The Las Vegas Raiders looked dead in the water over the last five weeks during the 2025 NFL season. That trend was expected to continue in Week 16 as they traveled to take on the Houston Texans on the road, who are a playoff team and as hot as anyone in the league.
That was fine with the majority of Raider Nation, as losing and getting the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft is at the top of the priority list. Young players performing well is an added bonus, but ensuring that Pete Carroll is out the door and the team keeps its high draft position is paramount.
However, Las Vegas came out on Sunday and battled the 9-5 Texans, scoring 21 points against the NFL's best defense, who was allowing just 16.3 points per game. The Raiders' defense also looked stout, holding C.J. Stroud and Co. to 16 points. A pick-six defined this 23-21 loss for Las Vegas.
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This Raiders team, all of a sudden, looks like they are capable of beating some other teams. The final two weeks of the season will bring home matchups against the New York Giants, the current holders of the No. 1 pick, and the Kansas City Chiefs, a bitter AFC West rival.
While the matchup with the Giants will have massive ramifications for the draft board, so will their season finale against the Chiefs, who are already without superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes. That means that Gardner Minshew was in line to start against Las Vegas to finish the year.
Minshew, however, looked terrible in Week 16 against the lowly Tennessee Titans before leaving with an injury. Then, disaster struck even worse, as ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Chiefs fear that Minshew tore his ACL, leaving Chris Oladokun to likely start against the Raiders.
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Oladokun has been a practice squad player for his entire career, and he has made just two NFL appearances in four seasons, the second coming this past Sunday. While he is mobile, he didn't look like a worldbeater against the Titans. That's a recipe for disaster for the Silver and Black.
Las Vegas deserves the No. 1 pick in the draft. They don't have a franchise quarterback or a young signal-caller like the other teams near the top of the draft board, and they've won countless meaningless games over the years to screw themselves out of transformational prospects.
Kansas City was likely going to rest some guys anyway with their playoff hopes crushed, and with Pete Carroll at the helm, this Raiders team is going to be playing to win with no holds barred. Without Mahomes, the path to victory was clear and easy. Without Minshew, it's even easier.
Raiders fans may need to say goodbye to their No. 1 pick chances, as they, all of a sudden, have two very winnable games on the horizon to close out the season. They can't drop any lower than No. 7, but that is a far cry from the top of the draft board and landing a franchise quarterback.