I remember those times fondly even though it was ten years ago. It was a time where Rich Gannon would dismember a defense with a vast talent of receiver options comparable to what we have in camp now. Consequently, we haven’t had a quarter back the caliber of Gannon till now. No, I did not just compare Gannon to Carson Palmer, oh wait, I kind of did. (I guess I mean a “legit” and “capable” quarterback.)

Rich Gannon

Carson Palmer must lay awake at night reflecting on the many options he will have to throw at this season. Two all star caliber running backs in Darren McFadden and Marcel Reece that can catch as good as any wide receivers in the league. A wide receiver pool who is as fast and is as young as any team in the NFL. A rookie wide receiver turning heads at OTA’s named Juron Criner who seems to catch everything thrown at him with ease. (Take notes DHB.)  Another rookie WR named Rod Streater who has coach Dennis Allen real giddy and other WR’s like Luis Murphy petrified for there football life. A developing tight end with speed and hands named David Ausberry who owns the job as of now. If you see Carson smiling a lot this off season, you will know why.

Our new and progressive offense may not be 100% west coast style, but you will see flashes of what made us great a decade ago. Our skill players measure up to what we had in 2002, and Greg Knapp will have our offense flowing like a cool mountain stream. Gone are the days of run, run, fling it deep. Our offense will be more explosive, multifaceted, and less predictable. Defensive coordinators you have been put on notice! I look forward to this season, more then I have in almost a decade.

Long Live the Raider Nation.

Greg Simon

JBB Staff Writer

@simonizr

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The main reason we won that Super Bowl and the main reason Joe Theismann still is our number one hater, was our defense. Our defense that year was something that would give the best of the best offensive coordinators fits even today. Are you kidding me! Imagine Pro Bowl line men, Howie Long and Lyle Alzado looking at you from across the line. So if Theismann were to survive those two crazy legends, he still had to deal with Super Bowl M.V.P. and all world M.V.P. Rod Martin and Matt Millen! No wonder why we had six sacks that day and I do remember Theismann having a brown stain on the back of his pants! If Theismann survived the two first waves of pure NFL defensive terror, he still had the best cornerback tandem in NFL history to deal with, Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes. The 38-9 rout was on and we were the underdogs! Ha ha!

To put things into perspective today Nation, we may have a few bits and pieces of a team of that caliber, but we are years away from a well rounded team like that. Rebuilding and retooling are the terms you will hear frequently this coming season. I hope Dennis Allen and company take the NFL by storm this year, but I will remain in the rebuilding/retooling mindset until then.

GO RAIDERS!

Greg Simon
JBB Staff Writer
@simonizr

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Good news for the nation is Cali grown Stevie Johnson did not practice today (Thursday). Why so serious Johnson and has been bothered by a groin injury for a month now and reinjured it in practice on Wednesday. That leaves the Bills with a giant tight end, a dude named Roscoe (not from the Dukes of Hazard) and two other wide receivers not worth mentioning.

As a result, the Bill will relying heavily on their run game which the Raiders should slam shut. Fred Jackson is a serviceable running back and will probably be used out of the back field as a receiver more than anything.

The Bills defense is strong lead by all pro line backer Shawne “Lights Out” Merriman. He leads a talented group of line backers and defensive backs. We will need to rely on Darren McFadden profoundly. DMC needs to shred up the D if we are to stay in this one. Our busted up receiving corps looked bad last week and are looking worse according to the Raiders injury report. (Great job on the strike NFLPA. My fantasy team is a who’s who of injured reserve.)

Keys to this game are; bully Fitz, bully their wide receivers, bully their run defense with DMC, bully Fred Jackson and C.J. what’s his face, and lastly, don’t be a brainless, unintelligent 15 penalty bully.

The BULLY is already in Fitz head. Read the quote below.

“You saw the Monday night game with Denver, they are a disruptive bunch. They do some good things. They get a lot of pressure up the middle. They get a lot of pressure on the edges. It’s going to be a tough challenge for us. It seems like every week, it’s not always the same thing, but there’s always a challenge with those guys up front and this week it’s because collectively as a group they’re all so good.”
—Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick on the defensive front seven of the Oakland “BULLY” Raiders.

GO NATION!

Greg Simon
JBB Staff Writer
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@simonizr