MEXICO CITY _ The Raiders have that look of a playoff-caliber team, maybe even more.
When they take the field at Estadio Azteca against the Houston Texans on Monday night, Jon Gruden will watch from the ESPN broadcast booth and see a team reminiscent of the ones he led from 1998-2001.
"I see a lot of similarities," Gruden said on a recent media teleconference. "No. 1, it starts on the offensive line. We liked bigger people than most teams and the offensive line of the Raiders is massive. They're fun to watch."
Offensive lines can often go under the radar, blamed when an offense struggles but not praised often enough when it thrives. This Raiders group is bucking that trend.
When left guard Kelechi Osemele was added in the offseason and left tackle Donald Penn re-signed for two more years, the talk began that the Raiders could have one of the best lines in football. Their refrain at the time was to let their play do the talking.
That's exactly what it's doing. The Raiders are fourth in the league in rushing at 127.8 yards per game and have allowed the fewest sacks in the league, with just 11 through their first nine games. The offensive line was picked as one of Sunday Night Football's players of the game _ with Penn representing the group _ after their 30-20 win over the Denver Broncos two weeks ago.
"I love the fact that they're getting the credit they deserve," said running back Latavius Murray, who already has a career-high eight rushing touchdowns. "It starts with them, so the credit should start with them too."
Pro Bowl linemen Lincoln Kennedy and Steve Wisniewski anchored Gruden's balanced offensive teams that featured Rich Gannon at quarterback and Jerry Rice and Tim Brown at receiver. They also had diverse running backs in Tyrone Wheatley, Napolean Kaufman, Charlie Garner and a bruising fullback in Zack Crockett.
A look at the current crew sees a line with Penn, Osemele and center Rodney Hudson _ all of which could have a shot at the Pro Bowl this season _ protecting Derek Carr as he throws to two terrific receivers in Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. The running game brings size in the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Murray and shiftiness in backups DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard.
In their prime time victory over the defending champion Broncos, the Raiders' strength up front was all on display as they dominated the line of scrimmage and controlled the ball for better than 41 minutes.
Penn said Carr routinely tells the offensive line that it is the engine for this offense and, as Penn points out, "there's no Carr without the engine."
The Texans have a solid defense even without star defensive end J.J. Watt that Penn is "not getting talked about enough." Houston has the fourth-ranked total defense and is third in the league against the pass.
Vince Wilfork has missed the past two games with a groin injury but is likely to return for this one to throw his weight around in the interior. Former No. 1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney is looking more like the player Houston expected and linebackers Whitney Mercilus and John Simon can make plays off the edge. The inside linebacker duo of Benardrick McKinney and Brian Cushing is also strong.
"I think the Raiders offensive line against the Houston Texans defensive line is worth the ticket alone," Gruden said.
The stage is there for the Raiders to make another major statement on national television. After acing their first prime time test, there's a better feeling that this group knows how to be ready for the moment.
"We've been very purposeful in approaching each game one at a time, really understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each opponent," coach Jack Del Rio said. "We have a healthy respect for every team we go against, but we're not fearing anybody. So, it's all about us and our preparation leading up to the game. Whether it's here at home in front of our great fans or whether it's down somewhere else on the road. Even an international setting like Mexico City, which we know will be awesome, but it still comes down to our preparation leading up to playing a good game."
The Raiders channeled the prime time energy well against the Broncos. The offense stayed calm despite the fired up crowd under the lights, but the defense fed off that energy and added to it by producing four straight three-and-outs to open the game.
This game will be a little bit different. A larger crowd of 87,000 should make tons of noise, but the Raiders understand they may not have as much control over keeping them quiet while their offense is at work.
"We kind of expect it to be like a road game for the offense and special teams and home game for the defense in that our crowd is going to be really loud," Del Rio said. "It's going to be loud the whole time regardless of what side of the ball you're on."
