FanPost

A Team!

I love being a Raiders fan & love telling others I love Da Silver & Black. I was at the game last week when we played the Redskins & when I heard the news that TP2 wouldn't be playing & Matt Flynn would be starting, I, like so many others was disappointed. And of course I was disappointed at the results of the game.

Fast forward to last night & our win over the Chargers. Five (5) turnovers, terrific play by Terrelle Pryor and a makeshift line stepping up. Plus, a bend but don't break defense.

As fans we miss out on the team effort. For months we in Raider Nation were divided on who should start: Pryor or Flynn. And some of us even thought it should McGloin. Even after bad preseason games, there were still Flynn supporters. Last week was a telling moment for a lot of fans. I also think it was a telling moment for the team. Barnes thought we as fans did Flynn an injustice by booing. Although I'm not a boo bird, I understood the frustrations of my fellow fans. Charles Woodson understood our frustrations as well & something tells me most of the players knew who was being booed. No, maybe it wasn't right as a whole. But it happened.

Now the most telling moment was last night. The team had its offensive leader in TP2 & its defensive leader in Woodson. Yes, ages/years apart. The old & new of Raiderdom. And guess what? The TEAM played like a TEAM. Both stepped up when they had to. The makeshift line saw Nix back in at LG, Gurode playing Center, & McCants playing RT. And the first half they played pretty good. The second half not so good as San Diego adjusted, but in crunch time in the fourth quarter when we needed one more drive, they came together and was able to get a FG that put us up by 10.

And the defense stepped up. Entering the game with zero INTs, they would leave with three. Add on two fumbles to that, one by the special teams, to go with their blocked punt last week, and what you have is the making of a team.

i believe in these guys because we see a team coming together. I don't know how we will fare in the long run for this season, but i hope we miss the double digit losses this year. I am hoping for 7-9 or better (emphasis on the better), because I know this year is the foundation for years to come. I want to see Houston, Veldheer, Woodson & most of the free agents Reggie Mc & Dennis Allen brought in this year. I want to see Da Silver & Black return to glory! And I want to see it return with the core we are building. I have said it repeatedly that we will go thru some ups & downs this year with TP2 & I still believe that. But I take my hat off to Reggie Mc & DA for sticking with TP2. I can only imagine what the future holds for him, DJ Hayden, Sio Moore, Veldheer, Wiz, Watson, Streater, Houston & the others - because I do believe these guys will return us to glory. Because - they are a T-E-A-M!

Silver & Black Forever! Pride & Poise!