Oakland Raiders: 5 Attainable Goals For The Team In 2015
By Kevin Saito
Nov 16, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins (85) runs after making a fourth quarter catch against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Win Half Of Their Division Games – At Least
The surest path into the playoffs is by winning your division. Unfortunately for the Raiders, they play in the AFC West, and not the NFC South, and won’t be able to squeak in with a sub-.500 record. To get into the postseason, they are going to need to play and to win. Most importantly, they are going to need to beat their division rivals.
Arguably, no team in the AFC West has done more to improve their squad this offseason than the Raiders. Peyton Manning looked like age was finally catching up to him last season, and given all of the departures via free agency, the Broncos will not be the same team. Philip Rivers – if he’s still in San Diego – is coming off back surgery and the Chargers haven’t done much to upgrade their offense this offseason. San Diego isn’t likely anything but a year older heading into 2015, and given the fact that they haven’t been a dominating team in a long time, could be in trouble. And then there is Alex Smith and the Chiefs. Though they’ve added Jeremy Maclin to the offense, Smith is still Smith, and there is no telling whether he will be able to maximize the speedy wideout’s talents. Free agency has also picked Kansas City’s cupboards clean, and there are a lot of question marks surrounding the team.
The AFC West will still field some good teams, but the division itself is not as good as it was a year ago. Which could give the Raiders a shot at claiming the division crown – if they can play up to their potential and improve in some key areas.
It won’t be easy, of course. It is still a very competitive division. But the Raiders are looking like a team that will be more competitive this year. The downturns the other three teams may experience, as well as the upward trend of the Raiders could pay big dividends for Oakland. If they can take advantage of it all.
The surest path to the playoffs is to win the division, and to do that, you have to beat your division rivals. It’s something Oakland hasn’t been particularly adept at for the last decade or so, but they’re headed in the right direction and could very well claim some needed division wins – and they may just have the weapons they need to do it in 2015.