Raider Nation: A Nation Without Hope for Too Long

A history of excellence is now being rewritten as a history of despair and doubt that the organization so "committed" to being great will ever return to the level the organization promises its followers.

Seven years, seven seasons concluded with a losing record, and 10 first round draft picks during that span.

But improvement has been far from the direction the Raiders have gone.

A vampire heading the front office and everything else the Silver and Black do, paired with a coach that minimizes the potential that the once feared Raiders have.

Good reasons not to be enthusiastic about the future.

The peak years of 2001 and 2002, robbed of one opportunity to go to the Superbowl (for those of you who don't remember the tuck rule...that was probably the Raiders' year) and beat down in the championship game the next, distant memories for the Oakland faithful.

So here we are, just over four months away from the first whistle of the season (I don't count that preseason garbage) and the question still remains: Will the Raiders again fall into a black hole?

The Raiders made three key acquisitions this offseason aside from their very mediocre draft: Jason Campbell, Richard Seymour, and John Henderson.

 

Offense

Sure, Campbell is an upgrade compared to JaWalrus Russell, but he's an unproven quarterback who couldn't find success on a team with more offensive talent than the Raiders have.  

So will he really improve the team, or will the spark we are depending him to provide turn out to just be another broken fuse?

This season will be tough for Campbell, but it will be hard not to improve an offense that ranked near the bottom in most categories last year.

But to expect Campbell to turn the team around is asking too much, especially when considering his biggest offensive threats are Louis Murphy and Michael Bush.
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders