With a win on Saturday night, the Raiders would have had a real chance of making the playoffs as a Wild Card. They dominated the Steelers for most of the game, only to find a way to lose at the end.
That’s been the story of the 2022 season for the Raiders as they can’t quite put opponents away. And as a result, it means that they will miss the playoffs this season despite having a roster that is talented enough to make some noise.
In a recent NFL power rankings piece done by ESPN, the Raiders slide down to No. 24 after their Week 16 loss. Here is what senior writer Paul Gutierrez had to say about them this year and their most defining moment of the 2022 season:
“There have been so many bizarre moments to sum up an even stranger season. But Raiders owner Mark Davis’ comments to ESPN the day after his team dropped to 2-7 all but ended speculation about first-year coach Josh McDaniels’ job security.
The signal to Raiders players and fans alike that Davis was probably staying the course with McDaniels allowed players to exhale, and the Raiders responded by winning three straight games and four out of six.”
The Raiders have had moments where they looked really good this season and that should give you hope going into the 2023 season. But it’s hard to rank this team any higher than No. 24 after all of their end-game struggles under Josh McDaniels.
