Oakland Raiders: Team Not Ready To Take The Next Step Yet

By Jonathan George | Oct 5, 2015

The Oakland Raiders came into Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears with a lot of confidence. They were on a 2 game winning streak, their offense looked to be one of the most explosive all around in the NFL, and they were playing a team in the Bears that was one of the worst teams in the league both in scoring and on defense. There was no reason to think the Raiders couldn’t come out of Soldier Field with a W.

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Unfortunately for the Raiders and their fan base, it is obvious that while the team has drastically improved compared to the last several seasons, they showed by falling 22-20 to Chicago that just aren’t capable of beating teams they have no business in losing to.

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I don’t want to hear about Jay Cutler playing. He wasn’t 100%, and even with a 100% Cutler the Bears have been bad on offense for years. And I don’t want to hear about Raider injuries. Players are going to get hurt; a team that is ready to establish itself as a real threat in the league needs to have a “next man up” mentality.

The bottom line is this: the better team lost a game they should have won. Any Raider fan (and a lot of Bears fans) should have no problem with this statement.

The Raiders made way too many mental mistakes in this game. Anytime it looked like they were about to establish a big lead they gave the Bears hope to climb back into the game.

The interception that bounced off of Latavius Murray inexplicably. The wide open (and I mean WIDE open) touchdown Oakland gave up to the only real Bears pass catching threat in Martellus Bennett. Playing way too conservatively on their last drive resulting in a field goal, even though they had to know anything short of a TD would allow the Bears to beat them on Chicago’s last drive. Offense. Defense. Coaching. They all had a hand in this loss.

The most troubling part of the game could be that Oakland finally got good production from defensive line players not named Mack and it was all in vain. Justin Tuck showed up and had a sack along with another tackle for loss. Aldon Smith put constant even pressure on Cutler most of the game, getting a sack and chasing down guys from behind in pursuit. Another pick by Charles Woodson in the secondary. Good signs sure, but it didn’t result in a win, which is most important.

Teams that win consistently display a lot of common traits, but one thing they seem to all have is the ability to win games in clutch situations. Whether it be stopping another team on a final drive, or scoring a game clincher on one of their own final drives, upper tier teams find a way to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat. Oakland still has some growing pains to get through before they can be considered one of these teams.

With Denver coming to town in a big match-up this week, the Raiders don’t have much time to lick their wounds and recover. But they have to do just that if they want to be taken seriously in 2015. A bad loss against the Broncos, a team the Raiders haven’t beaten in 4 calendar years per Pro Football Reference, would be mentally draining for the team. This is something nobody in Oakland wants to be thinking about for two weeks during their bye.

Regardless, the Oakland Raiders have to be majorly disappointed with their effort and the results in Chicago. They didn’t show anything to make fans believe they are ready to breakout as a playoff team in 2015.

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