Few owners in professional sports were more identified with their teams than Al Davis and his Oakland Raiders. As coach, general manager and eventually owner, Davis shepherded the franchise from its American Football League days to three Super Bowl titles. And while the Raiders have become something of a joke in recent years — with much of fan and media ire directed at the aging patriarch — it was still a difficult day when Davis passed away at age 82 on Saturday. “There has never been — nor will there ever be — someone that will have [Davis’] perspective that has played so many roles in the National Football League,” NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said. “He is a decisive figure in many ways. He rubbed some people the wrong way, but I can tell you that to sit in a room with Al Davis and talk football with him was unlike anything I’ve ever done.”

The next day, the team he had brought to the pinnacle of pro football — and back down again — won its third game of the season, a 25-20 victory over the Houston Texans. And for the first time since losing Super Bowl XXXVII to Tampa Bay in January 2003, Oakland looks like it has a legitimate shot at a playoff berth. The Raiders have done that only six times since 1986. To improve to 3-2 with a road win over a team expected to make the playoffs? Let’s just say coach Hue Jackson — a former Redskins assistant under both Marty Schotteneheimer (2001) and Steve Spurrier (2002-03) — gained his team some positive buzz during a difficult time.

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“After such an emotional week, keeping these guys focused, going on the road and winning in a hostile environment,” NBC analyst Rodney Harrison said. “I played in Houston, and it’s very difficult to win there.”