By the time the Las Vegas Raiders' Week 14 game kicked off against the Denver Broncos, there was suddenly a lot on the line. It may be a sad state of affairs for the franchise, but the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns winning on Sunday cleared the path more for Las Vegas to get the No. 1 pick.
With a loss to the Broncos, the Raiders would drop to 2-11 and own the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft if the season ended today. The New York Giants hold the top overall selection, but Las Vegas hosts the Giants in Week 17, so the Raiders control their own destiny in a convoluted way.
Still, the players and coaches in the building are trying to win, even if the fan base is largely in the camp of playing the team's young players and not caring about the wins or losses. This team needs some serious rebuilding, and no late-season wins are going to change that.
Nate Burleson's Raiders-Broncos comparison is flat-out embarrassing
Las Vegas trailed 14-7 at halftime, and although it was just a one-score game, Raider Nation's confidence in the team's ability to make a comeback was low. CBS Sports' Nate Burleson made a comparison during the Verizon Halftime Show that will make fans a bit sick and want a change.
"Down by a TD at halftime, you go out there and try to fight. Obviously, you have one team playing for postseason hopes and maybe a Super Bowl run, and another team just playing to try to get some respect in the league," Burleson said.
I'm sure the fan base is having a hard time deciphering which team Burleson is talking about in those scenarios. It's a real mystery. Instead of any constructive criticism, Burleson said what coaches typically say when they know their team doesn't have a chance: "Go out there and try to fight."
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This stark contrast between the Raiders and their bitter AFC West rival is tough to stomach and paints a picture of a franchise in dire need of change once again. This was a nice way for Burleson to say that Las Vegas has nothing to play for, but he also indicated that the team isn't well-respected.
Well, the Raiders came out in the second half and acted like a team that had nothing to play for. Late in the third quarter, Denver had nearly as many plays in Las Vegas territory as the Silver and Black had total plays. This is a major discrepancy and is emblematic of what Burleson said at halftime.
Unfortunately, Las Vegas is a good bit away from being even a competitive NFL team. Organizations in this situation aren't typically keen on keeping the same major pieces in place when a season unravels like this, and the fan base isn't too excited about extending the Carroll era.
Burleson might not have realized what he said was so embarrassing for the Raiders and their fan base, but it was. While one team, as he said, is looking for avenues to the NFL's biggest game, the other is calculating how they can climb up the draft board.
It's the same thing every year in Las Vegas. Mark Davis knows it, Raider Nation knows it, the players on the team seemingly know it, and Burleson broadcast it for the whole NFL world to hear.