Raiders Playoff Hopes Still Alive Going Into Week 17, Baby

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The Oakland Raiders won in Week 16 over the rival Chargers, snapping a four-game losing streak and bringing their record to 7-8 on the year. Thanks to losses by Tennessee, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland during the 1 pm slate, the win kept them alive in the AFC Wild Card race going into Week 17.

They now have a 10 percent chance to make the postseason, which is shocking considering they had less than 1 percent chance before Week 16.

AFC Wild Card Odds Going into Week 17

  1. Tennessee (60 percent)
  2. Pittsburgh (30 percent)
  3. Oakland (10 percent)

(via FiveThirtyEight)

To secure a spot in the playoffs, a few things need to happen in Week 17, but it’s not that crazy. Of course, Jon Gruden and company need to beat Denver, then get wins from Houston (over Tennessee), Baltimore (over Pittsburgh), and Indianapolis (over Jacksonville).

These happenings will set up a four-way tie for the sixth spot in the AFC Playoffs between the Steelers, Titans, Colts, and Raiders. Based on various tiebreakers, Oakland would emerge from the pack.

The Colts would knock the Titans out on the divisional tiebreak. Since Oakland beat Indianapolis in Week 4, this would give the Raiders the nod over the Colts. The Raiders would then have a tiebreaker over the Steelers due to the “strength of victory” metric.

(via SB Nation)

Some places are reporting that Cleveland also needs to win in Week 17 for Oakland to get in but the ESPN Playoff Machine says otherwise, as does various outlets. A win by Cleveland on FiveThirtyEight’s simulator also doesn’t change things whatsoever.

The bulk of the important games in Week 17 will take place in the late afternoon and evening slate. You can see the schedule for Week 17 below, per Ian Rapoport.

Oakland beat Los Angeles 24-17 on Sunday behind big games from Derek Carr (291 passing yards, one passing touchdown, one rushing touchdown) and Hunter Renfrow (seven catches, 107 yards, and one touchdown).

CATEGORY: NFL