Our tribe lost the battle, but we'll win the war.
Yes, the Raiders unequivocally have more talent than our Chiefs. As Al Gore would say, the debate is over. I didn’t even need to put on 100 pounds, start talking like a gay Forrest Gump or whip out any charts either. When the Raiders can invade Arrowhead and pillage our Chiefs despite the game being our home opener, there’s no contest in the talent department. Right now, the Silver and Black have a decided talent advantage over the Red and Gold. But that only tells half of the story.
Yes, the Raiders have a stud stable of running backs — Huggy Bear, Michael Bush and Run DMC. At tight end they have Zach Miller, who plays like Todd Heap wishes he still did. They have the league’s best corner in Nnamdi Asomugha, who would be a household name if anybody could actually pronounce his damn name. The Raidahs also have Richard Seymour, possibly the NFL’s best and most versatile defensive lineman. I could keep going, too.
Their roster is crowded with talent the way Cali’s penile system is crowded with cons. There’s one problem, however, and it’s that the Raiders’ franchise is flawed in it’s construction. When it comes to the four most important aspects of running a successful pro football franchise — head coach, general manager, quarterback and a dedicated owner that will stay out the hell out of the way — we’ve got the Raiders beat.
At quarterback, JaMarcus Russell is going to be a bust no matter what. He will never, ever live up to his billing as a No. 1 overall pick. His extreme upside, and this is ridiculously unlikely here, is Daunte Culpepper during his Minnesota hey day. Unfortunately for the Raiders, Randy Moss ain’t walking back into that locker room anytime soon. The other bad news for Raiders fans is that when Russell came out of college, it gave Al Davis the first erection he’d had in over 30 years. Pair that with the cool $68 mil the Crypt Keeper owes FatMarcus, and I think it’s safe to say the Raiders are stuck with Russell.
Meanwhile, we’ve got Matt Cassel, a signal caller who has the ability to eventually become one of the 10 best QBs in football. We also have Brodie Croyle who, when not spontaneously combusting into shards of flesh and football equipment, is one of the better young back-up QBs in football.
As for the front office, the Pioli Trinity trumps Al Davis, Al Davis and Al Davis. Don’t get it twisted — Tom the Cable Guy is simply an extension of the Jumpsuited One. He’s a “yes man,” a puppet. When Cable decked a Raiders assistant coach recently, it was likely Puppet Master Al who actually threw the first punch. Al Davis is obsessed with three things: speed, potential and control. Oh, yeah, pomade, too. OK, four things. The point is that until he croaks — and bless his old, decrepit ass for his contributions to the game of football — the Raiders are in deep, deep doo-doo.
Back in Kansas City, the Chiefs have a young, selfless owner looking to revive the franchise his late father cherished; the co-architect of the Patriots dynasty as its GM; and a hungry head coach who just offensive coordinated the Cardinals of all teams into the Super Bowl. Is it just me, or is it obvious which front office is set up for success and which one is not?
If that’s not enough, the Chiefs will have more cap room than any other NFL team next offseason. The Raiders? They’ve pretty much maxed out their free agent credit cards. Additionally, we have three picks in the top 60 in next year’s draft, while the Raiders just traded away a 2011 first-rounder with hopes that they could re-sign Seymour. The Raiders can’t coalesce much more talent around Russell, if any, and even if they could he couldn’t take the freakin’ AFC Pro Bowl squad to the big game. While the Raiders are busy discovering that Davis and Russell will keep them from ever being a contender, we’ll be stockpiling talent and improving. We have the front office, the building blocks (Cassell, the Brandons, Dwayne Bowe and Tyson Jackson), the cap space and we will soon have the draft picks as well (thank you, Tony G).
It hurts to watch the Raiders come in and win at Arrowhead two years in a row. But that won’t hurt nearly as bad as the pain Al Davis and his Raider Nation are about to experience. It will definitely leave a mark when they realize that their Raiders are nothing but a .500 team, and their oldest, fiercest rivals are a franchise fast-tracked for contention.
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MORE TALENT THAN THE CHIEFS SURE IF YOU JUDGE TALENT BY WHO’S FASTER AT THE 40 OTHER THAN THAT THEY HAVE ONE GOOD CORNER, YET WE HAVE TWO ALSO WE HAVE A FRACHISE QB IN MATT AND A FRANCHISE LEFT TAKLE FAT ALBERT SOMETHING THEY DON’T HAVE AND THATS THE MOST IMPORTANT POSITIONS IN FOOTBALL. OH I ALSO FORGOT WE GOT THE BEST YOUNG WR D-BOWE,LJ,DJ,TY JACKSON WHOS IS BETTER THAN ANY OF THERE LINEMAN AND HAS A BRIGHTER FUTURE. AND THEY DIN’T WIN THAT GAME WE LOST IT BY MAKING TONS OF MISTAKES BAD PLAYCALLING AND NOT BRINGING OUR A-GAME.
