Silver & Black Blog: Events of the week ...

Been out of touch and all things Silver and Black Blog the past week, but am back and rested after some good golf with close friends.

Given the game is 15 hours away, I'll keep things short and sweet ...

1. Tom Cable. It's no surprise that he got trashed the last few months by media and others relying on innuendo and "sources" to pass judgment. The way things are reported these days by the national media, which really is the only media that breaks any news related to pro franchises, we often find ourselves commenting on a lot of speculation. Still, what was described by the Napa district attorney -- that Cable pushed someone into assistant coach Randy Hanson, and that after Hanson fell over, Cable still got on top and grabbed him while yelling some choice words -- is enough for me to warrant some type of suspension by the league. If I did that to one of my employees, or one of my bosses did that to me, a suspension would be in line at the very minimum. Yeah, tensions and testosterone do run high in the NFL, but there are more than coaches and players in an NFL organization, and what type of example does that set for others in terms of workplace violence?

2. Win over Philadelphia. Yeah, I thought there was no way. But how do you explain all that blitzing? It's something that was brought up in the preseason, as it had in other preseasons, only to disappear. Maybe it was something the Raiders saw while game-planning for Philly. Regardless, it was great to see them hang on, and allow them to play at least one more meaningful game. The Raiders still have to travel to San Diego, Dallas, Pittsburgh and Denver. So a fifth loss before Halloween must be avoided. The blackout was unfortunate, too, because a lot of people missed JaMarcus Russell's best game this season.

3. Today's game against the Jets. The Jets aren't the Eagles. They have the ability to run, and run some more. So, what the Raiders defense has in store is anyone's guess. Will we be seeing all the blitzing? Doubtful. I think the Raiders have a good chance to win this game, but it will be predicated on the offense scoring more than 20 points, something it's done just once this season. In fact, their two victories came by way of 13-point efforts. A victory, though, will keep them in the talk about the playoffs. As crazy as that seems, the Raiders, at 2-4, are one game out of the wild-card lead. Of the 16 AFC teams, only five have four or more victories. Now, the Raiders are a long way toward making the playoffs. But being alive for a playoff spot in mid- to late November is something I'll take.

That's it for now. I'll blog at some point Sunday night.