The Las Vegas Raiders lost what some fans would call the “toilet bowl” in Week 17, losing 34-10 to the New York Giants.
Both teams entered the week with a 2-13 record, and the loser would have the inside track to securing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 National Football League Draft. There’s still a chance that the Giants can get the first pick, but the Raiders would have to beat the Kansas City Chiefs and the Giants would have to lose to the Dallas Cowboys in the final week of the regular season.
Given all of Kansas City’s injuries, especially to their first- and second-string quarterbacks, it will be a lot easier to knock off the Chiefs. But, Las Vegas has shut down several key players as well and they haven’t looked good all season except for their Week 1 win over the New England Patriots.
Who would have thought that the Patriots would be 13-3 and the Raiders would be 2-14 going into Week 18? The Raiders are in position to select first in the draft, and the Patriots are fighting for the No. 1 seed in the American Football Conference. New England’s loss to the Raiders in Week 1 may have an impact on the final playoff-seeding.
“This was probably the least representative game of the season in terms of the result and what it suggested about the future -- but it made an impact,” ESPN’s Bill Barnwell wrote Monday. “Geno Smith threw for 362 yards in his first start with the Raiders, Brock Bowers ran off an easy 103-yard game before leaving with a tweaked knee, and a Pete Carroll-led defense held Drake Maye and the Patriots to 13 points. This seemed like a game between teams hoping to surprise with a potential wild-card berth in the AFC, and the Raiders had struck the first blow.”
Raiders head coach Pete Carroll had playoff aspirations in year one, and after the 1-0 start, he thought that goal would be accomplished. Instead, the team won just one game in the last four months.
“Of course, these teams have gone in drastically different directions since. Bowers spent two months trying to get right, and the offense never recovered. Smith and Carroll are likely to be one-and-done in Las Vegas. The Patriots quickly turned things around, and with the help of one of the easiest schedules in modern NFL history, they've gone 13-3 and won the AFC East with a week to spare.”
Barnwell notes that despite this game being played to start the season, it had huge implications for the No. 1 seed in the conference. The Denver Broncos are tied with the Patriots at 13-3, but the Broncos hold the tiebreaker. If both teams match each other next week, the Broncos will secure the first-round bye.