The Raiders’ record through 13 games is 3-10, which certainly doesn’t look like the record of a championship team. But coach Jon Gruden sees championship traits when he looks at his team.
Gruden said Sunday’s win over the Steelers saw a lot of outstanding performances from young players, and he believes they’re laying the foundation for a team that is going to be winning for many years to come.
“It’s huge. A lot of rookie players are getting confidence. The young guys are getting confidence,” Gruden said. “All the things I believe a championship organization is made of were on display yesterday.”
The reality is, the Steelers lost quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who had been lighting up the Raiders’ secondary, for a large portion of the game, and even then Pittsburgh came close enough to winning that the kicker slipping on a last-second field goal attempt is all that kept the game out of overtime. So the Raiders didn’t exactly dominate with their win on Sunday. But Gruden wants to see some signs of life from his team, and he’ll take any win he can get.