Super Bowl XLIV is now in the books, and the New Orleans Saints upset the heavily favored Indianapolis Colts. It has been seven years since the Raiders have appeared in the big game and 26 years since they have won it. However, there is much that the Raiders can learn from the game this afternoon.

The Super Bowl is over and done with and now the NFL is officially in it's off-season. Which means that we now know the complete draft order and the Colts and Saints can start to plan for next season. Well, the Saints can afford to spend at least a few days celebrating before they get to it, but shortly thereafter, the grind stone awaits.

For the rest of the league, the planning began two weeks ago. And for many, if not all of them, those plans are also being shaped by what happened during the Senior Bowl and the preceding practices. It certainly shook up the first round a bit. Some players' value lowered, some players' value went up and some teams' focus shifted.

Adam Schefter has reported via Twitter that the Oakland Raiders have hired former Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast as defensive backs coach.

The position of defensive backs coach opened with the retirement of Willie Brown immediately following the 2009 season.

Pendegrast served as the defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs for the 2009 season and had previously held that position with the Arizona Cardinals from 2004-8.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Jerry Rice got the call for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. His teammate Tim Brown was not given the call.

Tim Brown was eliminated in the first cut down, as the field was narrowed from the 15 finalists to ten.

The goal of the Hall of Fame is to recognize the best players in the history of the National Football League. Too often that goal gets lost in the convoluted selection procedure.

Tim Brown was an elite wide receiver by any measure and he deserves enshrinement in the Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio. He did not have many of the flashy moments, but he was a reliable receiver who played on several bad teams. He was recognized with nine Pro Bowl appearances and was named to the NFL's all 1990s team.

During the late 90's there was a joke going around that Tim Brown was proof that there was still professional football in Oakland. That was the very essence of Tim Brown, he was the consummate professional. He would catch everything thrown in his congressional district. When it was third down, everyone in the stadium knew that he would be the intended receiver, but he would still find a way to get open enough to come down with the catch.

The Raiders have two high profile players that are set to become unrestricted free agents this offseason. Those players are Sebastian Janikowski and Richard Seymour.

Both players figure to be offered top dollar either in the form of re-signing with the Raiders or from another team in free agency.

Last offseason, Al Davis ponied up the dough to make Nnamdi Asomugha the highest paid defensive player in the NFL and Shane Lechler the highest paid punter in NFL history. The previous offseason he made Tommy Kelly the highest paid defensive tackle in the NFL (briefly). So we know that when Al Davis likes a player, he is not shy in backing up the money truck to their front door.

The Pro Bowl has come and gone once again with the reuslt being forgotten by the time the final whistle has blown. The players were going half speed or less for most of the game, and the defensive rules are so restrictive, what is the point? They should move it back to after the Super Bowl so it resumes its role as a methadone to come down after the actual season.

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It's Pro Bowl weekend so I sat down to watch the game knowing it was the last game of the season with any Raider players taking the field. Sure it is a virtually meaningless game. It's sole purpose being to give credit to those players that performed well individually during the season. But with just one more game on the slate (the Super Bowl) before we settle in for the long NFL offseason, I even watched the 2 ½ hour ESPN pregame leadup.

The ESPN NFL crew was going through the All-Decade team, announcing each player one by one. And that was pretty cool. Lechler was named the All-Decade punter of course. And Charles Woodson was on the team as well.

But then they took a page out of Mark Schlereth's NFL Live segment, "Off the Mark". This time calling it the "Come on!" plays of the year. They seemed pretty on-target through most of it. Then well-known bitter Raider hater, Tom Jackson took over the segment and went on a tirade that was WAY out of line.

Last year's Oakland Raiders defense resembled a Dr Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde situation. They could make big plays as evidenced by being among the NFL leaders in tackles for loss and they could give up big plays as evidenced by being among the league leaders in big plays allowed. This lack of consistency was a significant problem all season.

The question becomes where do the Raiders need to shore up to disallow those big plays. The answers lie in a combination of breakdowns in fundamentals and out of place personnel. The raiders defense needs few player upgrades, but much more discipline.

The Oakland Raiders offense enters the offseason once again in need of a facelift. The Raiders have spent their last three first round draft picks on that side of the ball to varying degrees of disappointment: JaMarcus Russell, Darren McFadden, and Darrius Heyward-Bey. That doesn't mean that the entire offensive side of the ball needs to be blown up and rebuilt. However, there are important positions that need immediate attention, whilst others don't need much.

Regardless of the starter at quarterback, there are other areas on the Raiders offense that need a strong look. All three Raider starting quarterbacks spent too much time running for their lives, which is a determent to any kind of offensive success. For a quarterback to have success, he has to have receivers who can catch the ball and make plays with it.