by David Zizmor

ALAMEDA–The Oakland Raiders have to travel up to Seattle to face the World Champion Seahawks this Sunday and to play in one of the most difficult stadiums in all of the NFL to win at Century Link Field. The Hawks are a little pissed off because they’ve been slumping of late. The Hawks are in second in the NFC West and the Raiders are looking for a win.

This meeting with Oakland couldn’t have come at a better time for Seattle and it couldn’t come at a worse time for the Raiders. The Raiders really don’t need difficult games and they need an easy game but they really don’t have any left on the schedule until maybe late in the year.

Looking at the Raiders their 0-7 and last week’s game against the Browns looked to be an opportunity for the Raiders to win, it wasn’t a sure thing but Cleveland is a slightly lesser opponent than some of the teams the Raiders have coming up one their schedule. The Raiders laid an egg they stayed close a little bit but Cleveland pulled away late.

Here the Raiders go on the road to Seattle and the Raiders have really struggled on the road and they haven’t won on the road in more than a year. The Raiders have a really bad losing streak going right now and Seattle is not a place where you would expect them to break that streak.

I know I might sound a like a broken record and I say this each week but this is not a good raiders team. It’s kind of a bad reflection on former head coach Dennis Allen’s coaching ability up to this point and of course he’s not with the team anymore. Allen as the head coach helped dig the hole that got them into this winless position before Tony Sparano took over.

It’s also a poor reflection on Raider general manager Reggie McKenzie and his ability to build a roster. For the three years the Raiders have been trying to tear this team down and they’ve tried to build this team up into something resembling a competitive franchise. The Raiders really haven’t done that, their first round pick Kahlil Mack looks like he’s a keeper.

Quarterback Derrick Carr seems to be a decent quarterback for the future to the point the Raiders might not have to consider taking one of next year’s draft. Besides those guys there’s not a lot of talent. There’s not a lot of above average talent. You can’t win in the NFL if you don’t have impact players on either side of the ball.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

photo credit: google image