There Are Two Different Versions Of Raiders That Could Emerge

The Las Vegas Raiders have already had a successful season. They’re back to being competitive, which is a huge improvement over last year, and they have a real coach. One opponent after another has lauded the approach and talent of Klint Kubiak, and even though there are plenty of talent deficiencies up and down the roster, it’s clear the Raiders made the right hire. 

But now there are clearly two versions of the Raiders. The first version shot out of the gate to go 3-0 against teams that were either inferior or relatively even with the Raiders, as they beat the Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Charger and the New Orleans Saints. 

The Raiders are currently stuck in a three-game losing streak that’s come against tough competition, though, with close losses coming against the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, along with a blowout loss to the New England Patriots on the road. 

So which version is the real Raiders? This sounds like a tough question, especially if you go position-by-position, but it’s really not that difficult. The schedule says we’re going to see a lot more of the 0-3 Raiders than the team that opened the season with a winning streak, wich games against the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks coming up. 

The good news is that the 3-0 Raiders are still in there somewhere, and they’re going to get chances to emerge again. There’s a road game against the New York Jets on Nov. 1 that now looks very winnable based on how the Raiders hae been playing, and it’s also possible to imainge them sneaking in a win against the Denver Broncos on Nov. 22. 

There’s also a game against the Cleveland Browns that could be winnable right after the Denver game, depending on how viable you think the Browns are right now. 

Add in winnable games at the end against the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals, and the Raiders might have something. Winning all of those games would give the Raiders eight wins, which would be a huge step forward for this team. 

The Raiders won’t win all of those predictables, of course, because that’s not how the NFL works. But Kubiak talked about closing out games after the loss to the Bills on Sunday, and if the Raiders can start to develop that unique skill, they should continue to be one of the biggest surprises of the NFL season.