The Oakland Raiders were given an absolute gauntlet of a schedule to start the 2019 season, but to this point, they have been one of the surprise teams in the league as they sit in the thick of the AFC postseason race at 5-4.
The toughest part of their schedule is not behind them as they welcome the 0-9 Cincinnati Bengals to town in Week 11 before traveling to the 2-7 New York Jets in Week 12.
While those are both games the Raiders should win to get to 7-4, particularly, the Bengals game, head coach Jon Gruden is not taking them lightly going into the matchup, via Eddie Paskal of Raiders.com:
“I know Cincinnati,” Gruden explained. “I know those players. I know those coaches, two of them were on my staff last year. We’re going to get their best shot, and we better be ready to go or else.”
Gruden then went on to name two upsets that happened just this past weekend to prove that anything is possible in the NFL:
“I don’t feel like we can respond to any of that stuff,” said Gruden Monday. “I just watched the [Atlanta] Falcons go to New Orleans and beat them – and beat them bad. Miami goes on the road and beats Indianapolis, no one really expected that would happen. I try not to listen to the talk shows. I was a part of that for nine years. I turned the sound down. We’re going to get what we deserve. We have a long way to go, and a lot of things to overcome.”
The Bengals are coming off a blowout 49-13 loss to Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, so they will be coming into Oakland angry this weekend. They are nowhere near as talented as the Raiders though, meaning that if Oakland brings its A-game, they shouldn’t have any problems earning the home victory.
It is good to see that Gruden and his team aren’t getting complacent though as they still have a lot of work to do if they want to get to the postseason.
