Raiders Resurrection

Ex-Raider Romanowski had an interesting article he wrote about the resurgence of the Raiders. You can read it here. He basically explains that the team has really come together and play hard for their coaches. They have learned how to play as a team and certain players are stepping up and filling a void that is missing because of not having a real 'star' on the team. They also are winning the battles up front on the offensive and defensive lines. I want to take it a little further than what Romo laid out. I think it has to do with the coaching staff. Cable stuck to his guns and kept his philosophy in place even though at times last year it didn't look like they were making progress. He also knew that Russell wasn't the guy to take them to the next level and actually did something about it. I believe at the end of the season last year that he lobbied to Al Davis to keep his job and explained that this team was a different team when Russell wasn't QB and explained that if he got a new QB, he could lead this team to the next level. I think Al knew this was probably the case and decided to give it a shot. Cable also knew that he needed an Offensive Coordinator so that he could focus more on the offensive line and get them to where they needed to be. The guy he brought in was Hue Jackson. Jackson has been a savior for this team. He was the guy that made Carson and Housh household names in Cincy and groomed Flacco in Baltimore as a rookie to the playoffs. Jackson came in a knew he had the players he needed to be successful but that there were little things that could be improved upon. One of those players was Darren McFadden. He came up to Run DMC and asked what he could do to help him improve his game. Darren told him that in his first two seasons, he was used in zone running plays and that at Arkansas, he mostly ran on stretch plays and behind power blocking schemes. Hue listened and adapted the scheme to match his skills. This has been a major reason for the resurgence of McFadden. The players have also bought in to what the coaching staff is teaching. Cable has stated repeatedly that he just wants players to just 'cut it loose.' This has sort of been the mantra for the team this year. It's all about getting the right leadership in place to help players become successful.