The Las Vegas Raiders are still looking for their first win, and they have been looking in all the wrong places.
The Raiders swept their four preseason games, they played the three preseason weeks and the Hall of Fame Game, under new head coach Josh McDaniels. That buoyed their prospects of building on last year’s success that included a playoff berth. Few things are more bitter for a good team than winning all their preseason games and then getting tripped up when the games count in the regular season.
The Raiders opened their campaign at the Los Angeles Chargers, and Los Angeles played their best game of the season while downing the visitors 24-19. In second week action, the Raiders were favored at home against the Arizona Cardinals and looked to be on their way to a victory before a furious fourth quarter rally by Arizona knotted the score at 23 and sent the game into overtime.
The Raiders looked like they were going to win there too, but a fumble returned for a Cardinals touchdown sealed the Silver and Black’s fate in a 29-23 loss. Again favored last week, against a winless Tennessee Titans squad, the Raiders lost on the road in a close one, 24-22.
So what gives with the Raiders?
Weren’t they supposed to be better than this?
Yes, they were, but no they’re not.
The Raiders losses have all been winnable contests, and they were favored in their two most recent setbacks against the Cardinals and Titans. Would it be rude here to mention to the Las Vegas fans that the Cardinals and Titans only have one win each this year, and those victories came against the Silver and Black?
Yeah, probably.
So, do we take the Raiders on Sunday when they host the Denver Broncos with confidence they aren’t going to lose four in a row?
This also just may be the wrong place for the Raiders to find their first win. The Broncos are arguably the better team with an offense that is now under the direction of a future Hall of Fame quarterback, Russell Wilson. The longtime Seattle Seahawks starter has not played up to his lofty standards during the first three weeks of NFL action. But, his team has managed to win two games since they lost a nail-biter in the opening Monday Night Football telecast, 17-16, to Wilson’s former team.
Here is what we have on Sunday when these two teams square off in Sin City. The Raiders are favored for the third straight week while still looking for their first win. Conversely, the Broncos were double-digit favorites when they met the Houston Texans two weeks ago and underdogs at home last Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers. In other words, the Broncos have won as both a favorite and underdog and the Raiders have failed on both counts.
So, why are the Raiders favored this week?
Because the guys with the pocket protectors and horn rim glasses figure there is no way the Raiders are going to fall to 0-4 while the Broncos dart three games ahead of them in the AFC West Division standings.
What that rationale fails to recognize is that the Broncos are not seeing themselves in competition with the Raiders, but the two other teams in the division that have wins, the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers.
Here is the rub, when a team is looking for their first win and can hide behind the fact that they were close in their losses, it wreaks havoc with their motivational juices. It would be best for Las Vegas if they lose one big and then return as a motivated underdog.
That is not the situation here. The Raiders are favored, bet-on this week, and expect that their first victory is just 60 minutes of game clock away.
It’s not.
Not against an inspired Broncos team with the challenge to keep the Raiders winless and getting points on the spread in that quest.
Qoxhi Picks: Denver Broncos (+2½) over Las Vegas Raiders