Robert Frost wrote a famous poem about two roads diverging in a yellow wood. That pretty much describes where the Las Vegas Raiders currently are during the 2026 NFL season, as they welcome the royal and sol yellow Los Angeles Rams to Allegiant Stadium in Week 7.
Of course, Frost ended up taking the road less traveled, and it made all the difference. As it pertains to the Silver and Black, Klint Kubiak's team must do the same. After their 3-0 start, they have lost three straight, but they get to play a beat-up Rams team on Sunday that wasn't playing well anyway.
If this were the same old Raiders, fans would know intuitively that their team would get embarrassed. That they would continue their slide even though everything logical says that they should win. But this team can prove that they are different, and that starts with taking out an undermanned LA team.
Although the season will be far from over even after this game, the result will say a lot about which path Las Vegas will take.
Raiders-Rams result in Week 7 will say a lot about direction in Las Vegas
In five out of their six outings this year, the Raiders have either played well and won or competed in a loss. But the exception was their Week 5 outing against the New England Patriots, who rocked Las Vegas 45-17 without their top four cornerbacks and with several other key players down as well.
Should the Silver and Black take care of business, the team will end its three-game losing streak and get some momentum before a winnable Week 8 matchup on the road against the New York Jets. This would mean that they are, at worst, 4-5 before the trade deadline, which is still firmly in the hunt.
And the second half of the Raiders' schedule is not as daunting as many thought it'd be. Two games against the Broncos remain, and they look beatable. Las Vegas also gets to play the Jets, Browns, Cardinals, Chargers and Titans. This could feasibly be a 10-win team that gets into the playoffs.
But the first sign of whether or not that'll come will be if they can handle their work this Sunday. If they drop this game, the Raiders could head into the trade deadline with potentially just three wins and, in a disaster scenario, on a six-game losing streak. That would put them firmly in the "seller" camp.
With the team currently sitting at 3-3, these next few weeks really matter in determining what Las Vegas should do before the deadline, and that will shape the next few years for the franchise. Can they actually compete this year? Or were the first three weeks a bit of smoke and mirrors?
Yes, the Rams are still incredibly talented and well-coached. But a team without its all-world defensive end, 1B wideout, starting linebacker, star defensive tackle, key run-stopping nose tackle and potentially its 1A receiver and superstar cornerback should not win against anyone.
Las Vegas can't let it happen.
Taking the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills down to the wire was somewhat fun for fans, as it was just good to see the Raiders actually competing with the best teams in the conference. Moral victories do not really exist or count, but as someone said last week, there are degrees of losses.
The margins are getting thinner, though, and if Raider Nation blinks, their team will be even further out of the playoff picture if the results aren't there. The complexion of the season will change, and being a contender will get pushed further to the back burner. Fans could see veterans shipped off.
Life comes at you fast in the NFL.
Las Vegas can stave all of this off, though, by beating a short-staffed Los Angeles team and at least keeping the dream alive for a few more weeks. If the Raiders can beat the Rams, they can beat the Jets and potentially get to 5-3. If they can't, it'll be a devastating loss that begs a lot of questions.
Nobody should get fired after this loss, nor should those conversations even begin, but some key players would need reevaluation. Perhaps more competition within the roster would be warranted. Because losing to a team of half second-stringers is bad optics and a sign of something wrong.
Hopefully, Kubiak's team just handles business and continues to grow from their stumble in Week 5. If they're going to do anything this year, they'll beat the Rams on Sunday. The Raiders have two paths to take, so let's take the one less traveled in recent years: getting the win that they should get.
One that signals that the hope remains.
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