The Evidence that Proves Raiders Are Headed in Right Direction

After struggling at the quarterback position for years, Week 1 confirmed that the Raiders made the right decision by trading for him during the offseason. It took one week to prove that decision to be a wise one.

Eric Edholm of NFL.com ranked every team in the league following the first week's matchups. He ranked the Raiders as the 23rd-best team in the National Football League, two spots higher than what he ranked them heading into Week 1.

"Not a bad Raiders debut for Geno Smith, eh? Even with the early pick against the Patriots, he regained command, withstood several hits and four sacks, and did what he needed to do in a 362-yard outing -- with Brock Bowers on the sideline at game’s end," Edholm said.

"Ashton Jeanty didn’t have a lot of room to run, but he was pretty forceful in a few key short-yardage situations. Defensively, the Raiders were pretty outstanding, patching a few leaky holes early. It wasn’t the cleanest game of all time, and the pass-protection issues need to be ironed out, but the energy and toughness were notable upgrades in Pete Carroll’s debut. I have at least one eye on this team.

Following the Raiders' win over the Patriots, Jeanty noted there were a few things he felt he could have done better on Sunday. There was one play specifically that Jeanty wishes he could have back.

"I think just communication, execution. There's certain things I could have did better. As a team, we came back together, regrouped ourselves at halftime and came out firing. I mean, it's not like they were doing anything out of the ordinary to beat us. It was more of us beating ourselves," Jeanty said.

"I mean, just as a running back, you live for those moments. The offensive line did an impeccable job, the receivers blocked perfect. All I had to do was make the guy miss, but I just lost my footing."

It was far from perfect, but the Raiders found a way to win a game that they would have lost last season or the season prior. For a team that insisted they were improved coming into the season, Week 1 was a small step towards confirming as much.