Which Week 13 games could benefit the Raiders' draft position the most?
By Levi Dombro
The Las Vegas Raiders do not have a ton to play for at this point in the season.
While the players and coaches would never intentionally lose games, many fans are already focused on how to climb up the draft board.
In years past, the team has won meaningless games that jeopardized their draft position, causing them to miss out on a multitude of great prospects.
But this year, the team is in such bad shape that they are destined to have one of the top selections in the draft come April.
It does no harm for observers of the team to look at how each game is affecting their draft position, so let's take a look at the Week 13 matchups and determine what outcomes benefit the Raiders' draft position the most.
Battle for the No. 1 pick
Kansas City Chiefs beat Las Vegas Raiders
New York Giants beat Dallas Cowboys
Jacksonville Jaguars beat Houston Texans
If all three of these outcomes were to occur, then by the end of Week 13, the Raiders would own the No. 1 overall pick.
They would be the only team in the NFL with two wins and would "control their fate" in a way.
Dramatic help with strength of schedule
Atlanta Falcons beat Los Angeles Chargers
Cleveland Browns beat Denver Broncos
If two divisional foes can fall on the same weekend, that would dramatically lower the Raiders' strength of schedule, which helps them in tiebreaker scenarios.
Green Bay Packers beat Miami Dolphins
New Orleans Saints beat Los Angeles Rams
Because the Raiders faced the Dolphins and Rams, an extra loss from those two teams would decrease their strength of schedule.
Philadelphia Eagles beat Baltimore Ravens
An Eagles win over the Ravens would dramatically increase the Giants' strength of schedule while decreasing the Raiders', which could be pivotal in terms of the tiebreaker.
Minnesota Vikings beat Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills beat San Francisco 49ers
These two results would help the Raiders in a tiebreaker scenario because they increase the Giants and Jaguars' strength of schedules, respectively.
Toss up games
Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots
Tennessee Titans vs. Washington Commanders
New York Jets vs. Seattle Seahawks
It is true that the Patriots, Titans, and Jets winning could make things less crowded at the top of the draft order.
Based on strength of schedule though, it benefits the Raiders to cheer for the Colts, Commanders and Seahawks.
These games have no affect
Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals
The Panthers winning could make things less crowded, however, because these are all divisional matchups, they break even in terms of strength of schedule.
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