‘Won’ game at a time. It’s a simple mantra for Jon Gruden’s Las Vegas Raiders. The 43-6 debacle in Atlanta last Sunday makes it difficult to equivocally say the Silver & Black will run the table to cement their status in the playoffs. “Everyone contributed to that mess. And that’s really what it was and
It’s ‘won’ game at a time for the Raiders
“Surely, this 2020 Raiders team is better than the one previous.”
Perhaps on paper, not on the field.
The fact that the offense played better is completely offset by the defense playing worse.
Maybe they’ll surprise us and indeed play better over the 5 remaining games. So far, however, that has not been the case.
The Atlanta game is far from a one-off – since the $100 million man took over:
– Raiders have lost by 30+ FIVE times.
– They lost by 20+ TEN times.
Those are scary stats.
Not sure I would say that this team is “surely” better than last year’s after the Atlanta game. If they truly were better, I would not have expected them to lose to Atlanta in the same fashion they lost to the Jets last season (and the Niners the season before and Washington the season before that). Something is rotten in Denmark, so to speak, that allows this team to get results when everything goes right and then get in a funk when it goes wrong. Nevertheless, the Raiders can prove everyone (including me) wrong by taking care of business against the Jets tomorrow, then the Chargers, Broncos, and at least one of either the Colts/Dolphins. Now is not the time to mess around.
Next 5 games will likely determine Carr’s long-term future (i.e. contract extension).
If Carr plays poorly like last week, rumor mill will be out in full force in the off -season.
“Surely” it’s better to judge a team on the whole, rather than on just one game. And “surely” by that measure, this team is better than it was last year. Even if they were to end up with the same record, it’s clear for all to see after 11 games that this team is better. You could say that purely on the talent alone. The o-line play is better, play calling is better, red zone is better, scoring is better, 3rd down efficiency is better. There’s a lot that is better. Is it good enough? No. But this team is better. A lot better. “Surely”.
5 minutes to kick off: last week is history – GO RAIDERS!!!!!!
OMG, OMF******G – did that just happen?