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As the season comes to a close, the fans have to ask themselves one question. What happened? The answer is a lot of things happened. So in typical year-end style I present to you The Top 10 Reasons The Raiders Aren't Going To The Playoffs. A Retrospective. 10. The Offensive Line: Sure there were injuries, but the group wasn't that good to begin with. This group took a huge step backwards in terms of run blocking and the pass blocking was spotty at best. On the bright side, Mario Henderson looks legit. 9. Richard Seymour: The defensive savior that we traded a very valuable 2011 first-round selection for was only at times worth the franchise tag that he will certainly receive this offseason. He almost single-handedly helped the Raiders lose a game as well. He makes the list because so much was expected of him on and off the field, both football related and not and I didn't really see much from him. Greg Ellis seemed to fill this role and we didn't have to give up a pick f...

Tom Cable clearly has lost confidence in JaMarcus Russell. So much so that the Raiders are going with Charlie Frye, who couldn't get the job done in Cleveland. This could be a pivotal decision in the future of the Oakland Raiders. In Oakland, it doesn't always matter how much confidence the head coach has in a player, but how much confidence the owner has in a player. Al Davis writes the checks and calls the shots, every player decision directly or indirectly goes through Al Davis. Cable has full autonomy to decide who the starting quarterback will be. He doesn't have the power to sign a quarterback. This morning Gradkowski's agent Ralph Cindrich tweeted that initial reports were that Gradkowski would not need surgery and no decision had been made to put him on IR. Within minutes of this report, Tom Cable announced to the Denver media that Charlie Frye would start at quarterback. If Gradkowski isn't going on IR and Frye is going to start, why sign J.P. Losman? Losma...

As anyone who reads anything I write, I've been pretty even-keeled about my approach to JaMarcus Russell. I've managed to stay away from the early hate that he has received in order to give him a chance to succeed before I labeled him a bust. I still don't think booing everything he does it productive, it shows how unknowledgeable Raider Nation can be. The Raider fans should only be boo-birds when Russell does wrong, because otherwise the fans are creating some of the poor production. Even when Russell throw an interception it is ALWAYS his fault. Russell's confidence has dropped off the map. Confidence is key for any quarterback and Russell's is quickly evaporating. In a rare move I am going to agree with Lane Kiffin's strategy. Kiffin realized Russell wasn't ready for the team to jump on his back and he rode the running game hard and kept Russell's throws simple. Unfortunately is hamstrung his success. Cable in large part kept it that way for all of la...

Remember the saga that started in training camp and clouded the first five weeks of the season? Yes. Randy Hanson has been spotted in the Raiders scouting department. Only the Raiders, right? One thing I'd like to point out, the story was way overblown especially by Yahoo! Sports writers. Was there some disagreement about what happened? Sure, but that often happens during a heated exchange. In the end Cable got what he wanted. Hanson scouting and not coaching. Hanson also got what he wanted, a job with his beloved Raiders. Both of them received things they didn't want (broken jaw, media fire). I guess inside the building at Raiders headquarters on Harbor Bay Parkway, a broken jaw and media scrutiny are about equal.

The Steelers are prone to getting beat in the air, so we may get to see how much the young receivers have developed this season. Oddly this could be a statement game for Mr. Drop. He scores his first touchdown last week and lets hope his confidence is elevated and he can start to put some of the drops behind him. With Justin Fargas in the questionable injury category, we may again see more Michael Bush and Darren McFadden. Bush has seen is carries diminish after a fumble in the Bengals game and McFadden may just now be getting completely healthy from his knee injury, or the Raiders have been extremely cautious with him. It might not make much of a difference because running on the Steelers defense is pretty difficult, so don't expect the Raiders to pound the ball and win. That pretty much rules out the run game and with a forecasted high of 39 degrees on Sunday, the young receivers better keep those finger warm, that is if they use them instead of their chest. Big Ben is projected ...