ATLANTA - The Las Vegas Raiders have positioned themselves to make a run at what would be just the second playoff appearance for the franchise since reaching the Super Bowl to cap the 2002 season.
Of course, they've been in this promising yet precarious position before.
A year ago, in their last season of their second stint in Oakland, the Raiders entered the stretch run with a 6-4 record - the same mark they have heading into Sunday's game against the host Atlanta Falcons. The team that left California for Vegas in the offseason stumbled to the finish line in 2019, managing one win in its final six games while averaging a league-low 14.7 points during that span.
"We're definitely a better team this year, but we have to - and I mean have to - finish this season better than we did last year," quarterback Derek Carr said. "I'm hopeful and I believe that we will, and I think that it's different."
This year feels much the same as the last one for the Falcons (3-7), who don't have a whole lot to play for other than avoiding their third straight losing record. Interim head coach Raheem Morris is trying to stay positive, even after an ugly 24-9 loss to the host New Orleans Saints last weekend, just his second defeat in five games since taking over after Dan Quinn was fired.
"We had a couple of really good physical runs early that we were not able to maintain, that we have to be able to maintain throughout the whole game in order to finish teams off the way we want to finish teams off," Morris said. "We have to figure out how to do that better."
The Raiders' hopes of contending for the AFC West title took a huge blow last weekend with a 35-31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, their division rivals and the reigning NFL champions. Patrick Mahomes threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce with 28 seconds to play for the winning score.
Coach Jon Gruden was in no mood to discuss comparisons to last year's Raiders. He's only looking ahead.
"This comparing stuff is for ESPN analysts. Those days are in my past," said the former "Monday Night Football" commentator, who is in the third season of his second stint leading the Raiders. "We have a long way to go. We're making progress."
The Raiders have struggled getting to the quarterback - their 11 sacks are the second fewest in the NFL this season - and the only times the franchise had fewer sacks after 10 games in the Super Bowl era was in 2014 (10) and 2018 (9).
After watching Atlanta's Matt Ryan get sacked eight times by the Saints last weekend, the Raiders hope to have some chances to add to their meager tally.
"You get excited about that," defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins said. "We obviously have to go out and play the game. Just because one team had nine sacks, or whatever amount they had, doesn't mean we'll have the same, too."
Of course, Ryan is surely excited for the chance to bounce back against the league's 28th-ranked pass defense. Matty Ice is coming off his lowest-rated game since 2013, but the veteran starter has never been one to wallow in a disappointing performance.
"This league will humble you week in and week out," said Ryan, who will be playing in his 200th career game since being drafted third overall by Atlanta in 2008. "You have to flush it out of the system, get back to work and stay confident and believe that we're going to play great this week."
He won't have the team's top running back to help his rebound effort, with Todd Gurley out against the Raiders. The first-year Falcon and former University of Georgia standout who spent his first five seasons with the Rams was ruled out on the final injury report Friday after failing to practice all week. It's not clear when he was hurt, but he has had chronic trouble with his left knee.
Gurley had a season-low eight carries for 26 yards at New Orleans, but he leads the Falcons with 610 rushing yards and nine touchdowns this season.
The Raiders picked up a couple former members of the Atlanta defense heading into the game.
Defensive end Takk McKinley was claimed off waivers a couple of weeks after being cut by Atlanta, ending a tumultuous, injury-plagued stint with the team that made him a first-round draft pick in 2017.
The Raiders also signed defensive end Vic Beasley Jr., an All-Pro with the Falcons in 2016, to their practice squad. Beasley, a 2015 first-round pick who signed a one-year contract in the offseason with the Tennessee Titans but was cut after a lackluster seven games, hasn't come close to matching the form he showed in his best season.
"Well, obviously he's had a history in the NFL," Gruden said. "We've got to see if we can get him going again, but I'll make no predictions."