text: In 2010, the Raiders had a better draft than those of the previous years and also cut the underachieving Jamarcus Russell in May after he showed up to minicamp overweight. Replacing him as starting quarterback was Jason Campbell, traded from Washington. The outlook for the team improved, but it was not apparent after they opened by suffering a 38–13 rout in Tennessee. Returning to Oakland, the Raiders defeated St. Louis and then lost a 21–20 game in Arizona. After a home loss to Houston, they beat their division rival Chargers 35–27 for the first time in seven years, and then lost the "Battle of the Bay" to San Francisco. The Week 7 game in Denver set records as the Raiders defeated their division rival with eight touchdowns (two passing, five rushing, and one interception return), setting a score of 59–14 for the most points in franchise history. After beating Seattle 33–3 and then Kansas City 23–20 for a third straight win, the Raiders went into their bye week with a winning 5–4 record.
  However, after the bye week, the Raiders fell to Pittsburgh and Miami before beating San Diego and losing to the Jaguars. A home win over Denver in Week 15 saw the team approach a playoff spot, but faltered in a loss to the Colts which ensured that they would miss the postseason for the 8th straight year. By beating Kansas City in Week 17, the Raiders became the first team in NFL history to sweep their division and still not make the playoffs.
  Despite beginning to turn the team around, Tom Cable was fired by Al Davis soon after the season ended for remarking "I finally began to feel that we weren't losers." Davis then promoted offensive coordinator Hue Jackson to the head coaching position in his first public appearance since November 2009. The physically frail, but still sharp Davis explained his decision to fire Cable by saying "If .500 isn't losing, then I don't know what losing is." Some critics also argued that the Raiders failed to win a single game outside their own division or the weak NFC West.