Can the Raiders make the NFL playoffs? Sure, but here’s what they face to make it happen
This week marked a must-win game for the Las Vegas Raiders against the New York Jets.
Then again, so are games to come against the Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos.
There is no way to get around the challenge facing the Raiders, who endured a debacle of a game in a 43-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in their Week 12 game Nov. 29.
The Raiders did their part in Week 13, but needed to do so in dramatic fashion Sunday as Derek Carr hit Henry Ruggs III for a 46-yard touchdown to give Las Vegas an eventual 31-28 victory over the Jets.
But the Raiders fell to the Colts 44-27 in Week 14 to fall into the ninth position in the AFC playoff picture and lost to the Chargers 30-27 in overtime.
The Raiders haven’t made the playoffs since 2016.
“We realize what’s at stake,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. “We got to just play a lot better than we did a week ago and if we do we will have a chance to survive.”
Only seven teams apiece in the AFC and NFC qualify for the postseason, with the top seed getting a bye. The Raiders are in the eighth spot in the AFC, jumbled among a group of six teams with three to six losses that remain technically alive for the final three playoff bids.
For the Raiders to sneak into the playoffs, this is what needed to happen:
▪ Beat the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos.
▪ The Dolphins need to lose their last game.
▪ The Baltimore Ravens need to lose its final two games.
A 26-25 loss to the Dolphins eliminated the Raiders (7-8) from playoff contention.
“My whole life, I feel like it’s a single-elimination day,” Gruden said ahead of the game in New York. “We have a sense of urgency every day. We’ve got to get everybody together. We have a good mindset here. We didn’t lose last week because we were distracted.”
Here is a look at other teams the Raiders are battling for a wild-card spot, how they fared and whom they face in the upcoming weeks:
5. Cleveland Browns (10-4): Defeated Tennessee Titans and lost to the Baltimore Ravens. Defeated the New York Giants and at the Jets and a home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Raiders defeated the Browns 16-6 on Nov. 1.
6. Indianapolis Colts (10-4): Defeated the Houston Texans and the Raiders. Face the Texans again and won. They visit the Pittsburgh Steelers and wrap up with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
7. Miami Dolphins (10-5): Defeated the Cincinnati Bengals. Loss to Kansas City Chiefs. Defeated the New England Patriots. Miami will head to Las Vegas and conclude on the road against the Buffalo Bills.
8. Baltimore Ravens (9-5): Defeated Dallas Cowboys, Browns and the Jaguars. Next face the Giants before they end the regular season in Cincinnati.
10. New England Patriots (6-8): Won on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers and lost to the Los Angeles Rams. Lost to the Dolphins and were eliminated from playoff contention.
Las Vegas should get some help along the way. But to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Raiders likely need to sweep their remaining games, and just maybe a win over the Dolphins to hold a tiebreaker edge?
A lot needs to go the Raiders’ way.
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 7:01 PM.
