So here we are...

With one game left in the regular season, the most optimistic view is that the Raiders finish the season at 3-13. While none of us expected a 13-3 season, most were quietly hoping that the Raiders might back into the playoffs at best, or at worst, finish with six wins and strong indications that the team was on the upswing. This is no doubt the worst Raider offensive team that I have witnessed since 1968 when I began following the Raiders. Still, in spite of that, I have been an avid defender of Art Shell and Al Davis. For my efforts, I have been told that I'm a) living in the 1970s, b) have been "drinking the Kool-Aide," and c) too stupid to live.

Instead of casting the blame on Shell and Davis (always the first target of choice), I've placed it where I think it is deserved - circumstances which have created disjointed pieces in any kind of cohesive offensive philosophy. I don't believe the nonsense that Davis selects every pick in the draft (some would hold that Davis makes only the "bad" picks). While it is true that Davis will push for certain players, and will demand a knowledgeable argument from a Head Coach who desires someone else, for the most part coaches select their own players from their first draft onward. After changing Head Coaches with widely differing offensive philosophies six times in ten seasons, the Raiders have created an offensive unit with no glue to hold them together. In this regard they are beginning to resemble the Detroit Lions or the Arizona Cardinals, teams which have followed this pattern for many, many years. I have no doubt that Al Davis is responsible to the extent that he pulled the trigger on each coach, but in two (maybe three) of the cases he simply had no choice.

Countless times I have been told that Al Davis is attempting to relive the 70s. I'd be more inclined to listen to such arguments if the arguments themselves weren't relics of the 70s. I remember them well. "The Raiders will never win a Super Bowl unless Al Davis gives up control of the team." "Madden can't get to the Super Bowl because Al Davis picks his team." "Madden won a Super Bowl because he was successful at simply ignoring Al Davis." We've simply transferred these arguments to each new successful coach. See Tom Flores and Jon Gruden.

I've been told that an owner owes the fans a Super Bowl every year, as amazing as that argument seems. Under that thinking, 30 owners should be forced to sell their team at the end of every season. A team's most honored fans are its season ticket holders. To them an owner owes a team in contention through every home game of the season. That is what a season ticket holder pays for. Al Davis has been more successful at doing this than any other owner for the last four decades, bar none. This is the only four year stretch I can remember that the Raiders played meaningless games on their last home date. 1997, Shell's last year in his first stint, was a successful season on this basis. I believe that if Davis sticks with Shell, the Raiders will have that kind of success next season. If Davis fires Shell, we'll have another roll of the dice. A Head Coach doesn't know the team he has until after his first season. Oh sure, he can gather some knowledge of the talents and athleticism of his players, but he can't know how they will respond under game pressure and seasonal challenges until he's been through at least one season.

Those who are demanding the head of Art Shell are demanding a perpetuation of this problem, cutting the deck in search of an Ace and expecting different results from a dysfunctional group who can't play together, who can't even get along with each other, while the new coach evaluates. Players are beginning to think, "If I can't get the system, who cares? I'll get a different coach after the end of the season, or the season after that." It is apparent to me that Shell has taken the attitude, "This is the system we're going to work with. Get it, or you're gone." If Shell is fired, it sends the message to the current crop of offensive players that the blame for every unsuccessful season will be placed squarely on the shoulders of every departing coach, and the organization is merely waiting for the next messiah. If you want a prescription for discouraging good coaches from coming to the Raiders' organization, that's it.

Coach Shell had an excellent draft in 2006. He focused on the defense. That, coupled with the consistency in coaching of the defensive unit showed marvelous results. With his lower round picks, Shell extracted two young offensive linemen, Boothe and McQuistan, who have developed over the season into keepers. Shell should now be given the chance to focus on the offensive unit, eliminating those players who can't or won't, and replacing them with players who can and will. No one is better capable of doing that right now than Art Shell.