Color me happily shocked by the Oakland Raiders. As a long time fan of the team, it makes me delirious to see them actually playing with some guts.
In case you missed it, the Raiders scored a touchdown with 47 seconds left in their game against the New Orleans Saints yesterday. This made the score 34-33, advantage Saints. As Dennis Hopper said in Speed, so what do you do hotshot?
If you kick the extra point, you are likely going into overtime. Your defense already let the Saints score 34 points on you. It sounds like you may be a coin toss away from a loss. But a 2-point conversion is only a 47% chance. A coin toss is a slightly better option.
Naturally, the Raiders...go for 2? Huh? This isn't the Raiders I know. Especially when they make it, going up 35-34 to win the game.
When they first hired Jack Del Rio, I thought, "This guy failed with Jacksonville. Why do they think he can do better in Oakland?" I won't say I was wrong yet, but Del rio was definitely the right coach yesterday.
Also some kudos go to quarterback Derek Carr, who encouraged Del Rio to go for 2. As I said yesterday, he is the best Raiders quarterback since Rich Gannon.
A Super Bowl is a long way off, but this is an awesome start for the perennial doormat Raiders.
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