The Oakland Raiders have been the laughingstock of the NFL for the past decade, and it’s their own fault.
The ridicule is the result of a continuous pattern of poor decision-making year after year—from poor draft picks to the constant quarterback shuffle under center. The organization has been unable to find a successful quarterback-head coach combination. Ten years of indecisiveness has buried the franchise.
Currently, rookie QB Derek Carr projects to be a promising player despite the disarray he has already been exposed to—playing on a bad team, under his second coach in six games. Just like Carr, the quarterbacks before him had to adjust to transition but eventually faltered in the face of so much instability. The first-year signal-caller will likely endure the same impediments.
When the season concludes, it’s likely the Raiders front office will hire a new coach, one with his own vision, to replace interim head coach Tony Sparano. If Carr hangs onto his starting job, he would have to adjust to a third head coach in 17 regular-season games.
Looking back through the past decade, the organization clearly isn’t sure of the direction to guide its football team. Coaches have come and gone—some coaches struggled tremendously, and others weren’t given enough time to build.
Both Tom Cable and Hue Jackson were fired at the end of 8-8 seasons, the best season records the Raiders haved in the past 12 years.
Under Cable, Oakland ranked sixth in points scored with Jason Campbell completing 59 percent of his passes to the likes of Zach Miller, Louis Murphy, Jacoby Ford and Darrius Heyward-Bey.
The following year, both Cable and Campbell were replaced. The Raiders completed a trade, acquiring Carson Palmer in exchange for a first-round pick in 2012 and a conditional second-round pick in 2013. Hue Jackson was el...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
