A slow start against the Ravens had me wondering if we’d see the same old Raiders. The defense seemed to struggle, the offense showed live but not enough. But as the game progressed, Derek Carr’s lead offense started to score and the defense showed that maybe it wasn’t going to be a repeat of years past.
The game resulted in an overtime victory, but before that their final drive seemed to highlight the Raiders of seasons passed. Offering hope as they drove down the field and got in field goal range to win it. Pressing his luck, Gruden sent on the field goal team rather than seek a few more yards for an easier kick. Only to see the chance of a field goal evaporate with a penalty. Something decades of Raiders have suffered with.
But, hopefully, to prove this season might be different, Carr threw a touchdown to a wide-open Jones on the very next play.
The next week, the roll into Pittsburgh and we got to watch a Raiders defense frustrate Big Ben the whole day while Carr looked every bit the NFL’s leading passer.
So we roll into week three and now it’s time for these Raiders to show they are for real this year by beating a team they should beat after taking down two top teams from the year before. This is a game for them to show they are serious about winning this year.
I for one think its high time Gruden’s Raiders showed us they want to win.