Raiders playoffs hopes alive, still in question — UPDATED
By Steve Corkran
Saturday, December 24th, 2011 at 4:38 pm in Oakland Raiders.
The Raiders moved into a tie for the AFC West lead with the Denver Broncos on Saturday by virtue of their victory over the Kansas City Chiefs and the Broncos loss to the Buffalo Bills.
However, the Broncos still have the inside edge to winning the division, based on the tiebreaking procedure.
The Raiders and Broncos are 8-7, with one game left. The first tiebreak is head-to-head games. The Raiders and Broncos split those games.
That takes it to the second tiebreak, record within the division. The Raiders and Broncos are 3-2. That won’t change if the Raiders and Broncos both win or both lose next Sunday.
If that’s the case, the winner of the division would be decided by record against common opponents. The Broncos would win that tiebreak.
So, the Raiders need to win or tie the San Diego Chargers AND have the Broncos lose to the Chiefs next Sunday for them to win the AFC West.
The Broncos simply need to win OR have the Raiders lose to the Chargers in order for them to win the division.
As for the wild-card race, the Raiders trail the Cincinnati Bengals by one game. The Raiders would get the second wild-card berth if they beat the Chargers and the Bengals lose to the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday.
The Tennessee Titans would get the second wild-card berth if they wind up in a three-way tie with the Raiders and Bengals. If the New York Jets join the fray to make it a four-way tie, the Raiders would get the nod.
Got all that?
Follow me on Twitter: @corkonthenfl
[You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.]
December 24th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
who won the first donks chefs game?
December 24th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
1st
December 24th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
1st
December 24th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
darn
December 24th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
whats this 1st thing?
December 24th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Palmer pissed me off alot today, that OT throw was huge
December 24th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
Donks won 17-7
December 24th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
Tebow magic is done.
KC will crush Denver.
Its all up to Oakland.
December 24th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Block kick in regulation saved us, was ready to take a long walk
December 24th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
Palmer owes Seymour a diamond watch! lol
December 24th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Bresnahan needs fired sooner rather than later.
He is just awful.
Awful. How bout that 3 man rush on 3rd and 31 or what ever with seconds left in the half.
KC picks up a huge gain and gets in FG range.
We blocked it but still, Chuck B? we think the B stands for bish.
December 24th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Found a way to get it done. It was ugly as he-ll and refs were awful but we beat them all.
Found a way to win.
December 24th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
Chargers are DONE!!
December 24th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Broncos lost, Chargers are losing…and appear done,
so its all set – Bengals won, Jets lost , but we need the Broncos
to lose to the Chiefs in the Orton revenge game.
Lets get it done over the Chargers…yes, GoodOle00..WE BEAT EM ALL!
December 24th, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Hey refs were was the “leaping” penalty on Seymour? LMAO!
December 24th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
What I asked in the other thread:
Who owns tie-breaker next week if Bengals lose and Raiders (and Denver) win?
Link (new window)
December 24th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
Olinesux Says:
December 24th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
whats this 1st thing?
=========
That’s what i’m saying. Corny as hell! WTF?
December 24th, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Any defensive coordinator who uses a three man rush should be fired.
December 24th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
I believe we have all tiebreakers if Cincy loses (to Baltimore) and we win. Beat Jets head to head. Better conference record than the Bengals and stronger winning % vs. Tennessee. If this is true what would you rather have-Win the division and host the Steelers in round #1 or be the last wild card and travel to Houston in round #1? We may be better of as the WC if everything works out but at this point just get me a playoff bid!
December 24th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
For those who missed the other blog post:
Guys, this playoff scenario is a mess. Basically, here’s how it stands:
For the Wild Card:
-We need the Bengals to lose
-If the Titans win, we need the Jets to win. If the Titans lose, the Jets game is meaningless.
For the Division:
-We need the Broncos to lose AND we have to beat the Chargers.
There’s your scenarios. Start praying..
December 24th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
It’s the best win percentage in a minimum of 4 common games (between us and the Titans). We only share 4 common games with the Titans (the minimum):
-Titans lost to Houston, we beat Houston (+1 Raiders)
-Titans beat Buffalo, we lost to Buffalo (-1 Raiders)
-Titans beat Cleveland, we beat Cleveland (neutral)
-Titans beat Denver, we lost to Denver (-1 Raiders)
This is why they give the Titans the tiebreak. I don’t understand why our loss to Denver overrides our win, though.
December 24th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
“Who owns tie-breaker next week if Bengals lose and Raiders (and Denver) win?”
Looks like Cincinnati does according to your link…so we do need Baltimore to win.
December 24th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Raiders will need both Cincinnati & Houston to lose to get into wild card unless New York wins, then we will just need for Cincinnati to lose, and for us to defeat San Diego.
Reason being there will not be four common games between the Raiders, Cincinnati, New York, and Tennessee.
Raiders own strength of victory over other three.
December 24th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
I have the bengals losing to the ravens and tenn losing to houston. Also have orton tearing apart his old team(he has been doing good for KC since he took over)
December 24th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Basically, we need either a 2 game tie with the Bengals and us, a 3 game tie with us, the Bengals, and the Jets, or a 4 game tie between us, the Bengals, Jets, and Titans. We cannot be in a 3 way tie with just the Titans and Bengals, as the Titans would eliminate the Bengals based on better conference record and then eliminate us based on better win % in common games (see above). The tie break would never get to strength of victory.
