“We had a number of mental errors and missed alignments, on defense 15 missed tackles. Offensively, (we) turned the ball over three times early in the football game. I thought, two of the three, we really could’ve done something about it and didn’t. “

“Again, we’ll just try to move forward, find a way to win, and try to go to San Diego and put forth a better effort.”

So what will it take for this stagnant, once great, franchise to turn the corner? I call it the three C’s: Consistency, Chemistry, and Capitalization.  

Let’s talk about them in order, shall we?

Consistency:   1. a steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc. 2. Also, an agreement, harmony, or compatibility, especially correspondence or uniformity among the parts of a complex thing. 3. Or, the condition of cohering or holding together and retaining form; solidity or firmness.

Right now, the Oakland Raiders as a team are 0 for 3. Every now and then, they show signs of life in one area or the other, but they are hardly ever on the same page offensively and defensively.

Though we’ve seen small glimpses, like in the Philadelphia game, or in the opening night game against the Chargers, Oakland has failed to carry over simple tasks like blocking the right man, or staying in their gaps on defense.

Consistency does not mean scoring a touchdown on every drive. Consistency does mean keeping the same coaching staff for more than one season.

Chemistry: 1. the interaction of one personality with another 2. Sympathetic understanding; rapport.

This is something that will only come with time. A comment on another article I wrote today said, “Al Davis pretty much took the broom and wiped his organization clean from (Michael) Lombardi down to (his) Gatorade boy.”

I say this comment in not totally true, because the one thing that has made it throughout all of the highs and lows are Al’s front office henchmen. They know what it is to have chemistry, but somewhere along the way, Al Davis forgot to remind himself that he needs to have chemistry on the field as well.

Since the Super Bowl in early 2003, Al Davis has had four different head coaches and at least eight different starting quarterbacks who’ve started at least three games each. He’s been consistent in the draft, having at lowest a top seven pick in each draft since then.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again right now. Of all the coaches and players we’ve had since that Super Bowl run, this staff and personnel we have right now is the most well rounded group, in my honest opinion.

However, if Al Davis decides that there is no time for development of chemistry, I fear the Raiders may end up in an endless cycle until the man finally files for bankruptcy.

Capitalization: to take advantage of; turn something to one’s advantage

This is simple, when you’re given the opportunity, you have to own it, squeeze every bit of life out of it. If you don’t take advantage of whatever the opportunity is, then that should be considered squandering. This year’s team is getting a hard-knock life lesson in squandering opportunity.

If it is a God-given talent, like the ability to run fast, or to throw a ball far, you must develop it down to the most critical detail. Coaches can tell you how, but they cannot force the unwilling.  Kijana Carter, Ryan Leaf, Maurice Clarett, Mike Williams, Glenn Dorsey are just a few examples of vast amounts of drafted players who have sat on their money and laid an atrocious NFL sized egg.

As a team, you must capitalize on turnovers and other opponent mistakes, like short punts which lead to good field position, or an inept offense, which cannot stay on the field. What do you know about that Oakland Raiders? Do you feel like teams might be capitalizing on you right now?

I do; so how do they right the pirate ship?

Consistency, Chemistry, and Capitalization.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 20:32 and is filed under Most Recommended, News Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.