Oakland Raiders 25 – Houston Texans 20
Rhett Davis is impressed with the Raiders resilience in the wake of Al Davis’ death: Less than 48 hours removed of their owner passing away, the Raiders wanted this game. This was a hard fought victory, but D-Mac as well as the rest of Raiders played well and outdid the Texans on this momentous weekend for them. The Texans shouldn’t feel too bad losing the game due to the circumstances, and they should be able to bounce back.
Grey Scherl, though, is less surprised: The Raiders were the underdogs according to every report I’ve heard, both before, during, and after. But you know what? These people haven’t watched Oakland play this year, because their two losses were an incredibly close game with the Bills, and holding their own against the Pats. This Raiders team doesn’t play like underdogs, or like people who scrap together to squeak by with a win. No, they play like a team designed to play football. Their team has been great all around this season, and while it may not always be pretty, these guys are going to keep winning this season. The Texans, on the other hand, I do have pegged into the AFC South playoff slot, but I also don’t feel that they wanted the win as much as the Raiders. At the worst, they bought into their own hype, and at the best…well, anybody who watched the game saw it. That final pass by Schaub would have won the game had it not been picked off. What can I say? The bad boys from Oakland wanted it more, they wanted to do the late Al Davis proud.
“Just win, baby.”
My Take: The Raiders look great and really might steal this division from the Chargers. Either way, they’re a rapidly improving team that has a really bright future and will make the playoffs this year. I’m not crazy about Jason Campbell, but with Darren McFadden and that defense, he should be fine. This is, unsurprisingly, an old school team. The Texans looked good, but are in serious trouble unless Arian Foster absolutely takes over games for them, as they have Baltimore and Tennessee coming up without top wideout Andre Johnson and top defensive player Mario Williams, the latter of whom is likely out for the year. This should have been their year with Peyton Manning out, but without arguably their best player on either side of the ball, it’s hard to see them holding off Tennessee.
