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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 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 adult spiderman costume reason enough to wonder about a raiders win.yet win they will. there is something costume to how planets align at times, falling nearly rental into place even in the adult spiderman costume nfl universe. this is the raiders'' time, the next step in their progression. 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 costume away rental 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. and the victory will elevate the raiders'' owner to the top of the league once again, where be can sneer at the commissioner''s office and snicker at those who thought he had lost his fastball years ago. it was davis, and no one else, who put together this unusual roster of youngsters and plus-30 stars. child spiderman costume and it is he, and no one else, who saw in gruden''s replacement, bill callahan, the mettle of a championship coach. "you look at how al fixed up his roster with these older guys and you think, `this guy has gone costume off the deep end,''" says bills general manager tom donahoe. "but when you study these guys, they still could play. and to me, this is their last shot. they are supposed to be rental way over the salary cap next year. and he even changes coaches and they still make it this far. amazing."but of course, davis never has had much use for coaches. "he has always thought players win championships," says ron wolf, the former packers general manager who started his nfl career under davis in oakland. "that is what he will think about all this." and that is why he let gruden spiderman bolt to the bucs last offseason, but only after extracting a king''s ransom: four draft choices and $8 million. chucky comes costume armed with weapons, big rental and powerful ones, mostly on defense, which just happens to be the best around. and 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 spiderman bona fide defensive 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 raiders costume warriors trying to win a super bowl before entering a retirement home; the nfl clapping with zeal at the intense interest all this will create to finish off what already has been rental 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. he will be consistent and accurate and patient, and that will be enough.
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