Al's Last Gift: A Oakland Raiders Franchise.

[DoubleRussia]

@Gronk You're telling me



In all seriousness good luck man, you're gonna need it.

[1NFAMOU5808]

THE DECISION...

Who Gets the Start?
by JJG

The Oakland Raiders' starting quarterback job has been a revolving door- this is common knowledge. Since Rich Gannon's retirement, no-one has been able to hold the job longer than a season or two- which is where the organization stands at the moment.

After spotty play from Matt Flynn who was all but pegged as the starter going into training camp, the surprising emergence of Terrelle Pryor caught most off-guard. Raider Nation is genuinely split down the middle, one of the bigger- more popular Raiders' forums "RaidersNet" has had multiple full blown debates regarding who the job belongs to.. As Dennis Allen's decision was..

".. Matt Flynn. I feel at the moment, despite the inconsistent offensive line play that Matt Flynn gives us the best chance to win games with the talent we've got around him."

Surprised? We were too.

"Terrelle showed growth, which is important. He's an amazing athlete but there's more he needs to pick up and learn, we're not comfortable with putting him in that situation, not just yet."

Allen's decision- is either going to make, or break his job. When the Raiders open up against the Jaguars at home two weeks from now the possibility that Matt Flynn's presence on the field will be booed is higher than not. Fans believe Flynn has lost his shot, especially after the Chicago game where he looked rattled and out of sync with his offense.

"I know that Terrelle looked good this pre-season, and hey- we've been seeing that this whole time. There's absolutely no denying that he's grown into the guy we've thought he could be- but we want to see where we're at with Matt Flynn, I think you should be excited for what he brings to the table."

On Twitter, an 'insider' claimed that owner- Mark Davis- made quite the push to have Pryor start due to his play-making ability and so tickets sell. Davis feels as if Pryor has the tools to get the job done, so Dennis Allen's decision to go against possibility his boss' word may very well be the writing on the wall for the young head coach.

So there you have it folks- opening up against the Colts for the first game of the season, Matt Flynn will be your Quarterback under center. How he does will be harshly judged, any mistake will be used against him.

.. is there a more critical, yet passionate fan-base than the Oakland Raiders'?

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FINAL ROSTER CUTS MADE, SNIPPETS FROM ALLEN'S INTERVIEW
by JJG

During the same press conference that Coach Allen named Matt Flynn the starting quarterback for the Oakland Raiders, he also confirmed the releases of six to bring the Raiders down to the league mandated 53 man limit..

"Uh yeah, the list of cuts.. Jeremy Stewart.. Andre Holmes.. Mychal Rivera, Chase Thomas.. Reggie Smith and Brandian Ross. Listen, it's never hard to do these things.. you develop a relationship with these guys when you're out here working your tail off. I wish them the best, maybe they'll catch on elsewhere, I know the chances are likely of that. These guys showed heart and determination, the league saw that."

Coach Allen went into further detail regarding the Andre Holmes cut..

"We felt as if Conner Vernon had the better skill set to compliment the way we're taking the offense. A lot of what Coach Olsen does is short or intermediate passes which is set up by the run. Then of course, you've got the outside threats. We felt that Andre breaking into the lineup to challenge either Denarius, Rod or even Brice Butler would be too much of a challenge for him. Plus, having Conner around means we've got another Jacoby in terms of getting open in the middle of the field."

He also touched up on the tightend situation..

"Yeah, we're going into the season with Kasa- I'm waiting on the injury report from Ausberry, we anticipate he misses a little more time than originally thought."

News on injured, second year linebacker Miles Burris..

"Miles is slowly getting there, he's another unfortunate injury. We penned him in as a starter originally but obviously that's gonna take some time to get back to that level of playing. So yeah- Miles is moving a bit slower on recovery, nothing that's his fault- just the way the body heals."

There was also a rumor that made it's way around Twitter and other social media that Mark Davis himself, reached out to formally retired linebackers, Ray Lewis AND Brian Urlacher about possibly playing this season..

".. no, not that I know of. I think Ray Lewis is happy going out the way he did, as a champion- and Brian Urlacher is enjoying his time retired. Not that I'm saying they wouldn't be respected as part of this defensive, of course. Guys like that not only bring leadership, but also loads of talent."

[Gronk4M13]

Ah, you're starting Flynn. Good luck.

[Shmanky13]

Great start to this, Pryor is the future of the Raiders. A poor man's Cam Newton.