Raiders face must-win against Chiefs
The Oakland Raiders are facing something that no contenders wants to see in October, or even November for that matter; a must-win.
Oakland is sitting at 2-4 after beating beaten on a last-second, game-winning Nick Novak field goal, sending a sellout Oakland Coliseum crowd out of their seats both bewildered and disappointed. For much of the offseason, the talk was that the Raiders were poised to overtake the AFC West and win the division for the first time since 2002, back when they went to Super Bowl XXXVII against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Oakland started out the season well enough, winning its first two games against the Tennessee Titans and New York Jets, putting it in a tie for first place atop the division with the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs. Since then, everything has come undone for Oakland, which has lost four consecutive games to the Washington Redskins, Broncos, Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers.
The result is a 2-4 start and a last-place seat at the table, with a Thursday night game looming against the Chiefs.
On the positive side, Derek Carr returned from three transverse process breaks and while he wasn’t great (171 yards and two interceptions), he’s still better than EJ Manuel. Additionally, they get the Chiefs on a short week, at home, in a desperate situation.
On the negative side, Kansas City is coming off its first loss of the season, a 19-13 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and stands to be a furious team. To make matters worse, the Chiefs are 5-1 and arguably the best team in football. Finally, Kansas City has beaten Oakland each of the four times the two have played since Jack Del Rio was named head coach.
At this juncture, there’s nothing left to be said about the standings. Barring some sort of colossal collapse, the Chiefs are going to win the West. For Oakland, it’s about trying to get righted and finding a way to make the playoffs via the wild card route. If the Raiders want any hope of that, it is going to take a finish along the lines of 7-3 or maybe even 8-2.
Of course, neither of those records will be easy to attain, considering the Raiders have to play Kansas City twice, along with a neutral site game against the New England Patriots, and road trips to face the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins. There are also road games against the Miami Dolphins (on Sunday Night Football) and the Los Angeles Chargers, albeit in Week 17.
The Raiders still have a chance to accomplish some of their goals from the summer, but a loss on Thursday night to their most-hated rival might spell the end of them.
