NFL Power Rankings, Week 17: Eagles bury Cowboys, Ravens clinch No. 1 seed
By Dan Parzych
23. Oakland Raiders (25)
One week after losing in one of the worst ways possible during their final home game before the move to Las Vegas, the Oakland Raiders found a way to win against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16 to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
That’s right, the Raiders of all teams are technically still alive in the AFC playoff hunt, and even though their only chance involves a win plus a bunch of other things falling into place, just being alive is exciting.
Believe it or not, crazier things have taken place in the NFL over the years, and now Oakland’s Week 17 meeting with the Denver Broncos just became a must-win situation.
If the Raiders do end up falling short of the playoffs, they would unfortunately have no one to blame other than themselves since the team missed out on numerous opportunities over the last few months.
But since living in the past isn’t going to change anything, Oakland just needs to focus on leaving Denver with a win during Week 17, and see how the rest of the scenarios play out since one can only imagine how much excitement there would be if the Raiders somehow pulled this off.