The Oakland Raiders had a massive turnaround season after their lackluster 4-12 season prior. They finished at 11-5 and claimed first place in the AFC West. They were the 3 seed heading into to the playoffs, but fell short to the Patriots in the wild card round of the playoffs. There were quite a few major injuries through the season as well. Derek Carr had a back injury that put him on the sideline for 5-6 weeks right at the end of the season and the Raiders playoff hopes seemed slim after he was gone when Connor Cook went 0-2 as the starter. The Raiders then proceeded to pick up Matt Barkley who went 4-0 as the starter and helped the Raiders lock up the number one spot in the AFC West. Another injury that seemed to loom large over the Raiders was the injury that kept Amari Cooper from playing in the playoffs for the team. Sure, the Raiders would have loved to have him on the field, but they arent going to say that they lost because he wasn’t able to play. The Raiders put up 36 points without one of their biggest playmakers on offense. Even though they lost the first game in the playoffs, the Raiders will say that this season was a massive success compared to their first season.
The return of Aldon Smith and Obi Melifonwu, plus the addition of David Walker and Devondre Campbell, made the Raiders defense one of the best in the league. The Raiders defense was fourth in total yards allowed and 5th total points allowed in the league. This was a monumental upgrade from the first season where the Raiders defense was one of the worst in the league. The dominance of the defense was one of the main reasons that the Raiders were able to do so well. The offense was actually able to go off the field and not have to worry about their defense giving up a lot of points. The Raiders will hope to carry this defensive play into next season and if they can get their offense to play better and be more consistent, this team will most definitely be back in the playoffs and they will make a much better run in the playoffs than a loss in the first round.
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