The bad news for the Raiders Sunday, of course, was their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Oakland's three-game winning streak ended in a 26-10 defeat.
The good news, however, is that the Raiders are 4-2 and tied with the Denver Broncos atop the AFC West, and that after six weeks of the 2016 season, their hopes of reaching the playoffs for the first time since the 2002 season are very much alive.
Yet it's also evident that the division is going to be a battleground. Nobody is out of it. The 3-2 Chiefs and 2-4 Chargers -- who defeated the Broncos this past Thursday night -- are right in the thick of things, too.
Ten games remain on the schedule for Oakland, beginning with this Sunday's game at Jacksonville against the Jaguars.
Raiders wide receiver Andre Holmes predicts a dog fight down to the 16th game of this season.
"It's a good thing to be 4-2, but that can change quickly," he told Eddie Paskal of the team's website. "You can't be happy after a game (vs. the Chiefs) we could win so, yeah, it's good to be 4-2, but it's a lot of work to do. That's what kind of hurts, to be 5-1 or 4-2; 5-1 sounds a lot better."
After six games last season, the Raiders were 3-3, but then lost three of their next four games. In 2002, Oakland also was 4-2 at this point, en route to an 11-5 record. After losing their next two to fall to 4-4, the Raiders then turned it on, winning seven of the final eight games.
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The main problem these Raiders need to fix if they want to stay in the division race and outlast the Broncos, Chiefs and Chargers is their defense. The Raiders are dead last in the NFL in team defense after another poor outing against the Chiefs, and are allowing more than 444 yards per game.
"It can't continue," Del Rio told the media after Sunday's game. "Not for us to be the team we have designs on being."
