The Oakland Raiders, at 7-6, are in deep trouble when it comes to winning the AFC West. The Denver Broncos have taken a game lead over them in the standings, and hold an edge in the conference tiebreaker. Even if Oakland picks up one game and both teams are even at the end of the year, Denver would still win the conference. The Raiders need to hope Tim Tebow and the Broncos collapse at the end of the season if they expect to have a shot at the division.
So that leaves the wild-card, and the Raiders are also ill-equipped to win these tiebreakers.The Tennessee Titans and the Cincinnati Bengals are at 7-6 with the Raiders and both of them hold the advantage over Oakland with better conference winning percentages. If both of them end their seasons with the same record, Oakland is out of the picture. The Raiders are going to have to hope they win one more game than both of those teams if they plan on getting that sixth wild card spot.
The only team that they're likely to win tiebreakers on New York Jets are at 8-5, since the Raiders have beaten the Jets head-to-head. The Jets will also have to lose one more game than the Raiders for that scenario to take place. Things are looking pretty bleak for Oakland to get to the playoffs.
To discuss the Raiders and their playoff aspirations, head on over to Silver and Black Pride.