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Raiders searching for balance

Remember the old Randy Ratio? This was a strategy Mike Tice and his staff conceived prior to the 2002 season. The idea was that the Vikings had a very good record when they threw 40 percent of their passes to Randy Moss, so Tice figured the Vikings should make a concerted effort to reach this plateau all the time. Tice implemented the ratio into the Vikings' offensive game plan, but gave up on it shortly after the Vikings started the season 1-5.

The Oakland Raiders seemed to enter this season with their own Randy Ratio. They opened the season by throwing 16 passes to Moss in their loss at New England. It was clear that Kerry Collins was forcing passes to Moss in the second half of that game. Despite the team's lack of success against the Pats, the Raiders maintained the same approach in the following games.

Moss was thrown eight passes in the Raiders' Week 2 loss at Kansas City and was thrown the ball seven times in the Week 3 loss at Philadelphia. For the first three games of this season, Moss was being thrown an average of 10 passes a game, which would prorate out to 165 passes for the season, a number that will usually place a receiver in the top five in the league.