Against all odds, Las Vegas Raiders on the doorstep of the AFC Playoffs
By Brad Weiss
The Las Vegas Raiders have been through a roller coaster of a 2021 NFL season, but have played their way to the doorstep of the AFC Playoffs.
Heading into their bye week, it looked like a foregone conclusion that the Las Vegas Raiders would be a playoff team. They had navigated the first seven games through a 5-2 record, and despite head coach Jon Gruden resigning, they were flying high entering the break.
However, during the bye week, the Raiders released Henry Ruggs III after he crashed his car while going over 150 miles per hour and was allegedly two times the legal limit. The crash killed 23-year old Tina Tintor and her dog, likely ending his NFL career, and he now stands to spend the better part of his life in jail.
With that weighing on the team’s mind, the Raiders went to New Jersey to take on the New York Giants and were still expected to roll over their opponent on the road. Instead, the Raiders lost and would go on to lose five of six, sending their record below .500 entering their road matchup against the Cleveland Browns.
Raiders make a run
The Browns game was supposed to be played on Saturday in Week 15, but instead, due to a rash of COVID positives within the Cleveland organization, it was moved to Monday. Las Vegas was still able to come away with the victory on a comeback drive by Derek Carr late in the fourth quarter and capped off by a Daniel Carlson field goal.
In Wek 16, the Raiders played host to the Denver Broncos, who started Drew Lock in place of the injured Teddy Bridgewater and almost upset Las Vegas at home. However, the Raiders beat the Broncos, moving over .500 for the season, and setting up a crucial AFC battle against Indianapolis in Week 17, a team that needed a win to clinch a playoff spot.
Again, the Raiders beat the odds, as they were eight-point underdogs against Indianapolis, and were able to come from behind to beat them in the fourth quarter as well. Carr piloted the Raiders to his 29th comeback victory, hitting Hunter Renfrow on 4th-and-2 in the fourth quarter to take the lead, and then after the Colts tied it up with a field goal, he led another drive, hitting Renfrow to get into field goal territory, where Carlson took care of the rest.
Now, they sit on the doorstep of the playoffs and only need a victory against division rival Los Angeles at home to clinch at least the seventh seed in the AFC. Can they do it? Only time will tell, but after seeing this team beat the odds across the last few weeks, you have to at least be confident that they are going to give everything they have on Sunday to hopefully punch their first playoff ticket since the 2016 season.