That was until the Philadelphia Eagles annihilated the Raiders—in Oakland—by the score 49-20. It’s one thing to lose at home to a superior team, it’s quite another to get blown out by a below-average squad, and that’s what the Raiders did on Sunday.
The loss was a much-needed wake-up call for the rebuilding Raiders. Just because the team has improved doesn’t mean it has arrived. The Raiders are very much still rebuilding, and Sunday’s embarrassing loss is the proof.
Trying to overcome over a decade of bad football is tough, and the fans tend to clamp onto every positive and ignore the negatives. Against the Eagles, there were no positives as the Raiders got pounded on offense, defense and special teams.
The players and coaching failed so badly they might as well have stayed home. It was so ugly, quarterback Nick Foles had a legitimate shot at an NFL-record eight touchdown passes in a game had the Eagles not pulled him and let off the gas in the fourth quarter.
The oft-cited stat about the Raiders having allowed only one explosive play headed into the game is now irrelevant because the Eagles had too many explosive plays to count. It’s as if the defense spent all week reading their press clippings and not focused on the Eagles—which is probably a first for a 3-4 team.
Oakland’s defense has performed with a group of misfits and two rookies over the first seven games, but the Eagles offense couldn’t have been much worse passing going against air. You might say Oakland’s defense made Foles look like Peyton Manning.
Foles was 22-of-28 for 406 yards with seven ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
