coaches in a ten year period. That can never translate to success on the field.
Some of the coaching decisions have been truly disturbing. In Tom Cable’s first two seasons as Raiders coach, the team won 5 games each season. In 2010, Cable engineered the best season the Raiders had had since the Super Bowl season in 2002, judging by record and most statistical categories, and he went 6-0 in the division for the first time in franchise history. He was fired at the end of the season.
If they wanted to fire Tom Cable, the year to do that was after the 2009 season when the team failed to make any improvements. To do it after the 2010 season, when Cable had dragged his team to an 8-8 record, the best the franchise had seen in 8 years, was ludicrous.
They have made even worse decisions with player personnel. In 2007 they drafted JaMarcus Russell with the number one overall pick, and he isn’t even in the league anymore. It is considered one of the top 5 draft busts in NFL history. In 2009, the Raiders selected Darrius Heyward Bey with the 9th overall selection. After 4 seasons of disappointment in Oakland, Hayward Bey was released. These are just two of countless examples of bad decisions from the worst run organisation in the NFL.
The future doesn’t look great for the Raiders. They have very few star players on the roster, and those that are seem to be injury prone (Denarius Moore missed 3 games this season, Jared Veldheer missed 11 and Darren McFadden missed 6). What’s more, 18 of the Raiders players are unrestricted free agents this summer, meaning they could lose even more talent before the 2014 season gets underway.
Only a very brave man or a fool would choose to support the Oakland Raiders in their current condition. However, despite their lack of success Oakland is still considered an intimidating place for opposition teams to travel to, and their fan-base is one of the most lively and passionate around.
