Oakland Raiders have wild but realistic Week 17 playoff scenario

The Oakland Raiders’ season looked doomed after they lost four in a row to drop to 6-8 on the season after Week 15, but they actually are alive in the playoff race, and have a somewhat realistic, albeit complicated, shot at the postseason.

The Raiders beat the Chargers in Los Angeles 24-17 on Sunday to improve to 7-8. They need four things to happen in Week 17 in order to qualify for the playoffs. Though that is a complex scenario, it is realistic.

Here is a look at the Oakland Raiders’ Week 17 playoff scenario:

– Raiders beat Broncos in Denver
– Ravens beat Steelers at home
– Texans beat Titans at home
– Colts beat Jaguars in Jacksonville

If all this shakes out, the Raiders, Steelers, Colts and Titans would all be 8-8. The Raiders would win a tiebreaker with the Steelers based on strength of victory, which means the record of the teams they beat is better than the record of the teams the Steelers beat.

Every one of those scenarios seems reasonable to occur. The most difficult task might be the Raiders taking care of business on their own with a win at Denver, which beat Detroit at home on Sunday.

This clip is a perfect depiction of the situation:

The Raiders trying to make the playoffs pic.twitter.com/3P7ngeONoI

— Shane Greaney (@ShanyeWest15) December 20, 2019