Fearless Raiders Prove They Have the Winning Mentality Required of a Contender

Fourteen years removed from their last playoff appearance and 33 years removed from their last championship, the Oakland Raiders have for quite some time been trying their damnedest to recapture the franchise's glory days.

You may recall that in those days, the Raiders were mean, intimidating and unconventional. And one immortalized phrase from late owner Al Davis truly encapsulated the team's blunt spirit.

"Just win, baby."

This season, with blooming third-year quarterback Derek Carr, second-year stud wide receiver Amari Cooper, stellar young running back Latavius Murray, a balanced and talented offensive line and an exciting defense led by front-seven stars Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin, the Raiders are finally in a position to just win, baby.

And in their season opener Sunday in New Orleans, it was that against-the-grain, fearless Al Davis mentality that drove them to a Week 1 victory for the first time in half a decade.

In one of the most hostile road environments in football, the Raiders came back from a 24-10 second-half deficit to beat the Saints, 35-34. They scored touchdowns on each of their three fourth-quarter drives. And most importantly, when essentially presented with the choice of tying or winning the game in the final minute, head coach Jack Del Rio invoked those three words.

Del Rio might not have literally screamed, "Just win, baby" from the Oakland sideline after Raiders receiver Seth Roberts scored to cut New Orleans' lead to one point with 47 seconds on the clock. But by electing to put the game on the line with a two-point conversion attempt rather than settling for a PAT try that likely would have tied the game, Del Rio undoubtedly earned props from the many ghosts of Raiders past.

Of course, the call could have backfired. And had veteran receiver Michael Crabtree failed to pull in a fade from Carr in the left corner of the end zone, the Raiders would have lost by a point and fans and pundits would have capitalized on hindsight by skewering Del Rio and his perma-slumping squad.

"Raiders doing Raiders things," they'd have tweeted. "That's SO Oakland," they'd have shouted.

But Crabtree made the catch, the Raiders took a one-point lead and the Saints weren't able to retaliate before running out of breath.

And now, for only the second time in the last 14 seasons, the Raiders are 1-0. Now, while it is as early as can be, they look like a team that can contend in the AFC West.

Of course, it's easy now for us as pundits and you as fans to use hindsight to praise Del Rio's gutsy decision, but the reality is the numbers and the situation backed it up anyway.

Event	Probability
Two-point conversions	47.9%
Extra points	94.2%
Road underdogs in overtime	30.8%

Last season, NFL teams converted 47.9 percent of two-point attempts, so in a high-scoring affair like this one, you'd have to imagine Oakland had at least a 50-50 shot at a successful two-point play. After all, it had scored 20 points in the fourth quarter.

A successful two-pointer gave Oakland the lead, leaving New Orleans with only 40 seconds and zero timeouts to move the ball into field-goal range and make a game-winning kick.

A successful PAT (still no guarantee, but admittedly much better odds with a 2015 success rate of 94.2 percent) would have tied the game, giving New Orleans the exact same scenario for the victory, plus another shot in overtime.

As a road underdog, do you really want to give your high-scoring opponent and its future Hall of Fame quarterback extra opportunities?

Del Rio was probably going with his gut, but his stomach was in tune with recent precedent. Underdogs were 4-9 in overtime games on the road last season. And dating back four years, road underdogs have won only 35.4 percent of the games that have gone into OT.

Throw in that New Orleans still had some time to work with on the fourth-quarter clock, and it's clear the odds were out of Oakland's favor in a tie game. As long as Del Rio felt his team had at least a 40 percent chance of converting the two-point attempt, this was a no-brainer.

It's important that rather than trying not to lose, the Raiders were doing everything they could to win. That's the mindset you need to instill in a young, talented team.

The Raiders have a bright future. In all likelihood, little about said future would have changed had they lost this game. You're allowed to lose Week 1 road games against nonconference opponents with high-powered offenses, and it's not as though the team played particularly well. It took 14 penalties for 141 yards, and the defense was slaughtered for much of the afternoon.

Instead, this was about the way it won. Courageous, spunky, audacious. A vintage Raiders victory that's an ode to the past and a hell of a good omen for what's to come.

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark unless otherwise noted.

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon