NFL Power Rankings: Oakland Raiders and 4 Playoff Pretenders That Tumbled

Many, many unexpected things happened on the seventh Sunday of the NFL season. Depending on who you ask, some of these things were good, and some of these things were not so good.

If we know one thing for sure, it's that several would-be playoff teams suffered bad losses this weekend. That they lost wouldn't necessarily have to be the end of the world, but there's a lot to be said about how and why these teams lost.

As I see it, there are four teams that saw their playoff chances get severely rattled on Sunday. Let's count them down one by one.

Tennessee Titans (No. 22 overall)

The Titans had every excuse to give the Houston Texans a beating on Sunday. The Titans were at home, they'd had a whole extra week to prepare and the Texans were coming into Nashville more than a little banged up.

Naturally, the Texans gave the Titans a beating, thrashing them 41-7 to take control of the AFC South.

The Titans have now suffered two-straight bad losses, and they just don't look like the team that started the season 3-1. They did pretty well given their relative lack of firepower, but they've gotten destroyed in two-straight games by clearly superior teams.

Odds are there won't be any wild-card teams coming out of the AFC South this year. It's division or bust, and the Titans don't appear to have the goods to win the division.

Washington Redskins (No. 19 overall)

Credit where credit is due, John Beck played pretty well in his first start in relief of Rex Grossman. The only problem is that the team around him didn't follow suit, as the Carolina Panthers beat the Redskins, 33-20.

The Redskins have now lost two games in a row, but the difference between them and the Titans is that the Redskins have lost two-straight to subpar teams. After starting 3-1, perhaps they too are being revealed to be a subpar team.

Time will tell, but the Redskins are very much in danger of falling out of a tight race in the NFC East.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 18 overall)

The Buccaneers are a hard team to figure. One week, they're beating Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, and the next they're losing to Jay Cutler, Matt Forte and the Chicago Bears.

Because Sunday's game was played across the pond, it's easy to deduce that the Bucs are only at their best when they play at home. If so, you have to fear for them with tough road games at New Orleans and at Green Bay coming up.

The Bucs need to stay afloat if they want to make the playoffs. The NFC South appears to be the Saints' division to lose, and the Atlanta Falcons seem to be hitting their stride. The two of them could very well leave the Bucs in the dust.

Oakland Raiders (No. 16 overall)

The Raiders' hope heading into Sunday's tilt against the Kansas City Chiefs was that Kyle Boller wouldn't make any dumb mistakes, and that Darren McFadden and Michael Bush would be good enough to lead the Raiders to a win.

As it turned out, Boller was terrible, McFadden got hurt early in the game and Carson Palmer was understandably out of whack when he entered the game. The Raiders suffered an embarrassing 28-0 defeat.

The hope now is that we're talking about a one-week fluke. When the Raiders return from their Week 8 bye, McFadden should be healthy and Palmer should be up to speed.

The alternative is that what we saw from the Raiders on Sunday could be closer to what will be the norm from now on. If that's the case, winning the AFC West may already be a lost cause.

Zachary D. Rymer's Week 8 Power Rankings

Rank	Team	Record
1	Green Bay Packers	7-0
2	New England Patriots	5-1
3	Baltimore Ravens	4-1
4	San Francisco 49ers	5-1
5	New Orleans Saints	5-2
6	Pittsburgh Steelers	5-2
7	Buffalo Bills	4-2
8	New York Giants	4-2
9	Detroit Lions	5-2
10	Houston Texans	4-3
11	Atlanta Falcons	4-3
12	San Diego Chargers	4-2
13	Cincinnati Bengals	4-2
14	New York Jets	4-3
15	Chicago Bears	4-3
16	Oakland Raiders	4-3
17	Dallas Cowboys	3-3
18	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4-3
19	Washington Redskins	3-3
20	Kansas City Chiefs	3-3
21	Philadelphia Eagles	2-4
22	Tennessee Titans	3-3
23	Cleveland Browns	3-3
24	Carolina Panthers	2-5
25	Seattle Seahawks	2-4
26	Denver Broncos	2-4
27	Jacksonville Jaguars	1-5
28	Arizona Cardinals	1-5
29	Minnesota Vikings	1-6
30	Indianapolis Colts	0-7
31	St. Louis Rams	0-6
32	Miami Dolphins	0-6