Raiders Show Positive Signs Against Another Good Team
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The Oakland Raiders dropped to 0-8 on the season, dropping a 30-24 decision on the road to the Seattle Seahawks. The Silver & Black had a chance with an onside kick, but they couldn't recover it. They were doomed in the first half by several mistakes that led to a 21-point deficit at halftime, and now the team must regroup—again.
Another close call. Another week where, no matter the improvement, the Oakland Raiders showed why they still remained winless.
Do the Oakland Raiders have nine bodies to spare on Halloween weekend for their game in Seattle against the defending champions? Of course not. But that's the spooky truth the Silver & Black faces as they prepare for the Seahawks this Sunday. The Raiders are winless and will need a lot of tricks and treats to capture their first victory of the season against Seattle.
Back in the calendar year of 1984, a whopping 30 years ago now, the then-Los Angeles Raiders and the Seattle Seahawks played two memorable AFC playoff games. The first in January 1984 saw the Raiders beat the Seahawks, and the second in December 1984 saw the tables turned as Seattle knocked out the defending Super Bowl champions.
The 0-7 Oakland Raiders travel to Seattle this weekend to take on the defending Super Bowl champions. And while the 4-3 Seahawks have already lost as many games as they did all of last year, they still are an opponent never to be taken lightly on their home field. Of course, the winless Silver & Black can't take any team lightly these days as they look to snap a 13-game losing streak dating back to last season.
Trailing by just three points in the fourth quarter, the Oakland Raiders fumbled twice and saw their chance to win the game against the Cleveland Browns on the road disappear quickly. With the 23-13 loss, the Silver & Black drop to 0-7 on the 2014 season—and it may be awhile before they have a decent chance to win another game.
In the modern NFL, only four teams have gone through a winless season: the 1960 Dallas Cowboys, the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 1982 Baltimore Colts and the 2008 Detroit Lions. If the Raiders can't win this weekend in Cleveland, they could be looking at an 0-11 start—and that's when the pressure will start to mount. Avoiding membership in this exclusive club will be paramount for the Silver & Black.
Overall, the Oakland Raiders played a solid game against one of the best teams in the NFL for the second week in a row. But the Silver & Black still don't have a win in 2014, and that falls on the defense again. The offense is showing life; the defense just is painful to watch every time out.
Fans in the bay area have been debating for 2 years if Alex Smith is the better option at quarterback for the 49ers. After watching he and Colin Kaepernick face each other this past weekend, and looking at how their numbers, it's obvious San Francisco nailed this one.
The Oakland Raiders have a new head coach, for now, and they've just had their bye week. How will they fare against the 4-1 San Diego Chargers at home this week? Well, the Bolts are on a roll, and they look very good. The exact opposite can be said of Silver & Black, so don't expect things to suddenly get better for Oakland now that Dennis Allen has been fired.
Including Sunday's Week Five action, the San Diego Chargers are 4-1, the Denver Broncos are 3-1, and the Kansas City Chiefs are 2-3. Each team has a positive points differential, while the Oakland Raiders are 0-4 with a minus-52 differential. Yes, it's going to be a long season for the Silver & Black.
Diehard fans may want to close their eyes: with an 0-2 start and staring at possible 0-6 start now, the Oakland Raiders will be hard-pressed to avoid two ugly fates in 2014: they could end up worse than the 4-12 record they posted last year, and they could end up as the worst team in the NFL.
