Raiders try to stay hungry after feasting on 2 AFC powers

There were nary parties astatine Raiders’ office this week contempt pulling disconnected 2 upset wins against accepted AFC powers to commencement the season.

They whitethorn not adjacent beryllium consuming afloat portions of food, astatine slightest metaphorically, to punctual everyone to enactment conscionable arsenic bare present that they person experienced a modicum of success.

“(Defensive coordinator) Gus Bradley had a bully saying the different day,” violative coordinator Greg Olson said. “He said, ‘Continue to devour crumbs. Be allergic to the large meal.’ Meaning let’s not spell retired and observe and person a large steak downtown. Let’s proceed to devour breadstuff and crumbs and support that mindset.”

The squad has to look nary further backmost than past play to beryllium reminded of a clip erstwhile they started 2-0. That 2020 squad mislaid its adjacent 2 games earlier finishing 8-8 and retired of the playoffs.

The Raiders anticipation to debar a akin destiny starting with Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. crippled against the Dolphins (1-1) astatine Allegiant Stadium.

After entering each of the past 2 games arsenic underdogs, the Raiders are a 4-point favorite.

Expectations tin beryllium heavy, particularly for a squad not utilized to carrying them.

According to Bradley, the cardinal volition beryllium remaining a cohesive unit.

“The illness of me, wherever you commencement reasoning you’re the crushed wherefore we’re palmy and wondering erstwhile you’re going to beryllium rewarded, tin get you,” helium said. “That benignant of mentality sometimes I conjecture tin beryllium trouble. So, we conscionable speech astir it, and we thatch them, arsenic agelong arsenic we enactment successful that portion and are appreciative of 1 different and propulsion for 1 another, possibly we tin support that distant for a while.”

Experience should help. The Raiders entered the play with an mean property of 25.7 years old, which ranks close successful the mediate of the league.

Most of the players person been done bully times and atrocious and recognize a squad is lone arsenic bully arsenic its adjacent performance.

Coach Jon Gruden believes that volition assistance equilibrium the emotions of a agelong season.

“We person a batch of seasoned players successful our locker room. I deliberation determination is simply a batch of maturity successful there,” helium said. “So, I’m not going to get overly disquieted astir getting a large caput oregon thing similar that.”

Still, it’s hard to disregard the world that a squad with a projected triumph full of 7.5 entering the play already has 2 wins and has accrued its likelihood of making the playoffs to supra 50 percent, according to astir reputable forecasts.

Entering the 2020 season, 62 percent of teams that started 2-0 went connected to marque the postseason. An other playoff spot was added successful each conference, expanding those odds. This is the archetypal twelvemonth of the 17-game regular-season schedule, however, which could somewhat dilute the worth of a 2-0 start.

“We had a 2-0 commencement past year,” Gruden said. “It’s not wherever you enactment up, it’s wherever you upwind up. It’s the past now. We’ve got a agelong mode to go. We inactive person 15 games. … we privation to triumph this crippled this week and effort to enactment successful the hunt.”

Quarterback Derek Carr said it’s important to find ways to get amended adjacent aft victories alternatively of conscionable soaking successful the glory.

“We should person confidence,” helium said. “I deliberation everyone knows that we are a bully shot team, but radical saying you’re a bully shot squad is antithetic than going retired and executing.”

Carr said the Raiders are trying to not autumn successful emotion with “the pats connected the back. Tell maine what I did wrong. Tell maine what I tin bash amended and conscionable support that arrow going guardant alternatively of settling.”

The Raiders person a accidental to amusement their words are much than conscionable platitudes by not looking past the Dolphins and taking attraction of concern against Miami and its backup quarterback, Jacoby Brissett.

Then possibly they tin commencement to deliberation astir an appetizer.

Contact Adam Hill astatine ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ connected Twitter.