Raiders Officially Out Of Playoff Hunt
How nice would it have been to see the Chiefs vs Raiders in week 17 playing for first place in the AFC West?
Well don’t get your hopes up because the Chiefs beat the Titans this morning to eliminate the Raiders from playoff contention. The Raiders did themselves no favors in a loss to the Colts in the afternoon to drop Oakland to a 7-8 record.
The Raiders could make history in a sad way this year. After a historicly bad seven years of 11 or more losses, the Raiders can be the first team to go undefeated in division play and still miss the playoffs. This will be the case if Oakland wins at Kansas City in the regular season finale at Arrowhead Stadium.
Although the Raiders looked far worse in the stat book than they did on the scoreboard in the 31-26 loss, there were some special moments from the special teams. Jacoby Ford set a Raider record for three kickoff returns for touchdowns in a season and Sebastian Janikowski hit a 59 yard field goal.
Although it may be demoralizing to see the Raiders out of playoff contention, it has been thrilling (with good times and bad times) to see the Raiders playing meaningfull games into and throughout the month of December. The Raiders can still finish .500 (8-8) with a win at K.C. which would mark a three game improvement over last season.
| JACOBY FORD, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, Sebastian Janikowski
Pretty! This was a really wonderful article..Thanks once again for the push!
the raiders failed to reach the postseason but they came darn close considering they’re a team without a quarterback. danny, do you see them sticking with campbell after this year?
@ Greg: I think Campbell will be the QB for the next season. Gradkowski in 2010 looked not as good as the Gradkowski of 2009. Campbell has shined in some games ,while being mediocre in others. I think he has earned another full season as starter, which he is under contract for. If he flops in 2011, it’s only a $4.5 million price and he will be out of Oakland. Keeping Campbell would put some continuity at the most important position on the field, not just head coach instead of another new QB.