Derek Carr and the Raiders Are Optimistic Coming Off the Bye Week
It's tough to bounce back when a team is way off track from where it expected itself to be, but the Las Vegas Raiders have done so before.
Heading into Week 15 last season, the Raiders were 6-7, needing exactly four wins to stamp a trip to the postseason.
They did just that, rattling off four-straight victories to earn themselves their first playoff berth since 2016.
Now Las Vegas needs the same kind of momentum, but this time, it finds itself with its back against the wall much earlier in the season.
A lot of football is left to play, and Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and his team feel refreshed and ready to go after a very beneficial bye week.
"If I were to say anything, the feeling I had today was excitement," Carr said after Wednesday's practice. "Not only myself, but I would say our team at practice. There was a lot of energy, lot of joy, excitement, lot of enthusiasm, real enthusiasm. We know what we're capable of.
"We didn't win as many games as we thought we would at this point, that's for sure. But it's all within so many points. And so, we know that we're close, and again, we've always said this: close doesn't count. It doesn't matter. But like my Dodgers, man, hopefully we get hot at the right time. They kind of went the other way and that hurts my heart because I love them so much. So hopefully, we can go the other way."
Most of the Raiders' losses have been just a mistake or two away from going the other way, which put an emphasis on making simple corrections during the bye week.
"We had a big correction time during the bye week to self scout, to look at ourselves, and really just be honest about it," Carr added. "Some of those things came up today in practice, and we did some of those things well. And so, you would hope that you can be a better team as you keep correcting those things that come up, right?
"We're never going to be perfect, but we can make corrections, and we can get better. And we believe that -- I'll say we're confident in what we're capable of, but it's not like anyone's coming to town and handing us wins. You have to go earn everything in this league."
The Raiders will host the Houston Texans at 1:05 p.m. PDT on Sunday when they return to their home crowd at Allegiant Stadium.
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