There's not much to celebrate in Las Vegas right now as it pertains to the Raiders and their record at this juncture in the season.
Perhaps the only good thing to come out of this season may be a top pick in next year's draft, which could alter the course of the franchise's history if the team can get their selection right.
While it does seem like the Raiders are far from being a contender in this NFL landscape, a quarterback can change an organization in a hurry.
The Houston Texans took a rookie head coach and first-year quarterback just a season ago and not only made the playoffs, but won a playoff game for the first time in several seasons.
Las Vegas, despite all of their shortcomings as a team in 2024, actually has a plethora of valuable pieces on both sides of the ball that they can build with.
A handful of them have spent a majority of the season injured this year, and a few others have shown significant improvement over the course of this season or the last few years.
All hope is not lost for the Las Vegas Raiders, and in a way, they are exactly where they need to be right now as a franchise.
They are positioned to make a run at a top-tier quarterback in the draft and any young signal-caller should look at Las Vegas as an ideal destination to carve out a nice career. With a solid defense to accompany a slew of young and versatile offensive weapons, the team could be looking up sooner rather than later.
But for right now, the Raiders and their fans must play the hand that they were dealt, which is to find some optimism in a crumbling season and acknowledge where the team can improve.
In lieu of game coverage, we took the time during the bye week to elect the Raiders' award winners for the first half of the season.