Power rankings system devised and compiled weekly by Stemshul. “Expert” analysis by paradroid.

Back with another edition of our NFL power rankings! How about them Raiders?!? First, the elephant in the room: “Chucky” Gruden resigned after the investigation into WFT’s workplace culture issues (which resulted in a $10 million dollar fine and owner Daniel Snyder to step down from his day-to-day role for the team) uncovered email correspondence between then Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden and then Washington team president Bruce Allen which included some…um..questionable language. Initially the only reported comment referred to Demaurice Smith, head of the NFLPA, as a liar and used a racial stereotype to describe him. This was explained away by Gruden as the way he always refers to liars and he didn’t intend offense. This explanation seemed pretty weak at the time, but when it was followed up later that week by further emails which used racist, homophobic, and misogynist language all the way up to 2018, the pressure on Gruden cranked up and he resigned, leaving over $60 million from his 10 year 100 million dollar contract behind.

Now Las Vegas has turned to interim coach Rich Bisaccia in the wake of Gruden’s departure and so far they have won both contests. The competition wasn’t the toughest, as neither the Broncos (three way tie for 18th in our rankings) nor the Eagles (22nd) are having great years, but you can only play who is on the schedule. This week’s bye comes at an opportune time for the Raiders. After next week’s game against the Giants (#26), the schedule gets a little tougher with games against Kansas City (yes, only #17, but they’re still the Chiefs), Cincinnati (#10), and Dallas (#5). Derek Carr has been very good in the last two weeks (18-27 for 341 yards and 2 TDs against the Broncos and 31-34 for 323 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 interception against the Eagles), but historically has struggled against pressure. Although Denver has an excellent defense (#5 in yards allowed at 323.4 and #4 in points allowed at 18.1) , they only managed 2 sacks and 3 QB hits on Carr, who had plenty of time to go deep with decent accuracy (12.6 yards per attempt and a 66.7% completion percentage). This allowed the Raiders to roll up 426 yards and 34 points against the Broncos. Philadelphia’s defense is a little more pedestrian (#17 in yards allowed at 360.7 and #24 in points allowed at 26.4) and the result was unsurprising. The Eagles only managed 2 QB hits and zero sacks, perhaps in part because Carr chose to go shorter down the field (9.5 yards per attempt, still a very high number). The strategy worked well, as Carr’s 91.1% completion percentage was the best of his career and the second best ever with at least 30 attempts (you guessed it, Brees is #1 with 96.7%). The result was the same; Las Vegas gained 442 yards and scored 33 points. The Raiders, like most NFL teams, will rise or fall in step with the performance of their quarterback, so this is Carr’s chance to show he can be included in conversations about the top tier of QBs.

In Detroit, the result was the same: another loss. But this game against the Rams was all kinds of fun to watch. The Lions came out swinging, with a perfectly executed screen pass that went for a 63 yard D’Andre Swift touchdown on the first drive. Then a surprise successful onside kick led to a field goal an Detroit was up 10-0 after 8 minutes. The fun continued in with two (!) successful fake punts and a 13-10 halftime lead. Goff was playing well and had a few beautiful throws along with playing mistake free football. But the Lions, despite out-gaining the Rams 415 to 374, couldn’t quite keep it going. A failed 4th down conversion at the opponent’s 18 yard line and a key interception in L.A.’s end zone down 25-19 with 9 minutes left in the game cost the Lions a chance for their first win this year. But despite the loss, I was encouraged. Campbell continues to get the team to play hard for him and the team had a clear game plan to minimize L.A.’s possessions and opportunities, which it executed (Lions had 54.4% of the ball despite playing a clearly superior offense). He also took responsibility for the failed 4th down and the play call on that key interception, which I like to see. Blaming players rarely works long term, and the first year head coach’s honesty about his own shortcomings makes his honesty about the failures of the players (such as asking Goff to step up during the week) ring true. The Lions have had a tough schedule so far, but next week’s Eagles game is their easiest game yet this year, so I’m hoping we can grab a win to take some pressure off the team.

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