Oakland Raiders - NFL Season Information, Trivia and History

2011-12 NFL Season

After finishing last season at .500, the Raiders are looking to keep that momentum going. Although they did not have a first round draft selection, the team feels it did a great job of acquiring players that will be able to make an impact from the word go. Owner Al Davis declined to extend Head Coach Tom Cable’s contract and he was let go after three seasons. Replacing him is former Offensive Coordinator, Hue Jackson. Although the team finished undefeated in their division, it looks like the offensive line will be revamped as Coach Jackson was more than happy with their draftees Penn State Center Stefen Wisniewski (2nd round, 48th overall selection) and LSU OT Joseph Barksdale (3rd round, 92nd overall selection). "I think Stefan Wisnewski is going to be a special, special player for us," Jackson said. "We all know what Van Dyke can do—cover and run. And to get another big body who is tough, tenacious and loves to play the game, I'm very excited."

Other draft picks included DeMarcus Van Dyke, a speedy cornerback out of Miami who many say that team only drafted because of his speed. Recently on SIRUS radio, Coach Jackson responded to the critics. "(He) obviously was the fastest young man at the combine and people believe that's why we took him. That's not the reason why we took him. We took him because I sent (cornerbacks coach) Rod Woodson down to the University of Miami to work this young man out. The speed at the combine got our attention, watching video got our attention, but Rod went down and came back and said, 'Hue, this guy can do it.' He said, 'This guy has the hips, he has the feet, he has the wherewithal, and he has the smarts to go cover receivers, and he understands the game. So I'm taking this advice from a Hall of Famer, somebody who has done it in this league at a very high level, who told me without a shadow of a doubt that this young man can get it done. I believe in our coaches and so that is the decision we made. I know people think we made it for other reasons, it just happens that this guy can run in the 4.2s. So it added up for us and we think we're getting a tremendous player."

Outlook: DT Richard Seymour has been holding training and conditioning sessions in Atlanta after sending out an email that stated "Men, I hope everyone is well and is staying in shape because we are going to out-work everyone we face this season, and it starts right now in the offseason." He is so serious that he has volunteered to pay for the players to come down. Look for the Raiders to at least get back to .500 and most likely come out of the 2011 season with a winning record.

Oakland Raiders Archives

The Oakland Raiders have a long rich tradition of winning games. The team has the highest winning percentage of any franchise in the National Football League with a .606 winning percentage from a record of 391-252-11. The Raiders have won 15 divisional titles, been to the playoffs 21 times, won four conference championships and three Super Bowls. The team is characterized by their over zealous owner Al Davis. Many people have characterized Al Davis as a guy that messes with his team too much or a bad owner, but most cities would kill to have an owner that cared that much about their team. Davis was actually the head coach of the team from 1963-’65 and had a record of 23-16-3. The team arguably had its greatest season in 1976. The team was led by head coach and now famous commentator and namesake of the highest selling video game franchise ever, John Madden. The team had players on it like quarterback Ken Stabler, tight end Dave Casper, offensive lineman Art Shell, wide receiver Cliff Branch, offensive lineman Gene Upshaw, defensive back Jack Tatum, and linebacker Phil Villapiano. The team swash buckled their way through the regular season and finished it with a 13-1 record the best in the NFL that year. In the first round of the playoffs the Raiders squared off against the New England Patriots and just pulled it out with a 24-21 victory. In the AFC Champion, the Raiders met up with the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. The Raiders made quick work of them by beating them with a score of 24-7. In the Super Bowl the Raiders were pitted against the Minnesota Vikings. The game was never close and at one point in the third quarter the Raiders were up 19-0. The final whistle blew and the Raiders won their first Super Bowl with a 32-14 victory.

Last season was a huge disappointment for the defending AFC Champion Oakland Raiders. The team seemed to age 10 years over one off-season. They were coming off the line slow, couldn’t catch the ball or make a tackle; it just didn’t look like the same team that was in the Super Bowl just a few months before. The team also just seemed to quit on then head coach Bill Callahan. Guys were hurt, the defense couldn’t stop anyone and the offense couldn’t move the ball. It was just a bad season all around and it showed in their 4-12 record which was the second worst record in the NFL.

In the off-season the team knew it had to go in another direction. They fired Callahan and brought in Norv Turner to lead the team. The team let go of a number of key contributors like wide receiver Tim Brown, linebacker Eric Barton, linebacker Bill Romanoski, running back Charlie Garner, and offensive tackle Lincoln Kennedy. The team then brought in aging defensive tackles Warren Sapp and Ted Washington to help stop the run and quarterback Kerry Collins to challenge Rich Gannon for the starting position. Other additions to the team included cornerback Ray Buchanan, guard Ron Stone, and defensive back David Terrell.

In the draft the Raiders needed to make sure they didn’t miss out on anyone since they needed a great deal of youth to come in and rejuvenate the teams winning ways. With the number two pick in the draft the Raiders selected Iowa offensive tackle Robert Gallery. At 6’7” and 323 pounds Gallery should be the cornerstone of the offensive line for years to come. With their second pick the Raiders drafted Virginia Tech center Jake Grove. With these two picks the Raiders took two huge steps in solidifying a line that was porous, at best, in 2003.

On the offensive side of the ball the Raiders will probably still have some trouble moving the pigskin. Quarterback Rich Gannon didn’t look like the Gannon we all saw in 2002 and then was injured for more than half of the season. Their best running back Charlie Garner defected to the Buccaneers and wide receiver Jerry Rice is only a shell of his former self. It’s going to be a long fall for the Oakland offense unless everyone steps up their game under new coach Norv Turner.

On defense, the team looks much improved. The team couldn’t stop the run to save their lives last year and finished dead last against the run. The team then brought in close to 700 pounds of run stopping ability in defensive tackles Ted Washington and Warren Sapp. The team should be better than they were last year; they couldn’t get any worse.