The Raiders earned something Sunday beyond a badly needed victory in their 38-33 win over the Jets.
asserted
Raiders → earn → Jets
They earned the right to keep believing their season can amount to something.
asserted
season → earn → something
Nobody should confuse beating the Jets with solving the problems that created a four-game losing streak.
asserted
that → confuse → streak
The Raiders allowed far too many points against a bad offense and spent far too much time flirting with another damaging loss.
asserted
Raiders → allow → loss
And by finding a way to win, snapping their slide and getting back to 4-4, the Raiders bought themselves time.
asserted
Raiders → find → time
Time to determine whether the team that opened the season with three consecutive victories can reappear.
asserted
that → determine → victories
That matters with the 49ers and Seahawks looming.
asserted
49ers → matter → ?
The Raiders now approach that stretch with their season still offering a reason to press forward.
asserted
season → approach → reason
It also gives them room to assess their quarterback plans and trade-deadline approach without treating every decision as an emergency response to another defeat.
asserted
It → give → defeat
The concerns remain legitimate.
asserted
concerns → remain → ?
So does the skepticism.
asserted
skepticism → do → ?
But winning gives a team something losing never can: a chance to build on a result.
asserted
winning → give → result
Now comes the harder part.
asserted
part → come → ?
Another bad day for the defense
The Raiders are making history on defense.
The kind nobody wants attached to their name.
They have become the first NFL team to allow at least 30 points in five consecutive games since the Lions did it across the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
asserted
Lions → make → seasons
The only other time the Raiders endured such a stretch was in 2004.
asserted
Raiders → endure → 2004
That is the company they are keeping.
asserted
they → keep → ?
And somehow, that does not fully capture how helpless they looked at times Sunday against the Jets while giving up 166 yards on the ground and 439 overall.
asserted
they → capture → ground
New York scored on its first six possessions.
asserted
York → score → possessions
The only other time since 2000 the Raiders allowed an opponent to do that was their 52-0 loss to the Rams in Week 13 of the 2014 season.
asserted
opponent → allow → season
Nobody needs a reminder of how bleak things were then.
asserted
things → need → reminder
Nobody should be comfortable seeing those comparisons surface now.
asserted
comparisons → see → ?
And remember, these were the Jets.
asserted
these → remember → ?
This was an opponent the Raiders needed to contain to give themselves a chance to stop their slide.
asserted
Raiders → need → slide
Instead, they provided a runway.
asserted
they → provide → runway
An entire defense searching for an answer that never seemed to arrive.
asserted
that → search → answer
This has moved beyond a bad matchup or an isolated breakdown.
asserted
This → move → matchup
Five consecutive games allowing 30 or more points is a pattern, and the Raiders have offered little evidence they know how to interrupt it.
asserted
they → allow → it
If the Raiders cannot slow down the Jets, what reason have they given anyone to believe relief is coming?
asserted
relief → slow → anyone
Dynamic duo at tight end
For everything the Raiders still need to fix, finding dangerous tight ends is not on the list.
asserted
finding → need → list
They have two.
asserted
They → have → two
And Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer are providing a glimpse of how much damage they can do together.
asserted
they → provide → damage
The pair combined for 12 catches, 145 yards and two touchdowns Sunday against the Jets, giving Kirk Cousins two formidable targets and the Raiders an offensive strength worth building around.
asserted
Raiders → combine → targets
Bowers has been a man among boys since arriving in the NFL.
asserted
Bowers → arrive → NFL
Every Sunday seems to bring another reminder that defenders can know exactly where he is and still have no good answer for him.
asserted
he → seem → him
That part is established.
asserted
part → establish → ?
Mayer’s emergence is what makes the combination particularly intriguing.
asserted
combination → make → ?
Drafted a year before Bowers, Mayer is finally coming into his own with an offensive-minded head coach in Klint Kubiak and a capable, experienced quarterback in Cousins.
asserted
Mayer → draft → Cousins
A tight end can find an opening, present a target and do everything his assignment requires.
asserted
assignment → find → everything
But someone still has to create opportunities for him, and someone has to deliver the football.
asserted
someone → have → football
Mayer is finally benefiting from that combination.
asserted
Mayer → benefit → combination
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
