The Raiders can make the playoffs by doing one thing

The Las Vegas Raiders can almost taste the AFC playoffs, but have one thing left to do first.

After beating the Indianapolis Colts on the road by a field goal in Week 17, the Las Vegas Raiders improved to 9-7 on the year and are this close to making the AFC playoffs.

Given that the Raiders have made the playoffs just once since the 2002 campaign that saw them lose the Super Bowl to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, qualifying for the postseason would be a massive deal for the Silver and Black. For a team that saw its head coach resign weeks into the season, anybody who is not a fan of a rival AFC West team should be pulling for these Raiders.

So what do the Raiders have to do to make the playoffs? It is really simple: Beat LA.

Las Vegas Raiders made the AFC playoffs by beating the Los Angeles Chargers

The simplest way for the Raiders to make the AFC playoffs as one of three Wild Card teams is to beat the division rival Los Angeles Chargers in Las Vegas. The Raiders lost the previous meeting to the Bolts in Los Angeles, so they will need this to prevent the Chargers from getting in over them. The great news is the Raiders have the head-to-head tiebreaker over everyone else in contention.

Those teams include the Colts, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Miami Dolphins, the Baltimore Ravens, the Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Browns. Splitting with the Bolts guarantees that a 10-7 Raiders team is making the postseason. Being able to control their own destiny heading into the final week of the season is simply incredible for all that this football team had to endure in 2021.

If the Raiders do make the playoffs, Mark Davis just might remove the interim tag on Rich Bisaccia.