The week after the bye is the ideal time to look at what the Las Vegas Raiders have accomplished thus far. Sitting at 5-2 and in sole possession of first place in the AFC West — sounds wild, doesn’t bruv? — the Silver & Black are back at MetLife dialing into a matchup with the New York Giants in New Jersey.
Of course, the Raiders didn’t merely come and go from the bye. The team had to absorb the ramifications of what former wide receiver Henry Ruggs III did earlier this week and didn’t wait too long to release HRIII from the roster after the awful details emerged.
So let’s try to get past the tragic events — condolences to Tina Tintor, who lost her life in the crash, her family, and Ruggs’ young daughter and family — and take a look at the good the Raiders have done on the field.
The team has moved on from the speedster, and we should all try too, in the best way we can. From the Week 1 OT thriller against Baltimore to the clipping of Philadelphia two weeks ago, the Raiders have played some good football and are showing signs of putting it all together.
It falls on coach Bisaccia once again…
Interim coach Rich Bisaccia gets another chance to not only lead his Raiders on the field this Sunday against the Giants; he again must guide this team through turbulent times. First, was Gruden leaving the team. Now it’s losing the supreme deep threat that played an integral role in Las Vegas’ offense.
“There is no blueprint for this. There is no handbook that they give you for the obstacles that you occur, whether you’re a parent, whether you’re a teacher … I just think we all lean on each other in there and there [are] a lot of other coaches on the staff that have a lot of experiences,” Bisaccia said during his Wednesday press conference.Â
“We have players that have gone through other things, so I think we’ve done a good job of communicating with each other. We’ve tried to give the best resources that we have to our players within (Director of Player Engagement) Montelle (Sanders) and (Team Clinician) Jean (Fajardo) and people in their department, and then certainly, what we’ve done as coaches.”
But as you’ll see in the Top Plays video, the team isn’t dead in the water and can make a go of things as the season progresses.Â
*Editor’s Note: Henry Ruggs III is included in the top plays. But the Raider Ramble did not mean for his inclusion to be insensitive to what transpired with Ruggs. Rather, he was included as his plays helped the Raiders get to where they are heading into Week 9.Â
[pickup_prop id=”14846″]
*Top Photo: Michael Clemens/Las Vegas Raiders