Raiders end rough season on down note

The Raiders tried to play spoiler one last time, but came up just a bit short.
Oakland hosted the playoff-bound New York Giants on Saturday and had a chance to derail or at least stall the G-Men's NFC East title hopes. They could do neither, as the Giants held on for a 30-21 victory to clinch the division title.

The Raiders were able to get up for the game and trailed just 27-21 heading into the final quarter. However, New York proved to be up to the task in the fourth and ultimately was victorious.



"The whole season has been disappointing, but I am proud of the way guys hung in there and fought," Raiders quarterback Kerry Collins said afterward. "I know that guys came to play tonight and it was unfortunate that things didn't work out in our favor.

The Raiders ended the season with six losses in a row and were just 4-12 on the season. Oakland is a dismal 13-35 since losing in the Super Bowl to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the 2002 campaign.

The most recent loss will likely have little impact on Oakland's post-season plans. The fate of head coach Norv Turner was shaky before the game versus the Giants and the head coach was officially fired on Tuesday afternoon.

After all, the Raiders made some big offseason acquisitions and were supposed to be much improved from last year's 5-11 finish. They took a step back instead, and that was likely what sealed Turner's fate.

This summer, Oakland traded for superstar wide receiver Randy Moss and signed running back LaMont Jordan.

Moss continued his late-season surge this week against the Giants and actually ended with respectable stats. He posted seven catches for 116 yards and two TDs against New York and ended the season with 60 catches for 1,005 yards and eight scores.

It was the seventh 1,000-yard performance in eight career seasons for Moss. The former Vikings star also went over the 10,000-yard mark for his career. He did it in 124 games, making him the fourth-fastest player to reach 10,000 yards in NFL history.

Jordan, meanwhile, had a solid season, but limped to the finish with a turf toe injury. He sat out the team's final two games with the ailment to put a damper on an otherwise solid season.
On the defensive end, the Raiders had every reason to be impressed with the play of defensive end Derrick Burgess.

Burgess came over from Philadelphia as a free agent and had a career year by breaking the Oakland record with 16 sacks. The previous mark of 15 1/2 sacks was set by Sean Jones in 1986.

As a result, the 27-year-old Burgess was selected to his first career Pro Bowl.

OFFSEASON OUTLOOK

Looking ahead to next year, in addition to Turner, Oakland may also be looking to part ways with the veteran QB Collins.

Collins didn't have a terrible year by any account, as he finished with 3,759 yards to go with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. However, he was less than efficient, posting a 77.3 QB rating and adding 13 fumbles. The Raiders obviously were disappointed in his play and Collins even found himself benched for one game.

The Raiders would like to go younger at QB and could go with Marques Tuiasosopo or 2005 third-round draft choice Andrew Walter at QB. They might opt to find another signal-caller in the draft.

In fact, the draft is where Oakland will have to improve its team this year, because the acquisitions of Moss and Jordan have given them little room to work with in the salary cap.
The Raiders will have the sixth pick in the upcoming draft.

However, Heisman Trophy winner and Southern California quarterback Matt Leinart and Texas QB Vince Young (if he turns pro) will likely be gone by that point, so Oakland will probably go in another direction.

That shouldn't be a problem for the Raiders, who need help at just about every position except wide receiver.
source : sportsnetwork.com