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ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Two years after starting the season with 10 straight losses, the Oakland Raiders head into their bye week in a far different place: first place.Fresh off a 30-20 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos that left them all alone in first in the AFC West, the Raiders now get the chance to rest up a bit before the stretch run of a season they hope will include playoff games for the first time since 2002.After building a strong record with wins against some of the lesser regarded teams, the Raiders (7-2) stamped their arrival as legitimate contenders with a complete victory over the Broncos on a prime-time stage.The offense controlled the line of scrimmage and ran for 218 yards, Derek Carr made key plays in the passing game, the defense shut down Denvers run game and harassed Trevor Siemian all night and even the special teams got into the act with two punts downed at the 2, prompting celebratory dances from punter Marquette King .I think it was closest, coach Jack Del Rio said Monday when asked whether his team put together a complete game. I think all three phases certainly contributed in the game. They had really good moments, all three. We see a lot of things that can be better. Thats what were going to keep working at. I dont know if you ever reach that perfect performance youre striving for anyway but there are things we need to clean up, that we need to be better at.Seeking improvement after a big win is a far cry from where this franchise was as recently as 2014. Oakland started that season 0-10 -- firing coach Dennis Allen after four games -- and was often not even competitive in games during Carrs rookie season.But after showing progress by winning seven games last year in Del Rios first season, the Raiders are putting it all together in 2016 and look like one of the top teams in the AFC even if they see plenty of room for growth.We have so much we can do and we see that we can do it, Carr said. We cant work on it all at once. We have to just build, but were trying.Carr has been a big reason for the rebuilding job. He has improved in each of his three seasons and has thrown for 2,505 yards with 17 TDs and only three interceptions so far this season.But he has gotten plenty of help from an offensive line that mauled Denvers heralded front to clear holes for Latavius Murray and the backs, big-play receivers in Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree and a defense that has improved significantly in recent weeks after getting torched the first few.Thats all part of the winning culture Del Rio is trying to instill.Im pretty straight forward about it with the staff and with the players about what were looking for and what championship football looks like, he said. Were just going to push for it. It takes time to develop and to grow. The good news is weve recognized where these areas are yet were winning. Being able to win and put that big smile on your face, go home and feel good about things, lay your head down at night but wake up in the morning knowing you have work to do and there are things that must improve.The Raiders hope to get a boost from the bye with players like right tackle Menelik Watson and cornerback Sean Smith able to heal up from injuries, other key veterans getting needed rest and some potential help on the front seven from two players who have been missing all year.Linebacker Aldon Smith said last week he hopes to be able to return when his one-year suspension for violating the leagues substance abuse policy ends Nov. 17.Smith still must get reinstated by the league and Del Rio is not counting on anything at this point.Defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr. seems like a better bet to return. He has been out since training camp with a hip injury but could be able to return to practice soon and provided needed help for both the pass rush and run defense.The unknown part, I just leave that over there in that category and were not going to wait for that, Del Rio said. What weve got to do is continue to grow, got to continue to do the things that helped us play better defensively the last several weeks and continue to be better.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFLMike Gesicki Jersey . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Reshad Jones Jersey . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. 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Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days.SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- After getting run over for three straight weeks by backs such as Ezekiel Elliott, David Johnson and LeSean McCoy, the beleaguered San Francisco 49ers run defense may have caught a needed break.Tampa Bay back Doug Martin suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury and might not be able to make it back in time for the Buccaneers (2-3) to play Sunday in San Francisco (1-5).It might not matter much since the Niners also allowed 100-yard games by lesser backs such as Fozzy Whitaker and Christine Michael during a five-game run of futility on run defense that has San Francisco on pace to allow the most yards rushing in a season since the 1985 Houston Oilers.Were all stunned, safety Antoine Bethea said. We havent been playing to our potential, havent been playing to the standard we set for ourselves.Things might have bottomed out last week in Buffalo when McCoy ran for 140 yards and three TDs and the Bills gained 312 yards in all on the ground in the second-worst rushing defense performance in 49ers history.Quite frankly, Im embarrassed by what happened on this past Sunday, defensive coordinator Jim ONeil said.While missing Martin could be a break for San Francisco, backup Jacquizz Rodgers is coming off the best game of his career with 30 carries for 101 yards two weeks ago against Carolina.That was the first time all season that the Bucs topped 100 yards rushing as a team in a game.Your run game gets better if you run it more, Tampa Bay coach Dirk Koetter said. Youve got to make yards, youve got to have efficient runs and youve got to be moving the chains. If youre doing that and youre running it more and youre repeating runs, your line and your backs both have a tendency to get stronger as you go.Here are some other things to watch on Sunday:KAP, PART 2: Colin Kaepernick made his first start at quarterback for the 49ers in nearly a year last week. He went 8-for-11 for 135 yards in the first half against the Bills, but struggled in the second half when he was just 5-for-18 for 52 yards and took three sacks. Kaepernick did show flashes as a scrambler with 66 yards rushing on eight carries, but knows its a fine line of when to stay in the pocket and when to run.There were a couple times that I wish I would have hung in a little bit more, but those are always split-second decisions that its aalways easier to look back and say, `I should have done this.dddddddddddd I should have done that, he said.NO ACTION FOR JACKSON: The Bucs will be without receiver Vincent Jackson, who was placed on IR this week with an injured left knee. The three-time Pro Bowler had 15 catches for 173 yards in five games this season. His absence will allow defenses to pay even more attention to star receiver Mike Evans.When you lose a guy like Vincent to your team, he means a lot to our team because of the kind of pro he is, the kind of player he is and the kind of man he is, Koetter said.The Bucs do hope to get defensive tackle Gerald McCoy back from a calf injury that forced him to miss the previous game.THIN BACKFIELD: The Niners also could be without their starting back with Carlos Hyde expected to miss the game with a shoulder injury. That will leave the running duties mostly to Mike Davis and Shaun Draughn. Davis averages just 1.7 yards per carry on 47 career runs, while Draughn averages just 2.1 yards per carry this season and 3.3 in his career.BAY AREA DEBUT: Bucs QB Jameis Winston is set to play his first game ever in the San Francisco Bay area. But if he had to do it all over again, he might be more familiar with the region. Winston was accepted to Stanford out of high school and visited the school, but decided to sign with Florida State instead. Despite winning a Heisman Trophy and national championship with the Seminoles, Winston said in retrospect he might have chosen differently.Stanford is a great school, he said. You are who you put yourself around. Id have loved the opportunity to go to Stanford and be with some of my friends out there.RIGHT THE SHIP: After the Niners opened the season with a 28-0 home win over the Rams, little has gone right for first-year coach Chip Kelly. The team has lost five straight games for the first time since 2010 and is in danger of its first-six game skid since 2008, which led to Mike Nolans firing.The deal in this league is everything being so close, its in the details, Kelly said. 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