Quote:1. Caldwell would be the GM making personnel decisions.


2. The player he traded for in Oakland was Carson Palmer. Last I checked, he seems to be doing pretty good.


He was the only coach to make the Raiders respectable in the last decade. Now, he has the Bengals as the second best team in the AFC.

Quote: After starting the season 7-4, the Raiders lost four of their final five games to mark their ninth straight season without a winning record or a playoff berth. A late-game collapse at home against Detroit on Dec. 18 and a 38-26 loss to San Diego at home in the season finale did in the Raiders and ultimately Jackson.


Jackson joined the Raiders as offensive coordinator in 2010 under head coach Tom Cable and engineered a dramatic improvement as Oakland more than doubled its point total and improved to 8-8. That helped him get the job when Davis decided not to retain Cable.


The offense wasn't quite as effective with Jackson as head coach, with injuries to star running back Darren McFadden, receiver Jacoby Ford and Campbell playing a role in the decline.



But the biggest problems this past season were an inability to curb the team's propensity for penalties and on the defensive side of the ball. The team committed 163 penalties for 1,358 yards, setting records in both categories, as Jackson was unable to instill the discipline he promised.


The Raiders also had franchise worsts in touchdown passes allowed (31), yards per carry (5.1), yards passing (4,262) and total yards (6,201), while giving up the third-most points (433) in team history.


Oakland joined this season's Tampa Bay team as two of the four teams to allow at least 30 TD passes and 5.0 yards per carry in a season, a distinction achieved previously by only the 1950 Baltimore Colts and 1952 Dallas Texans. The Raiders also became the sixth team since the 1970 merger to allow at least 2,000 yards rushing and 4,000 yards passing in a season.