The Sports Xchange

ALAMEDA, Calif. – With a record over .500, a two-game win streak and a resounding victory over a playoff hopeful team from the nation’s media center, maybe it’s time to start looking at the Oakland Raiders as something other than an interesting upstart.

In the aftermath of a 34-20 win over the New York Jets, free safety Charles Woodson seemed to think so.

“When people say your team is competitive it kind of has a negative connotation to it, like you’re almost there but not good enough,” Woodson said. “One thing I’ve been hearing is that our wins came against teams who aren’t very good … we just beat a team that’s supposed to be a playoff team … I wonder what the narrative will be now.”

Beating the Jets could start to get the national bandwagon rolling, as could a road win against another playoff hopeful, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Raiders rolled up 451 yards of offense against what was considered one of the top defenses in the NFL. Latavius Murray gained 113 yards on 20 carries and Derek Carr was 23 of 36 for 333 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Raiders coach Jack Del Rio has made his team’s goal a matter of record from the outset.

“Our mindset from Day 1 has been to win our division. That’s our No. 1 goal,” Del Rio said. “We’ll continue to push for that. There’s nothing wrong with (people) paying attention, but we understand what’s most important is coming in every day and coming in with clear eyes, a lot of energy and a willingness to go to work and come in to work with a purpose.

“And that’s what we’ve been doing.”

Carr plans on keeping postseason talk in perspective.

“We’re happy about it – we’re blessed to be in the situation we are,” Carr said. “How do you handle it? I handle it by just being grounded in who I am and how I was brought up and what I believe in. I’m never going to be too high or too low.”

Following the Steelers game, the Raiders host the Minnesota Vikings and then take to the road for back-to-back games against the struggling Detroit Lions and Tennessee Titans. If the Raiders keep winning, they’ll be looked to as favorites in those games – and that’s just fine with Woodson.

When Woodson broke the team from its huddle before the Jets game, it was with a lecture about being an underdog.

“I think its fine for some people to play the underdog role, but I don’t like it,” Woodson said. “I want to be expected to win games. I want those guys to go out there and be expected to win. Yeah, it’s a little premature to be thinking that far ahead, playoff-wise, but there’s no reason you can’t think of yourself as a playoff team.”

REPORT CARD VS. JETS

–PASSING OFFENSE: B plus. Derek Carr completed 23 of 36 passes for 333 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 130.9. Michael Crabtree had seven receptions for 102 yards and a 36-yard touchdown. Andre Holmes had two receptions for 54 yards and both were for scores. Only some three-and-out sequences in the second half brought down the grade.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: B plus. Latavius Murray rushed for 113 yards on 20 carries as the Raiders finished with 118 on 25 attempts, gaining steady ground against the NFL’s third-ranked rush defense and perfectly balancing their offense. The Raiders did much of their damage to the left side, including runs of 26 and 25 yards by Murray.

–PASS DEFENSE: B minus. Charles Woodson had his fifth interception of the season but for the most part the Raiders allowed the Jets to compile short- to medium-distance completions while rallying up to make tackles. Cornerbacks Neiko Thorpe and David Amerson each had seven tackles and a pair of passes defensed.

–RUN DEFENSE: A. Leading rusher Chris Ivory had 17 yards on 15 carries and was stopped for no gain or losses seven times. The Jets rushed for 74 yards, but got 46 of those on scrambles from quarterbacks Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith, including a 29-yard run by Smith. The Jets had just four first downs rushing.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: B. Raiders’ coverage units continued to be excellent, with no punt return over six yards and no kickoff return over 21. The Raiders, meanwhile, had a 41-yard kickoff return by Taiwan Jones and Marquette King had a 41.7 net on three punts with one inside the 20-yard line. Sebastian Janikowski missed a 52-yard field-goal attempt but later connected from 52 and 47.

–COACHING: A. The Raiders seemed more ready in this game than in any other in the Jack Del Rio regime, targeting their strengths to negate what the Jets did well and utilizing fearless, unpredictable play-calling to keep the Jets off-balance all day. One of the NFL’s top defenses was on its heels all day. Defensively, the Raiders stayed true to their strengths (run defense, rallying up on pass defense) and it dovetailed perfectly with the offensive plan.