Oakland Raiders’ fans everywhere are patiently, or impatiently, waiting for New Year’s Day to arrive. Forget the big New Year’s Eve bash, we just want to watch the Silver and Black defeat the San Diego Chargers, while the Kansas City Chiefs blow out the crumbling Denver Broncos on January 1, 2012.

One Nation. Home of the Oakland Raiders, the Oakland Coliseum
Creative Commons

There are still three more days before we find out how this will play out, and the closer we get the stronger my belief becomes that we’ll get our wish.

First, let’s look at the scenario in Denver. Even though Kansas City isn’t playing for a playoff berth, they have strong reasons for wanting a victory at Sports Authority Field. The Chiefs’ quarterback Kyle Orton is returning to play against the team that dumped him for Tebow, and that’s has to sting more than a little.

Orton is out to prove that Denver made a big mistake in thinking that Tebow was their savior. The Broncos were lucky in more than a few of their wins with the young quarterback at the helm, but he’s started to crumble quickly. Denver was stomped in their last two losses, 40-14 by the Buffalo Bills and 41-23 by the New England Patriots. On top of that, their players have really taken a beating, and they’re dealing with a lot of injuries.

The Chiefs’ interim coach, Romeo Crennel, needs the win to save his job, and even Orton may not keep his in 2012 if the team doesn’t do well in Denver. That’s quite a bit of motivation. Is it enough for Kansas City to get the victory? I believe it is.

The biggest concern for the Raiders, of course, is their game against the Chargers. While the team has been inconsistent this year to say the least, they’ve were able to beat San Diego on the road, and won both of their games against the Chargers in 2010.

The Silver and Black will be on fire for this one. The players showed they have heart in the game on Christmas Eve, and they were also extremely resilient. Quarterback Carson Palmer does well against San Diego, and potentially having two exceptional receivers on the field in Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford, could turn this game into a high scoring offensive show for the Raiders.

Palmer commented on Wednesday, “So this is a big moment for this team and our fans and the fact that we get to play at home is obviously a huge advantage any time we get to play in front of our fans in that stadium because they can be so loud. So it’s exciting, this whole team’s excited.”

After so many years without the hope of even being in the playoffs, the Silver and Black have given us an exciting 2011, and the team could take their season farther than we even thought was possible. Just believe.

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan from the time she could walk. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett . Follow her at www.facebook.com/KCDermodyWriter or on Twitter @kcdermody.

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The Oakland Raiders’ veteran punter, Shane Lechler, has been in the headlines often for his outstanding efforts this season. I don’t think there would be much argument as to whether or not he’s the best at what he does in the NFL currently, but there has been some disagreement as to whether or not he is the best punter in the history of football.

Shane Lechler
Creative Commons/Commons Wikimedia

Just last week, the 35-year-old was selected to the USA Football All-Fundamentals Team. The team recognizes NFL players at each offensive and defensive position as well as four special teams positions, and felt Lechler was the best at exhibiting exemplary football techniques for youth players to emulate.

The question that’s been asked by many in the Raider Nation is, “Who is the best punter of all-time? Should that recognition be given to the former Oakland Raiders’ great, Ray Guy, or Lechler?”

Here is a look at both sides of the argument.

Lechler’s amazing 80-yard punt in the game against the Chicago Bears on November 27 went into the record books. The initial record of 77-yards was set five decades ago by Wayne Crow. Lechler tied that record in the Raiders’ 2011 opening game against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field.

Lechler holds the record for the best average per punt in the NFL in his career at 47.3, which surpasses the legendary Sammy Baugh who played back in the 1940s and ’50s, and held the record at 45.1. Lechler’s 2011 season average is 51.5.

Oakland’s current punter is a six-time Pro Bowler, and he’s been named an All-Pro six times. In addition to his impressive stats, he is also the Raiders’ emergency quarterback, and in week six in the game against the Cleveland Browns, Lechler threw a 35-yard pass to tight end Kevin Boss for a touchdown.

Looking at Guy’s stats, his longest punt was 74-yards back in 1977, also kicked in Denver. He never missed a game in his 14 seasons with the Raiders and he was also the first pure punter ever taken in the first round of the draft.

Guy led the league in punting averages three times in his career and was All-Pro three times. When he retired in 1986, his career average was 42.4 yards. Guy had only three of his 1,049 punts blocked, and was the first player to ever hit Louisiana Superdome scoreboard.

Guy was certainly an exceptional punter, and one of the top all-time, but Jerrell Wilson, who played for 16 seasons in the ’60s and ’70s with the Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots, ended his career with a 53 yard average. He had a season high average of 45.5 yards compared to Guy’s 45.4.

Guy is one of my favorite players of all time and he should, by all rights, be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but in this argument, I give the edge to Lechler.

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan from the time she could walk. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett .

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The Green Bay Packers (12-0) host the Oakland Raiders (7-5) on December 11th, 2011. The Packers have already clinched the NFC North title, and are focused on finishing with the best record in the NFC and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Raiders are tied for first in the AFC West with the Denver Broncos.

The Packers are undefeated after 12 games despite having a defense that is second from the bottom in the NFL in yards allowed (397.8 yards per game). They have done it by making big plays in a timely fashion on defense—Green Bay leads the league in both interceptions (23) and interceptions for touchdowns (4)—and by having an explosive offense that averages 35 points per game. While I can’t argue with the success they have had, I’d feel more confident in the Packers’ chances of sweeping through the playoffs and winning the Super Bowl if the defense would shut down opposing offenses a little better.

