The Las Vegas Raiders battled the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium through three quarters on Sunday before ultimately falling short; giving the Raiders their sixth straight loss.
As usual, Las Vegas was able to stay competitive for a majority of the game but they were ultimately outlasted by a team that is better-coached and has a superior quarterback.
This result is not devastating to the portion of Raider Nation that has embraced the idea of tanking and wants to see the team at the top of the draft board in April.
However, there is a delicate balance between getting a high draft pick that can transform the franchise and being so bad that you have to start fresh once again with a new coaching staff.
It seems painfully obvious that all the Raiders need is a serviceable quarterback to start legitimately competing for four quarters, and a good quarterback may even take them to the playoffs. If you look at the talent on the roster, they could seriously be that close.
But ultimately, if the team continues to struggle with discipline, can't get things going with multiple different offensive play-callers, and the defense starts to fall apart like it showed signs of on Sunday, it is tough to know what the future holds for the Raiders' current regime.
The saving grace is that though the Raiders have ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard for the last month and a half, not all hope is lost because in each game, a few players or small aspects of the game show incredible promise.