Ever since the collapse of the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, a similar thread has come up amongst the discussions of professional football.

The Raiders are the worst team in the NFL.

Unfortunately for all of the pundits, haters, and doubters, this assertion is just plain untrue.  Over the last few years, yes, the Raiders are historically bad, but it is a small downswing as opposed to a longstanding period of awful teams.

Historically, the Raiders are very much a winning team, looking at the winning percentage for the Oakland Raiders, they are still one of the top five winningest teams of all time, and that's including the last 5 years in which our record is tied for the worst of all time at 19-61 (.237).  However, if we look at our Raiders' record going into that stretch of games, our winning percentage is an astronomical .599, which makes the Raiders the winningest team of all time.

This is why it infuriates me as a Raider fan to see all of these people act as if the past has never happened, and that this team has always been horrible.  It's just not the truth.  As Raider fans, we've suffered through some heartbreaks, none of which I'll go into here, because if you're a fan, you already know them all.  I think we all smiled a collective Cheshire Cat grin when the football gods dispensed their Karma on the Patriots last year (and continuing on to this year).

But the point of my post wasn't to wax poetic about our past conquests and past glory, it's to prove a point.  This team has always been driven to wins by talented squads and a dedication to playing football the Raider way (which, in case anyone is confused, is hard, fast, and ultimately winning).  When people start talking about the miscues of the Raiders, they really have to overlook the years upon years of just plain getting it right.

Getting into the present, I think we have a number of weapons on board to help us rise to the top of the AFC West (where we rightfully belong, remember, this division is ours) and eventually return to glory.  Looking back at our last burst of success, we had a quarterback who was not overly special in his physical attributes, but could lead a team to wins through his intelligence and pure knowledge of the game, and failing that, his grit alone.  Rich Gannon earned his spot in Raider lore even though he came over from Kansas City and the hated Chiefs.  I think with a little bit more time to develop, Jamarcus Russell could become the undisputed leader like Gannon, but with a limitless potential physically. 

One thing that has been a staple of successful Raiders teams is a talented wide receiver corps, and at the time of our last success, we had the number 1 and number 2 receivers of all time at the line for us.  Tim Brown and Jerry Rice gave Rich Gannon weapons to throw to and veteran leadership for the offense.  In time, I think that Javon Walker can get his self back to his level of play in Green Bay and Denver, and lead this team of youngsters.  If that doesn't work out, we can always restock with one of the receivers coming to the NFL next year, such as Jeremy Maclin, or Michael Crabtree (both of which we should not pass over).

One spot where I know the Raiders are stocked with weapons is the running back position, where we've got an exciting young talent out of Arkansas (sound familar to anyone else?  SEC running back with ridiculous speed, multi-talented athlete) in Darren McFadden, a steal in Michael Bush, and the late blooming but very good Justin Fargas.  This is a three-headed monster the likes of which we haven't seen since we had Crockett blowing up linebackers and clearing space for Garner and Wheatley.

Ultimately, this post is to remind the downtrodden fans and less die hard individuals that this downswing is just that, a downswing, and not the beginning of a long trend.  Our team is stocked at the skill positions, and with a few short years, we should be heading towards the top of the division to have battles with the Bolts, Broncos, and Chiefs, and eventually the Steelers, Patriots, Colts, and Jaguars too.  Keep your heads up, wear your Raider love with pride, there's not another team as great as ours and as long as we, the fans, believe that then it will always be true.

Bleed Silver and Black, and Commit yourself to nothing less than Excellence.