Why?
Why are the Oakland Raiders in playoff contention in November?
An increase in overall "belief" from players, perhaps.
A healthy Darren McFadden.
Competent quarterback play.
But, improved coaching seems to top all.
John Marshall is doing fantastic at defensive coordinator. Luckily, not fantastic enough to garner much head-coaching potential from other teams.
Hue Jackson has done very well this season as offensive coordinator, turning around a horrid, god-awful Oakland Raiders offense into...something.
What's that, Raider Nation? Yeah, you heard right, somebody has transformed the 31st-ranked 2009 Raiders offense into 12th here in 2010. That's 19 spots (for those of you Chiefs fans that can't count).
And then we have Head Coach Tom Cable. Having a quiet season in terms of unwanted headlines, but making some noise in the standings.
Hue Jackson is clearly an Al Davis favorite, while clearly Tom was nearly fired after starting the season 1-3.
Hue has been discussed as a head coaching candidate. Already. If the Raiders finish in the top 10 in offense, you never know.
The Raiders are on the brink of the Playoffs but San Diego is breathing down their neck. What happens at the end of the season, playoffs or not?
Hue and Tom have been fantastic. But Al does not want to lose Hue. We know this.
Jackson is another Al Davis project, AKA "JaMarcus is a great player, accept it."
His relationship with Tom, in my view, deteriorated significantly once the Raiders lost that final game of the 2009 season and had another 11-loss year.
Jerry McDonald, the beat writer for Oakland, speculated Al had ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
