5 Reasons the Raiders pulled off a victory vs. Jaguars

A lot went right for the Silver and Black in Week 16.

Jacksonville Jaguars v Las Vegas Raiders
Jacksonville Jaguars v Las Vegas Raiders | Ethan Miller/GettyImages
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The Las Vegas Raiders had a winnable game on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and they did just that: win.

While some fans are frustrated about the team's fall in the draft order, others are simply relieved that the team has broken its 10-game losing streak.

Fandom is an individual thing, so however you choose to support the franchise is entirely up to you.

But there are objective truths about this team, and one of them is that no matter what pick we have in the draft or who we sign in free agency, there is legitimate talent in the building on every level of all three phases.

The sky is not falling.

Sunday's game displayed this notion perfectly, so let's take a look at how the Raiders were able to pull off the win.

Las Vegas played a clean game

For the first time all season, the Raiders were able to finish a game without turning the ball over.

After giving the ball away five times in the last two weeks, Las Vegas took care of the football and it made all the difference in a five-point game.

The team also had two takeaways, meaning that Sunday was just the second game all year that they won the turnover battle in.

Another aspect of the game in Week 16 that was dramatically better than the week before was special teams.

In Week 15, Las Vegas made multiple key mistakes including poor fair catch choices, allowing blocked punts and kicks, missing extra points, and more.

This week, although Daniel Carlson did miss a kick, the overall special teams unit was far better than it has been lately.

Little things like this become big things in close football games, and the Raiders' ability to be clean on special teams was the difference in the game.

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