Draft Night Thread

I don't really like Tom Brady, and I regret that a Patriot / TV Announcer has become a part owner of the Raiders. It feels corporate and establishmentarian--two things that the Raiders were born to resist under Al Davis. 

Brady also comes across to me as a bit of an attention whore and try-hard. Why would someone in his position otherwise acquiesce to that disgraceful Tom Brady Roast last year?

All that said, I think Tom Brady is a champion, a winner and a competitor, and he is very smart. These things sort of offset my misgivings about him, because if it's one thing that the Raiders have been lacking under Mark Davis, it's smarts.

We can't ignore the Tom Brady effect now, because Mark Davis won't let us: "Bringing in Tom Brady was bringing in somebody on the football side that I had been lacking having here in the organization."

So that brings us to tonight's draft. Of course, Spytek and Carroll will be running the show and they are no slouches--but Brady is no doubt lurking in the background, serving perhaps as a 'kill switch' if Davis starts running with scissors and ordering people to draft Shadeur if he falls to the sixth slot. 

Anyhow, those are my thoughts today. Once again I apologize for going dark for a period, this team hasn't done enough to counter the apathy that has crept up on me as we've flailed around under McDaniels and Pierce for the past three years. Thanks, Mark. 

But I'm now excited about what comes next. We finally have a head coach who's a grownup, the best QB since Carr and, yes, a smart and proven winner whispering in the owner's ear.

Who would you draft? What do we need to focus on? Bang it here. 

Welcome, Pete Carroll!

Finally, a GROWNUP and a PROVEN commodity at head coach. 

 I'm not saying Pete's going to be incredible and the Raiders are going to be instantly great, but at least we're finally in the ballpark and not flailing around wondering if Pierce is up to the task (nope), if McDaniels has gotten his s*** together (nope), if Gruden still has the old magic and isn't going to be cartoony (nope), etc.

This is just a simple, rock-solid, low-downside, possible high-upside choice of a stable coach who can shepherd the team through this transition time and out of the abyss and not look out of place or out of his depth in a division with Reid, Payton and Harbaugh. 

I'll take it. 

Raiders Fire Antonio Pierce

This was inevitable the moment he was hired. Sorry, but truth.

And while the Broncos were hiring Sean Payton and drafting Bo Nix, and the Chargers were pairing Jim Harbaugh with Justin Herbert, Mark Davis was performing his favorite pastime: rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Is Mark Davis FINALLY ready to get serious? We are already YEARS behind our division rivals. The only question now is how many. Davis needs to find a way to shorten that timeline as much as possible. 

To date, he hasn't demonstrated any capability of doing that. And so yet another waiting game unfolds.

Jaguars Gameday Thread

Well, what more can be said? 

Sorry, Antonio Pierce has to go. I don't care if the team is 'playing hard' for him. 

If the coaching, performance and game management aren't there, playing hard and a nickel isn't worth a five-cent cup of jack squat. You think Pierce can get the Raiders back on next season and match wits in the years ahead with Reid, Payton and Harbaugh? No.

Mark Davis is like a child who keeps breaking the same toy. Give him a clean slate and he soils it within 18 months. Rinse and repeat. 

How to break the cycle? I'm counting on your takes to sort it out for me.

GO RAIDERS (or is it TANK RAIDERS now)!?

Falcons Gamenight Thread

 Can you say GO RAIDERS when they may be subtly playing to lose?

Buccaneers Gameday Thread

Sorry about last week, I'm lacking energy and mailing it in lately, like the Raiders. Thanks for keeping the homefires burning. Is it 2025 yet?

GO RAIDERS!

Broncos Gameday Thread

I'm kinda out of words at this point. I don't know what this team is trying to do. If they're tanking, they picked an awful year to do it. If they're not, that may be worse. I can't believe that after ALL of this we find ourselves at square one. It boggles the mind. Thanks, Mark.

These two words I know: GO RAIDERS. 

Dolphins Gameday Thread

I'm trying to think of positives right now and am not having much luck. 

Brock Bowers is a stud and he is living up to his first-round draft slot (a miracle for a Raiders first rounder). However, having an all-world tight end on a team that is bereft of talent at QB, RB and WR seems like putting the cart before the horse, does it not?

Defense is showing flashes. But don't we say that every year?

Not only do we have the worst QB situation in our division, but also the most unproven coaching and GM situations. Just when you think the Chiefs might start showing some vulnerability, Harbaugh and Payton have their respective teams on a pretty steep path of improvement.

How many more YEARS do you think it will take for the Raiders to build a perennial top force in the AFC West, let alone the NFL? 