December 24th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Our biggest challenge will be winning. I’m very curious to see whether or not they flex our game to Sunday Night (the first time we will have ever been on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, crazily enough) since it will be America’s darlings, the Chargers vs. the Raiders. NBC can flex any game this week, as none is set yet, and Dallas vs. NYG can’t be flexed since Dallas has already played the maximum of 3 times on Sunday night this year (that would have been their first choice). Not sure what other game they would flex, unless they choose Cincy and Baltimore, or Detroit vs. GB.
Personally, I think we should be flexed, since our team has not been on NBC SNF yet this year, or any year, and since we’ll potentially be fighting for a playoff spot. I’d love to see our boys on Sunday Night, in primetime, for all the marbles.
December 24th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Baltimore will need to defeat Cincinnati in order to win the division and get a first round bye as Pittsburg also has an 11-4 record and are playing Cleveland.
Houston is locked in the three seed as they lost to Baltimore so, even if both Pitt & Balt lose, Houston cannot get the 1st round bye.
December 24th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
I prefer to get the wild card spot. That would send us to Houston. We win the division, we get Pitt or Baltimore. No thank you. We beat Houston, we go to New England.
December 24th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Ravens will crush the Bengals;
Orton gets to play against his old team Denver.
Denver is in if both Cincy & Tenn lose (FYI);
Denver swept New york & Cincy, so they might be a little less motivated to defeat Kansas City; of course that would mean less pressure as well.
December 24th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Raiders could very well no by game time, whether they will control their destiny.
December 24th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
know
December 24th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
wonder what nnamdi is thinking right about now….
December 24th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
Just Win!…the rest will work itself out….
Raidersssssss
December 24th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
They don’t count the Denver game we lost, they count the fact Raiders are .500 vs Denver, while Titans are 1.000 vs Denver.
December 24th, 2011 at 7:42 pm
Orton will play the game of his life next Sunday.
A HUGE FU to the team and fans that threw him away.
For the first time of my life I’m a Chiefs fan.
December 24th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
at least were playin 4 something the last game of season!-when was the last time that happened? 2002
December 24th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
usually were done @game 10-11
December 24th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Last year the season finale was meaningless…this year it matters..if nothing else that is a step in the right direction, now that Seattle is virtually done, I wonder what cable, gallery and miller are thinking…lmfao
December 24th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
I don’t believe your wild card analysis is correct. The Raiders need the Bengals and the Titans to lose in order to get a wild card spot.
December 24th, 2011 at 11:34 pm
Just beat SD next week and it will all shake out. Just win on Sunday!
December 25th, 2011 at 12:09 am
1ST & FOREMOST IS ENDING WITH A 9-7 RECORD, I BELIEVE IF WE WIN ONE OF THOSE SCENARIOS WILL PLAY OUT. ITS GONE OUR WAY THE LAST 2 WEEKS WE JUST COULDN’T CLOSE OUT THE LIONS HAD WE DONE THAT WE’D BE SITTING PRETTY RIGHT NOW-BUT TO BE HONEST I THINK WE PLAY BETTER WITH A CHIP ON OUR SHOULDER SO I BELIEVE WE’LL PULL OUT A “W” VS. THE CHARGERS NEXT SUNDAY-AND THEN THE MAIN CONCERN NEEDS TO BE GETTING FORD JONES & DMAC READY TO GO FOR THE PLAYOFFS. WE ARE SO MUCH MORE DANGEROUS WITH THESE GUYS STARTIN’ DMAC-FORD-MOORE-BOSS- BUSH & JONES-CAN YOU SAY DANGEROUS PLAYOFF TEAM. WITH THESER GUYS IN THE GAME WE SCORE MORE POINTS AND TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF OUR DEFENSE CUZ WE KNOW WE CAN’T RELY ON THEM..WE NEED TO SCORE 30+ PPG FROM HERE ON OUT TO BE A LEGIT THREAT TO THE TEAMS WE MIGHT FACE IN THE POST SEASON. GO RAIDERS-
December 25th, 2011 at 12:12 am
^FORGOT ABOUT PALMER TOO I KNOW HE’S AN INT. MACHINE, BUT WE HAVEN’T GOT TO SEE PALMER PLAY WITH ALL OF OUR PLAY MAKERS HEALTHY. I THINK THE 1/2 PUNCH OF DMAC & BUSH WITH JONES SPRINKLED IN CAN ONLY HELP PALMER.
December 25th, 2011 at 4:17 am
Steve,
Your Wildcard statement doesn’t make sense. “The Raiders make the 2nd wild card if they win and the Bengals lose. But you have the Titans winning the 2nd wild card if there is a 3-way tie with Raiders/Titans/Bengals. The Titans are 8-7, if they win next week, they will be 9-7. Thus, if the Raiders win & The Broncos win, both the Bengals & Titans have to lose?
December 25th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Tell me why I’m wrong, but I think we have the exact same record against common opponents outside the division (assuming that the division record ends up tied — i.e. we beat the Chargers and Broncos beat the Chiefs). I have the Raiders at 4-4 with wins against the Jets, Minnesota, Chicago, and Detroit – losses against Miami, Buffalo, Pats, & Packers, Denver are also 4-4 against those same opponents with wins against the Jets, Minnesota, chicago and miami and losses against Buffalo, Pats, Packers and Detroit. So how does your analysis conclude we lose this tie breaker?
December 26th, 2011 at 7:02 am
Not saying it’s true, but alot of us feel the league is “out to get us” for whatever reason.
I don’t understand why the league wouldn’t want the Raiders in if that’s the case.
Al is gone so what’s the deal?
Bad image for the league?
My fear (among many of course) is with Al gone there is nobody to stick up for us.
Is Mark gonna do it? Amy? You know they don’t respect Hue as that guy.
Other thing is why the heck should we have to worry about that kind of stuff?
We should’nt.