So the Chargers are in. Jax or Tennessee will win the South, so there’s one spot left among:
Miami 8-7
NE, Jets, Jax/Tenn, Pitt 7-8
Somehow it’s still possible for the Raiders (6-9) to make it in as well.
Wow, for all the pre-season talk of the AFC West being stacked and the Chiefs having barely a chance of repeating as division champs, and then everyone (including the Chiefs occasionally (the Colts beat them?)) looking like hot garbage, getting everyone but the Broncos into the playoffs would be amazing.
Yep, I just played with the ESPN Playoff Machine. If the Raiders win their last two games (Niners and Chiefs), they will finish 8-9. If everything else breaks just right, they would win the tiebreaker against four other 8-9 teams: Patriots, Jets, Dolphins, & Titans.
On reconsideration, while it would be great for the AFC West to get three teams in, as a Minnesotan transplanted to KC, there is no way I can hope for the Raiders to beat the Chiefs. Plus, something about Derek Carr just rubs me the wrong way.
Late in the first half, Tua hit his head on the turf while being dragged to the ground just as he threw. He’s now back in concussion protocol; if he did indeed suffer another concussion on that play, it might have had an effect on his play in the second half.
Today, it’s been confirmed that Tagovailoa does indeed have another concussion (his third head injury this season), and is being listed as “day to day” while he’s in the concussion protocol. The Dolphins are currently planning for starting Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback this week if Tagovailoa remains unavailable.
I just read that the Raiders are going to bench Carr this Sunday and start Jarret Stidham instead. Speculation is that they’re doing this with the intention of releasing Carr after the season, and they don’t want to risk him getting injured so they would be responsible for the bulk of his salary. Carr signed a 3-year, $121.5 million dollar contract last offseason, but ‘only’ 25 million was guaranteed.
Aaaaand now Washington knows who their next QB is. 