The Autumn Wind is a Pirate

The Las Vegas Raiders beat the Denver Broncos yesterday 37-12 and move to 6-3 on the year.

What kind of sports fan would I be if I did not get ahead of myself? This team is legit and no one is talking about it. Maybe it's out of fear? That must be it, it's fear, you other fans are afraid. The Raiders have already beat the Panthers, Saints and the almighty Chiefs and no one has one word to say about their success?

It's OK, we will make everyone look stupid in the playoffs, yep we will see you there. The Raiders will play the Chiefs this week at home in Las Vegas.

I am going to be a reasonable adult and assume that the Raiders will not sneak up on the Chiefs this week, they will likely lose in a close game and fall to 6-4. The rest of their schedule looks like this:

@ Falcons - W

@Jets- W

Hosting the Colts - L

Hosting the Chargers - W

Hosting the Dolphins - W

@ Broncos - W

That will put them at 11-5 and with an extra playoff spot this year, that will firmly and easily put them in the playoffs. This is where they become exceedingly dangerous. Jon Gruden can scheme with the best of the Head Coaches in the league, Derek Carr the makes the plays he needs to and their running game is ridiculous.

The Raiders out-rush their opponents by nearly 60 yards this year, are +1 in turnover ratio, they are averaging 28+ points per game, 8th in the league. Your team can't play with that.

My plan to victory is based on losing to the Chiefs this Sunday and if they do, it's clear they will still end up in a prime position.

What if they beat the Chiefs, again? They are home, they did it already and they are less than 3 points behind Kansas City in average points per game (2nd in the league).

I'll tell you what happens, the Raiders stand a good chance of winning the division. I was being nice when I said Las Vegas would lose one more game after the Chiefs game, they may not lose again and the Chiefs most certainly will stumble against one, maybe two opponents.

The Autumn Wind is a Pirate, blustering in from sea....