Raiders emerge from NFL black hole

“Just win, baby.” You can almost see Al Davis, dressed in all black, a wide smile spreading across his face, as he urges his beloved Raiders to victory. And for the first time in more than a decade, the Raiders have been listening.

The Oakland head office has drafted well over the last few years, made better moves in free agency and before Week 9 the Raiders were 4-3 and held the fifth seed in the AFC.

After the dust cleared on a wild weekend, the Raiders were 4-4 and had dropped to the eighth seed. But they were a costly turnover and a huge Antonio Brown catch and run away from beating the Steelers on their home turf on Monday (AEST).

They may have lost the game, but the Raiders showed encouraging fight, something they are quickly becoming known for.

With a core group of good young players on both sides of the ball and a few handy veterans the Raiders are no longer an easy win on the schedule for opposing teams, no longer the city were players’ careers go to die and no longer the laughing stock of the AFC West and the Bay Area.

After 13 years out of the post-season the Raiders could make a shock return a few years ahead of schedule. And while their successes and failures can no longer be pinned on Davis, everything he strived for over his near 50 years in Oakland was working towards this.

The Raiders are a force again.

For the first time in a long time the future is bright in Oakland, a working class and ‘underdog city’ forever in the shadow of San Francisco.

The best way to build a team is through the NFL draft – just look at the Green Bay Packers – and the Raiders have had three good drafts in a row.

In 2013, they picked up starting running back Latavius Murray in the sixth round, linebacker Sio Moore – who was traded to the Colts this season for a sixth-round draft pick – in the third round and cornerback DJ Hayden in the first round.

Last year, they drafted star linebacker Khalil Mack and starting quarterback Derek Carr in the first two rounds and followed that up by taking phenom wide-out Amari Cooper and promising tight-end Clive Walford in the third round.

In those three drafts, they managed to secure the leader on their defence, the signal caller on their offence, possibly one of the best attacking players of the next decade and a host of other talented skill players.

For years the Raiders had struggled with their draft despite almost always getting early round picks. Davis was obsessed with speed and players who could run a quick 40-yard dash time and the Raiders wasted numerous draft picks on players who never progressed into talented wide receivers or cornerbacks at the NFL level.

Then of course, there was JaMarcus Russell, the biggest bust in Raiders history, perhaps NFL history.

It’s a well-known story. The first overall pick in the 2007 draft, Russell was supposed to lead the Raiders back to the playoffs. Instead, his tumultuous three seasons in the NFL, and a number of other questionable personnel moves, sent Oakland spiralling into a black hole they are only emerging from now.

The Raiders have lost four games this year, two against undefeated Denver and Cincinnati, and the other two on the final kick of the game against Chicago and the Steelers. They haven’t disgraced themselves or fallen in a heap, in fact they’ve taken it to teams early in games and built strong leads that they have been able to preserve.

Carr has been a major factor in the Raiders’ revival. He has thrown 19 touchdowns and just four interceptions through seven games this season, the third best touchdown to intercept ratio in the NFL.

His combination with Cooper, dubbed AC/DC, will be crucial for the Raiders over the next few seasons. If they keep both players once their rookie deals expire and they remain healthy they have the nucleus for a great offence.

To close the season the Raiders play the rest of the NFC North, the Chiefs (twice), the Titans, Chargers and Broncos. You can forecast as many as six wins during that schedule, which would almost assure the Raiders a wildcard spot.

But if it doesn’t happen this season then it’s not the end of the world, long-suffering Raiders fans. The boys in silver and black are building to something. It’s taken a while, but the Raiders are leaning how to “just win, baby”.