A very rough afternoon for Russell and the Raiders

It’s official Raider Nation: JaMarcus Russell is not only going to be a bust – he’s lost his damn mind.

We’re three years into the Russell experiment, and so far the results are not just bad – they’re damn right Ryan Leaf-ian. To be fair, we can hardly count the first season of Russell’s NFL career since he wasn’t signed until almost October and missed training camp and preseason. But Russell has had nothing but time to learn since then, and instead of getting better, he’s getting much, much worse. But don't tell him that - the quarterback has repeatedly said he's feeling fine about his play so far. At least someone in Oakland is...

At the end of last season, Russell appeared to be getting it. While leading the Raiders to a 3-3 record to end the season, he racked up seven touchdowns against four picks and completed 60 percent of his passes. It seemed like Russell was going through the natural progression of a young quarterback, and was destined to improve even more after another offseason as the undisputed starter.

Appearances can clearly be deceiving.

Russell’s performance in 2009 has been embarrassing. The numbers aren’t just awful – they’re amazingly horrific: 41 percent completion percentage, one touchdown, four interceptions and a quarterback rating of 39.8. Russell has led Oakland on 32 offensive drives this season, and only three of them have ended with touchdowns.

His performance on Sunday against Denver may have been the most nauseating of them all: 12 completed passes for a whopping 61 yards, including one passing yard in the second half. That was not a typo – Russell had fewer passing yards in the second half of his game than Kansas City Receiver Mark Bradley (26) and Buffalo punter Brian Moorman (25) had in the first halves of theirs. I haven’t wanted to vomit so bad since I accidentally ate two-week old leftover Chinese food.

Because of the lack of a sell-out, Raider fans were treated to a blackout as opposed to the Black Hole. That’s probably a good thing, because if they had seen the ineptitude of the Oakland offense, the Coliseum might have been burned down last night. Those in attendance booed Russell early and often, and the boos were almost deafening by the time the third quarter rolled around. So you’d expect the young quarterback to be a bit shaken up and probably humbled by his pitiful performance, right?

Not so much.

Russell again told reporters after the game that he was satisfied with his development so far, and blamed the referees for not calling pass interference on two of his bad overthrows (one of which resulted in a pick). I'm sorry, was that an identical twin posing as you during the game on Sunday JaMarcus? Because to say that you played like a high school quarterback out there would insult high school signal-callers everywhere.

Russell’s excuses are exactly the sort of thing you’d expect from an immature and unfit quarterback. Nothing has ever been hard for Russell, since his raw talent was enough to get him the starting job at a top college program and even get him drafted at the top of the 2007 NFL Draft. But the NFL is full of potential stars who couldn’t put the work in and ended up flaming out, and Russell is headed down the same path. He’s got an incredible arm and the size to be an imposing force under center, but he has never committed to getting in shape, and no one has ever told stories about running into him at the team’s practice facility at 5 a.m.

Pro Bowlers and MVPs like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and even that ever-critical Rich Gannon know how hard it is to be a quarterback in the NFL, and they worked harder than anyone else. Although not always the most popular guys in the locker room, they have accomplished big things by putting in the time and rarely blamed anyone else (including the refs) for their mistakes. Unless Russell decides that he wants to watch more film and become a better leader, he is headed for disaster.

The schedule isn’t going to do Russell any favors either. The Raiders will face six of the top 10 defenses in the league this season, and only five of their remaining opponents have losing records (one of which is the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers).

With three more years remaining on his $68 million contract, Russell isn’t going anywhere, so get used to the losing, Raider Nation – as if you weren’t already.

BRIEFLY - Raiders fans are probably gleeful about the fact that receiver Michael Crabtree, who the Raiders moronically passed on during this year's draft, hasn't played a down for the 49ers this season and may never sign with them. But the player Al Davis picked seventh overall instead of him, Darrius Heyward-Bey, has exactly one more NFL catch than Crabtree does. Despite the fact that Heyward-Bey has started every game this year, he has a total of 18 receiving yards. Being a fan of the Raiders has turned my 24-year-old hair silver and black.