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NFL Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders Still Favorites For Top Pick Despite Win

By @Kramerica100

Getty Images

Getty Images

The Oakland Raiders put an end to any chance of a winless season by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday. But other than avoiding a spot next the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, what does this win even mean? It must feel good for the players in the locker room, but could it cost them the No. 1 overall selection in next year’s draft?

The win certainly makes the race for the top pick more interesting, although the Raiders are still the clear favorites to get it.

Oakland’s biggest competition will come from the Jacksonville Jaguars, who they joined as the only other one-win team in the NFL. The advantage Oakland has is its daunting schedule. The Raiders still have road games against the Denver Broncos, St. Louis Rams and a revenge-filled Kansas City team. Their two home games are against the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills. The most winnable game in that stretch will be the home game against Buffalo, but even that won’t be an easy task.

On the other hand, Jacksonville gets to play home games against Zach Mettenberger, Ryan Mallett and Eli Manning. Sorry Eli. The point is, the Jaguars should be able to come away with at least one win in that stretch, and I’m not sure that the Raiders will win another game this season.

The other major advantage that Oakland has is that they are simply the Raiders. They could teach an advanced class in how to lose football games. In fact, Khalil Mack and Sio Moore nearly introduced a brand new way to blow a game by celebrating a third-down sack. The problem of course, is that they celebrated behind the line of scrimmage while the Chiefs lined up to go for it on fourth down.

While it didn’t end up costing them the game, it was a reminder of what the Raiders are capable of doing in the face of victory.

Although, the case could be made that the most Raiders-like thing to do in this situation would be to reel off a couple of wins and blow the chance at the top pick. Either way, we know Oakland won’t make it fun to watch.

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