Closing the gap, catching and passing the AFC West’s dominant team isn’t anything new to Raiders head coach Jon Gruden. He accomplished the feat during his first tenure with the team. However, this time it’s going to be much more difficult than it was the first time. Gruden was hired to be the Raiders head
Jon Gruden’s quest to rule AFC West won’t happen as easily as it did first time around
The Raiders aren’t even in the stratosphere of the Chiefs. They couldn’t even finish ahead of the bloody Broncos this year for crying out loud. The playoff talk earlier in the season when the Raiders were 6-4 was a complete joke. I never drank that Kool-Aid for a second. The truth is, they got lucky playing against a series of backup quarterbacks which artificially inflated their record. They should have been 5-11 at best.
They did make some strides though… they have a tight end and a running back now. As well as a safety (Abram), defensive end (Crosby). A few good offensive linemen and a few guys with promise like Mullen.
But don’t think for a second this team is anywhere near playoff ready. It needs at least 7 or 8 new starters before that’s even remotely possible.
Raiders are still trying to be competitive. The games vs. the Chiefs weren’t even close.
But premise of the article is spot on: Chiefs are the premier team in the AFC West. Raiders have a LONG way to go to catch them.
Most of the Chiefs players are on rookie contracts after they sign The Muppet of KC to 43 million a year some of the other very good players will want to get paid. The problem will be drafting better players than Reid does. It can be done but it won’t be easy.