The Raiders sported one of the worst offenses in the NFL last season, and one of the worst defenses to go along with that. Oakland finished 23rd in the NFL with 17.7 points per game on offense, and 26th in the NFL with 24.9 points allowed per game on defense. The team has turned the offense over to JaMarcus Russell, who the Raiders took with the first overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. To assist Russell, the Raiders added a few offensive pieces, including the 2008 first round pick Darren McFadden.

Oakland appears to be taking a Minnesota Vikings approach, hoping that McFadden can show the same success as Adrian Peterson, while Justin Fargas can be the Chester Taylor. McFadden is running for 4.5 yards per carry, combining with Justin Fargas to rush for over 1800 yards. That’s not enough to help Russell in his first year as a starter.

JaMarcus Russell is only completing 53.2 percent of his passes for a total of 2142 yards in AccuScore simulations. He is throwing ten touchdowns and 20 interceptions, which is actually leading the Raiders to score two points per game less than their miserable totals last season.

The Raiders are seeing a boost on the defensive side of the ball, allowing just 20.8 points per game, down over four points per game from their 2007 averages. Oakland brought in cornerback DeAngelo Hall to help their number two passing defense, and the move has paid off. The Raiders are the number two passing defense in AccuScore simulations. Their rushing defense was ranked 31st last year, and still remains poor this year, only seeing a bump to 28th.

The Raiders have little to no chance of competing in 2008. They are finishing AccuScore simulations with a 5-11 record. That gives them a 1.8 percent chance of winning their division, and just a 4.6 percent chance of making the playoffs. The big goal for the Raiders in the 2008 season will be finding a solution for their offensive woes, and hopefully JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden can be the keys to Oakland’s offense of the future.