Oakland Raiders: Five potential bellweather games to circle on the calendar
By Kevin Saito
Week One vs. Los Angeles Rams
As they say, you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and the Raiders are going to want to get started off on the right foot in the Gruden 2.0 era. Which means, they are going to want to put together a solid performance in the season’s opening week.
Since opening the first post-Gruden era back in 2002, the Raiders have posted a woeful 4-12 record on opening day. And over that same span, the Raiders have had just two winning seasons. Two – one in that 2002 season as Bill Callahan continued playing with Gruden’s roster and the 12-4 2016 season.
More from Golden Gate Sports
- Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
- 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
- Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
- 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
- 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve
Does a win on opening day guarantee success throughout the rest of the season? Of course not. But, getting out of the gates on the right foot can help set a tone for the year. If the team comes out, plays hard, plays disciplined, and does all the little things right, it can help them build the kind of habits that can help them achieve success.
So, while there is no definitive link between winning game one and winning the rest of the year, you do still want and need to come out strong.
And first up for the Raiders will be a very big challenge in the new-look Los Angeles Rams. The Rams, if you’ve been living under a rock, have acquired the likes of Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters, Ndamukong Suh, and Brandin Cooks to go along with a team that already had Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, and Aaron Donald – a team that was already formidable on both sides of the ball.
It’s going to be a huge test right out of the gates for Gruden and the Raiders and will provide an immediate bellweather, showing where they are after a busy offseason that saw them turn over big parts of the roster.
About the only thing you can say about this one is that – hey, at least this one’s getting knocked off the schedule early. Yikes.