NFL: Raider Way no longer works

In one of the final episodes of "The Sopranos," Phil Leotardo – and I'm heavily editing the crudeness here – refers to a rival mob family and says, "five families and we've got this other (undesirable) thing over in Jersey."

That pivotal scene and dialogue raced through my mind after reading what Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce said about playing the Raiders last week.

Thirty two NFL franchises and we've got this disaster over in Oakland.

Pierce didn't say that, but that's basically what it's come to with the Raiders. He almost apologetically stated how bad things have gotten for the Raiders. The Giants, as everyone expected, steamrolled the Raiders, winning 44-7. The game might have been more one-sided than the final score indicates.

"I do not like knocking teams. But right now, they're struggling," Pierce said. "We're playing that game the other day and, honestly, it felt like a scrimmage, like a practice. It felt like we were going against our offense (in a controlled setting) as far as the tempo.

"There was no vibe of trying or effort from the Raiders at all from a defensive standpoint against their offense. We're getting three-and-outs. You don't hear nobody (saying), 'Hey, let's go!' trying to pick the guys up, rallying them, getting guys fired up. There was nothing. It was quiet. A guy gets sacked or somebody gets beat, they just get up. It's not like there's yelling or no kind of (emotion) about the way they were playing.

"It was shocking to be out there in that game and get that kind of feeling."

The Raiders are in a shocking state right now.

Of the 32 NFL franchises, 31 of them pretty much do things one way. The other does it the Raider Way. Once upon a time that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was OK for the Raiders to be rebels and renegades and do things differently than the rest of the NFL as long as they were enjoying some success.

Those days are long gone. Now, the Raiders use top-10 picks to draft guys who are projected to go in the second round. They draft guys in the second round that otherwise might not be selected until the second day. Their head coach allegedly assaults his assistants. It's pretty much the opposite of the Patriot Way.

But we all know the Raiders are in shambles right now. Rather than pile on, let's look at some ways Oakland can get turned around: