As reported below from David White of SF Gate, Greg Knapp will finally be involved in this offense by calling the plays.

I have always maintained that Kiffin was in way over his head as an in-game tactician. Kiffin and his game mismanagement, including some of the most ridiculous plays called in recent memory, pale only when compared to the absurdness of his not tapping the vast knowledge and in-game play calling experience of coach Knapp.I believe that Kiffin's ego, stubborness and persistent desire to be "the man" prevented the Raiders from winning games that were winnable.

Know Knapp, who will not be as reluctant to utilize his quarterback, will provide a much more balanced attack and will put the Raiders in a better position to win ball games.

Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Knapp has waited all his life for this moment. OK, so it has been only 20 games, but all those weeks without play-calling power sure felt like a forever or two.

<!-- end related_links/sports/raiders/index.html --> <!-- end: /templates/types/widgets/pages/related_links/rss.tmpl --> "I love calling plays," Knapp said. "That's my chess game. That's my way to feel like I can help the team win and put the guys in the best position to win.

"It's my juices. It's how I get my juices flowing in the game."

Knapp's adrenaline is back in operation this week when the Raiders visit New Orleans. As soon as head coach Lane Kiffin was fired last week, Knapp was assigned play-picking duties to match the coordinator title he has held since last season.

Sure, interim head coach Tom Cable will give input during the week, and he'll get in the last word. Still, Cable said he's counting on Knapp to bring passing balance to a run-heavy offense during the Saints game and beyond.

"He's certainly excited about it," Cable said. "The nice thing is he's called a lot of big plays in a lot of big games ... when something big was really on the line. To have that experience there is going to be awesome."

When the 2004 Falcons reached the NFC Championship Game, Knapp was shepherding the offense. When the 49ers made the playoffs in 2001 and '02, Knapp was barking plays into the quarterback's radio.

The Raiders hired him to be their offensive coordinator last year, only to sit him in the booth. Kiffin - a first-time head coach who was co-offensive coordinator at USC - called the shots from field-side.

Knapp hadn't stood by like that since he was the 49ers' quarterbacks coach in 2000. How the game-day idleness didn't make his temple vein burst, no one knows.

"It was different," Knapp said. "It took me, I'll be honest with you, about four (or) five games last year to finally just chill and not get uptight. The fact I was upstairs last year, it was a little bit harder. I was always so into it on the field.

"This year, being down on the field again, it at least took some of the edge off me because I was at least able to see the quarterback in the eyes and help give little reminders in the headset."

Now, he gets to talk directly into JaMarcus Russell's earhole. Those expecting Knapp to turn Russell into a downfield throwing machine, well, not so fast.

Knapp's offenses led the NFL in rushing from 2004 through '06 and were top-six the three years before that. Only once has he directed a top-10 passing offense.

Cable doesn't expect Knapp to go all vertical, but there won't be a repeat of the second half at Buffalo - when the Raiders threw three times in a 24-23 loss.

Cable's thinking something closer to what the Falcons did in 2006, when he was the offensive line coach and Knapp was the offensive coordinator. The run-pass ratio was 53-to-47.

"He's very good at what he does, so there's no issue there," Cable said. "We went through a year together and he's calling plays, and in between series, we talk about the next series of runs, how I want to do this and set this up, and he would do it.

"I really feel like that's a dynamic that's in place, and we can really go after it together."

Right now, the Raiders have 130 rushes to 99 pass attempts. No wide receivers have more than five catches in four games. Knapp's job, Cable said, is to throw to score points and build leads for the run game to protect in the fourth quarter. He wants the run-versus-pass line to be 50-50, if possible.

At this point, Knapp is glad to do anything other than sit silently.

"Always," Knapp said. "I really do have a passion for it."