Raiders Cap Off Wild Week With Win
Oct 18, 2021, 10:10 AM
(Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
(Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
In the NFL, life moves at you fast.
A week ago Sunday, the Raiders just wrapped up their worst game of the season. A lackluster poor performance at home against the Chicago Bears. Nothing was positive in that game. The only good thing was that it was over and it was time to move on to the next one.
The problem for the silver and black was that moving on wasn’t going to be easy.
There was already a story brewing based on emails that were flagged by investigators looking into the Washington Football Team. In that investigation, Jon Gruden was caught up in the mess and it was not looking good. It got worse on Monday for Gruden and the Raiders, and all of a sudden the team was in full disarray.
With Gruden now out, the question was now what? The show must go on and so do the games. Awaiting the Raiders was a matchup with longtime rival Denver. The Raiders showed up in Denver with a new head coach on the sidelines and an opportunity to work together to see if they could put the trying week behind them.
The Raiders did just that.
With Rich Bissacia now running the program it was time to start fresh. The Raiders got off to a great start and never let off the gas. In the end, the Raiders got an emotional win, looked good and for the time being have things back on track.
Gruden is gone but not forgotten. He assembled this team and now those players have to play for one another and the organization and they did that in Denver. The painful week ended with a gutsy 34-24 victory over the Broncos.
What was different?
Besides the insertion of Rich Bissacia on the sideline as head coach, Greg Olson also took over play calling duties for the offense on a full time basis. The results were very good. Derek Carr had another 300 yard passing game, the run game added balance to the offense as the Raiders did a nice job of spreading out their attack.
The Raiders also didn’t turn the ball over while the defense forced four turnovers. A +4 turnover ratio is going to win you a lot of games.
What’s next?
The emotions of the week should wear off but can the play stay at this level? The Raiders return home this week to take on the Philadelphia Eagles. After that the Raiders will enjoy a bye week.
Six weeks into the NFL season the Raiders have been through a lot but as they currently look at the standings they are in first place in a very competitive AFC West.
