The Las Vegas Raiders continue to plummet in just about every power rankings that have been released this week, and the version published this week by The Athletic was no exception. Chad Graff and Josh Kendall did the honors, and the theme of this one was the best-case scenario for each team.
That’s not an easy thing to come up with for the Raiders, but Graff and Kendall gave it a worthy shot. They were ranked 31st by The Athletic, and the best case was clarity with their decision making, which would be a welcome development if it ever actually happens.
They also pointed out that the Raiders offense didn’t look much better without fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly calling the plays, after his firing led to questions about the organizational structure.
The plays won’t work regardless of who’s calling them if the offensive line can’t block, and that’s been one of the Raiders biggest problems since third or fourth game of the season.
The Raiders managed just 156 yards of total offense Sunday, and somehow that wasn’t their lowest output of the season. That stat from Graff and Kendall is a jaw-dropper, so some subsequent work seemed in order.
It didn’t take long to find more embarrassment. Las Vegas had under 200 yards of offense in their 10-7 loss to the Denver Broncos if you subtract out the sack yardage, which is always a key thing to do with the Raiders.
The worst game mentioned by Graff and Kendall happened against the Kansas City Chiefs a few weeks ago, and in that one the Raiders didn’t even break 100 yards of offense as they were shut out 31-0. If the Raiders were playing soccer, the sad truth is that they’d probably be relegated by now.
The rematch with the Broncos happens on Sunday at home, and this one promises to look more like a Denver home game than one the Raiders are hosting. Yardage will once again be hard to come by, and just the thought of the sack numbers the Broncos could post is horrifying.
As for the organizational clarity, it doesn’t look to be coming any time soon. Raiders owner Mark Davis seems content to sit on his hands while coach Pete Carroll scapegoats his assistants by firing them, so we’ll likely have to wait until Black Monday at the end of the NFL season to see what the definition of clarity is going to look like this time around.
Oh, and by the way, the Raiders are now officially eliminated from playoff contention. Happy Holidays!