The Raiders are going to the playoffs this January for the first time since 1993 and, for a couple of reasons, there are high hopes and expectations for a significant postseason run at the Super Bowl.
|  | | Tim Brown and the Raiders haven't been to the playoffs since 1993. |
First, the Raiders have looked dominant at times this year. Secondly, they've felt like they had enough talent the last two years to be in the playoffs but fell short because of a propensity to lose close games.
Now, the Raiders believe they've taken care of those problems, improving on their kicking game and honing their potent offense.
The Raiders, who need a win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday to clinch their first division title since 1990 (when they were in Los Angeles), are in desperate need of playoff success. The last time they advanced beyond one wild-card game was in 1990 when they were crushed by the Super Bowl-bound Bills 51-3.
As the Raiders shoot for a first-round bye and the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs with a win, they feel secure at quarterback (where Rich Gannon is a league MVP candidate), running back (where
Oakland is ranked No. 1 in rushing offense), wide receiver (where prolific playmakers like Tim Brown remain) and even the kicking game (manned by two
talented rookies, kicker Sebastian Janikowski and punter Shane Lechler).
Where the Raiders have been spotty, however, is on defense. This is an area where Oakland must prove itself as worthy if it's going to make any noise in the postseason.
It's difficult to figure that the Raiders team that annihilated the Jets 31-7 on national TV two weeks ago is the same group that allowed the lowly Seattle Seahawks to come back from 10 points down to stun them last Saturday.
Maybe that's why the Raiders haven't even convinced their own fans that they're poised to make a run at the Super Bowl. Why else would some 10,000 seats still be available as of early in the week for Oakland's regular-season finale at home Sunday?
The Raiders' fans want to see more consistent results apparently, beginning with the defense. The Raiders made Seahawks quarterback Jon Kitna look like Johnny Unitas last weekend.
"The potential is there to have an outstanding defense," Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. "For three quarters (against Seattle), there were some great things. The week before, the energy level was tremendous. There are just periods where we've given up big plays. Clearly, those plays have hurt us."
The Raiders' defense is a high-profile, big-hit-or-big-miss type that was typified by the controversial play late in the Seattle game when
Seahawks running back Ricky Watters burst through the defense for a big gain before being stripped of the ball by Charles Woodson.
The Raiders have forced 33 turnovers this season, including 20 interceptions -- both in the upper echelon of the NFL rankings. And then there have been the troubles like in Seattle.
The Raiders rank 13th in the league in points allowed (290). They've permitted 72 in the first quarter, 68 in the second, 43 in the third
and 107 in the fourth.
"We have to put a game away when we have it there," Raiders defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan said. "What caused that letdown (in Seattle)? Point the finger at me. Obviously, we didn't get it done in the fourth quarter."
"We've been hit and miss," Raiders defensive end Regan Upshaw said. "As the year's progressed, we've played more together. I think we're getting better and better each week."
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 I can feel the excitement. I think our players know it doesn't matter who we play, it doesn't matter where we play them. We've got to play our best football to win on any given Sunday, and I think they all know the opportunity that's in front of them." ” |
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— Jon Gruden, Raiders head coach |
Gruden tried to look on the bright side of the situation, noting the litany of other upsets that occurred last weekend. Still, though, as the
Raiders head into the postseason, there is a certain pressure on them to be more than merely one of the participants.
Oakland is starved for some playoff success and even a Super Bowl. The atmosphere for the Sunday night game against the Jets was carnival-like at the Coliseum. It was the way Al Davis envisioned what every football Sunday should look like.
Even some of the Jets' players, who were humiliated by the Raiders, took admiring notice of the passion that engulfed the stadium that night.
Sure, that was somewhat of an exception to the rule -- fans in the Bay Area are routinely used to the Raider games being blacked out because of the lack of a sellout. But that Sunday night win over the Jets was a start for the Raiders.
That's why making some noise with a win or two in the postseason is imperative for the Raiders to prove they're back -- prove they're worthy of being followed closely again.
A quiet one-and-done playoffs for the Raiders would essentially leave them right back where they were at the start of this season -- with their fans and followers asking them to "show us the money."
"I can feel the excitement," Gruden said of the impending playoffs. "I think our players know it doesn't matter who we play, it doesn't
matter where we play them. We've got to play our best football to win on any given Sunday, and I think they all know the opportunity that's in front of them. I think they're all excited for that challenge."
Gruden learned from Seifert's example
When the Raiders and Panthers meet on Sunday, it'll pit the young Gruden against a former mentor, Panthers coach George Seifert. The two were together in San Francisco when Seifert was the 49ers head coach.
This week, Gruden recalled Seifert's attention to detail.
"He had a work area that was next to the secretaries' area where I worked," Gruden said. "He was so on top of the X's and O's and the strategy. He's just a great strategist, in my opinion. I went in there late at night -- he had erasers all over the place and pencils all over the place, and I'd sharpen his pencils."
"I remember one day he was upset," Gruden went on. "He had some superstitions and said, 'Don't mess with my work place.' He told me to stay the hell out of there.
"I tried to pick up as much as I could. I was working on the offensive side of the ball and he was more involved with the defense. But he drew a lot of the defenses for our offense to work against. I tried to study him from a distance. I didn't get too close to coach Seifert at that time. But I still consider him a real great part of the aspirations that I've developed over the years. He's been something for me to shoot for."
Stover's rags to riches story
Quietly, one of the significant weapons on one of the AFC powerhouses is little-known Baltimore Ravens kicker Matt Stover, who's gone from being the third-to-last player picked in the 12-round NFL draft in 1990 to his first Pro Bowl season in 2000.
