The high didn’t last long. The Week one loss to the Chargers acted as a confirmation to many who saw the Raiders as a bottom five team. The stunning win in Baltimore had people rethinking that. Then Week 3 came and all returned as it once was.
USA Today
Current Ranking: 25
Last Week’s Ranking: 21
Author: Nate Davis
Author’s Take:
Certainly plenty of focus on an unsettled quarterback spot. But it’s not helped by a run game averaging – by far – a league-worst 51 yards per game and 2.8 yards per attempt.
NFL Media
Current Ranking: 28
Last Week’s Ranking: 26
Author: Eric Edholm
Author’s Take:
I took some heat for not raising the Raiders much after their Week 2 upset of the Ravens, but I truly felt after watching that game that Baltimore gave it away as much as Las Vegas won it. While my pick of the Panthers to beat the Raiders on Sunday was a bit of a dart throw, Antonio Pierce offered some strong words for his team after the loss that made me think I might have been onto something. The defense is too Maxx Crosby-dependent in general, and when he’s banged up, as he was this week, the poor results can be eye-opening. The offense has been too reliant on the passing game, which feels odd for a team with QB questions, even taking into account the Raiders’ pass-catching talent. Pierce brought Aidan O’Connell into the game late, but he’s keeping Gardner Minshew in the QB1 role for now. If the Raiders can’t win against the Browns or Broncos coming up, this season could slip away pretty fast.
ESPN
Current Ranking: 22
Last Week’s Ranking: 21
Author: Paul Gutierrez
Author’s Take:
Sure, the Raiders have found themselves trailing by at least 10 points in the fourth quarter of all three games and needing to throw more, but Las Vegas is already passing twice as much as it’s rushing. The Raiders have run 55 times, averaging just 2.8 yards per carry, and have thrown 111 passes. “If [we] can’t win on early downs, teams are going to just keep teeing off on us,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said. “We’ll go into the lab and … chip away.”
CBS Sports
Current Ranking: 30
Last Week’s Ranking: 16
Author: Pete Prisco
Author’s Take:
That was a terrible showing against the Panthers at home. So much for the momentum after beating the Ravens. The defense was awful and a quarterback change could be coming.
Yahoo! Sports
Current Ranking: 25
Last Week’s Ranking: 20
Author: Frank Schwab
Author’s Take:
The Raiders aren’t going to win anything if they can’t run the ball, and they’ve been horrible at it. They average 2.8 yards per rush, the only team this season under 3 yards per carry. That’ll be hard to fix.
Fox Sports
Current Ranking: 30
Last Week’s Ranking: 25
Author: David Helman
Author’s Take:
Losing to the Panthers is a tough look, regardless. Getting blown out by the Panthers, to the point that the head coach is calling out his players’ effort? In Week 3? That’s a tough place to be. Can Antonio Pierce keep this thing out of the ditch?
Sharp Sports Analysis
Current Ranking: 30
Last Week’s Ranking: 24
Author: Pamela Maldonado
Author’s Take:
The Raiders suffered a significant loss to the Carolina Panthers, falling 36-22. This drops their record to 1-2 for the season. Maxx Crosby continues to be a bright spot for the Raiders defense, but the overall defensive performance is concerning. Players like Davante Adams and rookie tight end Brock Bowers have shown potential, but the team needs to find ways to utilize them more effectively.
The Athletic
Current Ranking: 24
Last Week’s Ranking: 22
Author: Josh Kendall
Author’s Take:
Controversy might be a strong word when the choices are Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell, but here the Raiders are. O’Connell replaced Minshew in the fourth quarter Sunday and finished 9-for-12 for 82 yards and a touchdown. That might be enough to earn him a start, although coach Antonio Pierce didn’t sound happy with anybody after the game.
Average rank: 26.75
Last week’s rank: 21.57