The Oakland Raiders got a chance to relax this week and watch some other teams around the league, as Derek Carr and Co. enjoyed their bye. The Silver and Black entered the bye week with sole possession of the AFC West, but the Kansas City Chiefs joined the Raiders at the top after a tightly-contested win over the Carolina Panthers Sunday. The Denver Broncos also defeated the New Orleans Saints in a wild game Sunday afternoon, and now only trail the Chiefs and Raiders by a half game.
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The Raiders will travel to Mexico City this week to take on the Houston Texans in ar Monday Night Football bout at Estadio Azteca. This will be the 10th matchup between the teams, Houston leads the overall record 6-3. After a 24-21 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars the Texans currently lead the AFC South with a record of 6-3.
Let's take a look at the Week 11 Power Rankings list, brought to you by NFL Extra Points.
Current Ranking: No. 3
Previous Ranking: No. 3
Movement: N/A
Analysis: The Silver and Black took a Week 10 siesta. They were on a bye week.
Looking forward:* *No game in Week 10? No need to drop these Oakland Raiders. We've seen enough of them through nine games to know they're a force to be reckoned with in the AFC. Up next: a game in Mexico City against the Houston Texans. I bet Derek Carr will have a few touchdowns planned for the team that didn't draft him over his last name.
Current Ranking: No. 6
Previous Ranking: No. 3
Movement: Down 3
Analysis: Derek Carr makes his Monday night debut this week against the Texans in Mexico City. Carr is 3-0 in his career in prime time, and with the Chiefs and Broncos still looming in the division race, another prime-time win would go a long way in getting the Raiders home-field advantage in the playoffs.
Current Ranking: No. 5
Previous Ranking: No. 5
Movement: N/A
Analysis: Last week, I said I'd compare this group to the last Raider team that won it all: the 1983 Los Angeles Raiders. That season represented one of my early years watching pro football, and I rooted hardcore with my brothers for the underdog Raiders to trounce the high flyin' Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII. They did, 38-9. Al Davis' team was coached by Tom Flores, who remains criminally underrated to this day. As nice a job as Jack Del Rio has done, I would give the coaching advantage to the '83 Raiders. And here's how the rosters stack up against each other, in my estimation:
QB: 2016 Raiders. Derek Carr has been far more productive -- with less negative plays -- than Jim Plunkett. Oh, but I love Plunkett.
RB: 1983 Raiders. Marcus Allen. Come on.
WR/TE: 2016. Would be a landside if just receivers (with Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree), but TE Todd Christensen led the NFL in catches in 1983.
OL: 2016. They've been unbelievable in pass pro.
DL: 1983. Howie Long, Lyle Alzado, Bill Pickel and Greg Townsend. Nice.
LB: 1983. Rod Martin and Ted Hendricks were in the Pro Bowl. Matt Millen: solid.
DB: 1983. Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes, dude.
Special teams: Push. Kicker Chris Bahr was mediocre in '83, as Sebastian Janikowski is this year. Marquette King is better than Ray Guy was late in his HOF career. Greg Pruitt was a Pro Bowl returner in '83.
Current Ranking: No. 5
Previous Ranking: No. 4
Movement: Down 1
Analysis: I think next week's game against Houston is big for Oakland. They have to play a "home" game in another country, which isn't fair at all. It's against a Houston team they should beat, and would have been favored pretty heavily against if it was in Oakland. If they drop that game, the rest of the schedule has some tricky dates. In a really competitive division, the Raiders don't want to blow this kind of game.
Current Ranking: No. 3
Previous Ranking: No. 3
Movement: N/A
Analysis: N/A
Current Ranking: No. 5
Previous Ranking: No. 6
Movement: Up 1
Analysis: The Raiders got no help from the division during their bye week as both the Chiefs and Broncos won in dramatic fashion Sunday. Despite that fact, the Raiders are still in great position in the AFC West.
Current Ranking: No. 4
Previous Ranking: No. 5
Movement: Up 1
Analysis: The come out of their bye atop the AFC West. That offense is going to make them tough to beat every week.
Current Ranking: No. 6
Previous Ranking: No. 6
Movement: N/A
Analysis: For a team that evidently prefers playing on road, what better gift is there than staging a "home" game in Mexico City?
