LAS VEGAS - The Raiders, after a season filled with an unusual amount of turmoil and adversity, are headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, their second post-season appearance since playing in Super Bowl XXXVII after the 2002 season Is.
A white-knuckle 35-32 overtime win against AFC West rivals Los Angeles Chargers at a raucous Allegiant Stadium on Sunday night secured the Raiders and a wild-card spot for the No. 5 seed in the AFC.
The Raiders (10-7) will now travel to face the AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals (10-7) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET. The Bengals defeated the Raiders 32-13 on November 21 in Las Vegas.
A 47-yard field goal from Daniel Carlsen with no time on the clock in the OT - after the teams traded field goals to start the extra period - ended the game. It was the Raiders' sixth walk-off win of the season, the most since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger.
"We've been in this situation before," said Raiders interim coach Rich Bisassia. "Derek [Carr] has been in positions for the first two minutes; he has been in positions for the first four minutes. Our defense has had to come up with stops at the end of the game. So you can't say enough about that. That's how the team builds. ... All I know is that they believe in each other when they go out there.
"They don't blink; they reset. They heal quickly."
The Raiders would be the fourth playoff team to have a different coach in the postseason than in the season opener, with Bisaccia joining the 1961 Houston Oilers (Wally Lem), the 1952 Los Angeles Rams (Hamp Pool) and the 1942 Chicago Bears (co). —Coachs Hank Anderson and Luke Jones), according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau.
Bisakia admitted that the Raiders were in talks about settling for a tie that would have gotten both the Raiders and Chargers into the postseason.
"We ran the ball there [near the end of the OT], and they didn't say timeout," Bisakia said. "So I guess they were probably thinking the same thing."
But 10-yard josh Jacobs sets up Carlson for the Chargers' 29-yard line.
"We were going to take the field goal and try to win it," Bisakia said. "But we were definitely talking about it on the sidelines."
Asked why he took 38 seconds to play in the OT, Chargers coach Brandon Staley explained, "We needed to get into the right grouping; we thought they were going to run the ball, so we're going to play our game." Wanted to get the best 11 personnel. Run in defense. Make that replacement so we can have a game where we can aim deep in the field."
Carlsen scored 40 of 43 field goals this season (93.0%), which is the second-best field goal percentage among three kickers who have scored at least 40 field goals in a season in the past 80 years, Neil Rakers (40- Off-42, 95.2%) in 2005 and David Akers (44-in-52, 84.6% in 2011), per ESPN Statistics & Information Research.
In fact, Carlson missed as many FGAs this season as the PATs.
The Chargers, who became the first team in the last 30 seasons to convert six times in a game, forced overtime by scoring 15 points in the final 4:28 of regulation, which included game-tying touchdowns and no-time PATs. Is. clock in.
The Raiders experienced a regular season, ranging from the resignation of coach John Gruden to wide receiver Henry Rugs' DUI and fatal car crash to cornerback Damon Arnett released after receiving death threats in a viral video last week as well, When rookie cornerback Nate Hobbs was arrested. for DUI.
Las Vegas lost five of the six games coming out of their goodbye week, but returned to win four straight to close out the regular season and advance to the playoffs.
Carr, a second-round pick in 2014 who owns nearly every passing record in franchise history and sets a new single-season passing standard on Sunday night, will play his first post-career season. He broke his right leg in the final game of the 2016 season, when the Raiders, then calling Oakland home, finished 12-4. The Raiders' playoff stay was short-lived with a 27–14 loss to the Houston Texans.
"I'm excited, we're thinking about the next team, and then everything hurts," said Carr, who passed for 186 yards and two touchdowns, completing 20 of 36 attempts. "I just have this strange feeling in my heart, 'The job isn't done.' Like my favorite player, Kobe [Bryant] said, 'It's not done.'
"It feels good, it's great, but ... we have to play with a team that's already beaten us. So it's going to be tough."
Carr's third most regular season starts in a QB without a playoff start in the Super Bowl era (127) after Ryan Fitzpatrick (147) and Archie Manning (139).
Jacobs referred to himself as "closer" to the Raiders and asked offensive coordinator Greg Olsson to deliver the ball when the Chargers kicked a field goal to tie the game in overtime.
"I said, 'It's time,'" said Jacobs, who ran for 23 of his career-high 132 yards in overtime while playing through a rib injury that listed him as suspicious on the injury report. did. "We came together collectively, the offensive line, DC, everybody. And we just did it."
In fact, the Raiders won their final four games by a total of 12 points, the lowest scoring margin according to Elias, for a team to win their final four games in NFL history. The 1926 Kansas City Cowboys won their final four games by a combined 16 points.