Las Vegas Raiders Win For First Time In Months Which Means They Are Actually Losing

It's never wrong to win, so that applies to the Las Vegas Raiders when they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. That out of the way, let's all agree that victory was not optimal.

It was not great for the future.

It was not great for the well-being of the franchise.

It was not the best result if you weigh everything involved.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 22: Charles Snowden #49 of the Las Vegas Raiders reacts after the play against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the second quarter at Allegiant Stadium on December 22, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)

Raiders Celebrate The Victory

Coach Antonio Pierce and the players that were celebrating the success of their 19-14 victory as if it came with some sort of championship would vehemently disagree.

"Long overdue," Pierce said afterward. "Good to see all those smiling faces from our players, our staff, everybody involved in our organization. Obviously, you don't want to go through what we went through the last 10 weeks. But that's behind us. I thought that was a great win."

It was a "great win" that could look extremely costly next April. That's when the Raiders, barring an aggressive trade or expensive signing of a veteran in March, will go searching for a quarterback to draft.

And that search was apparently kneecapped by this otherwise meaningless victory over the Jaguars.

Pierce, by the way, resents that kind of thinking. He might even find it offensive.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 22: Alexander Mattison #22 of the Las Vegas Raiders celebrates after scoring a rushing touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the second quarter at Allegiant Stadium on December 22, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)

 Raiders May Lose Out On Star QBs

But he's heard it. He knows it's out there and the guess here is that in his heart of hearts he'll regret Sunday's win if he's still the head coach next April. That's when the Raiders may find themselves unable to select either Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders or Miami quarterback Cam Ward.

That very real and scary possibility now exists because the Raiders came into Sunday's otherwise meaningless meeting against the equally bad Jaguars with a 2-12 record. That tied them with the New York Giants as the two teams with the worst records in the entire NFL.

So Sunday dawned with the Raiders and Giants in the best position to land the two quarterbacks that might change their fate. 

It sounds strange to write this sentence, but the Giants succeeded in staying in position to land that quarterback in the next draft by losing to the Atlanta Falcons.

The Raiders, meanwhile, kind of blew it by winning. Yes, again, strange but true.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 22: K'Lavon Chaisson #44 of the Las Vegas Raiders celebrates a sack on Mac Jones #10 of the Jacksonville Jaguars during the third quarter at Allegiant Stadium on December 22, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Raiders In Pack Of Teams

The Raiders are now 3-13 and that puts them in a five-team tie for the second overall selection with two games remaining in the season.

The Raiders, Titans, Jaguars, Browns, and Patriots all have 3-12 records. And according to the tiebreakers as they currently sit, the Raiders are in the No. 6 overall draft slot, according to tankathon.com.

That means the Raiders, desperate to land a quarterback in the next draft to avoid being in a similar spot one year from now, deeply damaged their chances with this victory.

That's not to say they didn't try to avoid it. Trust me, the Raiders did Raider things to try to pull out a loss.

• Kicker Daniel Carlson, bless his heart, missed a 46-yard field goal that would have given the Raiders a 16-7 lead in the third quarter. So that was an outstanding missed opportunity.
• Then cornerback Jack Jones and others in the Raiders secondary suffered a coverage bust that allowed Jacksonville quarterback Mac Jones to connect with receiver Brian Thomas on a 62-yard touchdown to draw the Jaguars to within one point at 14-13.

So, the Raiders were looking bad there for a while. Marvelously so.

But then there was that confounding 70-yard drive for a touchdown in the fourth quarter that delivered the ultimate winning points.

BOULDER, COLORADO - NOVEMBER 29: Shedeur Sanders #2 of the Colorado Buffaloes warms up prior to the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Folsom Field on November 29, 2024 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)

Pierce Does Not Entertain Tanking Talk 

Yay, Raiders win, some fans might have said.

Boo, the Raiders miss out on Sanders, some other fans might have said.

Pierce was asked what he might say to that portion of the fan base that believes there's nothing to gain by winning and doing so hurts the club's draft position.

"Talk to Tom Telesco," he said, sending the faithful to a conversation with the club general manager that will never happen.

Look, Pierce is not the bad guy here. He wants to win. He's also needs to win to assure he won't be fired at the end of the season.

It's in his best interest for the Raiders to win at the end of this season, whatever that may mean for the coming offseason.

HENDERSON, NEVADA - JUNE 13: Head coach Antonio Pierce of the Las Vegas Raiders attends a news conference during mandatory minicamp at the Las Vegas Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center on June 13, 2024 in Henderson, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Pierce May Save Job And Hurt Team

But the irony is if Pierce can rally his team and retains his job, the Raiders will find themselves in a terrible position next offseason.

They'll quite possibly have a coach who saved his job with a late rally, and they'll still not have a high enough draft pick to find a quarterback that might make a difference in the future.

The Raiders would be in the same spot they're in now. Yes, disastrous. 

But that's not how Pierce or the players on the roster were thinking late Sunday.

"It's good to stop talking about losing," Pierce said. "It's all about winning …It's always a good feeling because you put in all this work and to have repeated losses and put that to the side and just watch a team victory. 

"All this B.S. talk noise on the outside, like I told the gentlemen in [the locker room], it's all about us. It doesn't matter about the outside noise."