FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
Disappointed? You should be if you’re an Oakland Raiders fan. Besides cheering for a team that has been the laughingstock of the league since their last Super Bowl appearance following the 2002 season, the first full-contact day of training camp went by without a single fight between players. The horror.
How can a team with Oakland’s history manage a fight-free practice?
Don’t worry. Coach Cable, known to throw an occasional punch on his own (or at least flip people out of their chairs), has assured the local media that fights will happen once players “get a little hotter, a little more tired, a little more ornery."
For those of you unwilling to take Coach Cable at his word and let the fisticuffs happen naturally, you can take this list of “Most Likely Scufflers” with you to the open practice sessions and incite the players of your choice to carry out their preferred method of UFC-style violence on the practice field.
While you sit back and wait for the much-anticipated fights to take place, don’t forget there has been some good news during the offseason. JaMarcus Russell is no longer with the team. Jason Campbell will be an improvement at quarterback, based on work ethic alone. Five-time Pro Bowl player Richard Seymour re-signed early, despite being tagged as a franchise player, and even reported with the rookies to training camp. The addition of John Henderson and the rookies Rolando McClain and Lamarr Houston should help Oakland improve their woeful run defense from a year ago.
But who cares about all that football garbage? It’s hot out. We’re tired and cranky. Get on with it.
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
The cream of the crop in the AFC West, the schedule sets up nicely for San Diego to once again compete for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. With six games against weaker division opponents and four against the mediocre NFC West, San Diego just needs to hold serve against their less-talented opponents and stand strong against the three elite AFC teams they have to face (Cincinnati, New England and Indianapolis) in order to repeat as division champions.
Tomlinson is gone, but since he’s lost a step the last few seasons, his departure will not adversely affect the running game. Rivers has returned with one more year of experience under his belt and will continue to be among the upper echelon of quarterbacks. Antonio Gates signed a record deal for a tight end and the receiving corps should be more than up to the task of helping return the Chargers to their “Air Coryell” days of yesteryear.
The Chargers look primed to win their fifth consecutive division title due to a weaker schedule and the return of almost all offensive starters, minus Tomlinson, from last season. Even the holdout of Shawne Merriman and some early defensive injuries should not put a damper on the Chargers. In their first nine games of the season, only New England stands out as solid competition and the Patriots have to travel to San Diego.
If San Diego goes into their week 10 bye with anything less than a 7-2 record, they will truly have faltered in their quest for a deep run into the playoffs.
Tomorrow, Hall of Fame Game Prediction...
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