After one of the most difficult weeks in the history of the organization, the Raiders game in Denver on Sunday seemed to have more importance and urgency than any week 6 game in recent memory.
It was the team’s first game without Jon Gruden and no one knew what to expect from the Raiders after abruptly losing their leader in the disappointing manner that it happened.
A blowout loss to the Broncos, as some anticipated would happen, would have potentially sent the Raiders season into a tailspin. But even beyond the emotion of the game, the Raiders badly needed a win to avoid falling to 3-3 and a tie for last place in the AFC West.
The Raiders and Broncos both had a 3-2 record (with 2 straight losses) going into Sunday’s game and according to Football Outsiders, there was no game played this week with more at stake. With their decisive win, the Raiders’ chances of making the playoffs jumped more than 17 percent while the lowly Broncos’ chances dropped over 19 percent.
Analytics, however, can’t quantify what the win in Denver did for the morale of the Raiders’ locker room. The players and coaches rallied around interim head coach Rich Bisaccia and after a week of fans and media mulling over who might coach the Raiders next year, no one is betting against Bisaccia today.
Momentum is remarkably on the side of the Raiders again and if they can beat the Eagles on Sunday, they’ll head into their bye week with the best record in the AFC West (as the 4-2 Chargers are on a bye this week).
The Raiders, for what it’s worth, are 3-point favorites this week against the Eagles.
twitter: @raidersbeat
