Four weeks ago, the Oakland Raiders had no margin of error left. They had lost too many games, they had lost contact with the playoff teams, and they had lost their general Raideresque swagger.
And now, despite being no more compelling than they were in October, they have all the margin for error they need – and for that they need to thank the staggeringly decomposing Kansas City Chiefs.
Oh, say what you will about the 24-17 victory over the New York Giants that improved their record to 6-6, and in fairness there isn’t that much to say about it. They were barely good enough to beat a brutal team, which given their own manifest dysfunctions is less a condemnation than you might think. Marshawn Lynch busted a 51-yard touchdown run and hit 100 yards for the first time since gashing the 49ers for 122 in 2015, and that was by far the memorable moment in an unmemorable game.
If you were looking for a statement win, the statement you got was, “Well, they didn’t lose.”
But that’s all they’ve had to do to get back in the AFC West race, because the Chiefs have reverted to their traditionally maddening form. They had stopped scoring so head coach Andy Reid surrendered the play-calling role, and the result was an exciting new kind of loss, 38-31.
To the New York Jets. We need go no further there.
So maybe the Raiders don’t need to show you no stinking style points any more. Maybe they just have to not be the Chiefs. And there they have succeeded.
Now we haven’t mentioned the Los Angeles Chargers, who may be the true power here despite being routinely mocked for playing what is essentially a Washington Generals schedule – the perpetual road team no matter where they play. With Sunday’s desultory 19-10 victory over the Cleveland Misery Farm, the Chargers have won six of their last eight games to eradicate an 0-4 start.
But here’s the weird part. The Chargers’ six wins have come against teams whose aggregate record is 23-49; the Raiders’ six wins have come against teams who are 29-43. And the Chiefs’ six wins, while over teams who are 39-33, have done nothing of note since beating the Patriots and Eagles back to back in Week 1 and Week 2, and whose other four victims are 18-30.
So there’s your margin for error, in triplicate. They each play the other two in the final four weeks, which means they have all the destiny in their hands that they can hold – all because Kansas City gave off a false positive, Los Angeles gave off a false negative, and Oakland is just plain bat-guano crazy.
And that’s everything you need to know about everything you need to know.
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