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The Oakland Raiders will go to the playoffs in the next 2 years. True or False & why?


True. I believe the Oakland Raiders will be able to put enough pieces together to get a playoff berth in the next 2 years. Lane Kiffin is a good young up and coming coach in this league. JaMarcus Russell will have learned the offense completely by then. And the Raiders have a growing player in Fargas in the backfield, along with a decent defense that will only get better. 4 wins? That is pretty good for the Raiders as it is, and it can only look up for them. As long as they can have good drafts and make smart moves, and stay healthy, this team will be in the playoffs for sure in the next two years.


Of the 6 AFC playoff spots, 3 are unclaimable by the raiders (winners of North, East, South divisions.) That leaves 3 spots for them to get in, and there are too many quality teams ahead of them.

San Diego is much better and is a fairly young team.
Jacksonville has a dominant defense and finally, a QB.
Pittsburgh is still an above-average team.
Cleveland is coming on strong and has a great offense.
Buffalo is solid and very young.
Denver should bounce back if Shanahan stops making stupid personnel decisions.
Tennessee has loads of cap room to sign some free agents and boost their weaknessess.
Houston has been playing very well also, despite multiple injuries.

Oakland is still struggling mightily within their division. They need to worry about winning those games before they can even think about sniffing the playoffs. They may improve over the next two years, but not enough to pass up the other teams in a strong AFC.

We still don't know about Russell since the coaching staff refuses to put him in, even with the season all but over. And we don't know if Kiffin can coach all that well. He is 4-10, after all.


4-10 for the Raiders is nothing to complain about, and we have had some very close games, we could easily be 5-9, or even 6-8. And the Raiders are young and are getting solid. And all these teams you mentioned, first Denver. (See thursday night game, and last game against Oakland) yeah they got a way to go. Pittsburgh is good true to that. San Diego and Norv Turner? There is potential for a slip up. Cleveland is good and so is Jacksonville, but they must stay healthy, same with Tennesee. And if the Raiders get better, they could beat any of those teams, and compile the wins necessary to get a spot.


To make the playoffs, about 10 wins are required.

All teams must stay healthy to make the playoffs. Predicting injuries is impossible, so assume all teams are at full strength. The only teams Oakland is obviously better than right now are Kansas City, Miami, Jets, and perhaps Cincinnati. That puts them 11th in the AFC, and quite a few games out of the wildcard spot.

Russell will only be in his second year starting. That offensive line is not great, and his receivers are either unproven or actively trying to leave town. Fargas is alright, but the Raiders are still 31st in the league in rushing. The defense is also 31st against the rush.

I think two years might be too short of a timetable for the Raiders to make the playoffs. I trust the top teams to stay at the top, with not much room for any newcomers.


In two years, the Raiders will make a playoff run, because I believe they can attain that 10 win mark. And if you think about they should have like 6 wins this, and give them two years, and 10 wins will come.


Raiders' records the past 5 years:
2003 4-12 3rd AFC West
2004 5-11 4th AFC West
2005 4-12 4th AFC West
2006 2-14 4th AFC West
2007 4-10 so far.

The Raiders have been lousy for some time. Their QB collection has been sacked 33 times this year, despite attempting to pass less than anybody besides the Vikings. Their running game is next to last. Their defense is ranked behind such superpowers as the Miami Dolphins, 49ers, and Atlanta Falcons. Oakland is more than just a strong-armed QB away from the playoffs. They have a lot of work to do.

A lot can change in two years, yes. But that doesn't mean it will. Teams like Detriot, Arizona, Cincinnati stay bad for decades at a time. Other teams already have a head start at rebuilding. The AFC is too competitive to make room in the playoffs for the Oakland Raiders.

Remember, those close losses aren't near-wins. They're just losses.

Comments (30)

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ok this is to get this on the main screen

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Teams like the Raiders always take a step back in their second year in a new system. You saw it with the Browns and you're seeing it with the Jets. So I think that Lane Kiffin goes 3-13 next year. However, it's usually the year after that where the team has a lot of success. My main worry is that Lane Kiffin could be fired after his second season because Al Davis is a horrible owner who gives his coaches very little time for them to succeed.

One thing that I really liked out of Lane Kiffin is allowing JaMarcus Russell to sit and learn the system. If you have a bad team, then I believe that you don't throw your quarterback out there right away. That's exactly what Lane Kiffin is doing and he's doing the right thing by not destroying the kid's confidence and by polishing him up before he gets to play.

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The main reason I thought that JaMarcus Russell was going to be a bust is because I thought he'd be thrown out there to play right away, but because he's had some time to sit, I think he'll be a decent quarterback.

