After beating the Chargers, the team got a bit of a reprieve from me last week as there were less pressures and general negativity than usual. One thing I mentioned, though, was being worried about playing an 0-5 rival Niners squad that would be fired up and motivated to win.
Well I was half right; the Niners were 0-5 and I was worried, but they weren't fired up or inspired at all.
Unfortunately, after stagnating on two early drives, neither were we, and the malaise in that stadium was so thick you could taste it. Eventually, the Niners decided they should show up, and we still stayed back in the locker room and slept-walked through a 17-9 loss.
So, after squandering our first chance to be .500 or better at this point in the season since 2002; the chance to win back-to-back games for the first time since 2008; and the chance to beat the Chargers and the Niners in back to back weeks and claim ownership of California football, we travel to the hated rival Denver Broncos and Invesco (Mile-High) Stadium this coming Sunday.
The Raiders have one victory in the AFC West while the Broncos are winless in the division. They are heated rivals, and like each other about as much as fillings and tin foil.
The Raiders get the added bonus of going on the road to an underachieving and desperate rival for the second week in a row. Those games are always tough to win, and the Broncos are a better team than the Niners at this point.
After the offensive display by the offensive, some questionable play calling, the defense packing it in late (due to being tired as much as anything, to be fair), it is safe to say that this team is quite a bit further behind where we expected it to be at this point in the season.
Let's get to it.
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Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
