Raiders' Rooting Guide for NFL Playoff Implications of Week 14

The Raiders were a questionable Gregg Williams call and Henry Ruggs III miracle touchdown away from severely damaging their playoff hopes in Week 13. 

Fortunately for the Raiders faithful, near-losses don't generally play a role in the playoff hunt. Point differential is far down the list of tie-breakers. So, at this point, it's all about "survive and advance." 

Jon Gruden and Co. will need to rally the troops quickly after the near-loss to the lowly Jets. A big matchup with the Colts awaits on Sunday with serious playoff implications. The New York Times' playoff projection tool says the Raiders' chances of reaching the postseason would jump from 42 percent to 63 percent with a win over the Colts. 

Of course, there are some other games on the slate Raiders fans should be paying attention to. A win over the Colts is the most important thing for the weekend, but with some help, their odds can be increased and their playoff position has some upside. 

Here's what teams the Silver and Black should be rooting for this weekend to maximize their playoff opportunities. 

Before diving into the games, let's take a look at the bigger playoff picture in the AFC. With the Pittsburgh Steelers' loss to the Washington Football Team in Week 13, the race for the No. 1 seed is officially heating up.

Both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Steelers are both 11-1 with four games left to earn home-field advantage and a first-round bye. 

The Buffalo Bills (9-3) are in control of the AFC East, but the Dolphins (8-4) are just one game behind and in possession of the sixth seed. The Titans are the other division leader. At 8-4, they have the tiebreaker over the Indianapolis Colts to give them the lead. 

The Colts are clinging to the final wild-card spot, but the Raiders head-to-head will determine who has that spot by the end of the weekend. The Browns are the five-seed right now with a 9-3 record. 

In short, the AFC West is out of reach for the Raiders, but they find themselves right in the thick of things when it comes to the last two wild-card spots. 

The Titans are tied with the Colts by record in the AFC South. So if the Raiders don't win on Sunday, the Titans could become the Raiders' chief opposition for the final wild-card spot because the Colts would leap them for the seed reserved for the division champion. 

Tennessee will need to regroup after a 41-35 loss to the Cleveland Browns that was really worse than the final score indicated. The Titans were down 38-7 at halftime after the secondary was torched by Baker Mayfield to the tune of four passing touchdowns. 

If the Jaguars are truly "tanking," no one has told the players. Starting Mike Glennon at quarterback hasn't made the team uncompetitive. Last week, they took the Vikings to overtime, and the week before, they lost to the Browns by two. 

In two starts, Glennon is 48-of-77 for 515 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. The Jags defense will make it difficult to pull off the upset, though. They are without defensive end Josh Allen, defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton and cornerback CJ Henderson because of injuries. 

The Titans won the first meeting 33-30, so Jacksonville has already played them close once. A Jaguars win would give the Raiders a slumping team to battle with over the final three weeks of the season. 

Rooting interest: Jaguars

Get out the clothespins, you're going to want to hold your nose for this one. It's really in the Raiders' best interest if their division rival Kansas City Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. 

Even though the Raiders are the team who gave the Cheifs the "1" in their 11-1 record, there's no chance for them to win the AFC West. The Chiefs are in a different battle with the Steelers and aren't a direct competitor with the Raiders at this point. 

The Miami Dolphins, however, are among the Raiders' chief rivals for playoff purposes. The Raiders still have a head-to-head matchup with Miami in Week 16.

The Chiefs are obvious favorites in any matchup they are in, but the Dolphins have the secondary to make things interesting. Only the Rams and Steelers have held opposing quarterbacks to lower passer ratings. 

The Dolphins are 5-1 since their bye week in Week 7 and have been led to wins by Tua Tagovailoa and Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Chiefs are on a seven-game run of wins but showed some vulnerability in a 22-16 win over the Denver Broncos. 

If the Dolphins pull off the upset, it would be a bad sign for the Raiders' ability to pass Miami for the wild-card and remain in contention for the spot to Week 16. 

Rooting interest: Chiefs

At 9-3, the Browns lead all wild-card contenders and have the third-best record in the AFC. The Ravens are just barely on the outside looking in for the seventh-seed. At 7-5, the Raiders are relying on tiebreakers to be ahead of Baltimore in that race. 

A win for the Ravens here would reinvigorate their chase for the wild-card spot while taking the Browns down to just one game ahead should the Raiders win. 

Either way, there's a silver lining for Vegas. However, it's more realistic to hope that the Ravens fall behind a full game and beat them down the stretch than it is for them to gain two games on Cleveland. A head-to-head win over the Browns helps, but they would need to hope the Browns lose to either the Giants or Jets in the coming weeks to have the best chance to pass them. 

The Ravens don't have many chances to pick up losses at this point. They have the Jaguars, Giants and Bengals left on the schedule. 

This should be one of the best games of the week, and the Raiders should probably be hoping that it ends up with a Browns win over the Ravens. 

Rooting interest: Browns