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WAY WAY false. First their is a massive lack of talent on both side of the ball. Both lines play poorous football at times, then average on other times. Don't count of the Fargas thing again for next year. No wide receivers that are consistant threat. Secondary is bad at tacking, Russell might do OK, but that's at best. The coach is in over his head yet remains arrogant. That doesn't work. He will be fired after next year and they will start over again.

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FALSE.Alright i'm saying the oakland raiders might get in about 5 years they need to build up on their draft picks. Thats what some sucky teams do and it acually works for them.

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The Raiders are ready to make a playoff run next season. He has the team playing very hard. Most teams would "call it the season" when they are 4-10 and facing the defending champs. The Raiders had a 4th qtr lead in that game and I think that shows how far they have come from last year. Remember, this was a 2-14 team that scored just 12 TDs on offense when Lane Kiffin took over. The Raiders are a few FGs away from being a .500 team right now. Next year they will improve. It looks like Darren McFadden is going to end up in Oakland and he alone might be the difference in terms of us scoring another 3 or 4 points per game.

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Massive lack of talent on both sides of the ball? You have GOT to be kidding me norcalsurfer. Let me name some guys:

Kirk Morrison, Nnamdi Asomugha, Thomas Howard, Michael Huff, Stuart Schweigert, Derrick Burgess, Fabian Washington, Justin Fargas, a decent offensive line that can run block, and Ronald Curry.

Warren Sapp, Jerry Porter, and a few others highlight the veteran talent on the team...so them have no talent is COMPLETELY untrue...

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Teams don't lose a lot of close games because theyre good. Losing close games isn't a sign of anything.

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"Teams don't lose a lot of close games because theyre good. Losing close games isn't a sign of anything." -BigTenFan

I'll tell you what it IS a sign of:

Losing.

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tough one...they split games with denevr and kc this year..depending on how they do against the chargers might gimie more insight to next year...but i think its a real possibility

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Raiders made a mistake in taking Russel first last year. They should have taken Adrian Peterson and built the team around him. They have to many holes to fill and need to start from scratch. I happen to think if Jamarcus Russel was the real deal he would have won the starting job by now.

On Offense they need to build a solid line. Find a big play reciever, and need to find a fulltime RB cause I think Fargas is having his one career year. Defensively you have to immediatly address a replacement for Sapp, and get a pass rush.

As for getting into the playoff within the next 2 years...Well as we all know anything can happen but there are to many teams already well into the rebuilding phase that are much closer like the Titans, Bills, Browns, and the Texans.

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Sapp dis. Boller dat. Browns luv Skat. Russel ma balls. GO STEELERS!

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they did almost beat the colts.

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It seems like the Raiders fans are saying true and everyone else is saying false. How surprising.

I think the Raiders have some pieces in place, but it's way to early to be talking playoffs. In the words of Jim Mora, "Playoffs!? Don't talk to me about playoffs?! Playoffs!?"

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Shut up Kuhn. Did the Steelers just lose to the Jaguars? Yes? OK, then, like I said, shut up.

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The Raiders will make a run next year for the playoffs.There is not many positions they need to fill.They need to start J-Rock the rest of the year to get some experience and so he can know what he needs to work on improving for next years run.This year they have either been ahead or only a score away from winning the majority of there games.I like the fact that Lane has not guaranteed anyone there starting job and there position is always up for the one who really wants it.If they can get the penalties to stop,they may improve 100%.

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3 point loss to Den
2 point loss to Chiefs
4 point loss to Titans

We could have easily been 7-7

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WAY WAY false. First their is a massive lack of talent on both side of the ball. Both lines play poorous football at times, then average on other times. Don't count of the Fargas thing again for next year. No wide receivers that are consistant threat. Secondary is bad at tacking, Russell might do OK, but that's at best. The coach is in over his head yet remains arrogant. That doesn't work. He will be fired after next year and they will start over again.

norcalsurfer777 | 12/17/07

Wow, had problems understanding due to spelling errors

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Kiffin has been pulling a Petrino with the freakin QB's this year

Culpepper and McCown have been sharing time despite Pepper being obviously better QB

Pepper in 7 games: 58.1%, 1331 yards, 5 TD's, 5 INT's, 7.2 yards per attempt, 60 1st downs, 21 sacks, 78 QB Rating

McCown 8 games: 57.7%, 1105 yards, 10 TD's, 11 INT's, 6.1 per attempt, 53 1st downs, 12 sacks, 68.6 QB Rating

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until they add a playmaker to make russel play well i dont know. if they find a go to guy other than porter then i can see it happening.

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