"You can," Raiders coach Tom Cable asserted, when questioned if one can trace the offensive woes from the 1st half to losing those 4 players for a mixed twenty-six games. Studio is the Raiders' best offensive lineman. the impact of a guard often is not as major as the left tackle or the center. McFadden averaged only 3.1 yards per carry before he suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee in the 4th game. Schilens caught only fifteen passes last season as a newbie. Miller still has to play in an NFL regular-season game. Still, the Raiders are assured the return of those players will make the difference. "We'll be far better, much more explosive with those guys," quarterback JaMarcus Russell recounted. "With Darren coming back, and Chaz, those fellows have an opportunity to come in and make some plays. The Raiders have been in this position before. This is their 6th 2-6 start in seven seasons - they were 3-5 in 2005.
They have averaged less than 2 victories in the second half their prior six seasons.
"It's never been good going into the ninth week at 2-6," cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha expounded. Just the same, the Raiders are excited by the possibility of what lies ahead, given the return of the previously mentioned players. "I'm not an excuse guy," Wire expounded, "but not having enough folks healthy on offense has truly impeded us. "You can see the top of the mountain now, but we aren't there yet. I don't believe you ( could ) say that earlier.". A victory next Sun. against the Kansas Town Chiefs would set up the remainder of the season, tight end Zach Miller expounded. "It will be good to have all those fellows back," Miller declared. By having those blokes back, it will be huge.". Asomugha expounded the Raiders will be "fully loaded" for the beginning of the second half of the season. Perhaps so, but they enter the second 1/2 the season four 0.5 games behind the division-leading Denver Broncos. "We have to put it all together now, as we put ourselves in a massive hole," defensive end Jay Richardson announced. "We got our main players back, everybody else will be feeling better after a week off, and we begin with 2 home games. It does not look good now, sure, but we know that we have what is needed to get it done.".
