Oakland playoff hopes take a hit as Jets throttle Raiders

Oakland’s playoff hopes ran into a buzz saw Sunday afternoon as the Raiders were embarrassed by the New York Jets 34-3 at MetLife Stadium.

The Raiders came into Sunday’s contest as the final Wild Card and were tied for first in the AFC West with the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Raiders (6-5) may have overlooked the Jets (4-7), who dominated the game. The 21 unanswered points by the Jets in the third quarter put away whatever little fight the Raiders had.

In New York’s first possession of the second half, Sam Darnold hit Braxton Berrios in stride for 69 yards to the Oakland 1-yard line, and on the next play, Darnold found Griffin who was so wide open, he stuttered in.

After a Derek Carr ran for Oakland’s first first down of the half, Oakland elected to go for the short fourth down in their own territory. Alec Ingold was stopped just short of the first down to keep the drive going.

Jon Gruden challenged the spot of the ball, but the call was upheld.

The Jets showed confidence and played with the Raiders defense with all sorts of trickery. A double-handoff flea flicker led to Darnold’s third touchdown pass of the day to Roby Anderson.

As Oakland took the field down 27-3, Carr tried to squeeze in a pass to Tyrell Williams that was intercepted by Brian Pool and ran back for a touchdown, The Jets scored 14 points in 14 seconds and effectively ended the game before the fourth quarter.

Williams had a forgettable outing, with two dropped passes from Williams and Rookie Hunter Renfrow (3 catches,31 yards) also dropped a pass.

With the game well out of reach, Carr was pulled from the game and Mike Glennon entered and when it rains, it pours for Oakland. Glennon nearly lost the first two snaps on an botched exchange.

Carr struggled today and finished 15-for-27 for 127 yards and an interception. Carr was harassed all day and got sacked once.

Oakland was one of the hottest teams prior to this game, winning their previous three games. They completely got out played on all three phases of the game.

The NFL’s ninth-ranked rushing team squeezed out only 69 rushing yards and outstanding running back Josh Jacobs, who was limited in practice all week, had just 10 attempts for 34 yards.

Darnold did whatever he wanted, finishing with 315 passing yards, two touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. The Jets totaled over 400 yards of offense compared to Oakland’s 208 yards.

The Jets now are on their own three-game winning streak and are sneaking into the hunt for a playoff wildcard spot.

With this loss, the Steelers (6-5) moved into the last AFC playoff spot and the Raiders are now on the outside looking in. They are currently in the 7th spot tied with the Colts (6-5).

The majority of losses Oakland has suffered have come from elite quarterbacks. Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson. Can Oakland really compete if they can’t stop the best quarterbacks?

Up Next

The Raiders (6-5) noe stand one full game behind the Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs (7-4), who they visit next Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.