LAS VEGAS – The Las Vegas Raiders, after a season filled with an unusual amount of drama and adversity, are headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, just their second postseason appearance since playing in Super Bowl XXXVII after the 2002 season.
A white-knuckle 35-32 overtime victory over the AFC West rival Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night at a raucous Allegiant Stadium clinched a wild-card spot for the Raiders and the No. 5 seed in the AFC.
The Raiders (10-7) will travel to face the AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals (10-7) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET. The Bengals beat the Raiders, 32-13, in Las Vegas on Nov. 21.
A 47-yard Daniel Carlson field goal with no time on the clock to play in OT, after the teams traded field goals to start the extra period, ended the game. It was the Raiders’ record sixth walk-off win of the season.
The Chargers forced OT with 15 points in the final 4:28 of regulation, including the equalizing TD and PAT with no time on the clock.
Las Vegas lost five of six games coming out of the bye week but rebounded to win four straight games to close the year and get into the playoffs. The Raiders’ six walk-off wins this season were also the most since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
Quarterback Derek Carr, a second-round pick in 2014 who owns virtually every passing record in franchise history and set a new single-season passing standard Sunday night, will play in his first career postseason. He suffered a broken right leg in the penultimate game of the 2016 season, when the Raiders, then calling Oakland home, finished 12-4. The Raiders’ playoff stay was short-lived with a 27-14 loss at the Houston Texans.
Carr had the third-most regular-season starts at QB without a playoff start in the Super Bowl era, 127, behind Ryan Fitzpatrick (147), and Archie Manning (139).
Before the Raiders’ playoff loss at Houston on Jan. 7, 2017, their previous postseason game was the 48-21 loss to Gruden’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Jan. 26, 2003.
