Thank goodness. It is here. Let the games count once more, o sweet departed St. Tagliabue, let the National Football League's Regular Season mercifully come. Once more for our entertainment, the 32 franchises will clamber over one another to reach the Vince Lombardi Trophy like kittens chasing a moth.

Let's see how our Oakland Raiders are doing, shall we?

Strength: Randy Moss, WR.
It's come to this. Randy Moss, the voice of a team. What? Who'd have thunk it? After all the time the media spent labeling him as a classic spoiled-and-sullen brat WR, look at who has been leading the pre-scrimmage psych-up chants in practice -- it's Randy Moss. Who's been mad-doggin' the camera shouting the words to The Autumn Wind during the preseason opening game montages? Randy Moss. He seems to be relishing the Raider mystique more than ever before.

Randy is still far and away the best deep ball threat in the league. When he gallops after a long pass he looks like a fifth grader playing flies-up with the third graders. Long and graceful and taller than the other fellas, he makes it look oh so easy.

The hard part is the rest of the gameplan to get to the point of sending Moss the ball downfield. If Oakland get pass-profligate too quickly and neglect to run the qualitative RB Lamont Jordan, then it will prove near impossible to get Moss the ball despite his talent. No fifth grader can make a catch with three third graders covering them. So, while Moss is the team's greatest immediate threat, his success depends on a whole-team concept. Randy Moss, team player?

By SFist Christopher Rogers, contributing