Ramifications of Raiders-Jags toilet bowl go beyond the win-loss record for Las Vegas

I’m not saying the Las Vegas Raiders need to blatantly lose Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but this is a game not worth winning. According to Vincent Bonsignore, who covers the Raiders for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a Raiders win could plummet their shot at a franchise quarterback. 

Would the Raiders actually try to win a pointless game and potentially miss out on drafting Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward? Wel,l they scored 13 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 13-7 lead over Jacksonville into halftime. A loss would drop them from the No. 1 pick to the No. 6.

It sounds like they want no part of any tanking conversations. And I can partly see why. Antonio Pierce is coaching for his job next season. He was the players’ choice to remove the interim tag after last season, but this season hasn’t been anything to gloat about. 

While Pierce probably wants to be coaching the team next year, he likely has to string together some wins to convince the front office to keep him around. Doing that means he would be missing out on a franchise quarterback. 

Sure, Sanders nor Ward are guaranteed fixes, they could be busts. And if they did fall out of the No. 1 pick, they could still get a positional need in the draft. There are also some free agency options they could turn to as well. 

Raiders should probably tank the rest of the way — their future depends on it

Yes, Las Vegas could go and get some reinforcements on the offensive line, get some pass rush help or find some other offensive weapons with a potential No. 6 pick. But if they are banking on drafting a quarterback, simply put, they can’t beat the Jags. 

A win would force them to completely refocus their draft approach — unless they don’t want to rely on a rookie quarterback. Then it could potentially be a smart move. However, they could just trade back and get something in return. 

This is a tricky situation to be in for Las Vegas. Purposely tanking is frowned upon and isn’t a good look. But the one issue the Raiders have had has been their quarterback play. Winning a pointless game would further add to their issues. 

If this was a division game, I would understand wanting to win, for pride if anything else. But this is a game against a team that’s in just as bad of a position as they are. Why help them by winning and giving them a better draft pick.