Quick, Oakland Raiders fans. Take a picture of the NFL standings.
It’s been a long wait for followers of the Silver and Black, but the team’s 8-2 record ties them with the New England Patriots for the best record in the American Football Conference (AFC). Better yet, if the playoffs began this week, the Raiders would own the tiebreaker over the Patriots for No 1 seed.
Not bad for a team that has not posted a winning season since 2002.
Pardon the rest of the league if it doesn’t tap out just yet. There are six weeks to go before the playoffs. The Raiders’ remaining schedule includes difficult road games against each of their three AFC West Division rivals, all of whom hold deep, historic grudges against the franchise.
There are more reasons to question high-flying Oakland’s No 1 status. Six of their wins have been by seven points or less. Their most recent victory, Monday night in Mexico City over the Houston Texans, came with controversial help from bungling officials.
The Raiders offence has been impressive, as third-year quarterback Derek Carr matures into a star. But the defence has been the opposite. Mirror opposite. The Oakland offence averages the NFL’s fifth best total yardage per game at 393.5, while the defence surrenders the league’s fourth worst average at 393.6 yards.
At least the Raiders believe in themselves.
“There’s never a doubt in our minds,” Carr said after the Houston game. “It’s just, ‘Who’s going to make a play?’”
Usually it’s Carr himself.
His 20 touchdown passes against four interceptions is a nifty ratio, behind only New England’s Tom Brady and Dallas Cowboys rookie Dak Prescott, among starters.
Carr’s 100.3 quarterback rating places him sixth overall. Scheming against him by focusing on a favourite target doesn’t work. Nine players have caught TD passes, including wide receivers Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper, who have combined for 114 receptions, 1,501 yards and nine touchdowns.
Ironically, the apparent revival of this once-great franchise (three Super Bowl championships, the last in 1983) comes amid more talk they will be leaving Oakland for Las Vegas.
Instability on the home front is a never-ending Raiders issue. The team plays in a 50-year-old multi-purpose, publicly-owned stadium they share with Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics.
Disputes with local government over stadium upgrades, or new facilities, are decades old. The Raiders even left once before, a notorious hiatus to Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994.
Last year, the Raiders were denied a second move to LA by NFL owners, who preferred letting the Rams bolt from St Louis.
The NFL’s official preference is that the Raiders stay put. The league has been engaging in talks with city officials about new facilities for the team, even without the Raiders involvement. This week, Oakland’s mayor reported that a “framework” has been reached with the NFL and a local investor group to build a new stadium for the Raiders, who are understandably sceptical and silent on the matter.
They’ve heard it all before in Oakland.
Being romanced by Las Vegas, on the other hand, is exhilarating. Understandable that Raiders owner Mark Davis says he is still committed to Vegas, where casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and Nevada officials are pledging to build a $1.7 billion (Dh6.24bn) stadium if their request to move gets league approval.
It all makes for head-spinning drama in Oakland. Local loyalists are revelling in the return to on-field greatness, while dreading another heart-wrenching departure.
So, take a picture. Not only would it show the Raiders in first place, it would show them still in Oakland. For now.
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