Week one saw the Oakland Raiders beat the division rival Denver Broncos for what is probably not going to be the first time this season. It also saw another AFC West rival blown out of the water, and another show poise and ability ... so all-in-all, they had to feel good about their place atop the division. In week two, they lost to the Buffalo Bills in a rather exciting game, but exciting doesn't mean much.
What does mean much are the components for what made the game exciting: touchdowns. Oakland should feel good that they kept up with the Buffalo Bills, as ... hilarious as that sentence sounds. The Bills looked great in week one and have once again looked great in week two, and for Oakland to have the victory snatched from them in the final seconds, they should at least feel good that they kept up. A combined 580+ yards passing and five touchdowns through the air showed that the two teams were gunslinging.
Oakland showed that they can execute on offense with Jason Campbell as the quarterback, which has always been up in the air. They also had Darren McFadden rushing for 72 yards with a touchdown of his own, so that was good. Campbell's interception is something they'll need to work on, but they have to feel great about Denarious Moore and his 146 yards receiving.
The Kansas City Chiefs were absolutely demolished for the second straight week. They got blasted apart by the Bills in week one and got blasted apart by the Lions in week two. Matt Cassel threw for 133 yards and no touchdowns against three interceptions. He lost a fumble, which added to two other fumbles from other Chiefs players. Dwayne Bowe had 101 of Cassel's 133 yards, which is both good - because you have a guy who can produce like that - and bad - because you really need some other options.
They failed to get any sacks, but did get an interception from Matthew Stafford, who threw for four touchdowns. It was all bad for the Chiefs, but the worst part of the 48-3 loss is the fact that Jamaal Charles was carted off the field in the first quarter. If the Raiders are watching the Chiefs right now, they're feeling really good about a team that was supposed to be an up-and-comer.
For the Denver Broncos, they got a good win over the Cincinnati Bengals, but other than a couple surprise performances from some under-the-radar players, the Raiders don't need to be presently concerned with them as big threats in the AFC West. Kyle Orton threw for under 200 yards, but Willis McGahee stole the show with 101 yards on the ground.
The negatives of a win seem like nitpicking, but the Bengals don't look like a great team this year, and giving up 332 yards to rookie Andy Dalton seems like an issue. Rookie receiver A.J. Green had 124 yards receiving, as well. The biggest thing for Orton was not throwing an interception, but he did lose a fumble. Suffice to say the Broncos were the best of a game featuring two bad teams.
Oakland's biggest threat and favorites to win the AFC West, the San Diego Chargers, fell to the Patriots on Sunday. In other news, the sun rose this morning, the Earth is still spinning, albeit rather slowly, and Tom Brady is really, really good. Outside of the Patriots offense wrecking shop all over San Diego's defense, which at this point is a certainty, many saw the Chargers putting up a fight in week two.
Well they did that ... for a time, until they got near the point where they were going to score, at which point the Patriots decided they'd like the ball back. Phillip Rivers neared 400 yards passing, with two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions on the Patriots' side of the field. He also lost a fumble, as did Mike Tolbert, and those four turnovers led to 17 New England points. It was miscues, miscues and more miscues.
Despite that, the Chargers simply lost to one of the best teams in football today. The Raiders shouldn't feel any better about losing because they lost to the Bills and San Diego lost to Tom Brady the Patriots. At he very least, they should feel good that they're currently favorites to take second in the AFC West, and they should ride that momentum while looking for a good bit of luck on the way to the end of the season.