Oakland Raiders: Top 5 takeaways from Week 5 victory over the Chicago Bears

The Oakland Raiders were able to fend off the Chicago Bears across the pond in London, 24-21. Their impressive play as of late has exceeded expectations on the season.

It’s good to be home. Less so when “home” is in London, England and infested with Chicago Bears fans, but it didn’t seem to change the outcome all that much. For the second week in a row, the Oakland Raiders were able to overcome as underdogs and slip away with a narrow victory, 24-21.

The score itself doesn’t tell the entire story. The Raiders led 17-0 in the first half and were thoroughly dominating the Chase Daniel-led Bears in almost every facet. It was looking more like a slaughter than anything else.

But things got very tight, very quickly.

The 17-point lead disappeared as the Bears put up 21 unanswered points against the Raiders thanks to untimely penalties, some missed calls by jet-lagged officials, and a boatload of miscommunication on the Raiders’ end.

The team should be commended for their ability to persevere and hold off what looked like a late comeback by the Bears. The team showed grit despite threatening to have all four wheels fall off the wagon.

With the news of Mitch Trubisky being out for the trip overseas, the Raiders were staring at a valuable opportunity to put up a second straight win. They’ll need every single one of those wins if they want to survive this long trip away from Oakland.

And while things don’t get much easier in the coming weeks — specifically going up against Deshaun Watson and Aaron Rodgers — the Raiders do get the benefit of a much-deserved bye week.

Despite some tense moments in the latter half of the game, the thirteen-play, 97-yard drive to put up seven points with just over two minutes to go in the game was impressive.

And there were plenty of bright spots to go along with it. The defense continues to make an impact with timely interceptions. A variety of names are being incorporated in the offense; the Raiders have fully embraced the “next man up” mentality.

The running game played a huge part in the victory — posting 169 yards on the day against a very imposing run defense. Josh Jacobs became just the third back to rush for more than 100 yards against the Bears since 2018.

With each passing week, it feels as though the Oakland Raiders are finding their groove — something that might not have been expected coming into the season. But, in order for them to continue their success, they’re going to need to replicate these strong, gritty performances.

Here are the top five takeaways from Week 5’s victory over the Chicago Bears in London.