Raiders Alone Atop the AFC West
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by Nejoshi
That’s right, the Oakland Raiders, the NFL’s laughingstock last year at 2-14, now stand alone at the top of the AFC West. As you might expect, they got there by default, watching as the Chiefs and Broncos, co-division leaders with Oakland entering Week 5, were humiliated at home. Kansas City showed little life in their 17-7 loss to Jacksonville, but they turned in a Super Bowl winning performance compared to the absolute annihilation Denver received at the hands of the San Diego Chargers. The 41-3 loss to Chargers was just as bad as the score indicates. The faithful fans of Invesco Field showered the Broncos with boos all day unable to comprehend what they were watching. When the dust settled on Sunday’s action, the Raiders, happily enjoying their bye week, were the only team in the AFC West with a .500 record, a shock when you consider the other three teams in this division had winning records last year.
At 2-2, Oakland is the worst division leader in the NFL, but Lane Kiffin has done a commendable job in making his team competitive again. The pitiful offense from a year ago is long gone; the Raiders have scored over 20 points in all four of their games this year and last week Daunte Culpepper accounted for five touchdowns in the best performance he’s had in years. That’s not the only thing that may surprise you about Oakland’s suddenly explosive offense.
Lamont Jordan, a cast off from the New York Jets organization, is having arguably the best season of any running back in the entire league. Jordan leads the NFL with an average of 105 yards a game, and is thriving in the Raider offense as a receiver too. He already has more catches through four games this season than he did all of last year. There’s little doubt that Jordan will set career highs in rushing yards, attempts, as well as touchdowns, and we are only a quarter of the way into the season.
Jordan isn’t the only running back in Oakland that’s making heads turn. The Raiders lead the NFL with an average of 194 rushing yards a game, and Justin Fargas’ emergence as a speedy backup to Jordan has been a contributing factor to that. Fargas had the breakout game of his career last week when he torched the Dolphins for 179 yards, the first time he had ever topped 100 yards in a game.
One of Oakland’s most glaring weaknesses last season was a porous offensive line that never gave the Raiders a chance to succeed. This year, the unit looks brand new, and you can credit Kiffin’s enthusiasm for breathing life into the sagging unit.
Now that their bye week is history, it’s time for Oakland to prove their stake at the top of the division. They couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity as they head to Qualcomm Stadium to face the Chargers in a Week 6 match-up for first place. San Diego is everyone’s favorite in the AFC West, and may have finally turned the corner after their early season struggles, but you can bet that Oakland won’t roll over like they have so many times in the past.
