The time has come for Tom Cable to make a stand -- the one that gets him fired.

From Ray Ratto:

This might already be done -- the bye week is coming, and Al Davis knows that this season is lost. His quarterback seems to give no earthly damn about his responsibilities, the rest of the team has reduced its Sundays to "Play hard until the other team scores," and the fans have finally made their peace with staying home, as they should.

Thus, Cable can do one of two things -- give in and play Russell in San Diego and let him continue his purposeful and inexorable march to Ryan Leaf-hood, or sit him down knowing that Bruce Gradkowski is a reasonable option only in comparison to Russell and will in any event anger Davis.

This will result in his firing, which is coming sooner or later anyway as the players revert to their natural state as check-cashers who long for the freedom to some day ply their trade in the National Football League. Either Al does it sooner than the bye, bringing out his handy Overhead Projector Of Death to rain down the terror of mid-20th-century technology upon Cable's head, or he waits until the season is over and the boys have produced another get-me-out-of-here 4-12 season.

So if Tom Cable is to go out any way, why not grow a set and go out his way? Let the D blitz more and put Russell down.