NFL Power Rankings Week 12: Colts, Jaguars and Texans updates on Titans bye week

12. Oakland Raiders

Recap: Like every week, the formula for the Raiders remains the same. When they get incredible efficiency from Derek Carr and when they lean on Josh Jacobs they are an offense that isn’t incredibly fun, but one that is effective.

Darren Waller deserves some love too obviously, but really those two things are what decides whether the Raiders win or lose.

Outlook: Are the Raiders enough? What I mean is can they win a game where someone like the Patriots shut down Waller and Jacobs and force Carr to take over and beat them with his arm?

I don’t think so and while Jon Gruden has definitely done a great job at making me reconsider my opinions on him, ultimately that team isn’t quite there yet and I don’t think they can make a real run with the talent they have.

Saying that, I think the core pieces are excellent when you look at the names I mentioned at the start of this slide. Going forward defense has to be a priority and a WR1 wouldn’t hurt them either, but right now I don’t know that I have a massive gap between them and the Cardinals.