Raiders: Notes from Week 11 and looking ahead to Week 17

With only six games left in the season, the 6-4 Oakland Raiders are on pace to clinch a playoff berth. Let’s look ahead and see if they can pull it off.

The Oakland Raiders delivered once again and came out victorious, this time against one of the league’s worst team in the Cincinnati Bengals. Regardless, a win is a win, and now the Raiders are 6-4 and hot on the Kansas City Chiefs’ tail for the division lead.

This Bengals game was about as solid a performance as you could ask for if you’re a Raiders fan. Josh Jacobs went off for 112 yards on 23 attempts and Derek Carr completed 86.2 percent of his passes.

The Raiders defense also got to the Bengals’ rookie quarterback, Ryan Finley, five times and Maxx Crosby had himself a day recording four of those five sacks.

This is where the Raiders want to be right now. The way I see it, I really don’t think the Chiefs look that good anymore.

Patrick Mahomes is still banged up, they can’t run the ball nor stop the run on defense, and if you watched that Los Angeles Chargers game last night, Philip Rivers threw four interceptions and still had the Bolts in the red zone with a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter.

Kansas City is not burying teams like they were last year and that’s a combination of guys not being healthy and a very shaky secondary and run defense.

A few more things need to go the Raiders way, but my goodness, this team can actually pull off the upset and steal the AFC West — something I never even fathomed coming into this year.

More from Las Vegas Raiders News

• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• Raiders: Bryan Edwards out, Henry Ruggs doubtful for Sunday
• Raiders: Damon Arnette re-injures thumb, could be headed to IR
• Raiders fall short in letdown Week 3 loss to the New England Patriots
• Raiders: Game breakdown and prediction for Week 3 at New England Patriots

Here’s what it looks like for the Raiders the rest of the way.

They get the New York Jets this week at MetLife Stadium in what could be a bit of a scary game considering Sam Darnold and the Jets have won their last two games albeit against the likes of the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants

But if the Raiders can avoid that upset and take care of business once again, they get to meet the Chiefs at Arrowhead with both of them sitting at 7-4. That would be a tremendous matchup, and a meaningful game that I did not anticipate even a few weeks ago.

Odds are the Chiefs beat them and they fall to 7-5, but the Raiders are still in line for a playoff spot, maybe even the division if the Chiefs go belly up.

More from Golden Gate Sports

• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
• Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
• 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
• 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve

Then they return back home to Oakland for two games against Tennessee and Jacksonville — two games that they COULD lose or at least split 1-1.

But my gut tells me they’ll be able to win both of those games unless something drastically changes with this team’s makeup in the next two weeks.

That brings this team’s record to 9-5. They’re now guaranteed a winning season and the great Colin Cowherd over on Fox Sports 1 is forced to purchase season tickets for the Las Vegas Raiders next season (he said if the Raiders go 8-8, he’d do so before this season started).

They then finish up the year with trips to Los Angeles and Denver to take on the Chargers and Broncos again. They already beat both of those teams, but I think they’ll (at the most) split 1-1 and finish the season 10-6 or 9-7 with a playoff berth well within their grasps.

I’m excited to see how these guys close out the season. I’ve been shocked by what I’ve seen out of them this year, but it’s always good when the Raiders are relevant.