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| Stover |
Stover, 32, is the leading scorer in the NFL with 129 points, and he entered Sunday's game against the Jets having connected on 34 of 37 field-goal attempts.
As a contrast, Jets kicker John Hall enters the game having missed an NFL-high 11 of his 32 field-goal attempts. This season alone, five teams have switched kickers, and the Jets this week brought in Brett Conway to challenge Hall for his job.
So, suffice it to say that Stover has been a big part of the Ravens' 11-4 record, and Hall has had his part in some of the Jets' struggles, such as last week when he missed a game-tying 35-yarder in the final seconds against Detroit.
Stover has been successful on 52 of his last 55 field-goal attempts dating back to last year (94.5 percent), and he's accounted for 43 percent of the Ravens' scoring this season.
Stover, who literally saved the Ravens during their five-game streak without a touchdown earlier this season (he won two games by kicking four field goals in one and five in another), has kicked at least one field goal in 25 consecutive games, the fourth-longest streak in the NFL. At one point during the Ravens' touchdown drought, Stover scored 49 consecutive points for Baltimore.
Stover also has the impressive and rare distinction of being the only kicker in the NFL to play the past 10 seasons with the same franchise. He's survived the relocation of the Ravens, three head coaching changes and a number of challenges for his job.
"From an average standpoint, you have to say, yeah, I've beaten the odds," Stover said. "The way I got into the league, it was divinely given. You look at all these guys getting cut and bouncing around."
Stover, despite being voted to the Pro Bowl last week, has been hesitant to toss himself bouquets of flowers for a job well done. "For me to evaluate my season is too premature," he said. "I want to evaluate my season after the Super Bowl. There's a lot of kicking to be
done -- very, very important kicking. So what I've got to do is not focus on what I've done, but focus on what's to be done."
Jets coach Al Groh, whose team faces the Ravens on Sunday, went as far as to call Stover Baltimore's most valuable player. "In terms of ultimate record, you could make a good argument that maybe (Stover) is the most valuable players on the team," Groh said. "Maybe
it's not Jamal Lewis, maybe it's not Ray Lewis. Maybe it's Matt Stover. Take two of his field goals out of there in two certain games and what's their record?"
Bledsoe blasts his teammates
Good for Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe for showing his leadership by speaking out against teammates Ty Law, Troy Brown and Terry Glenn for missing a Monday team meeting after being left behind in the Buffalo area after the Patriots' win over the Bills.
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| Bledsoe |
Law was caught at the U.S. border in possession of the drug Ecstasy (which he insisted was not his) and was suspended by coach Bill Belichick for New England's season finale Sunday. Brown and Glenn were fined.
The three were allowed to blow off the team charter because of their fear of flying in bad weather (it was snowing in Buffalo).
"I think players have to earn the right to be treated in a different way," Bledsoe said. "A guy like (veteran Patriots tackle) Bruce Armstrong -- who hasn't missed anything in 15 years -- has earned some leeway. Others have not. Bill (Belichick) has been fair and equitable in the way he's handled us ... and in the way he's handled this (situation)."
Jets: It's us vs. the world
With the Jets having lost two in a row and having to face the daunting, record-seeking Ravens defense, there has been a lot of sentiment in New York that the Jets have no chance to win in Baltimore on Sunday.
In response to that, Jets coach Al Groh has taken the us-against-the-world, circle-the-wagons approach.
This is how the beginning of his Wednesday press conference went:
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 "We don't have much hope and we don't have much chance so I don't have much to say." ” |
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— Al Groh, Jets head coach |
"OK," Groh began with a stern look on his face. "We don't have much hope and we don't have much chance so I don't have much to say.
"Anybody got any questions?"
"What impresses you about the Ravens' defense?" Groh was asked.
"Greatest defense in history. Right? The numbers prove that," Groh said.
"What specifically is so good about their defense?" Groh was asked.
"I think they're overwhelming," Groh said, still in full deadpan. "I don't think football has ever seen a defense like this."
Then Groh was asked about the claim Ravens coach Brian Billick made this week that his team was shooting for an NFL record-tying fifth shutout of the season when the Jets go to Baltimore.
"I think (Billick) probably has good reason to expect that," Groh said. "Nobody is scoring any points against them and we haven't been scoring points against anyone, so ... "
When it was suggested to Groh that no coach has ever been known to "concede" an NFL game, he said, "No one's ever faced these odds before, either. This is the greatest defense in history. I read all that stuff, so I understand it."
A few things to remember about the Ravens before you elevate their defense to Hall of Fame status:
They've played all of three teams this season that currently have a winning record and are 2-3 against those teams (a split with 12-3
Tennessee, a split with 8-7 Pittsburgh and a loss to Miami).
Seven of the Ravens' 11 wins have come against 3-13 Cleveland (two), 4-11 Cincinnati (two), 5-10 Dallas (one), 3-12 Arizona (one) and 1-14 San Diego (one).
How the Colts and Steelers can get in
Wouldn't it be something if the Jets and Dolphins failed to qualify for the playoffs this weekend?
Each entered Sunday's play having lost two weeks in a row with a chance to clinch a postseason berth.
Losses by the Jets to Baltimore and the Dolphins to New England coupled with wins by the Colts over Minnesota and Pittsburgh over San Diego would leave the Jets and Dolphins on the outside looking in, each having lost their last three games with the playoffs on the line.
If the above scenario played out, the Colts would win the AFC East title at 10-6, and the Steelers would get the final wild-card berth.
If you're a Jets or Dolphins fan, ouch.
Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post writes an AFC notebook every Thursday for ESPN.com.
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