Las Vegas Raiders at Denver Broncos: 3 things we learned in Week 6

Las Vegas Raiders at Denver Broncos: 3 things we learned in Week 6

This team is resilient and that’s due to leadership

As the controversy swirled around the team this week, the question asked was whether things would go off the rails or if the Raiders could regroup and come together. We got a quick answer as they came out firing on their first offensive drive and took an early lead that they did not relinquish.

Perhaps if this was a younger team or a team that did not have a veteran QB and veteran assistants running the show, things could have indeed gone off the rails but this week’s performance showed that they were locked in from the start. Oftentimes when a head coach is replaced mid-season, the team is struggling and a coaching change does little to change the course of a team’s season.

This was a whole different ballgame of course as Gruden was replaced solely due to off-the-field issues and the team was in a relatively good place.

We heard all week from Derek Carr, Darren Waller, Rich Bisaccia, Mike Mayock, and others that this team was focused on getting back to football and getting back to winning ways after a two-game skid. The loss to the Los Angeles Chargers had nothing to do with Gruden’s emails but the flat performance against the Chicago Bears could perhaps have been attributed to that.

This week’s performance could be attributed to the leadership that stepped into the vacuum left by Gruden’s departure. This may not be the staff long-term, but this victory could help set the tone for the rest of the season.

If you can overcome losing your head coach because of his own failures, what else can you overcome when you come together as a team?