Meanwhile the Chiefs, who finished last year with an outburst, went out and reassembled a coaching staff in similar format to the New England Patriots.
Most pundits will claim Sunday's game between the Raiders and Chiefs is meaningless, as both clubs have their respective futures settled. The Raiders are looking at another offseason without the playoffs, while the Chiefs are in, but it's anyone's guess if that will be a No. 3 or No. 4 seed.
But by any stretch of the imagination, this game does give the Raiders something to play for.
First and foremost, it is the chance to finish at .500. The last few seasons, dating back to 2002, very little has gone right in Oakland. Draft pick mistakes, blackouts, even the economy has dulled the league's perspective of the Raiders, leading the team to start putting the pieces to a team into place in 2007.
Darren McFadden, Michael Bush, Zach Miller and longer holdovers Asomugha, Robert Gallery and others started assembling a team to function with. Some coaches were brought in with the belief that they would hold the skills to fix this team. Dating back, some coaches were brought in, but quickly fell out of favor for one reason or another: Norv Turner after bringing in Kerry Collins and chasing Jerry Rice out, Art Shell imploded and Kiffin opened his mouth one too many times.
This is now Cable's team, with Hue Jackson getting vocal at times. This is a squad, being led by a veteran in Richard Seymour, rookies Rolando McClain and Lamarr Houston and has brought the Raiders to a 7-8 record.
After seven seasons of 11 or more losses, seven wins take care of two streaks the Raiders are glad to be rid of, but more importantly with seven wins, the...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
