One Happy Postgame Take

I’m sort of speechless at the moment. After all, I haven’t had a lot of practice writing post-victory takes lately.

I guess we can throw the ball deep. I guess we can run the ball with both force and finesse. I guess we can avoid giving up the big play at the wrong moment. This is the most balanced game I’ve seen the Raiders play in at least two years.

Justin Fargas was a beast, as was Jerry Porter. Yes, Jerry Porter rose from the dead, and proved to be tough as nails. Last time I saw him play like this, it was in Washington D.C. in 2005. The offensive line was solid, and Daunte Culpepper used his newfound time wisely. Sebastian Janikowski delivered again, and while our defense gave up a lot of yards on the ground, they didn’t buckle when it mattered.

It was nice to see the playbook opened up, too. Instead of saying we can’t do things, we just did them. Kudos to Kiffin for keeping locker room mutiny at bay and fielding a focused team amid the hostile environs of Arrowhead. This, indeed, bodes well for the future. By fighting instead of folding, especially this late in the season, the Raiders demonstrated that there’s finally a captain on the ship.

Let’s not forget that the Raiders taunted the football gods earlier this week, and the football gods nearly had the last laugh. By deactivating Michael Bush and retaining LaMont Jordan, we sought to keep Jordan from signing with the Chiefs—thus ensuring that Kolby Smith would start for them.

And who is Kolby Smith? Before today, he was a fifth-round rookie who backed up Bush at Louisville, and who had never started a game in the NFL. As of tonight, however, he is the proud owner Week Twelve’s top rushing mark at 150 yards, courtesy of our leaky line.

The football gods were clearly smiling on Kolby Smith, no doubt licking their chops with the sweet taste of irony regarding his ties to Bush—but then the Autumn Wind blew the smiles off their faces. For once, finally, the ball bounced in favor of the Raiders.

The best bounce of all came courtesy of Herm Edwards, who has never been regarded as a genius of clock management or strategy. With the opportunity to tie the game late with a 40-yard field goal, he went for it on fourth down, only to watch Smith get smacked for a loss.

The day got even better when the Broncos kept kicking to Devin Hester—and Devin Hester kept returning the kicks for touchdowns. When they finally stopped kicking to Hester, they kicked the ball right into an oncoming defender. The Broncos lost to the Bears in overtime, setting the perfect stage for next Sunday’s game.

If I recall correctly, we were tied for the longest divisional drought since the AFL-NFL merger, and a loss today would have made dubious history. But we finally got the Kansas City monkey off our back. As of today, it looks like we just might have enough horses to whip the Broncos on Sunday, and enough fortitude to start a whole new kind of streak.