The Raiders lost their third straight game Sunday. There’s no getting around that.
As they head toward England for Sunday’s clash vs. the Miami Dolphins, Oakland is 0-3 and one of just three NFL teams without a victory.
But after being run over by the Jets and Texans the first two weeks of the season, the Raiders defense now appears to have turned a corner.
Against a strong Patriots offense, the Raiders held their own.
Oakland – which gave up a combined 400 yards rushing in its first two games -- allowed just 76 yards on 32 carries (just 2.4 yards per carry) and held No. 1 running back Stevan Ridley to just 54 yards on the ground.
And, overall, Tom Brady & Co. managed just 297 total net yards.
After two rough outings, the defense – which was supposed to be this team’s strength – may finally have come together.
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Veteran safety Charles Woodson, who had said after the Texans loss in Week 2 that “we suck,” was much more positive after Sunday’s loss to the Patriots.
“No doubt about it, it was a much better effort,” Woodson told the Bay Area media after the game. “We still came up short, which is disappointing for us because we all fought our hearts out. We just came up a little short.”
Rookie outside linebacker Khalil Mack had by far his best game, with seven tackles and a hard hit on Brady in the third quarter after getting a strong rush past solid veteran left tackle Nate Solder.
Afterward, Solder told Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group that Mack is “a good player” and “an incredible talent.”
Though the Raiders lost safety Tyvon Branch during the game, the defense played tough throughout – and that was even without linebackers Nick Roach and Sio Moore, who were ruled out with injuries before kickoff.
Though he was disappointed his team couldn’t pull out a victory on the road, Raiders head coach Dennis Allen was encouraged by the way his team played against a well-coached and talented team.
“That’s the type of effort, I told the guys after the game, we have to have every week,” Allen told McDonald. “That type of effort, that type of intensity, that type of focus, that type of concentration. We’ve proven that we can do it, now we’ve got to be consistent in doing that every week.”
The Raiders will get their chance Sunday vs. the 1-2 Dolphins.
