Silver And Black Pride
With both the host Las Vegas Raiders and visiting New York Giants entering their Week 17 matchup riding nine-game losing skids, conventional wisdom says one of those teams will snap its horrendous streak.
Both teams are 2-13 on the year, haven’t won a game since early October, have gone through coaching staff upheaval, and are in a battle for the top pick in next year’s draft. Hence the moniker of this Sunday afternoon matchup as: The No. 1 Pick In The 2026 NFL Draft Bowl.
But the Silver & Black and the G-Men have been anything but conventional.
Normalcy is not a word either franchise can truly define. And thus, in a battle of the bad, with the top pick on the line, this Week 17 matchup ending up in tie between the Giants and Raiders would be a hilariously fitting end result.
That’d leave both teams 2-13-1 and trigger some tie breaker scenarios to determine which squad picks No. 1 overall next April and the arguments and fervor would be entertaining to consume. That means a deep dive into record, strength of schedule (SOS), divisional/conference ties, then to combined points for/against, and last resort, a coin toss.
The Raiders are no stranger to a coin toss determining draft order, after all. You just have to go think back on about seven years ago.
Back in the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine, a televised coin toss determined the ninth and 10th overall pick in that year’s draft between the Silver & Black and San Francisco 49ers. The coin was flipped by Hall of Famer Rod Woodson and the Niners won allowing the team to take Mike McGlinchey (with the Denver Broncos the last three seasons) ninth while the Raiders traded down from 10 to take Kolton Miller (still in Silver & Black) 15th overall.
But forget that noise.
Cut and dry clarity is best. And a definitive roadmap on what lies ahead is ideal for a Raiders team in dire need of a rebuild. And to alleviate the myriad of scenarios, an outright win or loss by the Raiders against the visiting Giants in Week 17 and in the season finale against the visiting Kansas City Chiefs simplify matters.
Now, I’m not obtuse.
There’s a portion of Raider Nation that wants back-to-back loses so its beloved team obtains the highest draft pick it can to help reshape the franchise. Those with this notion have eyes set on the Raiders obtaining the No. 1 overall pick to select a quarterback prospect to solve the long-standing signal caller conundrum in the desert.
Yet, as you can see from the above, Las Vegas is eyeing a win — despite how elusive and rare those have been. And Maxx Crosby isn’t alone in that sentiment. The Raiders are publicly going with the “you play to win the game” mantra. (And we won’t know what’s said behind closed doors).
“I do it really well,” Las Vegas head coach Pete Carroll said on Monday when asked how...
