Raiders' Upset over Bills a Building Block Win for Future of Franchise

The Oakland Raiders won their third consecutive home game Sunday in a statement victory, 26-24, over the Buffalo Bills, who were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss. 

This was, remember, a Bills team that held Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers to zero touchdowns and two interceptions apiece. With that, Derek Carr's 17-of-34 performance for two touchdowns and no interceptions looks pretty impressive. 

The win was underscored by strong performances on both the defensive and offensive sides of the ball, and it gave the franchise a taste of what it can look forward to in the future with stars Carr and Khalil Mack on the roster. 

It took 10 consecutive losses in 2014 before the Raiders were finally able to get something going—after which point they have gone 3-2 and beaten the Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills. No one will look back at the 2014 season and laud Oakland's record, be it 4-12 or 3-13.

But what will stand out about this season is how Carr not only had the best year of any rookie in his class, but also how he in fact finished among the top rookies of all time in production. 

Carr's 20 touchdown passes in his rookie season is surpassed only by Manning, Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, Jim Kelly and Cam Newton, per Trey Wingo: 

He is also only the 13th rookie to pass for more than 3,000 yards, a milestone he achieved on Sunday when his 214 passing yards put him at 3,112 on the season. 

Oakland's offense didn't click right away on Sunday; Carr's first four passes were incompletions. But when they got going, the Raiders flashed: Carr's 50-yard deep ball to Kenbrell Thompkins late in the first quarter set up a short touchdown toss to James Jones to tie the game early.

Later in the fourth quarter, a 51-yard connection between Carr and Andre Holmes was part of a 10-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in another short touchdown throw from Carr, this time to Jamize Olawale. 

But it wasn't just Carr who looked promising Sunday. Latavius Murray had his second-best game of his young career, rushing for 86 yards on 23 carries and catching three passes for another 22 yards. Darren McFadden wasn't far behind, rushing for 54 yards and matching Murray's longest run of 25 yards in one of his better games of the season. 

"Latavius [Murray] was carrying it a bunch, and we needed to get another guy in there, and Darren went in there, and he made some really big plays for us," interim head coach Tony Sparano said Sunday in his postgame press conference. "I thought he did a good job, both those guys, in protection."

The Raiders, all in all, were able to gain 140 yards on the ground against Buffalo's No. 7 rushing defense—no small feat. 

Then were was Oakland's defense, which picked Kyle Orton off twice, sacked him twice and held the Bills pointless in 10 of their 14 total drives. Between the first quarter and the second quarter, the Raiders forced three-and-outs on five consecutive Bills drives.

Mack, with five tackles, including one for loss, a sack and three quarterback hits, is clearly going to be a cornerstone of this unit for seasons to come. "He’s been getting better and better every single week," Sparano said in his presser. "He’s got a lot of gas in his tank; the kid does."

Certainly, improvements are needed in Oakland this offseason. The team needs to figure out if Sparano is the answer at the head coach position, and it needs to surround Carr with more weapons, including a true No. 1 wideout. But what Sunday's upset over Buffalo underlined is that this unit has some solid building blocks on both sides of the ball, ones the franchise can be excited about in the future. 

The team may finish 4-12 for the third straight year this season, but it's closer than ever to having the right pieces to contend. With the talent in place now, another free agency and draft could legitimize this team in 2015.