The Raiders were 5-2 and in first place in the AFC West coming out of their bye week, but the last two weeks have sent them down the standings and brought up some unpleasant memories of the last two seasons.
A 6-3 start in 2020 was followed by a 2-5 close to the year and they went from 6-4 to 7-9 in 2019, so it would be hard to blame anyone for thinking that the team is playing the same old song again. Quarterback Derek Carr was around for both of those nosedives and feels that this team will handle things differently.
“Why do I believe, why do I think we can finish better?” Carr said, via Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “This group is different. I came in this morning — and usually, in the past, I would show up and I wouldn’t see guys for a little while. I show up in the morning and guys are in there. Guys are showing up. We’re walking in at the same time . . . they’re on fire, ready to go.”
Carr said the message for the team is to “keep doing what we do” because it is what got them their five wins and that tape of losses to the Giants and Chiefs show that the team has been making correctable mistakes.
They’ll have to correct them quickly. Sunday’s game against the Bengals will be followed by a Thanksgiving trip to Dallas and two more losses will make it much harder to believe these Raiders will have a better fate than the last two teams.