OAKLAND RAIDERS
A Reprieve From the Abyss?

As a Raider fan I have not been this hopeful since I stood in the back of the end zone and watched Rich Gannon, not 15 yards away, end his improbable and glorious Raider career on an awkward attempt to get an extra yard in a game whose outcome was already determined. Since that maddening, depressing moment I have watched the slow-motion horror show of a team adrift, led by a man whose arrogance and age have soured his formidable genius.

Hope is fragile, though, and never more so than for Raiders fans made wary by a recent history of team defections, abandonments, infighting and outright collapse. Where else can an owner and head coach, both popular with many fans, seem to hate each other yet potentially co-exist in the future if the glue of winning can be manufactured? The mantra of "Just win, baby," sounds more and more desperate every year gone from the Glory Days of the '70s and '80s, but it also promises that all will be forgiven if it can only be attained.

By any definition, then, this is a make-or-break year for the Raiders. After so many years of depressing failure, with two thrilling young studs in QB JaMarcus Russell and HB Darren McFadden joining a bright yet embattled coach, the team simply has to show significant improvement from last year's game but overmatched 4-12 squad, or heads will roll. Nobody thinks this is a playoff team, but a .500 record in a weak division should have been enough for coach Lane Kiffin to keep his job.

Luckily the team has an easy schedule for once, and all three of its hated rivals in the division may be vulnerable. For perhaps the first time since Marcus Allen was sent to the doghouse, the Raiders go into the season with a running game that is actually FEARED; if the D-line can actually stop some fools at the line of scrimmage, we might be able to consistently win low-scoring games through control of the clock. But don't expect Russell to throw more than 15-20 passes a game. The signing of 49ers reject Kwame Harris to man the crucial left tackle spot — a player who has real skills as a road-paver but glaring weaknesses as a pass blocker — was another indication Kiffin believed the future of the Raiders was in its ground game.

While we'd all love to see JaMarcus let loose his "Star Wars" arm in an old school laser show, the reality is that rookies in the NFL rarely thrive when too much is expected of them; defenses are simply too fast and sophisticated. (Not to mention, the Raiders receiving corps is one of the weakest in the league, and that was before Drew Carter was knocked out for the season.) With McFadden, who will also be split wide on occasion, joined by last year's breakout player Justin Fargas and Michael Bush, now healed from a major injury he suffered in 2006, the Raiders can and will have fresh legs with which to run the ball on more than 60 percent of plays from scrimmage. Expect to see the Raiders in the top five rushing teams in the league this year; if not, they are in deep doo-doo.

The rest of the team is, frankly, more than a few cards short of a full deck, especially on defense. Sure, the additions of Pro Bowlers Gibril "Hammer" Wilson and DeAngelo "Ballhawk" Hall, to the secondary and crew anchored by lockdown corner Nnamdi Asomogha, has fans slavering over the potential for increased interceptions and coverage sacks. Speedy LBs Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison, along with liberated FS Michael Huff, are no slouches in coverage either, so the stud tight ends in S.D. and K.C. should be held in relative check. Yet up front, basically the same crew is going to be playing under the same cautious Al "No Blitz" Davis' defensive approach. If the D-line can't get pressure on the QB or stop the run, the team's assets in the secondary will be made irrelevant Ñ even the best coverage will get beat if you give the QB more than five seconds to check down.

To me the season rests not in the hands of Russell but in the meaty thighs of Tommy Kelly and Terdell Sands, who are expected to hold down the heart of the line on D. If these guys can stuff the middle, stay healthy and force teams to pass on third down, the whole season becomes much, much simpler. If the league's runners, from L.T. on down, keep gashing Oakland for 15-yard pops, like last year and the year before, the whole season is going to be another uphill march. For the Raiders to be a .500 team, their defense has to be better than average, and that starts up front.