The Raiders can improve to .500 with a win over the Eagles this weekend, a record that would leave them in the thick of the Wild Card race in the AFC halfway through their season.
With the Eagles kicking off a stretch of four straight opponents who currently have losing records, the Raiders may not be departing that playoff race anytime soon. That wasn’t what many people were predicting for Oakland at the start of the season and safety Charles Woodson thinks that the needle is pointing up for the rest of the season because the Raiders are just tapping into how much they can do.
“I see a team scratching the surface, man,” Woodson said, via Tom Pelissero of USA Today. “Your record is what it is, but I’m standing there and I think our record would be much better than it is. We have some very talented players. We have super coaches. We just haven’t put it all together.”
While things have gone better than expected, putting it all together this season may remain a bridge too far for a Raiders team that still has several flaws. The fact that it is even in the discussion is an improvement on past years and it’s not hard to feel like the team may finally be back on the right track after so many years without much of one whatsoever.