RAIDERS, 23 X 35

Rating:
Summary: The Oakland Raiders and their "Commitment to Excellence"
Review: It has not even been two years since the Oakland Raiders were in the Super Bowl and got destroyed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by former Raiders' coach Jon Gruden. Last year both teams finished with losing records and there was clearly something at work that was more than simply having to deal with the increased strength of schedule Super Bowl teams are always saddled with the following season. The Bucs are probably going to finish in the cellar of their division and the only thing that might stop the same thing from happening to Al Davis' proud organization is that the San Diego Chargers are also in the AFC West.

That proud tradition is reflected in this 23 x 35 poster of the Oakland Raiders and the silver and black's "Commitment to Excellence." One thing about Raiders fans, they are not going to abandon their team and shift their allegiance to that fancy pants team across the Bay, even if that team relocates for a while in Los Angeles (remember when L.A. used to have two NFL teams?). The team can get rid of Tim Brown, keep Rich Gannon and Jerry Rice, and bring in Warren Sapp, Kerry Collins, Bobby Hamilton and Ted Washington, but that guy with the eye patch stays constant. Well, him and Al Davis.

The question for the 2005 season is whether old dogs can learn new tricks, because new defensive coordinator Bob Ryan is using a complex 3-4/4-3 scheme in an attempt to make for a better defense and Warren Sapp is not going to be crazy about playing left end. The defense is going to be critical because the offense is not what it was. The Raiders got rid of Brown so that Jerry Porter could be the main option for whoever is playing quarterback, but you keep thinking that Rice is the better choice and even if he is the greatest wide out in the history of the game he is in the final stage of his career, even if he turns out to be another George Blanda-type who could still be active at the end of this decade.