Heading into Week 7, the Raiders were sitting in a great position to potentially make a playoff push.
With Patrick Mahomes out for the next few weeks, Oakland was just a few games back of Kansas City for first place in the AFC West. While it seems unlikely they would overtake the Chiefs for the divisional crown, it’s not entirely impossible to see Kansas City lose a few games without their MVP quarterback.
However, what was always more likely was the Oakland could grab a wild card spot. But after losing to Green Bay, the Raiders fell to 3-3 and are have now fallen out of the playoff picture. According to FiveThirtyEight, the team has just a 25 percent chance of making the playoffs in 2019.
While it’s still early, it’s pretty clear that the Buffalo Bills are likely to grab one of those wild card spots. The other spot will likely go to the non-division winner in the AFC South, which will probably be the Indianapolis Colts or Houston Texans, if not the Raiders.
Luckily for Oakland, the team already has a tiebreaker with the Colts after beating them a few weeks ago. And with Houston next up on the Raiders’ schedule, a win against the Texans would give them a leg up on two wild-card contenders.
While the odds may not be in their favor now, that could change dramatically with a win next week. It’s too early to call this a must-win game for the Raiders, but if they fall to Houston, it does seem unlikely they will be able to make a push for the playoffs this season. Oakland must steal this game on the road if they want to contend in 2019.