Daniel,
I agree that we lost that game more than they won it. How the hell the D-Coordinator STOPS putting pressure on a bad QB at the end of the game when that is why they had lest than 200 yards of Offense is beyond me. But the Faiders do have some talent. Can you imagine what our team could do with some of that talent? Haley would be coach of the year with those guys, provided of course he had Cassel or even Brokie instead of fatrussel.
Funny stuff.
News Flash . . . WE LOST! 3 (not 2) years in a row.
Your point is?
Oh and if you want to pin the blame for the loss on a single player, you need look no further than the QB who I think most of would agree appears to be better than JaFatass.
I think Matt is going to be fine!In there case Jeff Garcia would have been better in his sleep than that joker.
I agree 100% with this article. We might not have won, but we will be in better shgape than the Raiders. Keep em coming Adam!
I disagree 100% with this article.
Randy:
Why? What are you thinking here?
Merlin 100% is inaccurate but I totally do not agree with “Yes, the Raiders unequivocally have more talent than our Chiefs. As Al Gore would say, the debate is over.”
The Raiders DO have more talent. Judging by individual stats, whether from college or NFL (or both), the arrow points DECIDEDLY in their direction. But thats not what team sports are about. And there are some people you just can’t convince otherwise (Al Davis, Daniel Snyder, George Steinbrenner).
Don’t get me wrong. Talent is great to have. But you don’t need “the best of the best.” You need TEAM players. The ones that will work hard, show up, do what they’re told and do it well. There is proof all around in every team oriented sport that defines that logic. Working as a team. Not as individuals. Keys to success.
On another note:
Throwing Matt Cassel under a bus after ONE game (while playing hurt), is absurd. He made some poor decisions, agreed. But calling him a bust or a joke after one game? Wow. Easy armchair, everyone deserves at least some kind of a chance right? Last I heard he was human.
It took Thigpen like 7 games and a new offensive-look to get going but he finally got it together and played well enough. Cassel deserves that chance too. As in MORE THAN A ONE GAME chance. Ease up on the hostility. Are people going to be complaining about last week if he does well throughout the season? Doubt it.
I agree with the article & my grades:
Chiefs
QB – Cassel B
RB – LJ B
FB – Cox D (maybe C)
WR1 – Bowe – B
WR2 – Engram D
WR3 – Wade D
TE – Ryan D
LT – Albert B
LG – Waters B
C – Niswanger F
RG – Goff F
RT – Ndukwe F
DE – Jackson C
NT – Tyler C
DE – Dorsey C
LB1 – Vrabel B
LB2 – Williams D
LB3 – Johnson B
LB4 – Hali C
CB1 – Flowers B
CB2 – Carr C
CB3 – Washington F
SS – Brown C
FS – Page C
GPA – 43/24 = 1.79gpa
GPA counting QB position as 3 times more important than other positions – 51/26 = 1.96
Raiders
QB – Russel D
RB – McFadden B
FB – Neal A
WR1 – Heyward-bey C
WR2 – Murphy D
WR3 – Higgins D
TE – Miler B
LT – Hendo C
LG – Gallery C
C – Satele C
RG – Carlisle C
RT – Green C
DE – Scott D
DT – Kelly C
DT – Seymour A
DE – Ellis B
LB1 – Howard B
LB2 – Morrison B
LB3 – Brown D
CB1 – Asomugha A
CB2 – Johnson C
CB3 – Routt D
SS – Branch D
FS – Huff B
53/24 = 2.21 gpa
GPA counting QB position as 3 times more important than other positions – 51/26 = 2.12
I do want to add that its the fight in the dog not the dog in the fight and I think the Chiefs have more heart and much more competent management. I’d take that over talent any day. The talent gap will narrow over the next year or two where we surpass the Raiders with more cap room and higher draft picks. They have had a horrible return on investment on several picks like Gallery & Russell but Chiefs have are in a similar boat with a lot of their picks. But unequivically the Raiders have more overall talent no matter how you slice it, I anticipate 3 Pro Bowlers from Oakland (Seymour, Asomugha, Neal) and I do not anticipate a Pro Bowler from the Chiefs, hence no A grades.
Nice Macdawg, very nice breakdown. Love the effort!
macdawg;
If I’m not mistaken Wade just came to our team the other day and ended the game with more recptions and yards than either the #1 or #2 reciever and yet you give him a D? Giving Washington an F? Really? Did you see any of the offensive numbers for the Raiders prior to their last drive? You hammer our D when I think the coaching calls on that last drive lost us the game.
