To say coach Tom Cable is a glass-half-full kind of guy is stating the obvious. Raiders owner Al Davis isn't talking, so for now Cable is the only guy doing the pouring.
So, yes, please fill it to the brim with optimism after a 1-2 start.
Oakland lost a crusher last week, 24-23 at Arizona when Sebastian Janikowski missed a 32-yard field goal as time expired. But Cable, coaching as if there is no next season, has continued to preach the positive.
"We've done got over the hump,"
he said. "We're no longer soft or not tough or can't come from behind. ... Hell, we spotted them a touchdown and answered it right away and kept on playing.
"I like the mentality of our team a ton."
Fans aren't convinced yet, and many point to Sunday's home game against the 2-1 Texans to provide a true indicator of where this team is. Roughly 720 members of the Raider Nation responded to our poll on Twitter, and 42 percent said, yes, Oakland is over the hump and will win more than five games for the first time in eight years.
But 31 percent disagreed, and 27 percent said they need to see what happens against a talented Texans squad first.
Many fans are staying away Sunday, the ninth straight home blackout, because they are priced out ($33 for parking ... really?). Others need more proof that Cable has things turned around.
They like the direction in which the offense is headed. Running back Darren McFadden is reborn, and quarterback Bruce Gradkowski has shown much more pocket presence than Jason Campbell did the first two games.
The Raiders have at least 20 first downs (21, 25 and 20) in each of their first three games, their longest in-season run of 20-plus games since 2002.
Gradkowski is attacking defenses deep. And now he faces a Houston defense that is last in the NFL with 369 yards passing allowed per game.
The offensive line - which will be without guard Robert Gallery (hamstring) again Sunday - hasn't seen anyone taken off in a cart in a month and is working hard. Especially if a lineman's number is called for a false start penalty in a game.
"We'll make guys run after practice for getting those penalties,"
cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said.
The linemen aren't alone in their search for discipline, as the Raiders lead the league in penalties (33) and yards penalized (290).
"The defense is doing some extra conditioning,"
Cable said. "It's something that they have to take ownership of."
The defense has allowed the second-fewest yards in the NFL but has allowed teams to score seven touchdowns in eight opportunities inside the 20-yard line. Asomugha, glass half full for now, points out that with five new starters on defense, there is still a learning curve.
"It will definitely get better the more we do it,"
he said.
The pass rush could get better against Houston left tackle Rashad Butler. Butler, in his first start for suspended Duane Brown, gave up three sacks and two more tackles for loss against Dallas last week.
It's one of the many things working in Oakland's favor Sunday. Another is the fact that Houston - in an unfamiliar road-favorite role - might be overconfident, having won three of its four games against Oakland the last four years.
"Any game at this point is big for us,"
Asomugha said. "We're in another must-win."
And that's the truth, all talk of optimism and humps aside.
