Heading into Week 9 against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Oakland Raiders were favored to come out on top against Nick Foles and company at O.co Coliseum. Unfortunately for the Raiders, the Eagles offense came to play and the Oakland defense was nowhere to be found.
The defense has been the main reason for the Raiders’ limited success this season with veteran Charles Woodson leading the way in the secondary and Lamarr Houston making a strong case for a new contract.
Despite the impressive play of the Raiders defense this season, the Eagle absolutely torched the home team on Sunday with Foles tying an NFL record for seven touchdown passes.
As a result of the devastating loss at home, the Raiders fell two spots in ESPN’s NFL Power Rankings:
No. 28 – Houston Texas (2-6)
No. 27 – Pittsburgh Steelers (2-6)
No. 26 – Atlanta Falcons (2-6)
No. 25 – St. Louis Rams (3-6)
No. 24 – Oakland Raiders (3-5)
While Oakland struggled to fend off Chip Kelly’s Eagles, the rest of the teams in the AFC West either maintained their rank or dropped slightly.
The Denver Broncos dropped a spot during their bye week with Andrew Luck’s Indianapolis Colts moving up to No. 2 while the Kansas City Chiefs were able to maintain their grip on the top spot with a win over the Buffalo Bills.
As for the San Diego Chargers, Philip Rivers and company had an opportunity to top Robert Griffin III’s Washington Redskins, but fell short and as a result dropped four spots.
Rankings for the AFC West via ESPN:
No. 1 – Kansas City Chiefs (9-0)
No. 3 – Denver Broncos (7-1)
No. 15 – San Diego Chargers (4-4)
In Week 10, the Raiders will travel to MetLife Stadium in order to face off against the New York Giants. Although the Giants haven’t been a force to be reckoned with this season, Eli Manning and company are always dangerous at home and will give the Raiders a run for their money on Sunday.
