Schedule preview: Raiders renewing swagger or falling apart?

Poor Oakland. Nothing ever seems to quite settle for them. They finally get a non-losing season for the first time since their superbowl journey of 2002 and some stability at the top and Al Davis fires their head coach, and they have no first round pick in this year's draft.

On top of that talented veterans Nnamdi Asomugha and Robert Gallery are leaving whilst Al resigns a few players for extortionate amounts a week before the CBA expires just to make sure they have as little cap room as possible for when the chaos is over. Now that's how you just win baby...

I can't believe i'm saying this, but the Raider Nation deserves better. New DBs coach Rod Woodson will have his work cut out without Nnamdi, who made the whole defense better with his presence. The Raiders do have plenty of young exciting talent and exhibited it well last year sweeping their division which is no mean feat. However they only won 2 games outside their division and the AFC West will be much improved next year. It is difficult to judge how much of last year's success was based on Hue Jackson's playcalling, they were a stunning rushing team (2nd in the league) and they put players like Jacoby Ford in a position to succeed. They also finally got some mileage out of Darren McFadden and played several games without starter Jason Campbell under centre. Zach Miller is a pro bowl tight end who often doesn't get the plaudits he deserves.

However, Gallery's departure adds more trouble to an already poor offensive line. Bruce Campbell hopefully will show his remarkable athleticism and fill in nicely but the whole line needs addressing. They still lack a true number 1 wideout despite having speed across the receiving core. They also need to replace one CB and upgrade at safety. Tough to do in one year.

(Smile for the camera Mr Davis...)

I have fond memories of our last trip to Oakland. Fresh off the draft everyone wanted to see how CJ would do in his rookie season and he quickly flashed the talent with an opening day touchdown. We ran out clear winners and played amazing on defense setting the tone for a 6-2 start which saw us end a losing streak to the Vikings and a sweep the superbowl losing Bears. We didn't know back then it was going to spiral out of control but we looked good for a bit. I sympathise with the Raiders and it says a lot when a Lions fan sympathises with anyone. Lions win