Raiders Try to Avoid Another Collapse

After another fast start to the season has slowed, the Las Vegas Raiders’ game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night at Allegiant Stadium might be the biggest of the year to date based on the way the Silver and Black has stumbled after getting out of the gate quickly in the last two years.

And this is about the time things started to unravel.

The Raiders (5-3) won their first three games this season before losing two in a row, but then claimed two more victories until last week’s disappointing loss to the New York Giants, and are tied for first in the AFC West with the Los Angeles Chargers.

There’s no embarrassment in losing to the Chargers (5-3), but the Raiders should have found a way to beat the Bears (3-6) and the Giants (3-6).

Of course, in the last month the Raiders have had to deal with losing Coach Jon Gruden, wide receiver Henry Ruggs III and cornerback Damon Arnette because of unsavory off-the-field incidents.

Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia has done his best to keep the Silver and Black heading in the right direction.

“The team you start the season with isn’t always the one you end with,” Raiders owner Mark Davis said recently. “Look at the season-ending injuries to (New Orleans Saints quarterback) Jameis Winston and (Tennessee) Titans running back) Derrick Henry.

“So while we’re excited to be where we are, we have (nine) games left.”

In a recent poll, ESPN’s 32 beat writers were asked to give their end-of-year records for their respective teams. For the Raiders, their prediction was 9-8 and that probably would mean barely missing the playoffs again.

“9-8: Same prediction as entering the season, though this would be a bit of a downturn after that surprising 5-2 start,” the ESPN story read.

The 2019 Raiders were 6-4, riding a three-game winning streak, and had won five of their last seven games when they went into a tailspin, lost four straight and five of their last six games to finish 7-9, and out of the playoff picture.

It was more of the same last season.

The 2020 Raiders were 6-3 and on another three-game winning streak, had won four of their last five, and again they're looking like a possible playoff team. But then they lost five of their last seven games to finish 8-8 and were again on the outside looking in.

The last time the Raiders reached the playoffs was 2016 when they went 12-4 under Coach Jack Del Rio, but quarterback Derek Carr sustained a broken right leg in a 33-25 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the next-to-last game of the regular season.

With backups Connor Cook and Matt McGloin replacing Carr at quarterback, the Denver Broncos trounced the Raiders, 24-6, in the regular-season finale and the Houston Texans beat them, 27-14, in the first round of the playoffs.

The NFL has gone to a 17-game season this year, so the Raiders would have to go 7-2 in their last nine games to get to 12-5, which should get them back to the post-season—but it’s not going to be easy.

The Raiders have two games left against the arch-rival Chiefs (5-4) after splitting with them last season, and also will play the Cincinnati Bengals (5-4), Dallas Cowboys (6-2), the Washington Football Team (2-6), the Cleveland Browns (5-4), the Broncos (5-4), the Colts (4-5) and the Chargers (5-3) the rest of the way.

Las Vegas has shown at times this season that it is good enough to beat all those teams, so even though it might be difficult to reach 12-5, it’s not out of the question.

And it all starts Sunday night against the Chiefs.

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