Try grading the defense without counting the last drive and you should have a much different grade. You also failed to grade Haley or Pendergast. I applaud your effort but think your scale is scewed and non-inclusive.
On the other side, you give Heyward-Bey a C because he caught 1 (one) pass? Wade caught 1 less ball (6) than the entire Raider reciever crew combined (7) yet he gets a D. Murphy caught 2 passes and you gave him a D. I don’t get it.
Seymore gets an A because he’s a former Patriot? He only had 2 tackles, 2 (two), 1 assist and a pressure. Wow. Gilberry had 2 tackles and a sack. Gilberry sacked Fatmarcus! Yet he didn’t even get a grade from you (he is a Chief). And in all this you give Morrisson a B. Yet he led all defenders that game with 13 tackles. Greg Ellis had 5 tackles and 2 sacks, yeah I can see where that would be a B performance. It just doesn’t add up for me.
But good post, it got me typing. ;p
Sarge:
Good points. I also would question Cassel getting a ‘B’ considering the 2 int’s, the non-points at the end of the 66.3 QB rating. If he gets a 76 QB rating, does he get an ‘A’? What do you give Brodie for his 116.1 QB rating? An A++++++++++++++++++++++?
The grades are not based on their performance last Sunday. The grades are based on the PLAYER OVERALL. Pro Bowlers get an A grade, good/great performers a B grade, mediocre/good players C, subpar D, and someone who really should be a backup gets an F.
Bobby Wade has had a couple 600 yard seasons but was also recently cut on a team carrying 5 WR’s so thats the reason for a D for him.
Washington the rookie corner could be a D but wouldn’t rate him higher as an unproven 4th rounder.
Cassel gets a B because of his performance last year, he had a bad game after installing a brand new offense after mini camp and firing Gailey. To be expected, he is a good QB and I possibly could be rated a C or possibly not, I think he’s pretty good and will get a lot better provided time in the system and a better o-line.
Seymour is a top of the food chain lineman and will be in the pro bowl this year, definitely an A.
*note at bottom of raiders it should say
RAIDERS
53/24 = 2.21 gpa
GPA counting QB position as 3 times more important than other positions – 55/26 = 2.12
CHIEFS
GPA – 43/24 = 1.79gpa
GPA counting QB position as 3 times more important than other positions – 51/26 = 1.96
Even if you shuffle some of these scores and change them by a point or two the Raiders have the higher GPA, even when factoring 3X the importance of the QB position they have more talent. Plus like I said they will have pro bowlers and I don’t anticipate the Chiefs having a pro bowler. Their is a lot more to football than talent but….their talent is better…….for now
Ah, so the grading scale is how they have performed in the past, not how they performed against each other. So Heyward-Bey gets a C because of his “potential”? (I think he is way over rated by Al Davis) Although I do think you were a little generous with the D for Russel.
But this is a “what have you done for me lately” league. And while Dorsey may be a C right now and was last year in his rookie season, I don’t think that will be his grade further into the season. Likewise grading Jackson as a C I feel is low based on the criteria. His draft spot then should garner him a B.
Giving Flowers a B and Carr a C isn’t right as I see it. They should both be a B. So while I am now in more agreement with your grading, I still see it slightly differently.
Now having said that, you still didn’t grade Todd or Clancy. Both were coordinators that performed in the last Superbowl. Does that give them As? And if Clancy gets an A for being in the Superbowl, he sure gets at least a D for calling the last defended drive by the Raiders.
As I said, a few points here or there wouldn’t matter as based on my scale the Raiders are still MANY POINTS AHEAD of the Chiefs, even if you grade the Chiefs generously and Raiders poorly they are still ahead, regardless I’ll discuss this.
Grading scale isn’t based on how they have performed in the past, grading scale is based on my interpretation of what I would grade the player today as far as what they bring to the table compared to the rest of the starters at their position. Heyward-Bey is a top 10 pick that brings a shitload of speed and has not shown to be a bust I give him a C and I think that is fair.
Russel did after all produce a late fourth quarter comeback in Arrowhead so he is not completely horrible as you all claim. He also misses easy passes. He does turn it up at the end of the game. A D is a fair grade.
Dorsey being a C is generous, some could grade him a D. If I saw dominance from Jackson I’d grade him a B, he doesn’t get a B based on draft position, he is a C just like Heyward Bay. A high draft pick showing neither real dominance or poor play. A rookie.
Flowers missed an easy pick 6 last week. Giving him a B is generous. He is better than Carr who is starting caliber but I don’t consider Carr a dominant corner, a B for Flowers is generous and a C for Carr is fair IMO.
I didn’t grade Clancy or Todd b/c I’m judging talent on players not coaches. I do think our coaches are better than Raiders just not players. In the future I do think our players will be better based upon cap room and future drafts ahead of us vs. the Raiders.