Oakland Raiders A Team The New York Jets “Should Beat”
By Kevin Saito
Despite all of the strides the Oakland Raiders have taken this year, there is still no shortage of critics and naysayers. This Oakland squad is fresh off a dismantling of the San Diego Chargers, yet despite that, there are some who still think the Raiders are a team who can be taken lightly and beaten without too much effort. Such as Jeff Capellini of WFAN.com – not surprisingly, a CBS affiliate in New York.
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On one hand, it makes sense. After more than a decade of embarrassing losses, the Raiders haven’t earned the benefit of the doubt in any game they play. And at 3-3, Oakland has had their ups and downs so far this season, and they haven’t exactly been setting the league on fire.
On the other hand however, at 3-3, the Raiders are in the thick of the playoff hunt, have a roster brimming with exciting and explosive young talent, and are playing some of the best football seen in the East Bay in a number of years. And they are getting better each and every week.
Capellini seems to be positioning the Jets as a legit Super Bowl contender. Despite all of his pro-New York posturing though, let’s not overlook the fact that they are 4-2 – which, if you can do the math at home, is only one game better than the Raiders, a team he asserts the Jets “should beat.”
In a piece yesterday, Capellini wrote:
"“Just because they (the Jets) played well against a superior opponent last weekend doesn’t mean they’ll beat up a team they should beat this weekend.”"
Should beat the Raiders? It boggles the mind to ponder the reasons Capellini thinks the Jets “should beat” the Raiders.
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Yes, the Jets have a very formidable, very intimidating defense. In fact, the Jets have the NFL’s second ranked defense, giving up just 283 yards and 17.5 points per game. The Jets’ defense is solid at every level, they play hard, they’re ball hawks, and they have a knack for making big plays.
And while they have a solid run game behind Chris Ivory that ranks third in the league, they have a mediocre at best passing game led by Ryan Fitzpatrick that ranks twenty-second in the league.
And given that the Raiders are the second ranked run defense in the NFL, the Jets are going to have to rely on Fitzpatrick to win this game for them. A dubious proposition at best.
Very clearly, the Kool-Aid they’re handing out at MetLife Stadium is potent stuff and Capellini has had several cups of it. At least. That can really be the only explanation for the cockiness and “we’re the best in the world” attitude coming from some of the New York beat writers and fans.
Let’s be real for a moment here. Yes, the Jets are 4-2. Yes, they have a very solid looking defense that has dropped the hammer on some teams. But who exactly have the Jets beaten this year?
Nobody. That’s who.
New York’s four wins this season have come against the Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins (who were still embroiled in the Joe Philbin drama at the time), and Washington.
Not exactly a murderer’s row there, is it?
The combined record of New York’s vanquished foes currently sits at 11-17. And let’s not forget New York’s pretty terrible loss to a Philadelphia Eagles team that at the time, was 0-2 and in total disarray. The only team with a winning record the Jets have played so far this season has been the New England Patriots – and they lost to them.
Despite all of that though, Capellini doubled down on his comments and his belief that the Jets, if not for a little hard luck could – and should be – 6-0 at this point in the season.
Coulda. Woulda. Shoulda. Yeah, the Raiders have had a couple of games like that too and if we want to enter into Capellin’s Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda Fantasy World, the Raiders should be sitting pretty at 5-1.
But this is reality and they’re not. The Raiders – just like the Jets, we’re sorry to say – didn’t get it done and they suffered the consequences.
He is completely on board with the idea that the Jets are Super Bowl bound though, and that somehow, they are a far superior team to the Raiders – despite there being only a single game difference in their records. He wrote:
"“Losing to a team like the Raiders after failing to seal the deal in a winnable game against their most hated rivals would be a major punch to the gut.”"
A team like the Raiders?
It’s painfully obvious by his idiotic comments like “losing to a team like the Raiders,” that Capellini has no idea what this 2015 Raiders squad is doing or is capable of.
This not the same Raiders squad that lost to the Jets in the opening week last season – though he mind bogglingly seems to think they are.
Capellini put the exclamation point on his little screed by saying,
"“I expect the defensive line to give Derek Carr problems and to punch Latavius Murray in the mouth. I also expect Amari Cooper to learn a lesson or two from the master, Darrelle Revis.”"
If Capellini truly thinks that the Jets are going to roll into the Black Hole, push and bully this Raiders squad around the field, somebody should probably cut him off and call him an Uber driver because he’s quite obviously had a little too much of the green and white Kool-Aid.
It is truly mind boggling that Capellini thinks that the game against Oakland is a “trap game” and that the Raiders are a team the Jets “should beat.” In compiling that 4-2 record and some of their fantastic stats this season, he Jets have fattened up on some of the league’s worst teams – yet he acts like they’ve actually beaten some of the NFL’s elite.
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The Raiders are going to give New York a bigger fight than folks like Capellini think they will. That much is guaranteed. This isn’t Cleveland or Washington they’ll be playing. This is a team that is brimming with talent and a team that’s on the rise.
And given the way they’ve played recently, they may just give the Jets one big surprise on Sunday.