One surefire way out of the cellar of the power rankings is to beat one of the other teams that are battling for that bottom spot. This is exactly what Jon Gruden and the Raiders have done by beating a bad Arizona Cardinals team that has no taken the mantle as the consensus worst team in the power rankings. The Raiders didn’t exactly shoot up the rankings with their highest ranking being 29th, but not a single outlet left them at 32 this week after being ranking unanimously at 32 last week.
SBNation.com
Rank: 31
Last Week: 32
NFL.com
Rank: 30
Last Week: 32
"Congratulations to the Raiders and Jon Gruden, who, following the late field goal, looked like a man seeing his bathroom for the first time after two weeks out camping. So many Oakland players can claim a piece of the win over Arizona. Jalen Richard made hay running and in the air game. Doug Martin picked up 52 rushing yards in part-time duty. Jared Cook found the end zone again. How about Marcell Ateman, catching four balls for 50 yards in his first NFL action? And a major tip of the silver-and-black helmet to Derek Carr, who mastered the pressure to move the offense into field-goal range in 1:53. Carr has absorbed much flak this season, including a mouthful from his coach this past weekend, but he showed plenty of professional pride in a season going nowhere."
ESPN
Rank: 31
Last Week: 32
"Thankful for: A second victory in 10 wild, injury-filled, star-crossed games. While the Raiders' 23-21 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday improved Oakland's record to 2-8, it also decreased the team's chances of "winning" the No. 1 overall draft pick, which would go a long way in helping the team's reconstruction project. With a loss against the Cardinals, the Raiders would have had a 73 percent chance of landing the top pick, per ESPN's Football Power Index. By beating Arizona, those chances dropped to 22 percent. Still, victory is the ultimate deodorant, and things were rank in Oakland -- until the Raiders made a Thanksgiving turkey out of the Cardinals. -- Paul Gutierrez"
SI.com
Rank: 31
Last Week: 32
"The Raiders were our unanimous last place team last week, but nobody wanted to rank them 32nd coming off of a win. So three other teams got last-place votes, but not the Raiders."
The Washington Post
Rank: 29
Last Week: 32
"How would it have been possible to lose to the Cardinals?"
Yahoo!
Rank: 31
Last Week: 32
"It’s important over the rest of this season to find some young talent, and receiver Marcell Ateman might be a good one. The seventh-round pick had four catches for 50 yards in his debut, including the key 32-yard grab on Oakland’s game-winning drive. Veteran Brandon LaFell is done for the season with an Achilles injury, so Oakland can get a long look at the big-bodied Ateman the rest of the year."
Bleacher Report
Rank: 31
Last Week: 32
"At this point in the 2018 season, head coach Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders are searching for any positives they can cling to while the season falls apart around them.
To be fair, there were a few from Sunday's win over the Arizona Cardinals—the biggest of which was that Oakland, you know, won.
Quarterback Derek Carr had his best game in a while, throwing two touchdown passes and posting a passer rating of over 100.
The Raiders were able to run the ball, piling up 152 yards on the ground and averaging 4.6 yards a carry.
Oakland actually outgained its opponent for once. Had a better conversion rate on third down. Won the turnover battle. And had fewer penalties.
Granted, that all came against an Arizona team that's just as lousy as the Raiders this season.
But hey, at this point, Chucky will take what he can get."
Sporting News
Rank: 31
Last Week: 32
"The Raiders did not look great in the desert with more Derek Carr-Jon Gruden dissension. But they actually made some changes that helped, and they didn't quit, so that’s at least something of which the coach can be proud, right?"
Average Rank: 30.625
Last Week: 32
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