There are no moral victories in the NFL. However, some losses feel different than others. Last week the Silver and Black experienced such a loss.
The Raiders traveled to the East Coast for a 1:00 kick-off against the league’s top offense. There was no reason to believe that they could hang with the Dolphins. However, they played hard…they played with energy…they created turnovers…and they hung around. Despite an offensive performance to forget, the defense kept fighting and gave the Raiders a chance at the end of the game.
This was a test that the Raiders passed despite not winning the game. They showed that they can play with the league’s best. This team is not that far away. Patrick Graham and Antonio Pierce are doing a great job coaching. Graham’s defense has been a legit unit despite being undermanned in the talent department. Pierce has done an amazing job of galvanizing the locker room and putting a product on the field that Raider Nation can rally around.
Now, it’s on to Chiefs week…and for the first time in a while…it feels like we have a chance. The Chiefs juggernaut offense has not been what we are used to seeing and the Raiders defense has been solid. If the defense can keep the score low and Josh Jacobs can dictate the pace of the game, this game can get ugly which benefits the Raiders. Then we just need Raider Nation to do their job and create the atmosphere that Pierce has been calling for and make the Black Hole real.