This time last week, the Raiders’ odds were higher for getting a pick in the top five than they were of making the playoffs. Facing the defending Super Bowl champs in their house would seem to be just the thing that officially knocked them out of playoff contention. But, going into Arrowhead and pulling out a win? Well, that’s made for a very different story.
Now, with just two games left, not only is a winning record a possibility, but so too is the division title.
Not to get ahead of ourselves here, but it would be the first division title for the Raiders in over 20 years (2002).
All that needs to happen is for the Raiders to win their last two and the Chiefs to lose their last two. That would put the two teams at 9-8 at the end of the season, but with the Raiders winning the tie-breaker due to a better division record (4-2).
A month ago the idea that the Raiders could finish the season on a three-game win streak and the Chiefs on a three-game losing streak to flip the division seemed an impossibility.
After all, the Chiefs were sitting at 8-3 and looking like the favorite for the number one seed, while the Raiders were 5-8 staring at another lost season and hoping for a high draft pick.
In that timespan, the Raiders defense has led them to a 2-1 record while the Chiefs have stumbled to go 1-3. So, the Raiders winning out while the Chiefs losing out is very possible.
The Raiders final two games come against the Colts (8-7) and Broncos (7-8). The Chiefs finish the season against the Bengals (8-7) and Chargers (5-10).
Should the Chiefs win a game, the Raiders could still make the playoffs, but they’d need a lot more help.
Not only would the Raiders have to win out, but the Jaguars, Steelers, Texans, and Bengals would all have to lose at least one game.
On the flip side, technically speaking, the Raiders are still in range of the fifth overall pick should they lose the last two.