FanPost

My only Friend, The End.


Mr Morrison, you're playing my song..
Good Sith Lord, did it have to end that way?!?!? I swear hearing the chants of "DENVER LOST" made matters even worse. You had the spiritual side (Hue prays), the rowdy side (Black Hole, The Dark Side, etc) and practically the entire Universe (Raider Nation extended) praying for a win against our most hated divisional foe, the San Diego Chargers... and we STILL didn't come through... damnation indeed.

It simply killed me and the entire Raider Empire Sunday. We had so many expectations..
This was supposed to be our time.

All seemed so right starting off right from the jump.
In the beginning of the year, Mr Davis promoted Hue Jackson to Head Coach, the line was improving, Jason Campbell was coming into his own, we added more additional weapons to the Wide Receiver corps and last but not least, Darren McFadden seemed like he was going to kill the entire league with his fierce all star like ability.
He was even the NFL league leader at one time. That was then.

This is now..Al has passed (God rest his Soul), Jason was put on IR list after week 6, Run DMC received a mysterious injury (one so mysterious we or Hue could never tell when he'd come back) and most of our WRs were hurt in action; lacking big play making moments throughout the season..
and now I can't help pondering all of the close games we could of won. Namely; Buffalo, Denver, Detroit and yes, I'm even putting yesterday's loss in this category.

Down only 5 in the 4th Quarter and San Diego stood on the inch yard line with Darth Raider and the Dark Side shouting with all their power like mad men. I think the play before was almost ruled as a Safety. We had the advantage of position, momentum and had them right were we wanted them..
Phillip Rivers then drove down the field for a Touchdown in a few minutes plus.
Hell, you know the rest of the story...


What in the bloody Hell should we do now? How else can we improve?

-Well, you can start with canning our Defensive Coordinator, Chuck Bresnahan. I think that's a decision we all can agree with. Grabbing him from the minor leagues might of been one of the late Al's last bad mistakes. Sure, I know he needed a guy to follow his strict "man only" rule..but today is a different day. We need someone with creativity and knowledge for today's game. We've been lacking D for quite a while and have gotten only worse since Nnamdi left.

-Take care of the penalty and run stopping issues. These 2 things have remained on the list for almost a decade. I'm not sure exactly why these issues follow us years stacked upon years, but we have to take care both of these problems to be a credible team. The last time we had a powerful run stopping D? We made the Super Bowl..
yeah, think about it.

-Draft and grab Free Agents for the Defense. We have been drafting pretty good for the Offense..you think we can draft well the OTHER way??

- Lastly, bring back Jon Gruden. Sure, I know he's tied up in TV land..but we need a GM slash front man for the organization that the NFL will fear again. I couldn't think of a better terror than good ol "Chucky". If he demanded to Coach? Hell, I'd let him. Hue's pretty good, but I think Jon also knows his Football well.
Yes, I know the Sith Lord, Master of all Evil can get ahead of himself...so what!?!?
A Dark Lord can always dream...


Summary:

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Norv Turner walked around the San Diego Chargers' locker room, all smiles, thanking players for the effort and congratulating them for finishing strong. Maybe for the last time. If Turner's tenure in San Diego really, truly is over, at least his players sent him out a winner. And in typical Turner fashion, it again might've come too late. Philip Rivers threw three touchdown passes and Richard Goodman returned a kickoff 105 yards for another score, giving the Chargers a 38-26 victory over the Oakland Raiders to keep its AFC West rival out of the playoffs. "I hope it's not the end," Rivers said of his time with Turner. "I'd be super disappointed."
The Chargers could only celebrate playing the role of spoiler in Turner's possible farewell. The Raiders (8-8) began the final day of the regular season needing a win and help to end an eight-year playoff drought. They received the support they needed when Denver (8-8) lost 7-3 at home to Kansas City but were unable to do their part by beating the Chargers (8-8). The Broncos won the division based on record versus common opponents. If Turner's time has ended in Southern California, he ended his tenure with an offensive masterpiece: San Diego never punted, committed just one turnover and gained 463 yards. Whether it's enough to keep his job, Turner stayed away from any last-minute lobbying. "I don't need to answer that. There's going to be a decision made, and you'll all know what it is," he said. "And what my opinion is right now probably doesn't have a lot of effect. I'll leave it at that." At the very least, the Chargers gave the franchise's front-office something to think about. Rivers completed 19 for 26 passes for 310 yards and showed his best on a key drive in the fourth quarter after Oakland sliced San Diego's lead to 31-26 with 9:37 to go. After Goodman mishandled the kickoff to force the Chargers to start from inside their 1, Rivers completed a 20-yard pass to Malcom Floyd, Mike Tolbert ran for 40 yards and Rivers threw a 43-yard TD pass to Floyd to make it a two-score game. Antoine Cason then intercepted Carson Palmer with 4:36 to go at the San Diego 20 to seal the victory for the Chargers and provide a disappointing finish to what had been a promising season for the Raiders. "It wasn't our goal to end their season," Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson said, "but it is kind of nice because we're going home as well." San Diego finally sprinted to a strong start under Turner, going 4-1 and rising into AFC contenders. Then the Chargers fell apart as Rivers struggled, penalties and frustration mounted, and injuries hit. Even though the Chargers got back to .500, that's not the territory many had projected. "What we went through this year, injury wise, bad quarterback play, some of that, he can't control any of that," Rivers said. "And then to look up and go, `Man, they're 4-7 and they've fallen back at 8-8. And in what many would call a meaningless game, to go out and play the way we did. It's disappointing knowing 9-7 would have got you in. "It's unfortunate the way the year has gone," Rivers said, "but I believe Norv's the guy." Sending the Raiders home turned out to be a consolation prize. Oakland seemed in control in the AFC West after beating Chicago 25-20 on Nov. 27 to improve to 7-4. But they lost four of their final five games, including squandering a late 13-point lead at home to Detroit two weeks ago to finish out of the postseason for the ninth straight year.
Palmer, acquired in a midseason trade with Cincinnati after starter Jason Campbell broke his collarbone, delivered the kind of performance the Raiders expected, throwing for 417 yards and two touchdowns. But Oakland had to settle for four field goals by Sebastian Janikowski, mismanaged the clock late in the first half and could never stop Rivers and the Chargers offense. The Raiders did set single-season records for penalties and yards penalized by committing eight for 64 yards. That gave them 163 for 1,358 yards, surpassing the totals of 158 for 1,304 set by the 1998 Chiefs. The game started off well as Oakland drove 95 yards on its first possession to score on Palmer's 3-yard TD pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey. The drive was aided by a pair of personal fouls against San Diego, including one that got Chargers leading sacker Antwan Barnes ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct. But Oakland then allowed a 38-yard TD pass from Rivers to Antonio Gates, a 1-yard run by Tolbert after a pass interference call in the end zone against Stanford Routt tied the single-season penalty record and Goodman's return. The Raiders trailed 24-13 at the break, missing a chance at points in the closing seconds when they completed a 6-yard pass to Louis Murphy inbounds with 8 seconds and were unable to stop the clock. Only time will tell if Turner still has a job in San Diego next season. "We had great guys and they've never backed down from what we've asked them to do," Turner said. "I know it's hard for everyone else on the outside, but they know what they've been through and they know the situations that we've had to handle. And I think that makes it even more special, the fact that we've finished and played well and beat a good team that was fighting to make it to the playoffs.


Alright Nation, it was a pleasure blogging for you all damn year! I'll stop in from time to time as more Raider information arises. You know Football talk never stops in Darth's head.
Let's take it to the following Next Year! (talk about bring Anxious!!)
At the Coliseum — Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
On the road — Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons.

GO RAIDERS FOR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Darth Raider
aka Charles Ybarra