Raiders Tumble In Latest Round Of NFL Power Rankings

It appears the trapdoor has opened under the Las Vegas Raiders.

After starting the season with power rankings in the upper-20s to low-30s in the 32-team NFL, the Las Vegas Raiders, courtesy of their 3-1 start that included a close loss to the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, had made a steady climb within the league's hierarchy through the first month of the season.

It was easy to see why as Las Vegas was deploying an exciting offense that was averaging 28.8 points per game, while veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins became the first signal-caller in franchise history to throw for three touchdowns in each of the team's first three games.

While the defense was bending some - allowing 21 points per game over the first four weeks - it was also posting some impressive numbers. Chief among those were an NFL-best nine takeaways and a fourth-best sack total of 12, with correspondingly high rankings in the other stats (pressures, hits and hurries) that indicate when a team is making life miserable for opposing quarterbacks.

That all unraveled on Sunday as New England Patriots' quarterback Drake Maye, who had been experiencing a lukewarm start to the season, carved up the Raiders' D, while the offense was stymied all day as the Patriots posted a 45-17 victory.

It got so bad for the Silver-and-Black, that rookie No. 1 draft pick Fernando Mendoza got to experience his first action under center. In one scoreless drive, he went 6-for-8 for 48 yards, and that's not nothing.

Nothing, however, could keep the Raiders from sliding in this week's round of NFL power rankings.

The outlet that had been most kind to the Raiders prior to Sunday's thrashing was Bleacher Report, whose NFL staff had Las Vegas 10th going into Week Five. They now deem them the league's 18th-best team, a rankings-worst drop of eight spots, writing: "Even after consecutive losses, the Las Vegas Raiders are sitting at 3-2. Most Raiders fans would have taken that sort of start to the season....However, things feel a lot different after a blowout loss to the New England Patriots than they felt following last week's close loss to the rival Chiefs."

The Raiders entered the cross-country game at New England ranked 12th, according to Nick Shook of NFL.com. They woke up on Tuesday morning to see that they were now 19th in Shook's mind, a drop of seven spots that was his second-most precipitous of the week (along with the New Orleans Saints) behind only the 10-spot tumble experienced by the Dallas Cowboys following their home loss to the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"The Raiders finally became the overmatched team we expected to see in 2026," according to the writer. "[T]he Raiders have officially encountered their first pothole and will need to divert accordingly in order to sustain the momentum built by a strong start."

The rankers most circumspect of the Raiders prior to Week Five were Chad Graff and Josh Kendall of The Athletic, who had them ranked 13th after four games.

Therefore, it seems a bit curious that they dropped them the fewest amount of places after Sunday's face plant - four to the 17th position - though they weren't particularly kind in their post-game assessment: "The Raiders were exposed Sunday after a strong start to the season, largely on the back of wins over bad teams. But this trip to New England revealed a lot of flaws for Klint Kubiak and company. The defense was a total mess, allowing six touchdowns on 10 real drives."

So, now the Raiders face their first real adversity of the season and the Klint Kubiak regime.

Are they better than last season's NFL-worst 3-14 mess? Surely, but will their record reflect that - and how will the power rankers react - after they complete a brutally difficult schedule over the next six weeks that is littered with potential losses between now and Thanksgiving: Buffalo Bills (home), Los Angeles Rams (home), San Francisco 49ers (away), Seattle Seahawks (home) and Denver Broncos (away)?