Scoreboard Watching On New Year’s Day

This could be the final weekend of Oakland Raiders football. The good news is they can qualify for their first playoff berth in nine seasons as long as they beat the San Diego Chargers at home and either of the following scenarios plays out:

RAIDERS WIN THE AFC WEST DIVISION IF:

Raiders beat the Chargers and the Broncos lose to the Chiefs. The Raiders would finish with a better record than the Broncos, which is necessary since the Broncos own the tiebreaker.

RAIDERS GET A WILD CARD BERTH IF:

Raiders beat the Chargers, Broncos beat the Chiefs, Ravens beat the Bengals and either the Jets beat the Dolphins or the Texans beat the Titans. In this scenario the Raiders win the tiebreaker against the Bengals, Jets and Titans.

That come from ahead loss against the Lions two weeks ago cost the Raiders dearly. If they had won, the AFC West would have been wrapped up already since I do NOT see them losing to a Chargers team that has absolutely nothing to play for. After tomorrow’s game, we’re expecting Norv Turner to be fired by the Chargers but it’s possible general manager A.J. Smith will also walk the plank.

Can the Jets beat the Dolphins? I hear Reggie Bush is injured, which helps tremendously. Can the Ravens beat the Bengals? I can see it happening. Can the Texans beat the Titans? Absolutely. Wade Phillips is back at work and his defense should also be back to where it was before he was hospitalized.

Tomorrow the local FOX and CBS affiliates will broadcast the Jets-Dolphins and the Panthers-Saints games in the morning and then I’ll be watching the Raiders-Chargers game on CBS with one eye on the scoreboard in the afternoon.

It should be a fun New Year’s Day regardless how this turns out for the Raiders.