Rams suddenly and inexplicably look like Raiders get-right game
Two months ago, suggesting the Rams could be the Raiders’ get-right game would have been grounds for having your football judgment questioned.Perhaps your sobriety, too.Yet here we are.The Raiders head into their Week 7 matchup at 3-3, carrying a three-game losing streak and the frustration of a team that can see the difference between competing and winning but keeps stumbling over it.The Rams arrive at 2-4, dragging around the weight of Super Bowl expectations and looking increasingly like a team caught in one of those maddening seasons when every solution uncovers another problem.A game that once looked like something the Raiders would simply have to endure suddenly looks like something they need to seize.Funny how quickly the NFL can rearrange the furniture.For all their recent frustration, the Raiders remain one of the league’s more pleasant surprises.The rebuild being directed by Tom Brady, general manager John Spytek and head coach Klint Kubiak has produced a team capable of making established contenders uncomfortable.That matters.So does the fact that making opponents uncomfortable has stopped producing victories.The Raiders lost home games to the Chiefs and Bills by a combined six points.
Sandwiched between those heartbreakers was a humbling loss to the Patriots, a reminder that their margin for error remains painfully thin.They responded to that embarrassment by pushing Buffalo to the finish.Now they need to finish something themselves.Asked what he wants to improve, Kubiak needed only four words.“Close games out.”There is the assignment.No elaborate explanation necessary.The Raiders have shown enough to move the conversation beyond whether they belong on the field with good teams.
The question now is whether they can make the handful of plays that send those teams home with a loss.Tre Tucker understands the distinction better than most.“I’ve been a part of some games where we weren’t very competitive, and just felt like you were out there, ...