There’s still time to turn things around if you’re the Las Vegas Raiders, but as it stands, the team is near the bottom of the barrel in the grand scheme of things.
While most within Raider Nation are fully aware of the team’s struggles this season, one can’t help but look at the standings. In terms of the AFC West, the Raiders are now in fourth place with a 2-4 record. The Kansas City Chiefs will likely finish out at the top once again while the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos duke it for the riches associated with second place. For the Raiders, it appears to be a lost season.
Well, the outlook depends on who you talk to. Some feel that the Raiders need to bottom out in order to pick up their future quarterback at next year’s NFL draft. If you’re one of those people, you might actually be in luck as the team heads into Week 7.
Raiders currently rank 29 out of 32…
We all know about the relationship between Pro Football Focus and Raiders fans. Particularly during this past offseason, it appeared that the publication was biased towards the Raiders. In hindsight, it’s possible that they were simply pointing out all the flaws that many in Raider Nation were ignoring. Fast forward to now, and everything’s coming to fruition (for PFF, at least) as the Raiders are struggling mightily.
PFF’s Thomas Valentine summed it up well while ranking the Raiders 29th out of all 32 NFL teams recently.
“The Raiders were blown out by the Steelers in Aidan O’Connell’s first start of the season, falling to 2-4. Regardless of who’s under center, the offense will struggle. Las Vegas is 30th in EPA per play (-0.206) and has the seventh-toughest remaining schedule. It’s not going to get easier.”
Not to sound bleak toward head coach Antonio Pierce and the rest of the coaching staff, but Valentine’s right; it’s not getting any easier. Neither Aidan O’Connell nor Gardner Minshew give you much in the way of trying to win a game—rather, you simply hope that they won’t make mistakes. That’s where we are right now.
Of note, PFF also gave the Raiders a less than nine percent chance of making the playoffs at this juncture (8.43). Maybe it’s time to start firing up the mock drafts, no?
*Top Photo: Las Vegas Sun
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