The Indianapolis Colts were hoping the Las Vegas Raiders would come away with a victory on Saturday night over the Miami Dolphins but that wasn’t the case.
Instead, the Raiders blew a chance at snatching a victory when they decided to settle for a field goal at the goal line with just over a minute left in the game, rather than trying to punch in a touchdown.
Regardless, the loss by the Raiders complicates matters for the Colts, who are making their playoff push with two remaining games.
The Colts can still clinch on Sunday but that would require a win over the Steelers and a Ravens loss against the Giants. It isn’t likely the Ravens will get upset, and the Colts are now viewed as underdogs with both of their starting offensive tackles out.
So now the situation gets tricky. If the Colts beat the Steelers, they are in a “win-get-in” scenario in Week 17 against the Jaguars. Should the Colts lose against the Steelers, the chances of them missing the playoffs grows given they don’t hold the tiebreaker over either the Dolphins or the Ravens.
This means there is a chance the Colts go 11-5 on the season and still miss out on the playoffs. Meanwhile, the NFC East winner is likely to have a losing record but finish as the fourth seed in the NFC playoff race and host a playoff game.
Being without their starting offensive tackles will be tough against the NFL’s best pass rush and Sunday’s game becomes even more important now that the Raiders blew a chance to help the Colts secure a spot in the wild-card race.
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