This week, you have a tangible reason to tell yourself that the Oakland Raiders will not continue to have the worst offense in the NFL.
Chaz Schilens, the Raiders' best receiver, returns this week after being sidelined all year with a fractured foot. "Chaz Schilens will be back and ready to go,” coach Tom Cable beamed to the Oakland Tribune. “We’ll talk later in the week about how we’re going to put that group together."
Translation: Heyward-Bey stinks but he's still the one who's going to get the start.
Schilens was lost for a month when he fractured a bone in his foot in training camp. A month somehow turned into two, and Schilens has missed the first six games.
Without Schilens this season, the Raiders have amassed only 19 receptions for 264 yards. To put that into perspective, Hines Ward by himself has more than doubled all Raiders' receivers Raiders receivers' production this season, with 41 receptions for 599 yards.
And it's not just him. There are 36 other receivers in the league with more catches and more yards than the entire Raiders' receiving corps.
But this week against the Jets, the entire Raiders receiving corps will actually include its best player.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who also does not compare very favorably to Hines Ward.
