2008 an eerie mirror to past years for the Oakland Raiders, which way will they go?

My partner in crime here at Thoughts from the Dark Side, Rob recently went on record as predicting playoffs for the Oakland Raiders. I admire his optimism, but don't fully share it. There are eerie parallels to two recent pivotal years in the history of the Oakland Raiders 1999 and 2005. 1999 served as a launching pad for Jon Gruden's Raiders to go on a run that ultimately culminated in a win over the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship game after the 2002 season. On the other hand, the 2005 season was a season that sunk the Raiders deeper into their current abyss. 2008 very striking similarities to both of those seasons, and believe that this year like those others will be pivotal one way or the other.