The Raiders were followed very closely by San Francisco, their Bay Area counterparts when it came to preseason hype.
The San Francisco 49ers have been the choice of nearly every media pundit in the country to win the NFC West this season, as they seemed to be the only choice in the league's "worst" division.
The Raiders rid themselves of quarterback JaMarcus Russell, perhaps the biggest draft bust in NFL history, opting instead for Jason Campbell.
The Raiders went 3-1 during the preseason and the Niners finished as the only undefeated team in the league at 4-0, which only increased the hype surrounding both teams.
But today the regular season started, and both teams and their fans came back down to Earth.
The Raiders were beaten soundly in Nashville as they fell 38-13 to the Tennessee Titans. The offense looked nearly as incompetent with Campbell at the helm as it did when Russell was calling the shots. The Oakland offensive line failed to block for their new franchise quarterback, yielding four sacks to the Titans defense.
The Raiders finished the game with just 286 total yards, while Campbell threw for just 180 yards through the air.
The lone bright spot for the Oakland offense was Darren McFadden who accounted for more than half of the Raiders' total offense, finishing with 150 yards and the team's only score on the day.
The Raiders' defense kept Titans' star running back Chris Johnson in check for most of the game, but that was due largely to the fact that Vince Young is not much of a threat to throw the football down the field.
The Raiders played very aggressively on defense, which allowed them to come up and stop Johnson, but it also lead to easy completions for Young and the Titans offense on play-action plays.
San Fr...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
