Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders have not looked like a playoff contender in the last two weeks. 

Jon Gruden's team appeared to be on the right track after challenging the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11, but since then, it suffered a blowout loss to the Atlanta Falcons and almost fell to the New York Jets. 

Las Vegas' defensive totals weren't stellar in either contest. For it to make a push into the wild-card positions, the entire defense has to play much better. 

The Derek Carr-led offense rebounded from its disastrous day in Atlanta with 31 points against the Jets, but it may have to do more in the coming weeks if the defense continues to concede yards and points at a high clip.

If the Raiders fix their issues, they could make a surge into the top seven since they face the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins in two of the next three games. 

If Las Vegas wins both matchups and takes at least one win from the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos, it will be in a great position with head-to-head tiebreakers in its favor over other wild-card contenders.

Players Who Must Step Up For Raiders To Make Playoffs

Johnathan Hankins

Johnathan Hankins has been one of Las Vegas' better defensive players, but the team needs more out of him and the front seven in the final four weeks of the regular season. 

On Sunday, the Raiders allowed the Jets to run for 206 yards and let up 28 points in New York's quest to earn its first victory.

Luckily, the poor defensive performance was bailed out by Carr's last-second touchdown pass to Henry Ruggs III who took advantage of the Jets' poor defensive scheming. 

In the last three weeks, the Raiders allowed over 100 rushing yards, and the concessions have gotten worse with each game. 

If Hankins is able to close some of the rushing gaps and get to the quarterback more, Las Vegas' defensive totals should start to decrease. 

Sunday's clash with the Colts will be the ultimate test to see if the Raiders have a playoff-caliber defense. 

Indianapolis utilizes three running backs and calls on Jacoby Brissett in short-yardage situations to get yards that Philip Rivers might not be able to gain. 

If Hankins can plug more holes and allow the other members of the front seven to make tackles close to the line of scrimmage, the Raiders should be in much better shape. 

The same strategy can be applied to the Week 16 clash with Miami, who got Myles Gaskin back from injury on Sunday.

If the Raiders are defensively stout in those two games, they will add to the head-to-head tiebreaker they already have over the Cleveland Browns.

Trayvon Mullen

If each facet of the defense improves in the next four weeks, the Raiders will be a more complete team entering the postseason.

The offense corrected its Week 12 mistakes through the Carr-Darren Waller combination, and the rushing attack did as well as it could with Josh Jacobs out. 

In addition to the front seven stepping up, Trayvon Mullen needs to continue his current run of form in the secondary. 

The Clemson product has two interceptions in the last three games, and he will be crucial to shutting down some of the top receivers the Raiders face in the coming weeks. In addition to his two picks, he has five passes defended and 11 tackles in the three-game span.

If the 23-year-old helps silence Michael Pittman Jr., T.Y. Hilton and DeVante Parker in some capacity, the Raiders defense will be able to get off the field faster.

In the last two games, Las Vegas held the Falcons and Jets under 200 passing yards. It needs to contain its next four opponents to similar totals while decreasing run-game concessions. 

If the defense is more effective, the team could not only earn a wild-card spot but also pose a challenge to whichever division winner it faces in the first round. 

The likely landing spot with wins over Indianapolis and Miami would be the No. 6 seed, but the Raiders could eclipse Cleveland if they win out and the Browns go 2-2.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.

The New York Jets were five seconds away from their first win of the season before defensive coordinator Gregg Williams called a blitz on 3rd-and-10, paving the way for Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr to send a 46-yard touchdown pass to Henry Ruggs III.

"I couldn't believe they all-out blitzed us," Carr told reporters. "I was thankful."

After giving up two unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the Raiders came away with the 31-28 victory.

Ruggs, who was covered by undrafted rookie Lamar Jackson on the touchdown, was also taken aback by the call.

"I was kind of surprised they brought the house like that and not drop everyone back," he said.

Jets head coach Adam Gase defended the call.

"We were trying to create pressure, we hadn't done well with it all game. That's what happened. We had a couple free runners but we didn't get there," Gase said. "We ended up rushing."

The fatal play ended the comeback that Jets quarterback Sam Darnold had engineered, dragging the team out from a 24-13 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter by way of a 96-yard drive that ended in a rushing touchdown before adding another score after a fumble by Ruggs.

Darnold found Jamison Crowder for a pair of scores early on in the game.

"We should have won," Darnold said. "To have a game like that, where you should have won at the end, those ones definitely hurt more than any."

Still seeking their first win, the Jets will take on the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots to round out their 2020 schedule.

NFL free-agent linebacker Vontaze Burfict was arrested early Saturday morning in Nevada on a misdemeanor battery charge.

According to Clark County Detention Center records (h/t ESPN), Burfict was being held on $1,000 bond and has a hearing scheduled for Monday.

Burfict spent eight seasons in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals and then-Oakland Raiders, but no team signed him during the offseason.

