Considering the magnitude of the rebuilding project taken on by this organization as a whole, placing blame on Allen and his staff for a second straight poor season would have been unfair to say the least.
At the same time, the NFL is known as a "what have you done for me lately" kind of league, and a head coach is expected by both his organization and team's fanbase to prove his worth in short order.
To the surprise of many, the Raiders have been an extremely competitive team throughout this season, currently sitting with a 3-4 record that could easily be a few games better than it is.
Although stories like that of quarterback Terrelle Pryor emerging as the difference-maker he is have dominated the team's headlines thus far, the argument can be made that it is the job done by Allen and his coaching staff that has this team competing at the level it is.
With the salary cap issues Oakland's new regime has had to deal with over the past few seasons, not to mention the utter lack of draft selections at its disposal, there was no doubt the Raiders had their work cut out for them.
While preseason predictions can be seen as nothing more than mere speculation in some cases, the Raiders were pinned by many as having the least talented roster in the NFL, and very few, if any, believed they'd be remotely competitive.
In light of such evaluations, what this team has been able to accomplish through eight weeks of the season is impressive to say the least.
The consensus labels of little to no roster talent have proved to be overstated in hindsight, but it is not as if this team was stocked with early round draft picks or high-priced free agents.
Allen and his staff have...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