Again: How many more YEARS?

Anyhow, 10 a.m. PST kickoff in Miami. Might as well go beat the Fins and see what happens from there. GO RAIDERS!

Bengals Gameday Thread

Here we come, 2-7. 

Think about it, after all of these years and coaches and draft picks, the Raiders are LOSING ground in the division. 

The Broncos and Chargers are on the upswing, the Raiders are disintegrating back to square one, and now we're still likely YEARS away from any legitimate contention.

This is Mark Davis's doing. But at least he gets to rub shoulders with Tom Brady and sit next to blondes in his box and be the toast of Las Vegas while his stadium is half full of non-Raiders fans. 

Good job, good effort. 

I like to say GO RAIDERS, but it's like shouting into the wind these days. 

Chiefs Gameday Thread

Do you know how poorly this organization had to be run in order to be in its current state right now, after all of these years of opportunities, high draft picks and coaching regime changes? 

It's almost unfathomable to be where we are at quarterback, let alone at our other skill positions. You let a couple of clowns run Derek Carr out of town and two seasons in you're trotting out Gardner Minshew and AOC? While the Steelers alone managed to get Fields AND Wilson this offseason? 

Now there's talk of Tom Brady taking more control as a minority owner.

I started this blog 20 years ago. I did not sign up for the LAS VEGAS Raiders brought to you by TOM BRADY.

The sad thing is, the moment Tom Brady steps into the Raiders executive offices, he's instantly the smartest guy in the room by a longshot. He has to be shaking his head at the stupidity that has run so rampant, and he'll no doubt clean it up if he's given the chance,

BUT, I hate the fact that it's come to this point. We're a long way from the Oakland Raiders we fell in love with. A shadow of the past, with a shadow of an owner, whose only hope is the glitz and glamor revenue stream of Vegas and the undeniable smarts of plastic attention-glutton Tom Brady.

Anyhow, today it's the Chiefs. GO RAIDERS!

Rams Postgame Thread

 I've been biting my tongue, more to say later. Bring your takes, we've got a lot to hammer out with this team and organization.

Broncos Gameday Thread

The next time a team calls to discuss a trade for a star wide receiver (ie: Randy Moss, Antonio Brown, Davante Adams...), how about we just hang up the phone, m'kay?

GO RAIDERS!

Browns Gameday Thread

Well, after last week I'm out of the prediction business. GO RAIDERS!

Panthers Gameday Thread

You can't beat the Ravens on the road, then lose to the Panthers at home.

Therefore, the Raiders will be 2-1 after today. 

That is all. GO RAIDERS!

Ravens Gameday Thread

Rough start to season
But there is still time.
Beat the birds. Prove it

Chargers Gameday Thread

Hello, is anybody still out there!? 

If not, I understand. I've let you, this incredible and enduring Raider Take community, down by taking the entire offseason off, but I'm 20 years into this and am, frankly, losing steam.

After all of these years, after all of these high draft picks and resets, we're going into the season with an unproven first-time head coach, questions galore and Gardner Minshew and AOC as our two top quarterbacks. Haven't I seen this before? And before that?

They say that the only constant is change, and that is definitely true of the Raiders. But they also say that the more things change, the more they stay the same, which is also true of the Raiders. 

The other constant is Mark Davis, who has proven to be very bad at his job.

I know that this isn't the rah-rah take that you might be hoping for to start the season. I'm just being honest about where I'm at. 

I'm out of rah-rah. I'm in 100% prove-it mode, and I think I've earned it. So tell me I'm wrong, because I could use a pep talk.

And, oh yeah, GO RAIDERS!

Draft Night Thread

 I'm a little late to the game, but pound it here for all of your draft night takes. We need a QB!

Yeah, No

The Chargers got Jim Harbaugh as head coach, we got the Chargers' ex-GM whom we got fired after that blowout victory. 

The Chiefs are in the AFC Championship again, and the Broncos are not going to get worse under Sean Payton. 

I'm going to go on the record and say I'm not super optimistic about Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco building a powerhouse contender in the AFC West. 

We shall see, and I sure hope I'm wrong. This just feels to me like Davis making up for something (letting Bisaccia go) that he didn't have to make up for.

But just because the players love Pierce doesn't mean he's the best thing for the players, the scheming and the long-term prospects of building an elite team.

Maybe this is a Dan Campbell-type situation, a coach who can will and motivate the squad to the top. 

I sure hope so. 

Maybe I'm just jaded and worn out by all of Mark Davis's misses. But sorry, I'm just not feeling it. Please convince me that I'm wrong.