With a Kansas City Chiefs loss on Monday, the Las Vegas Raiders can head into Week 7 of the 2020 NFL season in first place in what is a very tough AFC West.
The win against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 5 did more than just give the Las Vegas Raiders confidence going into the bye week. The win also gave the Raiders a shot at moving into first place when Week 7 kicks off, putting them in the driver’s seat the rest of the way.
For Las Vegas, this has been a roller coaster season, seeing them win two games out of the game, then lose two straight, and lose some key players to injury along the way. Given no chance to beat the Chiefs, Derek Carr actually outplayed former NFL Most Valuable Player Patrick Mahomes, going into Kansas City and winning for the first time in his career.
With that win, the Raiders put themselves in great shape.
Chiefs take on Buffalo Monday night
The Chiefs will hit the road on Monday night, traveling to Buffalo to take on a Bills team that is coming off an embarrassing loss of their own the last time out. The Bills were absolutely throttled by the Tennessee Titans in a rare Tuesday night game caused by the pandemic, losing 42-16.
Prior to that loss, Buffalo had been playing great football, and even had a road win against the Raiders to their credit. Both teams entered their Week 5 game with an undefeated record, and will now both look to get back on track against each other under the bright lights of Monday night football.
If the Bills can take care of business at home, Kansas City falls to 4-2 on the season, and sitting at 3-2, that moves the Raiders into first place in the AFC West. With a softer schedule ahead, the franchise has to be looking at winning the division, and not only settling for a Wild Card.
Looking at their early schedule heading into 2020, nobody could have expected that the Raiders could actually come out of their bye week in first place in the AFC West, let alone with a victory over Kansas City on the road. They need to stay the course as they come out of the break, and with more healthy players joining the roster, they have a legitimate opportunity to do just that.