The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for the Las Vegas Raiders. They had a number of injuries on the offensive and defensive line and several veterans needed the week off. However, the Week 6 bye didn’t exactly work out in their favor.
Several of the teams that are competing with the Raiders for a playoff spot won on Sunday, including the Ravens, Steelers, Colts, and Dolphins. While Baltimore or Pittsburgh will likely win the AFC North, one of those teams is destined to earn a Wild Card spot. It’s also worth noting that the Cleveland Browns are currently 4-2 as well and they are on track to potentially earn a playoff berth for the first time in decades.
Here is how the AFC stacks up going into Monday:
| Team | W | L | T |
| Titans | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Steelers | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Ravens | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Bills | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Chiefs | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Browns | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Colts | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Raiders | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Dolphins | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Patriots | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Broncos | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Bengals | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Chargers | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Texans | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Jaguars | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Jets | 0 | 6 | 0 |
According to FiveThirtyEight, the Raiders’ playoff odds dropped down 48 percent after the Sunday slate of games. At one point last week, their odds were in the mid-50s. There is also a chance those odds could decrease even further if the Chiefs were to beat the Bills on Monday Night Football. Despite the Raiders currently holding a tiebreaker, Kansas City could move to 5-1 with a win in Week 6.
The AFC is deeper than ever before and the Raiders know they can’t rely on other teams failing in order to reach the playoffs. They are going to have to earn a spot themselves. If they can upset the Buccaneers in Week 7, that would go a long way to helping Jon Gruden and his team reach their playoff goal.
