If Allen can’t get the players to play for him now, there’s not much hope that he will be able to rally his teams in the future. The results so far for Allen have been mixed; the talent-poor Raiders are 4-9 after being 4-12 last year.
Owner Mark Davis made it clear he wanted to see progress in 2013, but the Raiders are in danger of finishing with four wins for the second consecutive season. Davis and general manager Reggie McKenzie may choose to see progress apart from the team’s record, but at least one more win would certainly make their decision a lot easier.
The revamped defense has gone from 28th to 23rd in points allowed, but two of the final three games are against top-five offenses. Oakland’s offensive ranking in points scored also remains unchanged from last season. If the Raiders don’t get at least one more win, it may be tough to make a case that the Raiders have improved at all.
"That's the thing about this season—at times we've shown that there's something there, and at times we've shown that maybe there's not," Davis said via Tim Kawakami of the Contra Costa Times. "There's progress, if you look at it that way, but it makes the disappointment that much harder.
"When you've made some progress, patience is a harder thing to have."
Considering the lack of talent on the roster, Davis and McKenzie are wise to be patient, but losing eight of the final nine games would still be a tough pill to swallow. How a collapse over the final three games would be viewed by the organization is very much an unknown.
Oakland’s roster is also full of players on one-year deals playing for their next...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
