Raiders: 3 players who led the team to victory in Week 16

After falling the past four weeks, the Oakland Raiders righted the ship with a win against the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers. Here are three players who were instrumental in keeping their slim playoff hopes alive.

Tumultuous doesn’t even begin to describe this past season for the Oakland Raiders. After acquiring star receiver Antonio Brown from the Pittsburgh Steelers in the offseason, expectations were high.

Raiders fans were excited to see what quarterback Derek Carr could do with an elite weapon finally at his disposal.

Alas, it was not to be. As we know by now, Brown didn’t even make it to Week 1 after forcing his way out of Oakland.

Brown is currently unemployed after an equally rapid departure from the New England Patriots, who released him following multiple accusations of sexual assault that resulted in an investigation from the league office.

With Brown out of the picture, the receiver position has been in-flux for most of the season, with a host of players trying their hand at replacing the expected production Brown was supposed to provide with mixed results.

After a Week 1 victory over the Denver Broncos, the Raiders suffered two ugly losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings before getting back on track and winning five of their next seven games. Sitting at 6-4, the Raiders were in prime position to overtake the Chiefs for first place in the AFC West.

Instead, they scored a combined 12 points in back-to-back losses to the New York Jets and the Chiefs, before falling at home to the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars in the final two games at the Oakland Coliseum. Or so we thought.

As poor as the Raiders played during their four-game losing streak, they still have not been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, thanks in no small part to defeating the Los Angeles Chargers 24-17 in the Chargers’ final game at Dignity Health Sports Park.

With that, let’s take a look at three players who were instrumental in keeping the silver and black in the playoff picture.