Our Kansas City Chiefs get a chance to ensure their divisional supremacy today against an old rival with a lot to lose. The Oakland Raiders' desperation could be their biggest advantage this afternoon. Oakland's coming off a humiliating defeat at the hands of the New York Jets, and they still get a chance to draw even in the standings with their divisional rivals. More importantly, Oakland is one of four different 6-5 teams fighting for the AFC's final spot in the playoffs.
Pittsburgh is technically the front-runner right now, but they have legit teams left to play. The Steelers face the Browns at home today, travel to Arizona, then come back home to face the 8-3 Bills. Pittsburgh then finishes the regular season with consecutive road games against the Jets and the Ravens. My guess is the Steelers drop three of their last five and finish the season around 8-8. That means they'll be out of the Wild Card race by the end, which brings us back to Oakland.
The Raiders, of course, face off with our Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead in just moments. Oakland then meets the Titans and Jags in Oakland, then go on the road to face the Chargers and Broncos. The Tennessee Tannehills are a tough team to predict, but they're equally tough to beat in the trenches, which could limit Josh Jacobs and Oakland's effectiveness. I'll take the Titans to beat the Raiders and bring more dismay to Oakland, which always brings me great joy. A hungry Raiders squad should fare well against the sub-par Chargers and Broncos, so I expect them to finish the season around 9-7.
Thankfully for Raiders fans, the AFC stinks so much this year that 9-7 could be enough for the #6 playoff seed.
Tennessee plays the Colts, Raiders, Texans, Saints and Texans again. I'll assume they lose at least three of those games and drift away from playoff contention. The Colts have a seemingly easier path to that Wild Card seed, however. Indianapolis plays the Titans in Indy today, then they travel for two weeks to face the Bucs and Saints. The Colts then come home to play the Panthers, then finish the regular season in Jacksonville. Indianapolis only has a clear disadvantage in one of those games, so if they take care of business against teams they should beat, they'll be a six-loss or seven-loss team when the regular season comes to an end.
An injury to Damien Williams indicates that KC will need to find creative ways to control the clock today. Other than that, and the aforementioned reasons why the Raiders are desperate to win this one, the Chiefs have a decisive on-paper advantage. The Reid and Mahomes combination dominates the Raiders and any other opponent they face after an extra week of rest. Frank Clark looks more and more like the guy Chiefs Kingdom has been begging to see all season long. Everyone not named Damien is healthy and ready for action. After a shaky middle of the season for the Chiefs, I expect KC to get back to looking like a Super Bowl contender. Finishing another Raiders Week victoriously sounds like a solid first step in that direction.
Doug LaCerte writes about Kansas City sports while procrastinating his Christmas shopping and neglecting his Twitter and Facebook.
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