For the Oakland Raiders, perhaps it is time to party like it’s 2002 again.
Oakland defeated the previously unbeaten Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon in a wild 28-27 affair. The victory vaulted the Raiders to a 3-1 record, good enough for a playoff berth if the postseason started today.
Of course, it is October and not January, so the latter point is moot. What is important, though, is that the Raiders look like a real football team for the first time in over a decade.
Head coach Jack Del Rio has been at the forefront of the turnaround. After coming in last year and leading Oakland to seven wins, Del Rio has taken a more talented group in 2016 and gotten them to believe. Much of their belief is rooted in his own, with Del Rio going for a controversial two-point conversion down 34-33 in the final minute at New Orleans in the season opener.
The play worked, the Raiders won, and after a hiccup in the home debut against the Atlanta Falcons, they haven’t lost since. Oakland was able to squeak by both the Titans and Ravens, and while the optics haven’t screamed playoff team, they do offer a glimpse into a team that has real potential.
Oakland is not the juggernaut it was the last time it reached the playoffs. That year was 2002, and the Raiders were the dominant team in the AFC behind MVP quarterback Rich Gannon and receivers Jerry Rice and Tim Brown. This squad has much more to prove than that one ever did, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
All that aside, this is a time to be excited on the East Bay. The A’s are done making a mockery of baseball, leaving the Raiders to earn undivided attention. The schedule lines up for a potentially fun winter, as Oakland will host the Chargers and Chiefs over the next two weeks. If the Raiders can find a way to win those contests, they could be off to the postseason races. Even a split would do wonders.
The wins need to be stocked now, because the schedule will get much tougher. Oakland will eventually have rematches against both San Diego and Kansas City, but this time on the road. The Carolina Panthers will come to town, and the Raiders will lose a home game to play host in Mexico on a Monday night against the Houston Texans.
Looking at the second half, the opportunities to win will be fewer than they are now. If Oakland can clean house beforehand, it will go a long way toward success in November and December.
Ultimately, the Raiders are fast out of the blocks at 3-1. It’s been a long, long time since anybody could say that.
Power rankings
12 Teams most likely to miss the playoffs
12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
11. San Diego Chargers
10. Los Angeles Rams
9. Detroit Lions
8. San Francisco 49ers
7. Miami Dolphins
6. New Orleans Saints
5. Indianapolis Colts
4. Jacksonville Jaguars
3. Chicago Bears
2. Tennessee Titans
1. Cleveland Browns
Quotable
Rex Ryan:"My sources inside the New England Patriot building said that Jacoby Brissett would be the QB. How’s that? I’ll stir some stuff up"
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) October 2, 2016
Maybe slow your roll, Rex. The Bills did a great job over the last two weeks, saving their season with wins over the Patriots and Cardinals. Ryan deserves plenty of credit, but at the same point, both performances have had ample flaws. This is a head coach who never wins anything significant, purposely running his mouth to annoy Bill Belichick. At some point, Ryan has to stop stitching his own clown suit.
Random stat
Julio Jones went for 300 receiving yards on Sunday, becoming only the sixth player in NFL history to hit the threshold. The all-time mark for receiving yards in a game belongs to Flipper Anderson, with 336.
Info learned this week
1. Carolina has real problems
The Panthers are 1-3, and while the panic meter isn’t at a 10, it’s climbing rapidly. It’s one thing to lose, it’s quite another to allow 47 points and over 500 passing yards. Carolina misses Josh Norman in the worst way, and the offense is a mess when Cam Newton isn’t playing at an MVP level. With Newton now in concussion protocol, the Panthers have to circle the wagons and figure this out.
2. Texans look like middling team in horrid division
The Houston Texans are 3-1, but it’s tough to take them seriously. On Sunday, Houston let the Titans hang in the game after taking a 14-0 lead. It took Will Fuller’s 67-yard scoring punt return to win, despite Marcus Mariota going 13-of-29 with an interception. Simply put, the Texans have played mediocre football to this point. It’s enough in the AFC South, but not the rest of the league.
3. Le’Veon Bell, Jamaal Charles returned
In the blowout of the week, Bell shined while Charles barely played. Bell rushed for 144 yards on 18 carries, churning out most of that in the second half. If Pittsburgh can continue to get play like that out of Bell, it has the best offense in football.
As for Charles, he only got two carries for a measly seven yards. With the Chiefs on the BYE week, he now gets two more weeks to get that rehabbed knee back in shape before playing the Oakland Raiders in Week 6.
4. Cincinnati, Washington win but have work to do
The Bengals beat the Dolphins 22-7 on Thursday night, but there were some missed opportunities. Cincinnati settled for five field goals at home against a bad defense, mostly because the Bengals could not run the ball.
Then there are the Redskins, who struggled to beat the lowly Browns at home. Washington is having all kinds of problems on both sides of the ball. The record might show 2-2, but there are some major issues for both teams.
5. Vikings, Giants play pivotal MNF contest
New York and Minnesota are going to be in the NFC playoff race. Whoever wins on Monday ngiht could be in the driver’s seat for a wild card spot, should the divisional chases prove to difficult. last year, the Giants were waxed by Mike Zimmer and Co. If that happens again, the Vikings are up two games on Big Blue with the tiebreaker. If New York wins, both are 3-1.
History lesson
Since 1995, the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers have combined for five losing seasons.
Next: 2016 NFL season: Record predictions for all 32 teams
Parting shot
The NFC have some powers at the top of the standings, but not the ones we expected. The Philadelphia Eagles were not thought of as a contender by most, and yet are 3-0 and had the best point differential through three games.
It was also believed that the Dallas Cowboys were sunk without Tony Romo, only to watch Dak Prescott keep them in contention and then some.
Then there are the squads everybody believed to be superior this summer. The Carolina Panthers were 15-1 last season and now sit 1-3, looking up at the Atlanta Falcons. Carolina not only is off to a slow start, but has a general look of malaise. The Arizona Cardinals are also going through the motions. Arizona has not played a challenging schedule, and yet the Cardinals look lost in space.
It’s only a quarter of the way through the season, but the NFC is a circus.