Raiders offense sputters, but there's a silver lining

For 3 1/2 quarters, the Las Vegas Raiders offense could not get going Monday night.

Raiders backup QB Desmond Ridder got the start in place of Aidan O'Connell, who has a knee injury. Ridder had hoped to get back at the Atlanta Falcons for letting him go before the season.

Instead, the Raiders offense sputtered early and often. It showed life toward the end of the game and had a chance to pull out the win, but a Hail Mary attempt was denied when Jessie Bates intercepted Ridder to seal a 15-9 win at Allegiant Stadium.

The Raiders did not score a touchdown until the fourth quarter, when Ameer Abdullah scored on a five-yard pass from Ridder. Las Vegas' offense only mustered 184 yards passing and 65 rushing yards.

There's a silver lining in the loss, however, as Las Vegas dropped to 2-12 and holds the top spot in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Many mock drafts, including Tankathon's, have the Raiders selecting Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, who has thrown for 3926 yards and 35 TDs this season. He has one game remaining, the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28 against BYU.

The Raiders, New York Giants (2-12), New England Patriots (3-11), Jacksonville Jaguars (3-11) and Carolina Panthers (3-11) round out the top five in the current draft order.