2009 Oakland Raiders Season Review

The 2009 NFL season has ended for the Oakland Raiders. They finished the year with a record of 5 wins and 11 losses. That record is identical to their record in 2008. 2009 was the seventh consecutive losing season for the Raiders. This seven year streak is the longest in Raider history. The Raiders will look back at this season as they begin to plan for the 2010 season. What will they find when they look back at 2009?

The Raiders scored 197 points in 2009. That is the second lowest total for a Raiders team since their inception in 1960. Their lowest total was 168 points in 2006. This low 2009 total was 66 points lower than they had in the 2008 season. Opponents scored 379 points against the Raiders in 2009. This total was down slightly from 2008. The really bad news was the difference between pints scored and points allowed. The difference was a negative 182 points for the season. The 1961 Raiders are the only team in Raider history to have a worse point differential. That point difference helps explain the Raiders win and loss totals. Opponents scored over thirty points three times against the Raiders in 2009.

The Raiders played a difficult schedule in 2009. They played eight games against teams that made the playoffs. They won two of those games, defeating the Bengals and Eagles. The Steelers were also defeated by the Raiders. Their other two wins came against division rivals the Chiefs and Broncos. The Raiders scored 10 or less points in seven of their games. Their high score for the year was 27 points against the Steelers. The Raiders held their opponents to ten points or less only twice all season.

The Raiders are clearly struggling on offense. A big part of the problem is the year JaMarcus Russell had. He only had three touchdown passes in 2009. He had eleven interceptions and his completion percentage was under 50%. Bruce Gradkowski had more touchdowns, less interceptions and had a higher completion percentage. The future of JaMarcus Russell will be a hot topic for discussion.

The Raiders receivers didn't have a great season. hen you look at the quarterback situation, it isn't a surprise. Zach Miller had another solid season. He completed his second season without a fumble. Miller is the offensive star for this team. Louis Murphy and Darrius Heyward-Bey were the leading wide receivers. I don't think you will be able to judge their talent fully until you have a solid quarterback throwing them the ball.

The running game was bteer than the passing game. However, it was below average. Justin Fargas and Michael Bush split the statistics pretty evenly. The Raiders ranked 21st in the NFL in rushing yards. They finished the season with seven rushing touchdowns. That was 27th in the NFL.

The kicking game of Sebastion Janikowski was good as usual. He did not miss any extra point attempts. He missed three field goals. Two of those misses were over fifty yards.

The defense was about what you would expect for a team that lost eleven games. They struggled against the run. The defense finished toward the bottom of the league in rushing yards allowed, rushing touchdowns allowed and yards per carry. They also did not create enough turnovers.

The 2009 season will not go down as a great one in Raiders history. Tom Cable may have coached his last game as a Raider. I do not believe the blame is completely his. He has not had a lot to work with.They did win more games than the Chiefs. That may be enough to make some fans happy. This team has many questions to answer as they head into 2010. They must address the quarterback question. They also must improvetheir run defense. If they can address those two problems, you may see a team with a chance at .500 or better next season. If they don't, 2010 may be worse than 2009.