Raiders’ playoffs chances: Is Las Vegas out of the playoff race after loss vs. 49ers in Week 17? AFC Playoff qualifying explained

The NFL season keeps on giving and the Las Vegas Raiders could have had just have another gift yet to unpack. In the race for the AFC playoff spots, it looked like they had lost quite a lot of ground in the preceding couple of weeks.

They looked to be on a path to the playoffs for most of the season. Then came two ugly losses to the Los Angeles Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Each came in alternate weeks and saw Derek Carr nearly blow up their chances. The Raiders rolled the dice, with Jarrett Stidham replacing Carr as the starting quarterback for today's game against the San Francisco 49ers.

There was an immediate improvement and they looked to be on their way to salvaging a win that brought them back to playoff prominence. This is what they required before the game started to make it through.

Raiders playoff scenarios

The Las Vegas Raiders needed to defeat the San Francisco 49ers today. With a 6-9 record, they were already on the outside looking in, so this was mandatory.

They needed two other things to happen, which happened. They needed the Miami Dolphins to lose, which they did to the New England Patriots today. They also needed the New York Jets to lose outright, which they did to the Seattle Seahawks at the same time they were playing the game.

Going into the next game, their equation was supposed to be simple if they won the game today. They need to win the upcoming game and hope their AFC competitors lose. That means the New England Patriots losing, the Miami Dolphins losing and the Pittsburgh Steelers losing. Since the Jacksonville Jaguars won their game against the Houston Texans today, they need the Jaguars to defeat the Tennessee Titans in the coming week as well.

Everything fell their way today and they would have had more room to maneuver had they eked out the win last week against the Steelers. But a three-point loss when Carr turned the ball over thrice with interceptions made it an extremely tight pathway into the playoffs. They needed to thread the needle with a new quarterback, playing against a team that was had already locked in a playoff spot and had secured the NFC West division.

As it transpired, the Las Vegas Raiders went into the final week knowing they had just fallen short after their loss against the San Francisco 49ers today, 37 - 34 in overtime, wondering what might have been.