<p> Well I did pick my favorite team but there is are good reasons to believe they will be much improved this coming season. Last year they had a rookie head coach who instilled a new attitude in the locker room. The acqusition of many free agents during the offseason should help in areas where help is needed. Those positions of greatest need being WR and Safety. It is well known that the Raiders had a horrible run defense last year but if you saw any of the games and looked at the stats there was a theme which was the big play. Teams were consistently able to break out for a long run. The Raiders were tied for last with the most 20+ yard runs(18) and again tied for last with the 40+ yard runs(5). The problem wasn't necessarily the defensive line it had a lot to do with the Free Safety position. Whether overpaid or not Gibril Wilson is a much better tackler than Stuart Schweigart and he takes better angles on the ball carrier. </p>
<p> On offense the addition of Darren McFadden, and a healthy Michael Bush to an already stout running game will go a long way in the development of JaMarcus Russell. Not only will these two help the offense score more points, which by itself helps to win games, it will also keep the defense off of the field for longer periods of time so that the squad may be fresh in the fourth quarter. For those who doubt the importance of this let me say to you that of the 12 losses Oakland had last season there were 5 games that the Raiders had the lead either going into or at some point in the 4th quarter. Had this team been able to hold onto the lead it would have been a 9-7 ball club which is not spectacular by any means but it is significantly better than 4-12 and it would have meant being out of the cellar in the AFC West. </p>
<p> So there are my reasons. What are yours for who you chose?</p>
I agree the Raiders. For the reasons you mentioned, plus you can't forget about adding D-Hall to a secondary with Nnambi Aso. Also, Russell should be pretty prepared to play well this season. At minimum he will play better than the QBs the Raiders had turning over the ball every other series last year.
I picked the Rams (my hometown team). They really weren't that bad last year. They just got obliterated by injuries, most notably to the offensive line, but also to the secondary, linebackers, and franchise players