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Oakland Raiders
Overall: 85
Title track: 41
Ownership: 104
Coaching: 24
Players: 48
Fan relations: 69
Affordability: 54
Stadium experience: 119
Bang for the buck: 86
Change from last year: +20
The Oakland Raiders' last trip to the playoffs -- let alone their last winning record -- came when quarterback Derek Carr was 11 years old, in sixth grade and watching his older brother David get sacked 76 times as the NFL's No. 1 overall draft pick. In other words, it was in 2002. Raiders fans are betting on the younger Carr having learned from the struggles of his older brother to get this proud franchise back up and running ... wherever its future home is, be it Oakland, Las Vegas, Los Angeles or parts unknown.
What's good
The much critiqued plan of owner Mark Davis and general manager Reggie McKenzie appears to be coming to fruition, and fans judged this new-and-improved roster a vast upgrade, boosting it 51 spots in the players category (to 48th). All it took was two years of deconstruction and two more building back up. Oakland has finally again become a destination for sought-after free agents like OL Kelechi Osemele, LB Bruce Irvin, CB Sean Smith and FS Reggie Nelson. And McKenzie's recent drafts, selecting the likes of Carr, receiver Amari Cooper and defensive end Khalil Mack, have given Oakland a strong, young nucleus around which to build a competitive team -- and give fans hope for the immediate future.
What's bad
Was it merely karma that on the 50th anniversary of the September day the Oakland Coliseum opened, the Raiders laid a silver and black egg in a deflating loss to the Falcons? The Coliseum is not quite quaint, not yet old enough to be seen as historic and, well, it has severe and well-publicized plumbing issues. In these standings, the Raiders placed second-to-last in sports in "having a great stadium" (the only team worse? Uh, the A's). The narrow concourse areas are exercises in claustrophobia for fans during games and, as the lone remaining facility to still host NFL and major league baseball games, the torn-up grass and baseball dirt infield is not pleasurable for players in either sport in the crossover months of August and September. Football players have to deal with losing traction -- and skin on their elbows and forearms -- on the slippery dirt. Still wondering why the Raiders want (and need) a new stadium?
What's new
Everyone knows the denizens of Raider Nation are among the most loyal in all of sports. They'd have to be, given what they've endured since getting thumped in Super Bowl XXXVII -- the team has gone a combined 63-145 (.303) since. So it's a testament to the fans and front office that fan relations is up 22 spots since last year, thanks in large part to coach Jack Del Rio, in his second season in Oakland, who has changed the culture and is a major reason why the excitement and optimism surrounding the team feels different. And Las Vegas move be damned: The fans have bought in, selling out season tickets and parking passes this season. That's loyalty.
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