MVN: Most Valuable Network

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Which Oakland Raiders should get a Pro Bowl nod?

Nnamdi Asomugha should get a trip to Hawaii. Photo by Patrick A. Patterson/TFDSsports

Its that time of year again. The fan voting has begun for the annual AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. The fans don't get the carte blanche to select the starters in the NFL, as they do in Major League Baseball, but the fan vote does count. The question becomes whether or not there are any Oakland Raiders who deserve to get the free trip to Hawaii at the end of the season. Fairly or unfairly, winning plays a role in who gets the call. The top teams in wins tend to send the most players to the Pro Bowl. The Raiders are 3-8 and in a deep funk. The Raiders also got obliterated in their only prime time TV appearance thus far this season, which definitely hurts.

Pro Bowl selections tend to generate slightly less controversy than the BCS, as there are always players who make it in based on their reputation ahead of players who had better seasons. With that said there are players on the Raiders who deserve to get the trip this season.

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By Patrick Patterson

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Oakland Raiders Week 13: Ballers and Busters

Zach Miller (80) was one of the few ballers yesterday. Photo by Patrick A. Patterson/TFDSsports.com

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By LDizzle

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Oakland Raiders beyond woeful in loss to the Kansas City Chiefs

Nnamdi Asomugha covering Tony Gonzalez (Photo by Patrick A. Patterson/TFDSsports.com)

There are few words to describe how head-scratching this loss was to the woeful Kansas City Chiefs. Once again, the Raiders offense returned to their inoffensive ways after seeming to break through against Denver. The defense could not get anything going consistently. In fact, Nnamdi Asomugha had two balls caught against him. Then there was the plain bizarre play call of a fake field goal with a pitch to Sebastian Janikowski. Even the usually sterling Shane Lechler had an off game. This was not a good game for the Raiders by any stretch of any imagination.

This is a game that all the tea-leaves said the Raiders should have won. In fact, the Raiders squandered nearly every opportunity they were given to make something happen. Its not that the Chiefs looked really good, but the Raiders not only played down to their competition, but managed to underperform the competition. This is just another one of those games that define the Jeckyll and Hyde team they have been this season.

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By Patrick Patterson

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Raiders have nobody to blame but their coach and quarterback

JaMarcus Russell needs to work on his touch (Photo by Patrick A. Patterson/TFDSsports.com)

The one thing that normally follows a losing team is something called the 'Blame Game'. So far, this season, most of the blame on the Raiders has been taken by the owner of the team, Al Davis. While Davis probably deserves much of the blame surrounding the silver and black, he can't be blamed for their ineptitude today against Kansas City.

Two weeks ago, I wrote that teams should take the points when they're in field goal range and stop going for it on 4th and whatever, unless that's the only choice. The Raiders passed up a chance to take a 6-3 lead in the second quarter by trying a fake field goal which turned into a fumble-return touchdown of 67 yards for the Chiefs. So the 6-3 lead turned into a 10-3 deficit.

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By Rob Calonge

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Kansas City Chiefs at the Oakland Raiders: TFDS Keys to the Game

TFDS Keys to the Game

So often you hear about teams that "don't know how to win" games. With the Raiders, we've heard that for nearly four years. The quote is actually a little misleading. It's difficult to imagine that players on even the worst football team don't know how to win football games. Sometime in their life, you have to believe that most of these guys have been on a winning team. No, these guys know how to win games, but as a team, that may be a completely different story.

Last week, the Raiders put together their best game in five years. It was the first time that offense, defense, and special teams were all outstanding in the same game, and they did this while on the road against the AFC West leading Broncos. It doesn't get much better than that. The only time they've been nearly as good, they were on the road in Kansas City at the beginning of the season.

So that begs the question, "Can they win two weeks in a row?" There's another question that probably isn't being asked due to the victory over the Broncos last Sunday, "Can they actually dominate teams in their division?" They probably can with one team - the Chiefs.

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By Rob Calonge

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Kiffin a 'volunteer' in Tennessee?

Once a Raider now a Volunteer?

Volquest.com is reporting that former Oakland Raiders head coach, Lane Kiffin, has been tapped as the new head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers. The official announcement isn't expected until Monday.

While this comes as no surprise to many close to Kiffin or to fans of the silver and black, Tennessee is probably not the destination that many had pegged for the former Raiders and USC Trojans coach. Even before his public plank-walking forced by Al Davis, Kiffin had been rumored to be the leader for the opening at Syracuse, to replace the firing of former Chiefs and Broncos defensive coordinator, Greg Robinson. Ironically, the Orange hail from Davis' alma mater, which is the reason we told you in this space that it would never happen.

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By Rob Calonge