Regular season grades for every NFL team

With how they’ve performed in recent seasons and, simply, how the organization has been run under Mark Davis’ tenure, there weren’t high expectations for the Oakland Raiders in the 2015 regular season. And, as the team finished 7-9, third in the AFC West, and outside of the playoff picture, they didn’t far exceed those low expectations. However, they did exceed them to a certain degree and showed a ton of promise in the process.

Somewhere in the middle of the season—around the Week 9 mark—the Raiders were hovering at around .500 for the season and playing their best football of the year to that point. Subsequently, there starting to be a little buzz building about this team possibly making it to the postseason. While they ultimately started making the mistakes that young teams are prone to, the fact that kind of buzz got started at all is telling for this young team and where they’re headed.

It’s pretty clear at this point and after the 2015 season that Khalil Mack is set to become a superstar defensively, that Derek Carr looks like he can continue growing into a franchise quarterback, that Latavius Murray is a legitimate weapon, and that Amari Cooper is going to be another star. There is hope for this Oakland team moving forward and, considering where they’ve been, that has to mean something when grading them with their 7-9 record.

Next: Philadelphia Eagles