How NOT to capitalize on the good feelings after a 3-game winning streak

So here come the Raiders, hottest team in the league, winners of three straight. Sunday's game was exhilarating to be sure. But after 7 years, Raiders fans are like abused spouses, always looking away, unsure and untrusting, wondering if this time, the counseling and AA will finally work, or if something will snap and we're back to the screaming and the beating and the misery.

How little we trust this team can be illustrated by this text message transcript from Sunday, as Dan and I watched the game on opposite coasts.

All times Eastern:

Nov 7, 2010 7:15 PM (after the "fumbled" punt by Nick Miller)

John: What the fuck just happened?

Dan: The NFL is a joke. Rigged.

Dan: These Refs should not get a game check this week.

Dan: God Campbell sucks.

John: Why is it always us?

Dan: I turned it off. Refs obviously preordained this one.

John: Seymour made a huge play.

Nov 7, 2010 7:49 PM

John: Ford!

John: OT!!!

Dan: Waiting to see how they will take this away. My nerves are shot.

John: LOL

John: Ford

Nov 7, 2010 8:01 PM

Dan: Can we declare them for real? I need an anxiety pill.

We all needed an anxiety pill. Even Monday and Tuesday, in the afterglow of the biggest win since the AFC Championship Game against Tennessee in 2002, with fawning national coverage, I kept waiting for something stupid to happen.

And today, it finally did. Via Jerry comes this article by Steve Corkran.

The question is not why would Al Davis want Jason Campbell to stay the starting quarterback. That's not an indefensible position. He's won three in a row, and overcame an awful first half to win the game Sunday. What I don't understand is why the fuck would Al send his simpering underlings to anonymously insist that Al Davis wants Campbell to start.

Is Al not getting enough credit? Jesus Christ, even Mel Kiper (paid access only) wrote, "But Davis perhaps didn't get enough credit." He then goes on to give Davis credit for drafting good players and hiring Hue Jackson.

This would make sense if we were in the middle of another losing season. But we're not. The Raiders are a national feel-good story. They just had a sellout game, where the crowd played a huge role in the victory, causing false starts and delay-of-game penalties.

And this is how they're rewarded, with "sources inside and outside the organization" saying, "Mr. Davis likes what Jason has done the past month and doesn't see the need to change when things are going well" and "He thinks Jason is a classic fit for the Raiders style of play."

Again with the classic style of play. If "Just Win, Baby" means anything at all, Al will his coaches and his players play, grow some self confidence, and shut the fuck up.

Wow, Again

I got a call from my buddy Ken while I was out trick-or-treating with my daughter (I'm on the East Coast now so the game was still going on) asking me when the Raiders became an Offensive Juggernaut.

I guess it came the week after crapping the bed against the 49ers.

But two weeks in a row, dominant.

This is getting interesting.

59-14

Wow.

I'm not even sure what I saw today, but I sure did like it.

Wow.

Pathetic

In every way.

The Vertical Game

Watching the Eagles take apart Atlanta and Jeremy Maclin just scored on an 83-yard bomb, which made me think of the two WRs taken before him in the 2009 NFL Draft.

There will be no avoiding the DHB-Crabtree comparisons today. Crabtree admits to having a little extra incentive to rub it in Al Davis's face today, while DHB says he isn't going to spend even a minute thinking about Crabbers. While DHB has been an easily foreseen disaster, based on the problems he's had in SF, it's clear Crabtree would have been a nightmare in Oakland.

Maclin, on the other hand...oh yeah, we have Johnnie Lee Higgens.

Hopefully Campbell can figure out how to get the WRs involved this week.

Sapp on our run D

Warren Sapp, while making his pick for the Raiders-49ers game:

"You know why [the Raiders] have the 31st ranked run D? 'Cause you don't have a gap and neither do I. We're just gonna play this thing and see how it feels. I'll take the 49ers all day long."

This is why it's such a challenge to be a Raider fan. That feeling that the organization is simply built to lose.

Dearth of Posts

Pretty weak to see no posts surrounding a stirring victory over the Chargers - a game I attended - followed by no posts leading up to the Battle of the Bay.

But is a lame post like this really any better? Am I just talking to myself because I'm too antisocial to post something to Facebook right now?

Anyway, last week was right up there with as much fun as I've ever had at a sporting event. Sheer joy. Hugging complete strangers. A follow-up victory over the local rivals would be too much to ask for, right?

Right, according to loyal reader Dave, who looked up the Raiders' performance after each victory during last season.

After beating KC: Lost 23-3 to Denver.
After beating Philly: Lost 38-0 to the Jets.
After beating Cincy: Lost 24-7 to Dallas.
After beating Pittsburgh: Lost 34-13 to Washington.
After beating Denver: Lost 23-9 to Cleveland. Cleveland.

That's a total of 142 - 32, or 28.4 - 6.4 per game.

Ouch. If you are looking for signs of hope, at least after the St. Louis win the Raiders lost by a mere 1 point to Arizona the next week.