Raiderstation

With Mendoza needing time to adjust, an unproven O line and what I consider average receivers, I’m not really expecting to light it up on offense.

Defensively, we should be at least middle of the pack. That should go a long ways in helping stack wins.

Having said that, we are improved across the board yet still more work to do. I would predict we have 6 wins this year, double what we had last year. If Pete can manage 3 last year, I have faith with a better coaching staff we can do better. If we can beat the teams we’re supposed to plus staying close in the 4th quarter against better talent, we have a punchers chance in some of those.

Personally, at least another year or two to make some real noise if we nail FA and the draft.

FLORIDARAYDAH wrote: Sun Jul 05, 2026 2:16 pm If it was in Miami that would be brutal. Im from there and can't even sit in the stands early in the season. I cant imagine playing a game there. And yes Miami always chooses to wear white when it's hot

Same with here, at least for one more year. Last game at Nissan I attended the seats were so hot I got actual burns to my skin through my jeans. Probably worse in Miami. But I got my durrr moment for this week so I am good the rest of the way.

As we all do,
In a perfect world,

Miami W
SD L
NO L
KC W
NE L
BUF L
LA L
NY W
SF L
SEA L
DEN L
CLE W
SD W
DEN L
TN W
ARZ W
KC L

7 10

raiders72 wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2026 8:03 pm As we all do,
In a perfect world,

Miami W
SD L
NO L
KC W
NE L
BUF L
LA L
NY W
SF L
SEA L
DEN L
CLE W
SD W
DEN L
TN W
ARZ W
KC L

7 10

I think that anything less than 7 wins will be disappointing. Obviously, none of know against who the wins will come against, but beating the teams we should be able to beat along with a coupe of upsets isn't unrealistic.

Good HCs tend to make a difference right away and that's what I want to see happen with this staff.

Opoponax50 wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2026 10:29 am I think that anything less than 7 wins will be disappointing. Obviously, none of know against who the wins will come against, but beating the teams we should be able to beat along with a coupe of upsets isn't unrealistic.

Good HCs tend to make a difference right away and that's what I want to see happen with this staff.

We were the worst team in the NFL last season and I am thinking seven win this season is a reach; Raiders will be a better team; but I think they need another year from the draft and free agency to really build on….

Right now; Raiders have to build a foundation for the future; we actually have a QB to start with; if we end up going 3-14….it not the end of the world and we still need to stay with the HC the next season and build on it…

SuperRaider wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2026 2:47 am We were the worst team in the NFL last season and I am thinking seven win this season is a reach; Raiders will be a better team; but I think they need another year from the draft and free agency to really build on….

Right now; Raiders have to build a foundation for the future; we actually have a QB to start with; if we end up going 3-14….it not the end of the world and we still need to stay with the HC the next season and build on it…

3-14 would be catastrophic.

A good coaching staff improves a team right away. A good example of that with the Raiders was Gruden 1.0.

The difference between the team when he took over and the year before was night and day. We went 8-8 in his first two years, but would've been 10-6 to 12-4 with an average placekicker.

Good coaches get the most out of their players. Most players are average but are elevated by coaching. Every NFL team is made up largely of average guys, hence the term "average." The difference is being able to adapt the scheme to what you have, which we haven't seen in a long, long time.

Opoponax50 wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2026 7:21 am 3-14 would be catastrophic.

A good coaching staff improves a team right away. A good example of that with the Raiders was Gruden 1.0.

The difference between the team when he took over and the year before was night and day. We went 8-8 in his first two years, but would've been 10-6 to 12-4 with an average placekicker.

Good coaches get the most out of their players. Most players are average but are elevated by coaching. Every NFL team is made up largely of average guys, hence the term "average." The difference is being able to adapt the scheme to what you have, which we haven't seen in a long, long time.

not really, it would need context but a 3-14 record is possible and under the right circumstances explainable and acceptable. I never want my team to have a losing record, but if there are key injuries that record could be a reality without repercussions.

Opoponax50 wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2026 7:21 am 3-14 would be catastrophic.

A good coaching staff improves a team right away. A good example of that with the Raiders was Gruden 1.0.

The difference between the team when he took over and the year before was night and day. We went 8-8 in his first two years, but would've been 10-6 to 12-4 with an average placekicker.

Good coaches get the most out of their players. Most players are average but are elevated by coaching. Every NFL team is made up largely of average guys, hence the term "average." The difference is being able to adapt the scheme to what you have, which we haven't seen in a long, long time.

Just going off memory here; but I think the Bookmakers are giving the Raiders 5 wins over/under; so it not that far fetched if the raiders end up with less than 5 wins in 2026….as for Gruden first time around; I think he had a lot more talent on that team than we do right now.

SuperRaider wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2026 8:28 am Just going off memory here; but I think the Bookmakers are giving the Raiders 5 wins over/under; so it not that far fetched if the raiders end up with less than 5 wins in 2026….as for Gruden first time around; I think he had a lot more talent on that team than we do right now.

Agreed on your talking points. The team Gruden got was fairly solid, Davis had a good foundation in place, particularly the Oline and the secondary. Of course the receivers were the usual, one really talented player and a burner.

And yea, we are slated to get around 5 wins. While I think we could get more, there is a path to getting less and it not be the end of the world. It is all about the context when you talk wins and losses. Manning won exactly three games his rookie season and that team had Faulk and Harrison on it. We have an aging Cousins starting for us this year so who the hell knows what we got in actuality.

If 3-14 puts them in the running for Jeremiah Smith I'll live with it. I know it's now the outcome any of us would want, but Mendoza, Jeanty, Bowers and Smith is a nice young core I can get behind.

SuperRaider wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2026 8:28 am Just going off memory here; but I think the Bookmakers are giving the Raiders 5 wins over/under; so it not that far fetched if the raiders end up with less than 5 wins in 2026….as for Gruden first time around; I think he had a lot more talent on that team than we do right now.

I think the team needs to exceed the talking heads' expectations. If we're losing close games to good teams, then that's okay because it'll show progress, but we need to beat bad teams and pull off a couple of upsets. That's why I think we should win more than 6 games.

Attyla wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2026 8:40 am Agreed on your talking points. The team Gruden got was fairly solid, Davis had a good foundation in place, particularly the Oline and the secondary. Of course the receivers were the usual, one really talented player and a burner.

And yea, we are slated to get around 5 wins. While I think we could get more, there is a path to getting less and it not be the end of the world. It is all about the context when you talk wins and losses. Manning won exactly three games his rookie season and that team had Faulk and Harrison on it. We have an aging Cousins starting for us this year so who the hell knows what we got in actuality.

We have got a QB for future; I think the raiders will be a much better team as the games are going to be closer and not blowouts; but I think the raiders are still another draft away from being really competitive…and the DT department really scare me as got funny feeling that the opposing teams are just going to run on the raiders…..maybe they will find a gem in the DT department but until now; we are pretty weak right now.

Jesse predicts the Tokyo Toe will win the kicking battle...

My guess is we double our win total from last year. Which is still a far cry from being a good team but a good start