Mathematically speaking, the Raiders are still alive in the AFC Wild Card hunt. There un-magic number, however, is one. That means a loss by them or a win by the Ravens and the Raiders can say good-bye to the Wild Card.
For about ten minutes on Monday night, it appeared as if the 9-4 Baltimore Ravens would slide back to the pack. They had just blown a big lead against the Texans and they and their exhausted and suddenly very un-Raven like defense were going to be asked keep going in overtime. The Ravens put a stop to all this nonsense and got a pick-six—game over.
The pile of Wild Card chasers were left disheartened and they now look to the suddenly struggling New York Jets to open the door for them. The 9-4 Jets lost on Sunday to the 7-6 Miami Dolphins in trip-gate and they look to be a team in decline. Good news for the Colts and Chargers, who join the Jets at 7-6.
The Raiders are the lone 6-7 AFC team and the last on the Wild Card bubble. They will need either the Ravens or Jets to lose out, while they win out. They will also need the Chargers to lose a game and the Dolphins to either lose two games or get in a three way tie. The Dolphins own the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Raiders. The Raiders play the Colts in Week 16.