How Can the Oakland Raiders Escape Black Hole of Losing?

This will not be news to the rabid fanbase of the Oakland Raiders: The team has not won in over a decade.

The Raiders are just the ninth team since the 1970 merger to go at least 10 seasons without a winning record and without making the playoffs.

Just fail to compete, baby?

For a team synonymous with black holes, the Raiders have been sucked into a black hole of losing which has produced the darkest era in franchise history.

The good news: They’re only halfway to the NFL record of futility set by the New Orleans Saints (1967-86) when they went 20 years without winning.

The bad news: It’s practically guaranteed the Raiders are going to extend this to at least 11 seasons. Where do you see nine wins on that 2013 schedule with this roster?

Unlike teams who are so close to a Super Bowl or just the playoffs, the Raiders are filled with holes. Literally everything needs to improve for this team.

So rather than pretend the Raiders have a chance to compete for anything in 2013—except the first pick on the draft, which we’ll talk about later—let’s take a look back at how things went so wrong, and what the Raiders can do to return to a winning tradition.

Some day this streak is going to end, but it’s not going to happen in 2013.

 

Digging the Hole Deeper: A Decade of Bad Decisions



Teams do not go a decade without winning because of one wrong move, especially in the era of free agency. It takes a series of bad decisions. Al Davis is gone, but many of his franchise’s major mistakes are not forgotten.

Oakland was last competitive with a very veteran roster including Rich Gannon, Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Rod Woodson, Lincoln Kennedy, Charlie Garner and Bill Romanowski. All of these players were age 30 or older in the 2002 season.

When the Raiders lost Super Bowl XXX...

About the Author