Oakland Raiders would have made it had Jason Campbell, Darren McFadden not been injured – Part 1
It seems that the Oakland Raiders would have done much better than their performance of 8-8 this season, had they not sustained the loss of just two players: quarterback, Jason Campbell, and running back, Darren McFadden, to season ending injuries.
The injury in case of McFadden turned out to be pretty much a season ending one as he remained out of all games after having sustained a foot sprain and though it was expected that he would be able to return to the team once the playoffs started, the team
never made it to the playoffs, thus making him effectively out for the entire season.
The two losses curtailed by the Raiders were very serious and had they been avoided, the Raiders would have remained in the playoff contention.
It could be witnessed that once these two players left the team, Raiders saw a decline in their performance immediately.
Raiders' defence ranking in National Football League (NFL) fell and the team came slumping down to 7-7 from an earlier better start of 7-4.
The injury that had the worst impact on the team was the injury to running back Darren McFadden. McFadden was missing in the team since Oct. 23 after he had sustained a foot sprain in the first quarter of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Immense speculation existed over the player with the entire team hoping that he would make a quick return but that was something that could never happen.
Raiders saw a fall in their NFL rankings with regards to rushing and it wasn’t something that the management could do much about apart from just wait and hope for their player to recover.
Michael Bush was hurled in to fill out the gap left by the absence of McFadden but however that could not be promptly filled in.
That is not to suggest that Bush was less in anyway and he did not respond to the situation as it was required.
In fact Bush stood up to the occasion shouldering as much responsibility as he could.
For once it did seem that the gap will be filled but as more games progressed, Bush was found taking the strain as he sustained a shoulder injury.
Although that injury din not make Bush miss out any game, it did continue to nag and trouble him a lot.
So the gap was still there and it continued to persist hurting the Raiders all along the remaining part of the season.
This particular injury was the one that damaged the chances of Raiders making it to the playoffs the most.
There were reports circulating midway into the season that McFadden may make it to the team again. McFadden was found taking part in some light jogging around the practice fields.
That had the then coach Hue Jackson excited and smiling who said that the running back’s injury didn’t require a surgery and seemed to suggest that McFadden will make a return to the team soon.
However, all that optimistic thinking and expectations didn’t materialise and McFadden couldn’t make the return in a single game.
One of the latest news out was that McFadden would make it by the time the playoffs started but that was something the Raiders could see happening and McFadden’s fans missed seeing their hero in action for the whole season since week 7.
McFadden played only seven games this season.
To be continued.....
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