The Raiders fell to 3-5 on Sunday after a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Oakland's overall record may not be indicative of the work being done by head coach Dennis Allen. The Raiders responded to adversity after falling to 1-3, and won two-straight games before their Week 9 loss.

Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News believes that Allen is showing more in his first season, and avoiding the same mistakes, of many past Raiders coaches:

He has already established more stability and accountability than Art Shell, Lane Kiffin and Norv Turner did in their early doomed days as Raiders coaches.

No question, things could have gone off the rails right away this year when the Raiders opened in a stagger.

Oakland will try to get back on track this weekend, but it won't be easy against the Baltimore Ravens, who improved to 6-2 after taking down the Browns on Sunday.

The schedule gets much easier after Week 10, as the Raiders face New Orleans, Cincinnati and Cleveland in consecutive weeks. The Chiefs and Panthers are still to be played as well, so there is certainly an opportunity for Allen and his players to make a splash in the last half of the season.