Raiders: Can they pull off the improbable and make the playoffs?
By Sean Basile
The Oakland Raiders continue to be all over the place as they win this week as 7.5 point dogs. Somebody try to get a handle on this team, please!
I can’t seem to figure this Oakland Raiders team out nowadays. They win when they’re supposed to lose and lose when they’re supposed to win. I find that very inconsiderate of them as someone who likes trying to predict these games.
But in all seriousness, the Raiders put forth their first good performance in over a month by defeating the Los Angeles Chargers 24-17 and completing the season sweep of the Bolts for the first time in two years where they’ve been swept themselves in 2017 and 2018.
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Believe it or not, the Raiders are actually still alive for that sixth playoff spot in the AFC at 7-8. They would need a lot of things to happen for them to actually make it, but to be honest with you, I wouldn’t put it past them to somehow sneak in.
It doesn’t look that insurmountable to me.
Looking at what needs to happen, the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers have to lose and the Indianapolis Colts have to win next week, as well as ONE OF Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles (Chargers), and New England need to win.
The Patriots are playing the Dolphins at home where they haven’t lost to Miami there since 2008, and there has to be at least one upset win for either Chicago, Detroit, or Los Angeles.
I also like Indianapolis’ chances in Jacksonville very much now that they’ve gotten pretty healthy on the offensive side of the ball.
That leaves Tennessee and Pittsburgh.
Tennessee hasn’t won in Houston since 2012, and even though Pittsburgh has won in its last two trips to Baltimore, is Devlin Hodges (with the way he’s been playing of late) going to be able to take down that continuously rising Ravens secondary, even if they rest guys?
I’m not so sure about that.
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That leaves it up to the Raiders to take care of business in Denver, where they’ve won only once since 2011.
I’ve certainly had it as a loss for the Raiders for many weeks now as I’ve been looking ahead, but with the way they played this past week, I don’t necessarily hate their chances to pull off the upset. I’ll have to do more thinking about it as the week progresses.
So, to sum it all up, the Raiders looked good in this Chargers game. They’re now 3-2 in the division with a chance to steal a playoff spot if a lot of things go their way in Week 17.
Next. Raiders: 3 possible replacements for Derek Carr in the offseason. dark
After all this team has been through, and after what has recently developed with rumors of the team wanting to move on from Derek Carr, snagging that playoff berth out of nowhere would be terrific for the franchise and send them off and running into next year as they move to Las Vegas.