Not that playing without Aso is anything new. Just before the bye the Raiders went into their biggest game in seven years without the best cover corner in the game. Stanford Routt played a brilliant game against the Chiefs but the Steelers are a much different animal.

If the position of wide receiver is supposed to be reserved for divas who hate getting their jerseys dirty, then Hines Ward never got that memo. Ward is as tough as a piece of petrified jerky and just to further his legend he’s hell bent on playing this Sunday despite suffering a concussion during the Steelers’ loss to New England.

While Ward’s tough guy persona has, at times, bordered on Rodney Harrison territory he is an unquestioned leader and has helped define the Steeler mystique. On the other hand, Nnamdi is about as different in contrast to Ward as you’ll find. While he too is an unquestioned leader among the Silver and Black, Aso has the reputation as being one of the nicest guys in the league.  

As Asomugha continues to recover from his ankle sprain suffered three weeks ago against Seattle, he too is in doubt for Sunday’s clash. While most were relaxing during the bye week, Asomugha was getting treatment for his injury at the team facility.
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Gradkowski looks to make it three wins in four starts.

With just four games remaining in the season, the Oakland Raiders are in the home stretch. This team might not be headed to the playoffs but respectability is certainly an attainable goal.

Since Bruce Gradkowski took over as the team’s starting quarterback, the tide has turned and a new sense of determination has set in.

Coming off the upset victory in Pittsburgh makes it all too easy to simply overlook the Washington Redskins who arrive in the East Bay without a single win on the road this year. However, the Skins were a chip shot field goal away from pulling off an even more astounding upset of their own last Sunday.

Washington gave the undefeated New Orleans Saints all they could handle. Much like the Raiders, the Redskins’ struggling offense awoke last weekend and hung a season high 30 points on the board.

Nnamdi Asomugha will be a major factor in a game that could be a low scoring affair. He and Albert Haynesworth made some major headlines in the offseason as both defenders inked mega-million dollar contracts with their respective teams. Haynesworth has ruled himself out of the contest due to injury.

Tom Cable’s offense would serve itself well by repeating what they did last week in attacking their opponents’ weakness. Gradkowski exploited the Pittsburgh secondary that was minus its best player, Troy Polamalu.

The Redskins boast one of the better secondaries in the league. A fact that many Silver and Black faithful find hard to believe considering former Raider free agency bust DeAngelo Hall is among the men who play in Washington’s pass coverage. Hall seems unlikely to make his unceremonious return to the Black Hole due to nagging injuries.

Cable must establish the run to open up the threat of the pass. Haynesworth’s absence should serve as a motivational tool to get Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden and Michael Bush involved early.

Oakland’s offensive line is a major concern however. Having lost Robert Gallery for balance of the season and the uncertain status of Samson Satele means there is a good chance of having to field a make shift line on Sunday.

A win on Sunday would give the Raiders five victories on the season equaling last year’s total with three games left to play. It might not sound like much, but ending the streak of six consecutive years of 11-losses or more would be an improvement. Yes, it is a small improvement but an improvement none the less.   

Nothing comes easy in the NFL. These are the games Cable has had trouble getting his troops motivated to play. These are also the games that you must win in this league. After Sunday, the next time the Raiders play in Oakland will be the season finale against Baltimore.

It’s now or never for Cable.

His job could be hanging in the balance. So far, Cable has proven himself to be a good big game coach. If he starts winning these matchups he’ll be on his way to keeping his office in 2010 and possibly getting this franchise back to respectability.

Only one result will suffice.

Just win baby!  

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The Raiders will have to channel 2006 in Pittsburgh this Sunday.

It seems like ages ago that Art Shell was patrolling the sidelines in the East Bay during his second tour of duty with the Oakland Raiders. Shell’s lone year on the comeback trail netted just two wins and a total of 168 points for an entire 16 game season.

Those two wins came in succession with a stunning 20-13 victory over the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

It took two defensive touchdowns to defeat the Steelers in Oakland that Sunday afternoon. The offense never found the end zone which was a common theme during the Tom Walsh error era.

Here we are, three years later, and the theme is still pretty much the same.

Tom Cable’s offense in on track to lower the bar set by the ’06 offense. His play calling has yielded just 115 points in 11 games, which not so surprisingly is dead last in the NFL.

Despite the health concerns surrounding Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers still have a wealth of weapons to choose from. John Marshall has his work cut out for him yet again and his best player isn’t buying into the scheme any longer.

Nnamdi Asomugha voiced his displeasure with the Al Davis inspired defense in which the NFL’s best shutdown corner has thrived. After watching the Cowboys break big play after big play on Thanksgiving, there was good reason for Asomugha to speak up. Marshall has shown the ability to put together wonderful gameplans as evident by the efforts his defense put forth against Philadelphia and Cincinnati. His defense has also folded faster than a pair of deuces against pocket aces with such poor performances as the efforts shown against the Giants and Jets.

Forget about the Bruce Gradkowski homecoming.

History has shown us that the only chance the Raiders have to deliver a knockout blow to the playoff hopes in Pittsburgh will be via the defense.

Which version of the Silver and Black defense will show up on Sunday?

That is the real question and the only one that matters.

Troy Polamalu is not going to be the last line of defense for the Steelers but that hardly matters. Unless Coach Cable has taken the extra days of prep to reinvent the entire playbook, then more of the same should be expected from the worst offense in pro football.

Against Dallas, Cable finally remembered that he can use Darren McFadden in ways other than simply asking Run DMC to run up the zero hole for minimal gains. Will the trend of using D-Mac as a wide receiver continue?

Again, that hardly matters.

If the Raiders have any ray of hope then the new elephant in Marshall’s plan will factor more into the outcome than The Big Gradkowski will.

This one is all about the defense. 

How bad are things around Raider Nation these days?

Look no further than the matchups both this week and last. Thirty years ago, the Raiders playing the Cowboys and Steelers in successive weeks would have been bigger news around the NFL than new policies on concussions.

Instead, both games are viewed as nothing more than tune ups for teams with playoff aspirations.

How much worse can things get?

Being that the best chance for the ’09 Raiders to beat the Steelers is to repeat a performance of the ’06 Silver and Black, I’d say things can still get much worse.

We’re getting too accustomed to this time of year as Raider fans. This is the time of year when there is nothing but pride left to play for. The short term goal is to make those terrible towels more useful for tears than cheers. The long term goal is to miraculously end the run of six years with 11 or more losses. Both seem like long shots but at this point that is all we’ve got left to cheer for.  

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