Maybe Tony Sparano's burying of the ball worked after all. The Oakland Raiders looked like a completely different football team when they came close to beating the San Diego Chargers in Week 6. The Raiders were coming off a bye week and a firing of their head coach. Things were looking grime, but the team came out ready to play and finished in a close 31-28 loss. While there are no moral victories in the NFL, there are plenty of reasons to get excited about the future in Oakland.
Derek Carr came out ready to compete and everyone excelled as a result. The quarterback's play was strong as he put up 282 yards and four touchdowns while throwing just one interception while not getting sacked once. Carr has certainly seen his share of rookie struggles and all eyes will certainly be on how he follows up this performance, but the potential is there which should excite the fanbase.
"We have to be in these kinds of football games," Sparano said, via ESPN.com. "We have to win one of these types of football games and that's how you get this thing turned around."
One player that had a breakout game was Andre Holmes who hauled in two touchdowns off 121 yards from four catches. The Raiders had been waiting for this kind of game from their offensive performances. Brice Butler also had himself a day putting up a touchdown from three catches worth 64 yards. Heading into Week 7 against the Arizona Cardinals, both receivers should be fantasy sleepers. The Cardinals have allowed the second-most fantast points to opposing wide receivers. Both Holmes and Butler have a lot of upside in this regard.
Another player with a surprising breakout game was Darren McFadden. The running back put up 80 yards while averaging 5.7 yards per carry. McFadden has not looked that good in years. Maurice Jones-Drew also looked good considering his limited playing time. The running back only had four carries, but still managed 30 yards on 7.5 yards per carry. If the Raiders are going to continue to at least challenge another team, they much keep this balance while others like Denarius Moore and Marcel Reece must step up.
