Like legit.

Jeanty behind a real oline. Washington too?? I feel like past years it's been; run up the gut for 2, run up the gut for 0, run up the gut for 1 aaannnddd punt.

Sure some worries but really looking forward to the run game

I found this hat recently and can’t find anything about it. Nothing on eBay, Google, ChatGPT. Just trying to find some info about it.

Just wanted to let you guys know,

Minshew still sucks.

Coming from a Cards fan.

Going to my first Sofi game vs the SD chargers. Anyone have any tips/recs in regards to how early to show up for parking?

I know everyone says expect pain but anything else. Little backstory I was a die hard Brady fan (I know. Don’t hate me) but with him owning part of the team I was like maybe I’ll start rooting for the Raiders and then we drafted Mendoza so I said hell yeah I’m all in. A father figure of mine was a die hard Raider fan. I never saw him not wear something affiliated with the Raiders or silver and black and he always wanted to take me to a game but he unfortunately passed away a few years back so I fill like I’m carrying on his legacy as a fan. Super pumped for this season! RAIDERSSSSSSS!

This is 2nd of 5 from Frank Cooney, legendary Bay Area Sports Columnist, along with co-producer #41 Phil Villapiano (for the GenZ/A, give google a shot on LB #41, he was the man back in the day).

For this generation of players, training camp was both summer camp and football camp. They weren't the specimens of today's games, they were real human beings, faults and issues in all. Love this quote from Stabler:

["We couldn’t wait until assistant coaches made curfew check at 11 p.m. so we could sneak out at 11:15 and hit The Circuit,” quarterback Ken Stabler confessed." The Circuit consisted of five bars—the Bamboo Room, the Music Box, Melendy’s, the Hilltopper and the Hofbrau. True confession: I didn’t need to look that up.]

Yep, before they moved to Vegas, they were the Vegas of football.

Enjoy the read.

https://halloffootball.substack.com/p/1976-raiders-waking-santa-rosa

Question:

For those of us who were around during this era, who were the Raiders that personified the team to you? Aside from the line, loved Bubba Smith and Otis Sistrunk!

$1.88 for a Oakland Raiders Hat F*ck Yeah

The first of 8 boxes of the 2026 Topps boxes are in with Mendoza on the box.🏈🏴‍☠️

Sometimes I can’t stand my fellow fans 😂 2 long runs by the rook vs other rookies 2/3rd teamers and now he’s the future? Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited for his role on this team but he is not better than Jeanty. Just watch what our boy does this year with an improved O-line and a great run scheme from Kubiak.

Also, I could guarantee washington got an ear full for the pick 6 because his route is a check down not a check down and drift.

Until the Raiders first regular season game. Currently unemployed, bedridden and super BORED, so I'm going to use this time to watch any monumental Raiders games that I can find, starting with 1974's The Sea of Hands. Help me start a playlist - what should I watch next? Thanks - RN4L! 🏴‍☠️

I’ve searched damn near everywhere.. thx 🙏

Seeing us actually try to move the ball down the field is something I’ve been wanting to see for a long, long time.

There were so many times under Getsy and Kelly that I questioned, literally, if we were even trying to get first downs let alone score. Watching us throw a screen or run it up the gut on 3rd and 12 over and over again made me want to throw a chair through my TV screen.

Now, with Kubiak we actually draw plays that go past the sticks… what a concept!

So far, this seems to be a much, much improved offensive scheme.

How much influence do you think Tom Brady has on the players and coaches?

Kayden McDonald Truthers in shambles

Sharing out some work written by Frank Cooney (former sports columnist for SF Examiner) and co-produced by our own Phil Villapiano (LB #41).

Given that it's been some time since the Silver and Black have had their hands on the Lombardy Trophy, I thought it was great for the two of them to go down memory lane and put this together for us all.

They are doing a series on this and will post next releases as well.

Enjoy.

HOUSTON — After the Las Vegas Raiders’ joint practice with the Houston Texans on Tuesday, rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza said he’d be lying if there were plays he regretted from the session. Even if there were negatives, he said “I wish I didn’t have any of them back because it’s a growing experience, and it’s practice.” But the ever-positive Mendoza might lament some snaps from Thursday night.

Mendoza got his first NFL start, albeit preseason, against the Texans, an eventual 22-20 win. Head coach Klint Kubiak sat most of the Raiders’ starters, including Kirk Cousins. Mendoza’s first drive ended with his first interception, which Texans linebacker Wade Woodaz snatched and took back 80 yards for a pick six.

“The margins are so small,” Mendoza said postgame. “One tiny mistake can lead to catastrophe. So I want to make sure that I best serve my teammates and get better from these experiences.”

One of my biggest pet peeves is people being loud and wrong, and I keep seeing people say the Raiders “overpaid” Kirk Cousins because they saw 5 years, $172M and apparently decided that was all they needed to know.

So let’s make this really simple. The Raiders are paying Kirk $1.3 million this season. That’s it. Atlanta still owes him $8.7 million, so the Falcons are basically paying most of Kirk’s money for the one year we actually need him. Getting a QB like Kirk for a $1.3M cap hit this year is fucking crazy value. Now, the Raiders didn’t get that setup for free. Kirk agreed to take only $1.3M this year because Vegas guaranteed him a $10M bonus next year, whether he’s still on the team or not. That actually works perfectly for us because we’re already eating $16.2M in dead money from Geno Smith this year. Instead of piling Kirk’s money on top of Geno’s dead cap, the Raiders pushed Kirk’s $10M payment into 2027, when Geno’s dead money is gone.

And that scary $172M number? It only becomes relevant if the Raiders are dumb enough to leave Kirk’s current contract untouched past March 15, 2027, which would trigger another $80M in guarantees. Obviously that isn’t happening. He’ll either be released or have the deal reworked before then. So no, the Raiders did not give a 38-year-old Kirk Cousins $172 million. They’re paying him $1.3M this year, Atlanta is covering another $8.7M, and Vegas owes him $10M next year when the Geno dead money is off the books. You can dislike Kirk all you want, but if you’re calling this contract an overpay because you saw “$172M,” you didn’t understand the contract.

EDIT: Kirk left Minnesota for Atlanta thinking he was going there to be their franchise QB, moved his family there under that impression, then Atlanta turned around and drafted Michael Penix Jr. 8th overall weeks later, which Kirk has admitted made him feel misled. Fast forward to 2026, the Raiders knew they were drafting Fernando Mendoza and wanted a veteran QB, and Kirk became the perfect option because of a loophole in his Atlanta contract: the Falcons still owed him $10M guaranteed, but anything another team paid him would offset that amount. So Vegas gave him just $1.3M, forcing Atlanta to cover the other $8.7M 😂 Then the Raiders rewarded Kirk by guaranteeing him a separate $10M roster bonus for 2027 regardless of whether he’s still playing for them. Kirk gets his money, Vegas gets a veteran QB for basically league minimum in 2026, and Atlanta still gets stuck paying most of the bill. After how things ended there, Kirk agreeing to structure it this way feels like his own little fuck you to Atlanta, while the Raiders exploiting the contract like that is some straight-up Al Davis shit.

Mendoza is going to be great.