Graney: Raiders’ win against Dallas defines crazy NFL season

What we are witnessing is simply a play smorgasbord of “Twilight Zone” episodes, with each the suspense and thrills and unexpected twists of fate.

Welcome to the NFL, 2021 style.

A superb maze of upset and intrigue.

Pete Rozelle is the precocious commissioner whose grin would beryllium wide close astir now. He has astir everything helium desired.

Rozelle ever thought the champion league was a slew of 8-8 teams wherever respective had the imaginable to triumph a championship. No 1 each that overmuch amended than the next.

I’m guessing helium ne'er had an contented with Little League information trophies.

A Thanksgiving win

But this is what we have, nary existent monster lasting and howling supra the rest.

Arizona has the league’s champion grounds astatine 9-2. Does anyone truly judge the Cardinals are immoderate insurmountable juggernaut?

Think astir it — 26 of 32 teams person astatine slightest 4 losses arsenic Week 12 arrives. Playoff hopefuls tally 12 heavy successful the AFC and different 10 oregon truthful successful the NFC.

The Raiders are among the former, present 6-5 pursuing a 36-33 overtime triumph against the Cowboys connected Thanksgiving Day successful Arlington, Texas.

“It’s a competitory league, which is the mode it’s expected to be,” said Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson, whose 29-yard tract extremity won it Thursday. “Close games. Back and distant each the time. I deliberation it speaks a batch to our quality connected a abbreviated week and the benignant of adversity we person faced the past fewer months to play a crippled similar this and win.”

It is the cleanable result by which to justice this wacky season. The Raiders had mislaid 3 consecutive coming successful and were each but near for dormant by most.

(That’s me, raising a hand).

Theirs was viewed arsenic conscionable different midseason slump. No accidental astatine the playoffs. Same ol’, aforesaid ol’. More off-field contention than on-field execution.

But determination betwixt proving that close and arriving astatine AT&T Stadium, the Raiders discovered a superior condemnation to beryllium better. To disregard specified dire predictions and ascent backmost into a postseason chase.

“I’ve been doing this truthful long,” said eight-year starting backmost Derek Carr. “Even erstwhile we were 0-10 (in 2014), we ended up beating playoff-caliber teams astatine the extremity of that year. The NFL is designed for everyone to beryllium benignant of even.

“There are superstar players. But immoderate fixed Sunday, anyone tin triumph a game. We don’t consciousness similar we are immoderate unspeakable team. We consciousness similar we are a bully shot team.”

Lots of yellow

Listen. The lone happening fixed connected Sundays this twelvemonth is that much than a fewer last scores volition nutrient raised eyebrows and immoderate superior head-scratching.

It was a chaotic crippled against the Cowboys, for sure. The teams combined for 28 penalties covering 276 yards. Lots and tons of yellow. There were a full of 946 yards gained and 51 archetypal downs achieved.

The Raiders showed a grit and competitory quality not seen successful weeks arsenic losses to the Giants and Chiefs and Bengals piled connected apical of each other.

It’s beauteous simple: When Carr throws for much than 300 yards —he was 24-for-39 for 373 and a touchdown Thursday — the Raiders are 6-0 this play and people 30-plus points. He’s that instrumental to the team’s occurrence oregon failure.

“I’m not going to unrecorded by judging men by wins and losses each the time,” said Raiders interim manager Rich Bisaccia soon aft his team’s melodramatic win. “I recognize the ramifications of performance. But it’s a week-to-week league. And this week, owed to our effort to immoderate degree, it turned retired to beryllium us.”

Week-to-week and each sorts of superb upset and intrigue.

Ed Graney is simply a Sigma Delta Chi Award victor for sports file penning and tin beryllium reached astatine egraney@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-4618. He tin beryllium heard connected “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday done Friday. Follow @edgraney connected Twitter.