The Raiders' faint AFC playoff hopes took a big hit in Pittsburgh on Saturday night. Las Vegas lost another game late, 13-10, to fall to 6-9, blowing its renewed life from beating New England at home last week.
Consider that the Raiders were 6-7 last season and won their final four games to finish 10-7 and earn the No. 5 seed the top wild-card berth in the AFC with their Week 18 win over the Chargers.
This year, they would be thrilled to just get the No. 7 seed with the third wild card. Here's breaking down the Raiders' dwindling playoff chances:
MORE: Updated, complete NFL playoff picture for Week 16
Raiders' playoff picture
The Raiders fell to the No. 12 spot behind the four 7-8 teams in the AFC. In order from No. 8 through No. 11 based on the pecking order of tiebreakers, they are the Patriots, Jets, Titans and now, the Steelers.
They are now three games behind the No. 6 Chargers (8-6), who clinch their wild-card berth with a win over the Colts on Monday night and two games behind the No. 7 Dolphins (8-7), who lost to the Packers on Sunday afternoon.
What tiebreakers are in the Raiders' favor?
The Raiders don't play the Dolphins, who have the better conference record, 6-3 vs. 5-6. Las Vegas gained the edge over No. 8 New England with the win in Week 15. It also has the same conference record as No. 9 New York.
The Raiders lost to the Titans in Week 3 and also lost to the new first-place AFC South team, the 7-8 Jaguars, in Week 9. Just add the Steelers loss to that negative mix.
Raiders' remaining schedule
The Raiders close with a brutal 1-2 punch at home with the 11-4 49ers and 12-3 Chiefs.
San Francisco still has plenty for which to play in terms of playoff seeding as NFC West champion. AFC West champion Kansas City should still be alive for a top seed in the final week. The Raiders won't get a break with either team resting players.
Las Vegas needed to hold the lead in Pittsburgh badly. Now it's facing losing out and finishing 6-11, far from being in the playoff picture.
Can the Raiders still make the playoffs?
The Raiders have less than one percent chance of making the playoffs. They should be kicking themselves for blowing three 17-point leads and losing to lesser teams such as the Colts, Rams and Steelers of late. A season of high expectations in the AFC West has been met with major disappointment.
