LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas Raiders, after a season filled with an unusual amount of turmoil 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 against 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 now travel to face the AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals (10-7) next 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 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 most since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
The Chargers forced overtime by scoring 15 points in the final 4:28 of regulation, including the game-tying touchdown and PAT with no time on the clock.
The Raiders experienced a tumultuous regular season, from Jon Gruden’s resignation to Henry Ruggs’ DUI and fatal car crash to cornerback Damon Arnette being released after making death threats in a viral video, to even last week, when rookie cornerback Nate Hobbs was arrested for DUI.
Las Vegas lost five of six games coming out of the bye week but rebounded to win four straight games to close the regular season and advance to the playoffs.
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).