The Oakland Raiders may have been on their bye in Week 7, but that didn’t prevent them from falling even further down ESPN’s NFL Power Rankings.There’s no question the game against the division rival Kansas City Chiefs was a disaster. The Raiders got off to a hot start by getting on the scoreboard early as the result of a Terrelle Pryor touchdown pass to Denarius Moore, but it was all downhill from there on out. The Chiefs went on to beat the Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium.
Here’s where the Raiders stand in ESPN’s rankings after Week 7:
No. 32 – Jacksonville Jaguars (0-7)
No. 31 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-6)
No. 30 – Minnesota Vikings (1-5)
No. 29 – New York Giants (1-6)
No. 28 – Oakland Raiders (2-4)
It has become abundantly clear that the Raiders will need to go on an incredible run in the second half of the season to receive any respect or recognition in these rankings by ESPN. This team is still very raw and needs a lot of work on both sides of the football, but has made considerable improvement this season and it could be argued needs more recognition for the progress made so far this year.
Rankings for the AFC West via ESPN:
No. 1 – Kansas City Chiefs (7-0)
No. 3 – Denver Broncos (6-1)
No. 12 – San Diego Chargers (4-3)
As for the rest of the AFC West, the Chiefs and Denver Broncos remain at the top of the heap. Denver suffered the first loss of the season to the Indianapolis Colts, but only dropped one spot while the Chiefs remained undefeated with a win over the Houston Texans.
The San Diego Chargers were able to win their second straight game at the expense of arguably the worst team in the league in the Jacksonville Jaguars. San Diego moved up three spots as a result of the win.
