What's wrong with the Oakland Raiders

Their owner, for one. Their problems stem from the very top. It's not a coincidence that the two of the teams without GMs have lousy teams. The Raiders don't have any consistency. Head coaches come and go every two years and they shift offensive philosophies too often to find a rhythm on offense. On defense, they've actually had some consistency, but the defensive coach is terrible. To quote Oakland fans: "Rob Ryan sucks." There's no other way around it. He's had players to work with. Here's how the Raiders lose:

1. They don't show up and get blown out.
2. They keep it close, but adventures in officiating go against them and they don't have the resolve to recover.
3. They keep the game close, maybe kick a field goal to take the lead or tie the game, and their defense gives up a last minute drive and the winning points.

I don't know this for sure, but I think the Raiders must have lost more games by last second field goals and touchdowns than any other team in the last five years. And that's on Rob Ryan. When the team needs a stop, he can't deliver. They make stupid mistakes in key situations, whether it's a pass interference penalty, lining up offside or getting a stupid personal foul penalty. Then there's the coverage. Rob Ryan says he doesn't play a prevent defense. But he does play a zone defense that involves the corners keeping the ball in front of them, designed to stop big plays but allow short chunks of yardage. This is a prevent defense. It never works. Why go away from the defensive scheme that kept the game close in the first place?

So what can Al Davis do to clean it up? In no particular order:

1. Fire Rob Ryan.
2. Let Tom Cable go back to coaching the offensive line. This has been their biggest area of weakness for a while, but they played reasonably well last year when Cable was just focusing on coaching the O-Line.
3. Get a GM. Give him the authority to shape the team.
4. Get rid of the overpaid, underperforming players. It's a lot of them, but they need to clean house.
5. Hire a coach and stick with him. Don't undermine him at all. Give him at least three years to build a winning program. Don't panic at the first 4-12 season. This team sucks and that's going to happen.
6. Don't draft cornerbacks or safeties. Draft offensive linemen. Draft defensive linemen.
7. Get a couple of decent wide receivers to help JaMarcus in the passing game.
8. Develop JaMarcus Russell. Run McFadden a lot more. Make him the centerpiece of the offense.

It's a lot to do, but look at the Dolphins as an example of what competent management can do for a team. In one year, they've made one of the most dramatic turnarounds and have gone from worst in the league to in contention for a playoff spot.