Raiders Win Ugly in Possible Last Game in Oakland but Future Looks Bright

The future looks bright for the Raiders.

Notice I did not say the Oakland Raiders. Because for all we know, there won't be an Oakland Raiders at this point in a year.

But for the franchise—wherever it plays—Thursday's 23-20 overtime win against the San Diego Chargers was a harbinger of better things. A sign.

A sign the team's days as an AFC West punching bag are done.

Mind you, it certainly wasn't a sparkly Christmas Eve victory:

Actually, Nick, that would be Festivus.

This game was the encapsulation of all things Thursday Night Football. The Oakland offense went MIA for much of the second half. Then Derek Carr's three-yard touchdown pass and two-point conversion gave the Raiders a 20-17 lead:

But thanks to that turnover-inspired "drive" and a nice drive to start OT—which had its share of naughty too in the form of five Oakland penalties—the Silver and Black gutted out an ugly victory. It was exactly the sort of game good teams push to win, even on an off night.

In other words, it was the sort of game that until very recently the Raiders would have lost, especially with top wideout Amari Cooper spending most of the evening as a spectator because of a balky foot.

Cooper was the Raiders' first-round pick in 2015, the poster boy for the team's new stars.

For the team's elder statesman, this was it at the Black Hole.

Safety Charles Woodson, who recently announced his retirement after 18 (yes, 18) NFL seasons, played in his final home game against the Bolts. Woodson addressed Raider Nation following the game after leading fans in their patented "Rai-ders!" chant, relayed by the San Jose Mercury News:

"

It's been a joy for me to come back here and play for a second time around. You guys welcomed me back with open arms as if I never left. I just want you to know how much that means to me, to my family and my two boys. ... Man, it's been great.

I just want you to know that you guys are under great leadership. And this team is going to get so much better really, really soon.

"

There's reason to think Woodson is spot on. The Raiders have a foundation of young talent that hasn't existed in Oakland in quite a long while.

Carr tossed an early interception that San Diego turned into a touchdown, but the second-year pro had a decent night. Twenty-three completions in 38 attempts. One score and one pick.

That scoring pass put Carr in some pretty rarefied air where his first two NFL seasons are concerned:

Tailback Latavius Murray totaled 117 yards on 24 touches, including a nifty 22-yard scoring scamper:

That bumped Murray over 1,000 yards on the ground for the season, a feat that hadn't been accomplished in the Bay Area in a while:

Edge-rusher Khalil Mack, who entered Week 16 leading the NFL with 15 sacks, chipped in five total stops. Fifth-year pro Malcolm Smith, who leads the team in tackles after coming over in free agency, added 14 stops and a forced fumble.

Michael Crabtree reeled in Carr's scoring pass. Cooper was quiet, but already this season the rookie has become the first Oakland wide receiver to top 1,000 yards in a decade:

General manager Reggie McKenzie has assembled a nice nucleus of young talent. First-year head coach Jack Del Rio has coached those youngsters up. And in Week 17, the Raiders will travel to Kansas City with an opportunity to finish with a non-losing record for the first time since 2011.

This isn't to say the team doesn't still have problems. An Oakland pass defense that entered the week 28th in the NFL gave up 277 yards through the air to a Chargers team that has been decimated by injuries.

And that was with Woodson.

Then there's the whole possibility of the team moving to Los Angeles to share a stadium with, of all teams, the Chargers, a proposal NFL owners will vote on in Houston in January.

"The fans in that Black Hole make it special," offensive lineman Khalif Barnes told the Associated Press, via the San Francisco Examiner. "The Black Hole goes back decades. There’s a lot of tradition in that stadium. A lot of great players, Hall of Fame players and icons have been a part of that stadium. I’ll miss it."

That's a problem for another day, though, and it's one the players and fans have no control over.

On Thursday, at least, fans of the Raiders left happy. And not just because Oakland beat San Diego at football—a sentence that may never be typed again.

No. They're happy because in winning a game they used to lose, the Raiders showed real progress has been made. The Raiders are headed in the right direction.

Toward a return to the Commitment to Excellence.

Toward a return to winning football.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.