Raiders face last stand against Patriots

The Oakland Raiders are coming off their bye week, and are going straight into the crux of their season. On Sunday afternoon, Oakland hosts the New England Patriots — albeit in Mexico City. If the Raiders lose, they drop to 4-6 and all but end the competitive phase of their season. If they win, there is hope renewed.

Oakland was supposed to be one of the Super Bowl challengers this season. Last year, the Raiders went 12-4 behind Derek Carr and Khalil Mack, making the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Unfortunately, a broken leg sustained by Carr on Christmas Eve all but ended Oakland’s hope of making any real January noise.

Now, the Raiders need Carr and the rest of his teammates to stand up and be counted in the biggest game this season for the Silver and Black. Oakland is sitting two games out of the AFC West lead, with the Kansas City Chiefs at 6-3. Kansas City is playing the 1-8 New York Giants this weekend, which means that barring a huge upset, a Raiders would drop them three games back with six to play, including a trip to Arrowhead Stadium in Week 14.

Certainly, this isn’t the easiest game for Oakland. The Raiders are a touchdown underdog in most books, despite the neutral setting. They have also had the advantage of being off for a week, but have that rest somewhat negated by the altitude of Mexico City.

New England might be the best team in football once again, sitting at 7-2 and riding high in the AFC East. The Patriots have one of the league’s most prolific offense led by the trio of Tom Brady, Brandin Cooks and Rob Gronkowski, while the defense has steadily improved throughout the campaign.

Should Oakland find a way to win on Sunday, it would go to 5-5 and suddenly be right in the mix for the sixth and final seed in the AFC playoffs. The Baltimore Ravens are currently 4-5 and travel play the Green Bay Packers, while the Buffalo Bills, the AFC’s current No. 6 seed, just benched starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor for Nathan Peterman.

In other words, the team that gets hot over the next month and change will end up in the playoffs, while the other two will be watching with the rest of us. Oakland has as good a shot as any of those teams, especially if it can find a victory abroad.

The rest of the schedule isn’t easy, with trips to Philadelphia and Kansas City looming. That makes this weekend all the more important for a team that went into the summer high on expectations, but with a loss, will end the winter very low on morale.