JaMarcus Russell Finally Benched

The Oakland Raiders have finally replaced JaMarcus Russell with journeyman Bruce Gradkowski. How it took this long we will never know. I suppose when you are paying a player as much money as the Raiders are paying Russell, you want to give him a chance to succeed. Russell was given plenty of time and has not seemed to make any improvement. He was pulled from the game 2 of the last 3 weeks, so patience was clearly running thin. While the Raiders haven't exactly surrounded him with talent, Russell clearly just does not have what it takes to be an NFL quarterback. To this point in the season he has only completed 47% of his passes and thrown only two touchdowns while turning the ball over 15 times. To make matters worse, he has reportedly been late for meetings all season and not shown the work ethic necessary to get better. It is one thing to struggle, it is another to not work at improving. Not sure what the Raiders can do with him at this point, but if he gets any fatter maybe they can switch him to the offensive line.

Police on Alert in San Diego

The Oakland Raiders and their fans invade Qualcomm Stadium to take on the Chargers. At 3-3, the Chargers are considered by most to have underachieved. On paper they have more talent than most teams, but the defense has not held up. They are in the bottom third of the league in both total yardage and points allowed. The Raiders offense, however, may be just what they need. Led by ridiculously inept QB Jamarcus Russell, the Raiders are last in the NFL in total yards and next to last in points. Russell was pulled in the first half last week against the Jets, so expect the leash to be short again. With a struggling defense as well, the Raiders are going to a very hard time keeping this game close. Look for Philip Rivers and Vincent Jackson to carry over last week's rhythm and lead the Chargers to a fairly easy victory. The big question for this game. Which number will be higher, Raiders points or Raider fan arrests?

From Calling BINGO to Calling Plays

The Philadelphia Eagles travel to Washington to take on the Redskins tonight. The Redskins have been embarrassingly bad so far this season. Their first six games have come against teams looking for their first win. Four of those teams got their first win, including the lowly Detroit Lions. How bad is it in Washington? After last week's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, owner Daniel Snyder stripped Head Coach Jim Zorn of his play calling duties and passed them off to newly hired offensive consultant, Sherm Lewis. Lewis has been calling BINGO games at a senior center in Michigan for the past five years and after just two weeks back in the league, he will be calling the plays. The Redskins are quickly becoming the Raiders of the East.

QB Changes in the Bay Area

The 49ers pulled QB Shaun Hill and replaced him with former #1 pick Alex Smith. Smith made Head Coach Mike Singletary look good throwing for 3 touchdowns and giving the team a chance to win. We'll see who gets the starting nod next week.
Meanwhile, in Oakland, Tom Cable has finally seen enough of Jamarcus Russell. After 3 first quarter turnovers, Cable put the hefty QB on the sideline in favor of journeyman Bruce Gradkowski. The only question you can have regarding this move. What took so long?