Holla At Me Raider Nation!
 
Well brothers and sisters of Raider Nation our beloved team has begun their 2012 training camp! We are now officially one step closer to seeing some real live RAIDER FOOTBALL!! However, before you get too happy let me remind you that we still have a pre-season to suffer thru before we can let our excitement for the new season commence.

As for now, if you were under the impression that I was going to write about the Raiders being back in training camp, boy are you going to be disappointed. See, I look at training camp kind of like Allen Iverson looks at practice.

You don't win games in training camp. Moreover, You don't win championships in training camp. Furthermore, every team talks the same talk around this time of the year. Coaches talk about getting everyone "on the same page", about getting their players into game shape, while staying healthy ect, ect. The players talk about developing team chemistry, working on their technique, learning their new playbook, blah, blah, blah.

In reality, the most significant thing this year about Raider training camp is that it's the first one (in a very, very very, long time) without Al Davis. End of story. Sure there are position battles to keep an eye on; I'm personally keeping an eye on our tight end, as well as our line backer situation. However at this point everyone in the organization should be eyeing a return to elite status within the AFC.

As I said every team says the same things around this time of the year; True Talk: Every team is thinking Super Bowl. The reality of the situation is that while every team is thinking super bowl, only a few really are in a position to turn that into a reality.

Let's take a quick look at our AFC competition division by division and see which teams our Raiders will most likely have to battle for the title of conference champion.

As everyone knows (and this includes the New York Jets) the class of the AFC East has to be the New England Patriots. Last season the Pats had a 13-3 record, and represented the AFC in the super bowl (again). I see no reason why (as long as Tom Brady is quarterback, and Bill Belichick is the head coach) the Patriots won't be one of the teams contending for the conference championship in 2012.

In fact I'm certain that the Patriots will be one of the teams that the Raiders will have to contended with if they want to represent the AFC in the super bowl. While New England does have the "Tuck Rule" and the "Brady Rule" what the Patriots don't have is as great of a defense as they've had during their past championship runs.

Moreover, the Patriots running game is also some what suspect. However, despite these deficiencies Oakland is going to need to play some of that smart, disciplined football that everyone has been preaching about if we want to walk away with the victory against this team.

As for the rest of the AFC East I can see the New York Jets (despite having added Tim Tebow to their roster) as well as the Buffalo Bills looking for a playoff position this year. The Jets I'm sure are going to be looking to get back to the AFC Championship game (and beyond).

However, I personally don't feel that the Jets or the Bills are as much of a threat to our Raiders championship aspirations as the Patriots are.

As for the Miami Dolphins, we've got to eat something at these tailgate parties don't we?

Here our beloved teams main competition is a familiar foe; The Pittsburgh Steelers. Last season the Steelers ended up with a 12-4 record. Moreover, in case you forgot, before the Giants won last years super bowl, the champions were these Pittsburgh Steelers. Last season (as I'm sure Raider Nation remembers) Pittsburgh got beat in the wild card round by the Tim Tebow lead Denver Broncos.

While there may be some friction in Pittsburgh between starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and new offensive coordinator Todd Haley I have no doubt that the two will work things out. Moreover, despite how the team ended the 2011 post season they did have the defense which allowed the fewest points, and fewest total yards in the entire league.

Should we meet the Steelers in the playoffs expect another classic nail biter that could really go either way!! Let's just hope for no "immaculate deceptions".

However, the Steelers don't have as clear of a path to their division title as the Patriots. The Steelers (and perhaps the Raiders) will have to deal with the Baltimore Ravens. It was Baltimore who won the AFC North last season with a record of 12-4. Moreover, John Harbaugh has taken this team to the playoffs every season that he's been head coach (four years in a row). I have no doubt that he'll be looking to add a super bowl appearance to his resume.

The Cincinnati Bengals are (and will be) a much improved team (in part thanks to us) however, I don't see them over taking Pittsburgh or Baltimore at this point. As for the Cleveland Browns, I hear that the team is looking to be sold. However, I also hear that the new owner will not be looking to move the team to another city so at least the team will still stay in Cleveland, and they'll still have their "dog pound".

This is going to be an interesting division this year; Mainly due to the departure of Peyton Manning from the Indianapolis Colts. With Manning gone, and the Colts looking to "reload" (to steal Al's phrase) I would expect Oakland's main competition to come from the Houston Texans.

Everyone in Raider Nation remembers (and will remember) the game we played in Houston after the death of Al Davis. Despite the Texans losing that emotion (for us) game Houston did manage to finish the year at 10-6, and made the first playoffs appearance in the history of the franchise.

I'm sure that Houston will be looking to build upon the success of last season. Moreover, with the departure of Payton Manning from the Colts I have no doubt that the Texans will look to establish themselves as the new dominate team in the AFC South.

As for the rest of the South, Jacksonville has a decent defense (ranked 6th last season) however, they've got a new quarterback in Blaine Gabbert, and I just can't see this kid beating our team in the playoffs; The same goes for the Tennessee Titans. Head Coach Mike Munchak had a good first year in Tennessee (team went 9-7). However, I just can't see the Raiders being beaten out by the Jacksonville Jaguars or Tennessee Titans at this point.

The talking head are expecting big things this season out of the Denver Broncos (because Payton is their quarterback now). However, the truth is that they should be expecting big things out of the Oakland Raiders!

Not only is Payton Manning coming off of a very serious injury, this is his first year in Denver; Hell it's his first year playing professional football anywhere, that isn't with the Colts! EVERYTHING is new!! Sure, unlike when Carson came to Oakland Manning will have the benefit of an off season to work with his new team however, it's still going to take time for Denver to develop chemistry.

I personally don't believe that Manning in Denver is more prepared then Carson Palmer in Oakland, when it comes to taking their respective teams to a championship.

I'm expecting our main competition to come from the San Diego Chargers, not the Denver Broncos. Phillip Rivers has watched other quarterbacks from his draft class, namely Ben Roethlisberger, and Eli Manning (whom he was traded for) have major success; Both Eli and Ben have championship rings; Hell even Matt Schwab is making a name for himself!!

Between Rivers, and Norv Turner (who's got to be the head coach sitting on the hottest seat) I would expect the Chargers to play hard every game this year.

Same goes for the Chiefs. Although Romeo Crennel is not on the hot seat like Norv Turner I do expect the Chiefs to play hard for him; I just don't expect them to beat our Raiders for the AFC West title, or for the Conference Championship.

The Raiders road to AFC elite status, and domination of the conference is filled with land mines. It would be one thing if a number of these teams were on the downslide. The problem is that, like Oakland many of these teams are "re-loading" and are on the rise; Hell in about two years the Bengals are really going to be thanking us for helping them "reload", but I digress.

The Patriots, the Steelers, the Ravens, Texans, Jets, Broncos, and the list goes on, are all going to be formidable opponents; However, that's what's going to make beating them up all that much more beautiful for Raider Nation to watch!