This is in the running for the oddest week of our weekly power rankings round-up series. The Monday Night Football win against the Broncos had a couple of outlets have massive jumps for the Raiders, but then everyone else ended up staying put at 31.
It hasn’t been very common for any team to have a dominant, well balanced win like the Raiders had last week to not budge in the upcoming week’s rankings, but that’s exactly what happened for 6 out of 8 outlets we cover. Meanwhile, the other two that did move the Raiders up did so emphatically with being ranked a very surprising 23rd and 24th, respectively.
Not budging in the rankings after that win seems odd, but moving them up all the way to 23rd or 24th over it in the 2nd to last week of season is equally weird. Here is the kicker though, the average of 29.125 actually ends up being right where they probably actually do belong!
Strange times, indeed.
SB Nation (Arrowhead Pride True Rankings)
Rank: 31
Last Week: 31
NFL.com
Rank: 24
Last Week: 29
"Don't look now, but the early season laughingstocks have put together three wins over their last six games. The Raiders also closed out their Oakland story ... we think ... with a win. That is deeply important to a faithful fan base that stretches from coast to coast. At one point in the 1980s, this proud franchise was the winningest team in professional sports, let alone the NFL. The stadium itself has seen many historic games, from the 1969 AFL title game (a classic battle with the Chiefs to become the last AFL representative to play in the Super Bowl) to the 1976 AFC Championship Game. That win propelled John Madden's Raiders to their first Super Bowl triumph. Jon Gruden's version won the 2002 AFC championship in Oakland, sending the Raiders to their fifth Super Bowl appearance. While not a fan of franchise musical chairs, here's hoping the Oakland/Las Vegas/Wherever Raiders build off their sterling performance Monday night. Old Man Willie."
ESPN
Rank: 31
Last Week: 31
"Non-QB MVP: TE Jared Cook. The veteran is enjoying what is by far his finest NFL season ... in his 10th year in the league. Entering Monday night's game against the Broncos, the 31-year-old Cook has already set career highs in catches (63), receiving yards (848) and receiving TDs (6) and leads Oakland in all three categories. Cook, who was one of the Raiders' biggest Pro Bowl snubs, has already been called the team MVP by coach Jon Gruden. -- Paul Gutierrez"
SI.com
Rank: 31
Last Week: 31
The Washington Post
Rank: 23
Last Week: 31
"The Raiders bid farewell (perhaps) to Oakland by actually playing like a legitimate NFL team Monday night."
Yahoo!
Rank: 31
Last Week: 31
"If that was it for the Raiders in Oakland, the fans there deserved that final home win."
Bleacher Report
Rank: 31
Last Week: 31
"On Monday night in Oakland, fans of the Raiders got a bittersweet gift from the team.
Hope, in what may be the last game played at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
In pounding the Denver Broncos, the Raiders continued a mini-surge of sorts over the last month. The Raiders were terrible last week in Cincinnati, but the week before that, they stunned the Steelers in Oakland. The week before that, Oakland gave the Kansas City Chiefs all they could handle.
There's hope that maybe hiring Jon Gruden wasn't the major disaster it appeared to be not too long ago. That Gruden has a plan. And that including quarterback Derek Carr in that plan (as opposed to starting over under center) is a viable option.
Make no mistake—the Raiders are a bad team with holes aplenty on both sides of the ball. But the Raiders also have more draft capital in 2019 than any team in the NFL.
It's going to be an interesting 2019 offseason in—wherever the Raiders wind up playing."
Sporting News
Rank: 31
Last Week: 31
"The Raiders have been doing a few more things worthy of respect at the end of Jon Gruden’s first return season. Derek Carr looks like more than a passable QB again and they just closed their time at the Coliseum in style."
Average Ranking: 29.125
Last Week: 30.75
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