Reflecting on the Las Vegas Raiders Season So Far

The Las Vegas Raiders are on bye this week, giving us an opportunity to look back on their current performance

The Las Vegas Raiders enter their bye week with a record of 3-2 and supreme confidence after upsetting the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

It presents an opportunity to look at how the Raiders have looked so far in these first five games and how that could predict how they could look for the rest of the season.

First up, let’s look at how the Raiders have handled their schedule so far.

As mentioned earlier, they’re a manageable 3-2. 

It’s more impressive though when you look at the caliber of opponents the Raiders have faced.

They beat the Carolina Panthers, 34-30, in the first game of the season.

It was thought going into this season that the Panthers would be one of the league’s worst teams, but they’re also 3-2 despite missing All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey for all of their wins.

It’s a victory that has aged well so far, and the Raiders' second win against the New Orleans Saints should as well.

Coming in prime-time on Monday Night Football, the Raiders showed the national audience they had what it takes to beat a perennial Super Bowl contender and announced themselves as a team to watch.

The next two weeks saw their play dip though in two games against the two best teams in the AFC East.

Losing to a good New England team on the road and an undefeated Buffalo team at home isn’t ideal. 

It's still understandable, though, considering both of those teams project to be playoff contenders, at the very least.

Beating the Chiefs though has changed the narrative on this whole season. 

Even more than the win against the Saints, the Raiders walked into a place they hadn’t won in since 2012 and beat Kansas City at their own game.

It certainly reaffirmed that they had what it takes to be a playoff team after the back-to-back losses. 

That they have a winning record through five games after facing five opponents with a combined 15-8 record should also reinforce that notion.

It should also give the Raiders more confidence. 

They’ve gone through a five-game wringer to start the year. Coming out of the other side over .500 is an accomplishment unto itself. 

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