Although they did not come away with a win, the Oakland Raiders’ showing this past Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, led in large part by quarterback Terrelle Pryor, was impressive to say the least.
After another offseason of roster rebuilding, and a much needed one at that, little was expected from this silver and black team.
In fact, it had become extremely common in the vast majority of early 2014 draft projections to have the Raiders selecting at No. 1 overall, with the league’s worst record.
While the Raiders are far from a Super Bowl contender, and still a ways away from competing ...
The Oakland Athletics have a history of excellence, with four World Series trophies and 16 playoff seasons since moving from Kansas City in 1968. Along the way, a number of A's have become stars at O.Co Coliseum.
Seven different Athletics have won the American League Most Valuable Player award, and five have won the Cy Young award. The best of the best form the A's all-time lineup, pitching staff and bullpen.
Only players from the Oakland era were considered for the all-time roster. Players were ranked on how well they performed for the A's, so Hall of Famers like Billy Williams, who came over ...
In hopes of avoiding a jinx, there's a strong indication that when it comes to the Oakland Athletics and the 2013 postseason, it's a matter of when and not if.
If the season ended today, the team would be the AL West champions for the second consecutive season.
And if it weren't enough to repeat, they'd be playing the Detroit Tigers in the first round yet again. But based on the fact they played out all five games of last year's ALDS and look to be even stronger this year, we're going to challenge the jinx further by examining potential matchups throughout ...
Terrelle Pryor’s performance against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1 has been one of the hottest topics around the NFL this week and might be causing a few people to rethink their evaluation of the Oakland Raiders and their young quarterback.
As head coach Dennis Allen pointed out during his press conference on Monday, however, Pryor’s game wasn’t without its hiccups. The two interceptions obviously stick out like a sore thumb.
The good news is Pryor has time to work out the kinks. Allen was encouraged by what he saw and has no plans to make a change at quarterback any time ...
The Oakland Raiders walked away from their season-opening loss to the Indianapolis Colts feeling pretty good about themselves, all things considered. Still, a loss is a loss no matter what the spin is.
That being said, it’s on to Week 2 and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Here are a few things to consider as the home opener approaches.
Division Standings
AFC West
Record
Denver Broncos
1-0
Kansas City Chiefs
1-0
Oakland Raiders
0-1
San Diego Chargers
0-1
The Denver Broncos used Peyton Manning’s explosive performance in Week 1 to take the early division lead along with the Kansas City Chiefs. No big surprise there as both teams were favored to win. Neither was it too ...
Quarterback Terrelle Pryor made just his second career start in Week 1—and his first with an offense designed around his strengths. Now, NFL defensive coordinators have a little more game tape on Pryor.
As they get more information, they are going to devise ways to slow him down.
The Oakland Raiders know that defenses are going to adjust, but predicting how they will adjust could open up more opportunities for running back Darren McFadden or the passing game. If the Raiders and Pryor don't adjust to the ways defenses try to limit him, the great Week 1 performance will just be an aberration.
Since ...
Few people gave the Oakland Raiders much of a shot going into the Week 1 matchup in Indianapolis—and for good reason. Oakland is still in a rebuilding mode, was starting a mostly untested and still very raw quarterback and had won only one of its previous 10 season openers.
That made for good fodder leading up to the game, yet as the clocked reached the final minutes, the Raiders were in position to pull off what would have been a stunning upset.
Granted, the ending was a familiar and painful one for Oakland fans. However, there is a definitively different vibe about ...
Since becoming the Oakland Athletics' general manager in 1997, Billy Beane has made a career out of trading big names for young talent.
Beane tore up a potential dynasty in the early 2000s because of financial constraints, then brought the A's back into the playoffs in 2006 and 2012 with different rejects like Frank Thomas and Brandon Moss.
After his knack for finding hidden gems was chronicled in Michael Lewis' Moneyball, opposing teams picked up on some of Beane's strategies. Still, deep-pocketed contenders are often willing to sacrifice future stars for established contributors.Begin Slideshow
As expected, the Oakland Raiders were beaten by the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1 of the 2013 NFL Regular Season. However, they only lost by four points thanks to an unexpected performance from starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor.
Pryor, a third round pick of the 2011 Supplemental draft, only became the starter for the Raiders late in the preseason. The Raiders acquired Matt Flynn in the off-season, expecting him to be their starter, and Pryor only received his opportunity because Flynn failed to impress early in the preseason. That meant that expectations couldn't have been lower for the former Ohio State Buckeye.
While ...
For a team that went into the game as decided underdogs, the Oakland Raiders surprised more than a few people by taking the Indianapolis Colts down to the wire before falling short 21-17 in the season opener for both teams.
Now the question for coach Dennis Allen is, where does his team go from here?
As big of a spark as quarterback Terrelle Pryor provided, there were numerous other areas in which the Raiders didn’t play so well. The running game without the quarterback was spotty at best, as was the pass protection. Defensively, there were far too many costly breakdowns that ...