As we have recently passed the quarter mark of the NFL regular season, there have been some pleasant surprises that should not be ignored. Among those shockers are the upstart Bills and the unstoppable Titans, both of whom are off to incredible starts. But, with the good comes the bad, even ugly, and the Raiders and Rams truly exemplify the ugliness of football, as they once again find themselves in last place in their respective divisions with a combined record of 1-7 and very little to be proud of.

Once a proud franchise, the Oakland Raiders are now a very laughable team that simply does not have what it takes to return to the glory days of the ‘60s and ‘70s when John Madden was calling the shots. After reaching the playoffs for the first three years of the millennium, the Raiders have amassed a record of 19-61 in the previous five years, finishing last or tying for last place every year. Following a loss to the Chargers two weekends ago, the Raiders fired head coach Lane Kiffin, making new coach Tom Cable the team’s fifth coach in the past six seasons. The only consistency with this team is losing, and owner Al Davis will do everything possible to turn that around and keep Raider Nation happy. However, something the Raiders have done well is the drafting of young players JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden, who will develop into great players soon, although how soon remains to be seen. Still, with these young players having to mature and get accustomed to the NFL, it seems like the Raiders will get worse before they get better.

The St. Louis Rams can relate to the Raiders, as they too are an organization in extreme disarray. Off to their third 0-4 start for the past seven years, the Rams’ only saving grace is that they had a 14-win campaign in the 1999 season en route to their third Super Bowl. Other than 2003 when they won 12 games, the Rams have been less than mediocre since, winning as many as eight games in a season over the past four seasons. They too fired their head coach Scott Linehan last Monday, a day after another dismal loss at home. The days of “The Greatest Show on Turf” with MVP Kurt Warner leading the way are long gone, and the Rams must find a way to revisit the earlier part of this decade when they were incredibly successful. The problem with the Rams, among other things, is their defense, which has given up the third-most sacks in the league in the past three years. They need to find a way to protect quarterback Marc Bulger because with enough time, he can do great things with the football — he just needs to be given the chance.

Obviously, the Raiders and Rams have a lot of improving to do on all sides of the ball if they ever want to see themselves in the playoffs again. Only time will tell, but so far there is not much to be encouraged about with these teams. Perhaps the only good thing to happen so far this season is that neither team lost on Sunday, but then again, neither team played.