Washington faces tough challenge against Raiders

The Washington Football Team has not only asserted itself into playoff contention, they have crashed the party. If the season ended today, Washington would hold the seventh seed in the NFC and would face the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field.

Granted, it is just the first week of December so that does not mean much. There is still another month of football left to decide the season. But it still is pretty incredible that the Washington Football Team is in the position they are.

Left for dead heading into the bye week, they now control their playoff and NFC East destiny after an undefeated November. And they are doing it without their two star edge rushers and top three centers.

Washington has overcome incredibly difficult circumstances to put themselves in this position, but Sunday’s matchup against the Raiders may be the biggest test of all. Many may be looking towards Dec. 12, with the matchup against the Cowboys looming, but defeating the Raiders will be no small task for Washington.

Washington is set to face their toughest challenge yet in Las Vegas

To start, the Las Vegas Raiders are a formidable opponent. Despite countless off-the-field distractions, they are in the playoff hunt at 6-5. And they are fresh off an impressive win against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving in Jerry’s World.

Derek Carr ranks eighth in DVOA amongst all quarterbacks in the NFL with a minimum of 180 passes, according to Football Outsiders. DVOA is a formula that helps calculate a player’s value per play and the stat is adjusted for the opponents he plays.

Combine that with the Raiders receiving core featuring DeSean Jackson and Hunter Renfrow, and the Washington Football Team secondary will have its hands full. And of course keep an eye on the status of Darren Waller, their star tight end. If he plays after suffering an injury against Dallas, that will create even more headaches for the defense, as he is one of the NFL’s best tight ends.

The offense for Washington will look to take advantage of a weak Las Vegas defense. The Raiders defense ranks 24th in total Defense DVOA and rank 26th from Weeks 10-17. They are a bad defense, that has not gotten better as Washington’s has, so the group is clearly short on confidence.

Fortunately, Washington’s offense is getting healthy at just the right time, as Logan Thomas and Curtis Samuel returned against the Seahawks.

And finally, the biggest reason this game will be Washington’s greatest challenge yet is the schedule. Washington will be on one-day shorter rest than normal after a physical Monday night matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.

The Raiders meanwhile, are fresh off playing on Thursday afternoon, which is essentially a “mini-bye.” Not to mention that Washington has to travel across the country to play Las Vegas. How the NFL allowed something like that to happen is a great question.

But it is the challenge the Football Team will face. This is not making excuses, it is just the facts. If the Raiders win, they will have earned it. But Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas is yet another difficult challenge Washington will need to overcome.

They have passed the bar at every step post-bye so far, but this may be the steepest hurdle. Sunday will truly test the resolve of the Washington Football Team.