The Raiders have some key injuries on offense, with running back Darren McFadden and receivers Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore all out with foot injuries. The Packer defense will have to stop running back Michael Bush, who has rushed for 686 yards and six touchdowns. Bush also has 300 yards receiving and a touchdown catch. Quarterback Carson Palmer has thrown for 1485 yards and eight touchdown passes in six games, but he also has nine interceptions, something that bodes well for the big play Packer defense.

The Raiders have a winning record at 7-5, but have actually allowed more points (308) than they have scored (274). The Raider defense has allowed 140 yards rushing per game, but with Green Bay’s leading rusher James Starks hobbled by an ankle injury, Ryan Grant and Brandon Saine will have to step up. I’d like to see the Packers at least try to establish the run.

The Packers don’t run the ball very well, but then again, they haven’t had to. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers leads the league with 37 touchdown passes, is third in passing yards with 3844, and is way out in front in quarterback rating at 125.3 (Tom Brady is next at 105.9). Rodgers has thrown only five interceptions in 408 pass attempts. He has so many good receivers to choose from, some of them feel left out.

The Raiders’ best shot at winning is to keep Rodgers and company off the field by maintaining time consuming scoring drives with their strong rushing game. The Packers offense doesn’t need much time to score, however, and the Packers will be playing at home in front of an energized crowd. Add in the Raiders injury situation and the result should be win number 13 for Green Bay.

A Featured Contributor in Sports for the Yahoo! Contributor Network, Mark Hudziak has been a fan of the Green Bay Packers since the Vince Lombardi Era.

Sources:

Green Bay Packers on Yahoo! Sports

Oakland Raiders on Yahoo! Sports

Raiders begin another week without top playmakers

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MIAMI – The Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins save their least for last.

The first-place Raiders (7-4) begin December with a shot at their first playoff berth since 2002, while the last-place Dolphins (3-8) have been out of the running since before Halloween. But in one regard the teams are similar: Each ranks among the NFL’s worst in the fourth quarter.

That could make for an unsightly but zany finish when they meet Sunday.

“You definitely don’t want to go out and make bonehead mistakes,” Oakland defensive tackle Richard Seymour said. “Given the magnitude of the games we’re going into, everyone realizes we have to play better.”

The Raiders have won three in a row to climb atop the AFC West, but they tend to falter when holding a lead. They’ve been outscored in the fourth quarter 27-7 even during the winning streak, and for the season the deficit in the final period is 103-54, largest in the NFL.

Miami also tends to fade. In the first three quarters, the Dolphins have outscored opponents 174-132. After that, they’ve been outscored 74-38.

Four times the Dolphins lost after leading in the fourth period, including last week at Dallas.

“Winning those close games makes all of the difference in the world,” Miami running back Reggie Bush said. “It could be the difference between us being 3-8 and winning six or seven games right now. It comes down to execution late in the game when you are tired mentally and physically — being able to find that extra 10 to 15 per cent of energy and focus.”

It’s remarkable the Raiders have seven victories despite their late-game lack of execution. They’ve given up more points in the fourth quarter than any other team, and Carson Palmer’s passer rating of 34.8 in the final period ranks 40th and last in the league.

A late touchdown last week against Chicago was the first fourth-period score by Oakland since Palmer took over at quarterback Oct. 23.

“We need to find ways to generate more points in the fourth quarter,” Palmer said.

Strong starts haven’t been a problem. In the past three weeks the Raiders have built leads of 18-7 against Chicago, 27-7 against Minnesota and 17-3 against San Diego.

Each time they barely held on to win. In the past five games, Oakland has been outscored 48-7 in the fourth quarter.

“In the first half, we’re pretty impressive,” Seymour said. “In the second half, things have been kind of not going our way. We’re still trying to get it together.”

They might want to hurry. Oakland’s late-season push includes a game next week at unbeaten Green Bay, and that matchup will lose sizzle if the Raiders lose to Miami.

“I haven’t thought about Green Bay once,” Palmer said. “Miami’s too good.”

The Dolphins at least are better lately. After losing their first seven games, they won three in a row before a 20-19 defeat against the Cowboys.

Quarterback Matt Moore has led the turnaround while making a strong case that he can handle a No. 1 job. He had the league’s third-highest passer rating in November and threw for 288 yards against the Cowboys. But his final three passes at Dallas were incompletions, and the last one ended a comeback bid.

That’s part of a pattern for Moore, who has a passer rating this season of 97.2 in the first half but only 60.3 in the fourth quarter.

“I’ve just got to finish better,” he said. “Looking at the Dallas game there are balls, big plays that needed to be completed. The very last pass of the game — complete that ball, who knows what happens?”

With the defeat, Miami fell to 0-4 in games decided by a field goal or less. The Raiders, despite staggering to the final gun, have won five in a row when the margin’s no more than a touchdown.

“As you go down the stretch here, these games are going to be close, going to be tough,” Oakland coach Hue Jackson said. “We all wish we had those blowouts where you’re sitting in the fourth quarter smiling. But that’s not the way it is in the National Football League.”

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AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow in Oakland, Calif., contributed to this report.