The 30-year-old veteran was a productive player for much of his career and even earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2013, but he is perhaps best known for the multiple times he was suspended for illegal hits over the years.

Last season while with the Raiders, the NFL suspended him in Week 4 for the remainder of the campaign after a vicious hit on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle. The harsh punishment was a result of Burfict's lengthy history of similar hits.

For his career, Burfict has appeared in 79 regular-season games, making 77 starts. In those games, he recorded 622 tackles, 8.5 sacks, five interceptions, five fumble recoveries and four forced fumbles.

Burfict reached the 100-tackle mark in a season three times, including 2013 when he led the league with 171 in just his second NFL season.

From 2014 to 2019, Burfict never appeared in more than 11 games in a single season because of a combination of suspensions and injuries.

Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the New York Jets after suffering an ankle injury in last week's loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Losing Jacobs for any amount of time is a tough blow for the Raiders, who have featured the ex-Alabama star heavily since drafting him 24th overall in 2019.

The rookie dominated last year with 1,316 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns in just 13 games, and he has followed that up with 782 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns, plus 27 receptions for 175 yards thus far in 2020.

In his absence, the Raiders will turn toward a pair of five-year veterans in Devontae Booker and Jalen Richard.

As for Booker, the former Denver Bronco gradually saw his playing time dip in his four years in orange and blue, from a high of 205 touches in 2016 to just eight last year.

He rushed for 3.8 yards per carry but proved to be an asset in the pass game, averaging 33 catches for 272 receiving yards from 2016-2018.

Booker could prove valuable in point-per-reception leagues by virtue of getting some cheap reception points off short catches.

This season, Booker has been the clear No. 2 back behind Jacobs in Vegas, rushing for 326 yards and three touchdowns on 59 carries, while also catching 11 passes for 64 yards.

Richard has never played more than 53 percent of his team's offensive snaps in a single game, per Pro Football Reference. He's also never had more than 11 carries or 14 touches in a single contest.

Richard was not the feature back for the vast majority of those games, as the Silver and Black were led by Jacobs, Doug Martin, Marshawn Lynch and Latavius Murray at various points over the past four seasons, but Richard assumed more touches on occasion with the team's No. 1 back in a given year out because of injury.

He is still capable of racking up points in PPR leagues because of his pass-catching abilities, averaging 40 receptions per year over his four NFL seasons, with a high of 68 catches for 607 yards in 2018.

Richard once registered nine catches for 55 yards in a game and also snagged six catches for a career-high 66 yards in another.

This season, Richard has carried the ball only 14 times for 83 yards and one touchdown, and he also has 12 grabs for 90 yards. He has missed the previous two games with a chest injury and is questionable for Sunday's game against New York.

Regardless of Richard's status, Booker will likely see the bulk of the touches, which makes him worth an add and a start in all fantasy leagues against the Jets' porous defense.

Since Las Vegas figures to be playing from ahead, Booker will likely touch the ball plenty. If Richard does get ruled out again, Booker will be even more valuable since he will have no competition for catches out of the backfield either.

Richard is best left on the waiver wire due to his injury status and lack of a significant role this season, while Booker should be deployed in starting lineups for as long as Jacobs is out.

Fantasy managers who have Josh Jacobs on their rosters will have to dip into their running back depth after the Las Vegas Raiders star was ruled out for Sunday's game against the New York Jets. 

Head coach Jon Gruden told reporters on Friday his second-year star will be unavailable this weekend. Jacobs has had an ankle injury.

Jacobs was injured in the third quarter of the Raiders' 43-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons last week. The 22-year-old was officially diagnosed with a sprained ankle, and the team was hopeful he wouldn't have to miss time. 

After missing practice on Wednesday and Thursday, it became increasingly unlikely that Jacobs would be able to go against the Jets before Gruden confirmed it. 

Jacobs' absence is particularly devastating to those fantasy managers who are starting their postseason this week. The Alabama alum ranks 12th in yards from scrimmage with 957 after being 17th last season, but his nine rushing touchdowns is tied for fifth in the league.

If there is an upside for managers, Devontae Booker has done well as the No. 2 back in Las Vegas. The five-year veteran is averaging a career-high 5.5 yards per carry and ran for 81 yards with two touchdowns on 16 attempts in Week 10 against the Denver Broncos. 

Booker is only rostered in 23 percent of Yahoo leagues and 10 percent of ESPN leagues, per FantasyPros. 

If your roster needs a running back to plug into a flex spot, Booker is a safe bet to see a lot of work this week against a Jets defense that is tied for 18th in the NFL with 12 rushing touchdowns allowed this season.

Las Vegas Raiders star Josh Jacobs reportedly suffered a sprained ankle in Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.  

The injury came in the third quarter Sunday on a play which saw the running back fumble before going down in pain. He didn't return in what became a 43-6 loss.

Jacobs "has a chance" to play in his team's Week 13 game against the New York Jets, per Rapoport.

