Oakland Raiders: A few keys to week six win over the Seattle Seahawks
By Kevin Saito
The Oakland Raiders are in London to take on former division rival Seattle – let’s take a look at a few keys to victory for the Silver and Black.
The Oakland Raiders find themselves in a very precarious situation. They’re staring down the barrel of a 1-5 start, and they’re playing a game internationally – something they have not done well in their recent history.
In 2014, the Raiders were flattened by the Miami Dolphins 38-14 in the very same Wembley Stadium they’ll be playing in today. In 2016, they notched a 27-20 win over Houston, and in 2017, they were crushed by the New England Patriots 33-8 in a game that wasn’t that close – the latter two games were held in Mexico City.
So, now they’re back in London, sporting a 1-2 record in the International Series, having been outscored 91-49 in those three games, to take on the 2-3 Seahawks.
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After starting off 0-2, the Seahawks have now won two of their last three – the loss being a very-close-but-no-cigar affair to the Rams, who are a trendy pick to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at season’s end. Seattle has played well recently, and could be a team on the rise.
But, it’s still a team with some deficiencies this Raiders team who are coming off a thorough, and humbling thumping at the hands of their division rival Los Angeles Charger 26-10 – a game that didn’t even feel as close as the final score might otherwise indicate.
The Raiders though, have flashed the potential to be better than their 1-4 record. In their first three games, they pushed the Rams hard for a half, took leads late into the games against Denver, and Miami – yet, found ways to lose. If not for a play here or there – on both sides of the ball – the Raiders team could look very different right now.
But, they didn’t make those plays, and here we sit at 1-4, with the season already teetering on the brink in week six.
A loss today, and you may as well stick a fork in the Raiders. A win, although only moving them to 2-4, makes for a more manageable situation, given there are some winnable games coming up on the schedule against sub-.500 teams in Indianapolis and San Francisco immediately after their bye week.
If they could somehow win three straight, it would bring them to .500 (4-4) ahead of their rematch with LA in week 10.
But, they’re going to have to prove they can win one first. There is no understating the importance of this game for Oakland, and history does not bode well for them.
Let’s take a look at just a few keys that could help propel this team to a desperately needed win today…