It may seem counter-intuitive, but the short turnaround between Sunday’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals and Thursday’s forthcoming tilt against the Dallas Cowboys could be quite beneficial. Both of the Raiders previous wins were follwed by games that were epic flops. There have been reports that some of the Raiders players “read their press,” so the shortened time could force them to immediately shift the focus to Dallas without relishing the win too much.
After the Raiders played a tough game against the San Diego Chargers, Warren Sapp warned that the Raiders would get too high on that game and have a let down the following week. The Raiders squaked out a win the following week, but played horribly. Following the win, Sapp’s prognostication came to pass as the Raiders laid a stink bomb the following week against Denver.
The Raiders repeated the process after beating the Eagles. The Raiders upset the Eagles, and the following week they were shut out by the New York Jets. Now, the Raiders upset the Bengals, and the question becomes whether they will have another faceplant against the Cowboys.
Punter Shane Lechler, agreed with Sapp’s assessment, “I agree. Especially over the last six years. You win one, and just the way it’s handled and approached the next week. And it’s not about the staff. It’s in here. Things aren’t handled the right way. Guys become real cool, like I said.” He also thought that the short week would be benificial, “It could. I don’t know how guys are feeling. I just punt, and I feel worse today than I did yesterday. Hopefully it goes away, which it should, and adrenaline will kick in on Thursday.”
Cable has special plans for thanksgiving, “Win. No I don’t want to sound like I don’t care about Thanksgiving, I love Thanksgiving. But we have a job to do. We have to stay focused to it. Certainly we’ll get the opportunity on Friday for families and all those sort of things.”
The key for the Raiders will be maintain the energy that they brought at the end of the Bengals game. They have to continue to fight and scratch for ervery little bit possible.
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