In what could be their swan song in Oakland, the 6-2 Raiders are off to their best start since Jon Gruden’s penultimate season as boss – a 12-4 finish in 2000 that ended in a conference title game defeat to the eventual Super Bowl XXXV champion Ravens.
Here come the Raiders, then, or have they already arrived?
We’re sticking with the former – for now – but that could change Sunday night, when the Black Hole rudely welcomes its bitter rivals, the defending Super Bowl champion Broncos and co-AFC West leaders, for perhaps the final time.
Derek Carr willed Oakland to its sixth win – and a still-perfect 5-0 road mark – in Week 8 over the Buccaneers with one of the great quarterbacking performances of this or any era.