The absolute best things about the Raiders (from a Chiefs perspective)
By Matt Conner
The ongoing commitment to mediocrity
When scrolling down the columns on a site like Pro Football Reference, it’s occasionally so nice to see a team without any need for an asterisk in the way of all the normal letters and numbers indicating a playoff appearance. That’s why it’s nice to look at the Raiders page where there’s so much more white space than the average site.
There’s a reason for this: the Raiders have an ongoing commitment to mediocrity that’s the envy of most of the rest of the NFL. Sure they had some cycles where they are aiming for all-out losing, but they learned some hard lessons that way (we’ll get to that). Instead of potentially losing out on top picks, the Raiders have settled into a really nice groove in the higher single-digit win range that suits them just fine. They don’t have the pressure that comes from picking too high, but they also get to go to bed fairly early on NFL Draft night instead of waiting late to draft in, say, the 20s or even 30s.
Except for one crazy season in which the Raiders won 12 games in 2016, the Raiders haven’t had a single year since 2002 in which they finished with a winning record. It’s the reason why their team color is black, which is the fashion equivalent of wanting to hide all the bad parts. Raiders fans think you won’t notice their losing records or questionable decisions if the entire crowd is decked out in dark clothes.