After starting the season off at 5-2, the Raiders have now lost back-to-back games. This week, they were blown out by the Chiefs in Las Vegas in an ugly contest. It was a game in which the Raiders could have easily been competitive, but made way too many errors to keep it close.
Now, they are 5-4 and their chances of making the playoffs have taken a significant hit. According to FiveThirtyEight, the playoff odds for the Raiders have fallen to 28 percent. Just a week ago, their odds sat at 43 percent.
After two divisional losses to the Chargers and the Chiefs in primetime, their odds to win the AFC West are now just at six percent. They certainly aren’t out of the divisional hunt quite yet, but those two losses were costly.
The site now projects the Raiders to win just nine games this season after predicting double-digit wins just a few weeks ago. They do have a difficult schedule ahead of them with the Bengals in Week 11 and then the Cowboys on Thanksgiving in Week 12.
While the back-to-back losses have been tough, the Raiders are right in the thick of things in the AFC Wild Card hunt. And if they can get a win over the Bengals this week, they’ll see their playoff odds rise up to around 50 percent.
But with a loss, their odds drop down to just 15 percent as they would move to 5-5 on the year. A loss would also give the Bengals a playoff tiebreaker, making it even more difficult for the Raiders to make the tournament.
There is still a lot of football to be played. But Week 11 is shaping up to be a big week for the playoff chances of the Raiders.
