Raider Nation Is Mad As Hell!

Dr. Nick Chicoine – Sep 19, 2012

I don’t have to tell you things are bad.  Everybody knows things are bad.  It’s a depression.  We have a running game shackled by a zone blocking scheme, Wide receivers with legs made of glass, and hands made of rubber.  We have “ol’ Glue Stick” (1) Richard Seymour who apparently can’t play an entire game, or put in a full week of practice but is the highest paid player on the defense.  We have an offensive line with more talent, but less production than last season.  We have a dynamic full back, in a vanilla offense and a defensive line that can’t consistently play to their potential.  We have a starting line backer physically unable to perform, while another has a concussion and is facing jail time.  All while our secondary is shaping up to be a geriatric nightmare.

We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, Oakland, just show me SOMETHING. Give me a reason to tune in on Sunday, a turnover, a touchdown, ANYTHING to reignite my passion for this team!  In the words of Howard Beale

I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get Mad!

Never before has a franchise shown so much promise and so much demise in a two game span.  It’s only week 3 and fans are already calling for Matt Barkley in 2013, even though Oakland’s best production is coming from Carson Palmer.  Palmer is currently leading the AFC West and is ranked 3^rd in the NFL in passing.  If there is ANYTHING to be satisfied with, it is Carson Palmer.

To add insult to injury, it was reported today that Rolando McClain not only played on a gimp ankle, but he also suffered a concussion at some point during Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins.  Concussions have always been a serious issue in the NFL, but it isn’t until recently had they been treated as such.  It is the training staff’s responsibility to accurately diagnose a player with a concussion as soon as it occurs, however the sketchy part is, McClain has no idea when the concussion actually occurred.  For all we know it could have occurred early in the game and McClain very well could have played most of the game with a concussion. 

Even though Dennis Allen and the training staff suspected a concussion, as mild as they claim it was and is, McClain shouldn’t have played the entire game against the Dolphins.  The truth is, McClain is the best middle linebacker on the roster, and his poor performance on Sunday was a direct result of playing with a bum ankle, and a bleeding brain.  The game was over by the 4^th quarter anyway, so keeping him in the game was a selfish call by Dennis Allen in my opinion.

Oakland will be playing the Steelers on Sunday with an extremely thin defense, and a run game that resembles that of an abortion survivor.  I haven’t hit the panic button yet, but it’s well within reach.  In the meantime if you hear talks of a top 5 defense followed by a warm urine scented mist brushing across your black and silver face paint, just know it’s probably not rain.

(1) Glue Stick: A reference to Jerry Seinfelds "I'm telling you for the last time" stand up regarding making glue out of old horses.

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