Go for the Gold!

This is a time in Raiders history that we can hopefully look back on and point to as the point in which they turned it around for good. We have a special opportunity this Sunday to make the Raiders truly relevant again. A win against the Chiefs would put us above .500 in November for the first time since 2002. A loss, however, will set us back again and give us yet another hill to climb to 1) fight to get back to .500 again, and 2) put us further behind the Chiefs and a potential playoff spot. The Chiefs have a very favorable schedule the rest of the way and they should be favored in most of them. If they were to finish at 10-6, that means if the Raiders were to lose, they would have to go 6-1 the rest of the way just to tie. If the Raiders are to make a statement, they have to win the meaningful game. This will show the rest of the league that they are for real and ready this year to go after what every team covets, a trip to the playoffs. Who would have thought going into this year that we'd be talking about the Raiders and the Chiefs game being this important in week 9? That this would be a battle for first place? I'm sure there were some pundits out there that somehow saw the Chiefs climbing back atop the division, but even they probably didn't see the team that would be battling them would be the Raiders. Experts have said going into the season that this team has one of the worst offensive lines in football. This same line that is currently second in the league in rushing yards/game. They have physically abused and manhandled the Broncos and Seahawks the last two games creating truck-sized holes for the running backs to run through. The National Football Post thinks this team might be one of the most physical teams in the league. That physicality starts at the point of attack which is the offensive and defensive lines. These are the units that are going to take us where we need to go, if we indeed get there. It all starts this week against the Chiefs.