The Raiders’ playoff hopes took a hit this week, but looking ahead there is still reason for some optimism.
According to ESPN, the Raiders have the softest schedule in the NFL to close out the year… and better way to jumpstart a playoff push than to see the 0-11 Jets up next on the schedule?
If the Raiders can’t beat the Jets, they don’t deserve to be in the playoffs.
As of now, the three teams ahead of the Raiders (6-5) in the wild card hunt are the Browns (8-3), Dolphins (7-4), and Colts (7-4). The Raiders hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Browns and they still have the Colts and Dolphins on the schedule.
So the Raiders still very much control their own destiny.
What the Raiders really need is to win 10 games. Looking at the Browns (8-3), they still have an uphill climb to get to 10 wins as their next five games are Tennessee, Baltimore, New York Giants, New York Jets, and Baltimore. The Browns’ only remaining opponent not in the playoff hunt is the Jets – and remember, the Raiders have the head-to-head tiebreaker with Cleveland.
The Dolphins are a game ahead of the Raiders in the standings, but their schedule isn’t a lot friendlier than what the Browns are looking at. Miami still has the Bengals, Chiefs, Patriots, Raiders, and Bills left to play.
The Colts are also a game ahead of the Raiders, but still have the Raiders, Steelers, Jaguars, and Texans twice still on their schedule. Hardly a cake walk.
The team to watch that is currently not in the playoffs (if the season ended today) is the Ravens. they are 6-4, but their schedule seems even more friendly down the stretch than the Raiders. Baltimore has six games remaining against the Steelers, Cowboys, Browns, Jaguars, Giants, and Bengals. They could easily win five of those games and finish with 11 wins. But even if that happens, a 10-win season will almost certainly get the Raiders in the playoffs – especially if they can own the tiebreakers with Cleveland, Miami, and Indianapolis.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Fingers are definitely crossed over here that the Raiders can get some help from opposing foes along the way, they can avoid a catastrophe as they seen last year! They definitely can’t afford any further injuries or performances that they had in Atlanta.. If they lay a turd in New York this week my question will be how much money do they save by terminating the 100million dollar head coaches salary along with his coaching staff! Not a very happy Raider fan at the moment as you can tell.
The article says it all….if the Raiders can’t beat the Jets then they don’t deserve to be in the playoffs! And I think they need to blow the doors off the Jets to send a message. A close win is still a win but coupled with last weeks disaster you’ll have to wonder about Vegas what they can do in their last 4 games. Let’s all hope it doesn’t come down to that last game in Denver with a win and get in situation. Denver should have the QB covid situation figured out by then, maybe it will most likely be cold possibly snowing and Raiders having young players that could all spell problems for the Raiders! I have faith though that they’ll have a spot secure by that last game and a win or loss will just be for what seeding they get!
Carr does not play well 40% of the time, he dinks and dunks his way to statistical numbers, which is OK if you need to control the clock, but he is not the type to exhort his defense, he just goes to the bench and sits. QB’s like Mahomes, Brady, Bree’s, Wilson, and Manning paraded up and down the defense bench egging em on. Carr is a bench loafer and will NEVER take this team anywhere, season after season it’s the same OL stuff. I’d trade him for the highest pick or picks, then bundle picks to move up next year and get a true winner in Trevor Lawrence of Clemson……….then we’ll be talking.
I think that all Raiders fans agree that what we saw happen in Atlanta was a pitiful “effort” by the Raiders. Optimism aside, the understatement of the year is that the Raiders NEED to play Raiders football for the rest of the season and we all know what will happen if they don’t. Of course, I have read many comments recently where long time devoted Raiders fans are calling for some management people’s heads to roll. As well, ALL Raiders fans can see the potential of the Raiders to return to prominence and actually become a dominant football team but, as we all also know, potential doesn’t win football games, execution does. Beating the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs was no small feat but losing to the Atlanta Falcons was equally as devastating as beating the two previously mentioned playoff teams was fantastic. I’m not sure where the happy medium is but I do know that there is a serious lack of consistency on this team and where it emanates from, I don’t know. The obvious truth is that THIS TEAM has enough talent to contend for a Super Bowl but NOT the FOCUS necessary to get it done.
Carr is NOT the problem, Raiders “D” can’t stop ANYTHING