FanHouse Oakland Raiders

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) --Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys had their way with the Oakland Raiders, piling up their most yards of the season and getting another solid performance from the defense.

Now comes the big challenge for the NFC East leaders: Keeping it up.

Dallas beat Oakland 24-7 on Thursday for its sixth win in seven games, guaranteeing it will remain atop the division going into the final month. Because Decembers have been such disasters for the Cowboys over the past decade-plus, they can only hope this performance indicates things will be different this season.

If you need proof of just how uncertain NFL scouting can be, look no further than Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin and his Raiders counterpart, Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Austin, an undrafted player out of tiny Monmouth, continued his spectacular and surprising season Thursday, racking up seven catches for 145 yards and a touchdown in Dallas' 24-7 win over Oakland. His TD grab was his eighth of the season. On the losing side, Heyward-Bey, the No. 7 pick in last April's draft, hauled in his eighth catch -- matching Austin's season-TD total -- and his first professional TD in his 10th game.

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It's often said that a team with two quarterbacks really doesn't have any. With that spirit in mind, FanHouse will keep you updated weekly on NFL teams facing potential quarterback controversies.

It was a revelation in Oakland Sunday -- the starting quarterback struggled a bit, but didn't make dumb decisions or do more to beat his team than beat the opponent. Instead, he led his team on a late touchdown drive to tie the score, then got a break to pick up the win.

After a physical beatdown of the reigning Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals were riding high. "Just look at their next three opponents," observers proclaimed -- with good reason, as the Bengals were staring at the Raiders, Browns and Lions in succession on their schedule. The three teams had combined for four wins and 23 losses before Week 10, while the Bengals had won seven of eight since their fluky Week 1 loss.

Facing Bruce Gradkowski and the Raiders offense surely shouldn't be a problem for a team that held Ben Roethlisberger in check, right? Well, that's why they play the games.

The best NFL news on Wednesday was that Brian Westbrook will not play this week. He may be your starting running back in your fantasy league, but the Philadelphia Eagles' all-time leader from scrimmage with 9,711 yards also is a man who is recuperating from two concussions in 20 days.

Right now, Westbrook is not just an NFL star. He is a medical patient.

Thankfully, everyone realizes it's time to focus on Westbrook's health and future well-being, and not how he can help move the chains for the Eagles' offense.

Wednesday's news that Raiders coach Tom Cable had decided to bench struggling quarterback JaMarcus Russell and go with journeyman reserve Brad Gradkowski as the starter for now is remarkable for this reason: It showed Cable is doing what's best for the 2-7 franchise by getting hands-on owner Al Davis to agree with him about the move.

In fact, Cable said there wasn't even give-and-take with Davis on the decision to make Russell a No. 2.

"No, no. He left this up to me; this is my decision," Cable said of Davis. "We talked about it and he supported it."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders have decided they like the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum enough to reach a tentative agreement to remain there through the 2013 season.

The Raiders' lease with the Oakland/Alameda County Coliseum Authority was set to expire at the end of the 2010 season. Considering the city of San Francisco and the South Bay city of Santa Clara have been offering stadium locations and are competing for the 49ers' services, the future home of Al Davis' franchise was very much in question.

While the lease agreement must still be formally approved by the Joint Powers Authority, the City of Oakland, the County of Alameda and the NFL, it's a foregone conclusion that the Raiders -- love 'em or hate 'em -- aren't going anywhere. At least for the time being.

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It's often said that a team with two quarterbacks really doesn't have any. With that spirit in mind, FanHouse will keep you updated weekly on NFL teams facing potential quarterback controversies.

How would you feel if you were an ineffective starter who may only keep his job one more week because the backup is injured? Worse, what if you were so bad that you lost your job to a guy who was injured? Well, Oakland's JaMarcus Russell may be on the verge of finding out how that feels.

It's been a rough season for the Oakland Raiders. Not only is the team as bad as, well, usual, but head coach Tom Cable has found himself stuck in a controversy himself.

After he was cleared of any criminal charges after an assistant coach accused him of assault, an ex-wife and ex-girlfriend accused Cable of physical abuse. It appears Cable is going to catch another break on this latest issue.

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It's often said that a team with two quarterbacks really doesn't have any. With that spirit in mind, FanHouse will keep you updated weekly on NFL teams facing potential quarterback controversies.

After weeks of embarrassing, historic, and somewhat hysterical futility under the guidance of Derek Anderson, the Cleveland Browns have finally completed their quarterback cycle.