Stayin' Alive. Stayin' Alive. Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Stayin' Alive. Stayin' Alive. ~ The Bee Gees
I just got off watching the highlights of the full game. I managed to catch the last five minutes of the 4th quarter. Yeah. The Raiders have bounced back and are still miraculously alive in the playoff hunt with this win over the Chargers and a lot of help around the NFL. All the scenarios that need to happen happened this week. Jets beat the Steelers. Ravens beat the Browns. Colts beat the Panthers. And Saints beat the Titans.
It's quite unbelievable that the Raiders still in the playoff hunt. When you think about it, they got flat out embarrassed on the road against the Jets and the Chiefs. Titans came into Oakland and blew them out. Jaguars delivered a gut wrenching loss in the final home game at the Coliseum. But, they managed to take care of business here.
Looking at the highlights, it was not a pretty game. The O-line allowed 3 sack on Derek Carr. The biggest plus though was that Hunter Renfrow was back. Renfrow provided a spark in the passing game with 7 receptions, 107 yards and a TD. Renfrow was definitely missed the last two games and he made the receiving corps look good. He made Carr look good. Let's not kid ourselves, Carr had a good game with almost 300 passing yards, a pass TD, and a rushing TD. His up and down performances continues to raise some bipolarity among Raider Nation. This doesn't change the fact that he's not playing with the money he's worth. But no question, this guarantees that Carr will play at least a season in Vegas. DeAndre Washington filled in for Josh Jacobs well with 85 rushing yards and a TD. The running game didn't miss a beat.
There's not much else I can say about this game. But, luck was definitely on the Raiders' side this week. Let's be a little realistic here, none of the teams in the running for the sixth seed in the AFC are playoff worthy. This is a mess that the Raiders definitely need to capitalize on. As I mentioned, the scenarios that needed to happen happened this week. Next week, they need to win against Denver, Ravens and Texans have to win against Pittsburgh and Tennessee respectively, and the Colts need to win. The odds will be a lot tougher next week. Ravens and Texans are likely going to rest their starters as their playoff picture is set. Whether some of the games that the Raiders lost this season will come back to haunt them remains to be seen. I'll see you guys next week.
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