Oakland Raiders: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Vs. Ravens
By Kevin Saito
The Good: A Win Is A Win, Is A Win
Because this team is doing so many good things, we always want to end things on a positive note. And there is a lot of positive notes we could end this on.
The win moves the Raiders to 3-1 on the season. Believe it or not, this is the first time since 2002 that the Raiders have been two games over .500. It’s mind-boggling really. Their three wins have all come on the road – their lone loss coming at home to the Falcons in a squeaker of a game.
Beating Baltimore was important for this team in a lot of ways. Not the least of which was that it allowed the Raiders to keep pace with the still undefeated Denver Broncos. With Kansas City getting blown out by Pittsburgh and San Diego being San Diego, the Raiders – at the moment – have sole possession of second place in the division.
Next: The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly Vs. Titans
On another note, a thrilling come from behind win in the final minutes of a game provides a huge psychological boost to a team that can never have enough. With so many things that have gone wrong this season, knowing that they can weather adversity and overcome the obstacles to pull out a win has to go a long way towards seasoning and toughening this team.
The Raiders aren’t a perfect team by any stretch of the imagination. They have a lot of things they need to clean up and get right – sooner rather than later. But this team is resilient and this team is tough. They know they can hang with anybody in the league and even on days when they’re not playing their best, they can do just enough to get a win.
That’s a massive psychological boost that can be incredibly beneficial later on in the season – perhaps even bigger in the postseason.