The Raiders selected the 22-year-old with the 24th overall pick in the 2019 draft, making him the first running back off the board.

Jacobs repaid the team's investment by running for 1,150 yards and seven touchdowns while catching 20 passes for 166 yards. Football Outsiders ranked him 12th in DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement) among running backs with at least 100 carries.

The Alabama product finished runner-up to Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray in the 2019 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year voting, collecting 13 votes.

Jacobs isn't resting on his laurels in 2020. Through 11 games, he has run for 782 yards and nine touchdowns on 206 carries.

Somewhat surprisingly given Jacobs' success, the Raiders used the 80th overall pick Lynn Bowden Jr. in the 2020 draft. In an even bigger surprise, Las Vegas traded Bowden and a sixth-round pick to the Miami Dolphins for a 2021 fourth-rounder.

That leaves Devontae Booker and Jalen Richard as the replacement for Jacobs in the backfield.

The Las Vegas Raiders are flirting with the playoffs for the first time in four years, but they still have work to do over the final six weeks of the regular season.

Week 11's 35-31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs dropped the Raiders' record to 6-4. The AFC playoffs are a jumbled mess heading into Week 12, but Las Vegas owns the No. 7 seed. There are seven teams in the conference that are either 7-3 or 6-4.

The Raiders have the final playoff spot thanks to having a better record in conference games (4-3) than the Baltimore Ravens (4-4) and Miami Dolphins (3-3). And Las Vegas has a winnable game Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. A victory would see the team match its win total from 2019.

Heading into the homestretch, here are the Week 11 games Raiders fans should be keeping a close eye on.

Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts

While the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts are still in a fight to determine who will win the AFC South, the Raiders will be happy no matter which team comes out on top.

The Colts and Titans are the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds in the AFC standings with identical 7-3 records. As long as this game doesn't end in a tie and the Raiders defeat the Falcons, Las Vegas is guaranteed to move up at least one spot in the seedings.

Cleveland Browns at Jacksonville Jaguars

The Browns are one spot ahead of the Raiders in the AFC playoffs. That means Las Vegas is matched up with the Chiefs in the AFC Wild Card Round.

The race between Cleveland and Las Vegas is notable because the Raiders beat the Browns 16-6 in Week 8, so they will win any tiebreaker if they finish the season with identical records.

Even though the Raiders handed Kansas City its only loss of the season to date and nearly won the teams' most recent matchup, avoiding Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs is a good strategy for every team in the league to follow.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, this doesn't seem to be a game that will work out in their favor. The Jacksonville Jaguars have lost nine straight games since their Week 1 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Mike Glennon, who hasn't started a game since 2017, will be under center for Jacksonville with injuries to Gardner Minshew II and Jake Luton.

The Jaguars have allowed the ninth-most rushing yards this season (1,291), while the Browns have the third-most rushing yards in the NFL (1,568).

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

It's unclear at this point whether the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers will even be able to play this week. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Friday that the NFL has moved the game until Tuesday.

If the game goes ahead, Raiders fans will have to put their longstanding rivalry with Pittsburgh aside because it's in their best interest if the Ravens lose. If Baltimore wins, it will match the Raiders as being one game over .500 against AFC competition. If the Raiders lose to Atlanta, they will still be the No. 7 seed based on conference winning percentage, but the gap will be marginal (.571 to .556).

Baltimore's remaining schedule after the Steelers game comprises games against the Dallas Cowboys, Browns, Jaguars, New York Giants and Cincinnati Bengals. Las Vegas closes with the New York Jets, Colts, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos.

Both teams have winnable games, but the Ravens' run looks slightly more favorable.

Miami Dolphins at New York Jets

The Dolphins are among the trio of AFC teams with 6-4 records heading into Week 11. They missed a golden opportunity to move ahead of the pack in Week 11 with a disappointing 20-13 loss to the Broncos.

Coming into Sunday's game against the Jets, there are questions about who will start at quarterback for Miami. Tua Tagovailoa is questionable with a thumb injury he suffered during practice Wednesday.

Head coach Brian Flores has shown he won't hesitate to make a change at quarterback if he thinks it's in the team's best interest. Tagovailoa replaced Ryan Fitzpatrick as the starter coming out of the bye in Week 8, even though the Dolphins had won three straight games with Fitzpatrick prior to that move.

When Tagovailoa struggled against the Broncos, Fitzpatrick took over in the fourth quarter. It wasn't enough to get the Dolphins a win, but it did send a message about where Flores thinks his team can go this season with quality quarterback play.

Fortunately, there's been no better cure for teams looking for answers than the New York Jets. Nothing would seem to indicate that the league's only winless team, which ranks 31st in scoring defense and last in scoring offense, is going to figure things out against the Dolphins.

That's bad news for the Raiders because if they win and Miami wins, the teams will have identical overall records (7-4) and conference records (4-3). These two go head-to-head in Week 16 in a game that could have huge playoff implications.