Stakes sky high for Raiders, Chargers in season finale

The Raiders and Chargers volition conscionable successful Las Vegas connected Sunday nighttime successful the last crippled of the NFL regular season.

The prime-time matchup betwixt AFC West rivals has another, adjacent much important designation. Given the stakes, it volition magnitude to the archetypal NFL playoff crippled astatine Allegiant Stadium.

All of the participants are afloat alert of what they volition beryllium playing for erstwhile the crippled kicks disconnected astatine 5:20 p.m. Sunday. The victor advances to the postseason.

“It’s 1 of those games that volition beryllium remembered forever,” Raiders’ antiaircraft extremity Yannick Ngakoue said. “Sunday Night Football, some teams cognize if they win, they’re in. Everybody’s level should measurement up tremendously and hopefully we tin get the win.”

That triumph would marque the Raiders an improbable postseason participant. They were 6-7 aft dropping 5 of six and appeared destined for an offseason overhaul successful a play that has besides included plentifulness of contention disconnected the field.

But somehow, interim manager Rich Bisaccia and a enactment radical that includes backmost Derek Carr has figured retired a mode to triumph the last 3 games and marque the finale meaningful.

It’s an accomplishment successful itself, though 1 that volition soon beryllium forgotten if the Raiders don’t decorativeness the job.

“When you get successful the NFL, this is what you deliberation about,” antiaircraft extremity Maxx Crosby said. “Playoffs, Super Bowls. … Ever since I got here, we’ve been close. This is the closest we’ve been. But we’re not determination yet.”

Of course, nary crippled connected the docket is worthy much than immoderate other. Both the Raiders and the Chargers could person enactment themselves successful a presumption to not request this triumph by taking attraction of concern earlier successful the season.

They besides could person played their mode retired of contention and rendered this crippled meaningless.

Yet successful this archetypal twelvemonth with 17 games connected the regular-season schedule, the part rivals inactive person plentifulness to play for successful the last game.

“I deliberation it’s astir similar we’ve had a 16-game season, and this is the archetypal circular of the playoffs,” antiaircraft coordinator Gus Bradley said. “It’s astir that mentality. So, to beryllium successful this presumption to wherever you person an accidental similar we person presented to us, we conscionable don’t privation to miss it.”

It would beryllium a peculiarly important accomplishment for the Raiders, a franchise that has made conscionable 1 postseason quality since 2002. That came successful 2016 erstwhile Carr was successful the MVP speech earlier suffering an wounded precocious successful the twelvemonth and missing the playoff game, a nonaccomplishment to the Texans.

The Chargers haven’t precisely been regular entrants successful the playoffs, either. They person been conscionable erstwhile since 2013, beating the Ravens successful 2018 earlier falling to the Patriots.

Raiders’ linebacker K.J. Wright is 1 of the fewer players successful the crippled who has routinely qualified for the tourney during his days with the Seahawks.

He has provided seasoned enactment for the Raiders this play and shared this proposal for his teammates this week.

“Don’t marque this crippled bigger than what it is,” helium said. “Obviously, it’s a precise important game, but don’t get truthful extracurricular yourself wherever the infinitesimal gets excessively big. It’s a precise chill moment, 1 you’ll retrieve for a agelong clip erstwhile we seal the deal. But let’s support it simple, spot the call, spot your teammates. Do the small things right, but bash them with a nasty attitude. If we bash that, we’ll get the results we want.”

Crosby has taken the words to heart.

“It’s going to beryllium a one-play-at-a-time mentality from commencement to finish,” helium said. “Everything matters. We person to play good, cleanable football. … we don’t privation to overthink thing oregon effort to beryllium Superman retired there. We conscionable privation to bash our occupation and absorption connected what we person to get done.”

Contact Adam Hill astatine ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ connected Twitter.