The Oakland Raiders are riding high this week after besting the New York Jets 34-24 on Saturday. Next up for the Raiders is another AFC East foe, the New England Patriots. Head coach Hue Jackson paid his respect to the Patriots in an interview with the Sacramento Bee's Jason Jones.
On the topic of the Patriots, Jackson said, "This team has the best quarterback in football (Tom Brady). They have the best coach (Bill Belicheck). They've been the Super Bowl champion." Jackson is right: the Patriots have looked very good in the early going and certainly look to be top contenders this year. The Patriots, however, were exposed this past weekend in a 34-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills that saw New England give up a 21-0 lead behind four interceptions by Brady.
That doesn't matter, though. Good teams have bad days, and the Patriots had one of theirs on Saturday. The Raiders are expecting New England to come out firing on all cylinders on Saturday, and they will be ready. As Jackson put it, "This is the best of the best week in and week out. There is no easy opportunities in this deal...But they gotta come out here, in the O, Raiders nation, our fans, our football team and come play us, and we'll show up."
The Raiders have certainly looked like a strong team so far, and Jackson is a huge reason for this. He has coached his young team to an impressive 2-1 start (which could be 3-0 at this point barring a collapse to the Bills in Week 2) and could be looking at a 3-1 record after Sunday. The Patriots stand in the way, but Jackson and the Raiders look forward to the opportunity of proving themselves against one of the NFL's best.