Oakland Raiders no longer same old losing franchise

Dec 28, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) prepares hand off against the Denver Broncos in the first quarter at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Bottom Line

This Raiders team is properly built around Carr so a lot of how this season depends on how big of a jump he makes. This is a very young team so it will depend on how big of a jump a lot of the youngsters make from last year. One big game in four starts isn’t enough to call Murray a building block plus he’s susceptible to injury.

If he breaks tackles, makes guys miss and stays healthy, there’s no telling what the Raiders can do this year. All the other parts are there on the offense so there’s no reason why they can’t have one of the better offenses in the NFL. And with Del Rio’s track record of turning defenses around right away, the defense will shoot up the rankings.

No one knows exactly what that means right now because the AFC West is one of the toughest divisions. But this is a much better team than last year and Del Rio has reason to believe the playoffs are possible. I’m not going to call it probable but this team no longer has the built-in doom and gloom to it. Which in itself is a start as the Raiders look to complete their rebuild by changing the narrative around a team that has had negativity surrounding it for a better part of a decade.