Raiders Rant: Oakland remains in the thick of the hunt for worst team in the NFL

The Oakland Raiders thought they had put to rest talk of being the worst team in the league when they beat two of the worst, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars in back to back weeks. Then they went on a five game losing streak in which they gave up 189 points and was capped off with a loss to a very bad Cleveland Browns team. After spending the majority of a decade in the basement of the NFL, the Raiders had removed themselves from that conversation after back to back 8-8 seasons. They were not great seasons and neither led to a playoff berth, but they were no where near being at the bottom of the NFL.

This season, however, they have found themselves right in the thick of the hunt for the worst team in the NFL. The Raiders remaining schedule starts with a short week as they host the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. Then the Raiders host the Chiefs at home before finishing the season on the road against the Carolina Panthers and the San Diego Chargers. Of those remaining four games, the Raiders would be lucky to win two, and there is a very serious possibility that they will lose all four.

There are currently three teams with only three wins, the Raiders, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers, and two teams with only two wins, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars. In the last four weeks of the season, the Raiders play two of the five worst teams in the league and those games meaning that the Raiders have their draft destiny in their hands. Winning those two games, or even one of them, would likely take themselves out of contention for the number one pick. But with that being said, the Raiders are probably not going to beat the Panthers and at this point, do not look like they could even beat the Chiefs.

It is just too bad for the Raiders that this year's NFL Draft is not replete with players that scream franchise changer like we sometimes see.