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It is so tempting to project the demise of the Raiders, this brooding franchise with its paranoid owner and obsession with greatness and slights, real and imagined. You can hear it now, the way they will proclaim ad nauseam their virtues homemade purim costume ideas and achievements, ignoring how they haven''t been to a super bowl since the 1983 season--a lapse that threatens their self-labeled "team of the decades" boast.they will drag with them the worst fans in football, weirdos who buy tickets for the right to act as if they come from some faraway planet covered in silver and black. these strange folks are reason enough to wonder about a raiders win.yet win they will. there is something spiderman to how costume planets align at times, falling nearly into homemade place even in the nfl universe. spiderman this is the raiders'' time, the next step in their progression. costume beaten by the ravens in the afc title game after the 2000 season, by the infamous tuck rule in last season''s playoffs, they have cleared away all but one obstacle this season. and it just happens to be, of all folks, jon gruden, the admired chucky whose national persona, of course, was molded as the coach of these very same raiders. chucky comes armed with weapons, big and powerful ones, mostly on defense, which just happens to be the best around. and homemade his beloved offense actually is showing signs of strength, now that it had its way last sunday against the eagles, the nfl''s only other bona fide spiderman defensive costume outfit.such story lines in this game: gruden vs. al davis; gruden vs. rich gannon; gruden vs. the raider nation; warren sapp vs. everyone; keyshawn johnson whining about everything; the ancient homemade raiders warriors trying to win a super bowl before entering a retirement home; the nfl clapping with zeal at the intense interest all spiderman this will create to finish off what already has been one fascinating season.it will be the raiders not because davis says it will be, but because they have the offense that, of any in the league, can best joust with the bucs'' defense. gannon will not become donovan mcnabb and deteriorate in the face of the tampa bay schemes. costume he will be consistent and accurate and patient, and that will be enough.
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