Ira Miller, dean of NFL writers,  just phoned. As I've told you he lives outside Chicago these days and he was on his way to O'Hare to pick up friends from Berkeley who are spending Thanksgiving with him and his wife Sharon. He said he was stuck in traffic and decided to call me.

"What did you think of the Raiders on Sunday?" he asked.

I said they were pretty good -- surprisingly good. He asked if I think this is the beginning of something and I said I don't know, but they should beat Kansas City and that would be -- be still my heart -- a two-game win streak.

"If Cable does well, he might keep the job," Ira said.

I said maybe.

"But it won't matter," Ira said.

And I knew what he meant. The coach is not the Raiders' problem, not their primary problem by a long shot. Until Al Davis wises up or gives up control there will be losing coach after losing coach -- they could have Bill Walsh and he'd lose over there. The coach is irrelevant.

That's what Ira meant.