No, the Las Vegas Raiders are not elite. They are not a playoff team. And they are not ready to take that next step. At least, not yet.
Not when they get so thoroughly out-schemed, out-hustled and, well, out-played by a bad Atlanta Falcons team. And not with so much on the line. Not today, at least.
Getting embarrassed in Atlanta to the tune of a 43-6 score showed the Raiders were not ready on Sunday. The question: Can they avoid the letdown that sunk their season last year – a 34-3 loss at a terrible New York Jets team that dropped the Raiders’ record to 6-5 en route to a 7-9 finish?