Thursday Night Football features the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders, and I am rooting for both teams to get ringworm.
Usually reserved for bad matchups and uniforms that make most fans turn green, this Thursday night matchup may determine the winner of the AFC West in 2016 and possibly the AFC representative for Super Bowl 51, a more stomach-churning thought.
The Oakland Raiders sit tied atop of the AFC with the New England Patriots at 10-2. Those two teams haven’t been mentioned in the same sentence since the tuck rule made its appearance in 2001. Back then, both teams had fullbacks on the roster (John Ritchie, Oak) (Marc Edwards, NE), the Patriots hadn’t removed themselves from Lawyer Milloy and Ty Law yet and the Raiders’ wide receivers were two guys named Jerry Rice and Tim Brown.
It’s been awhile.
Most fans, especially those of the Broncos persuasion, would say that the Raiders are doomed to fail and that the Silver and Black are destined to choke, but like a little cup of night-time cold medicine, it’s hard to swallow the fact that this Raiders team IS GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS.
The Oakland Raiders, with only four games left on the schedule — two games which feature the 5-7 San Diego Chargers and the 6-6 Indianapolis Colts — are not only in the playoffs but might have home field advantage for most of it. Oakland Raiders Fever is running rampant and there is no cure in sight.
The Kansas City Chiefs are running red hot right now, too. Recently beating our Super Bowl 50 champion Denver Broncos in a heartbreaker at Mile High, and last week beating the Atlanta Falcons by way of an interception on a two-point conversion, the Chiefs stand at 9-3, just one game behind Oakland and have proven to be a different Chiefs team in 2016.
The Chiefs are setting up to be in a great position come playoff time. While most teams are dealing with injuries and depth problems, the Chiefs are actually getting players back. Case and point, Jeremy Maclin, who has not played since Week 6, plans to make his comeback tonight, just in time to face the Raiders. Justin Houston also expected to return to full strength this week against the Raiders, as he was a full participant in Wednesday practice.
Everyone in the league seems to be dealing with key injuries, while the Chiefs are getting good and healthy.
So who do Broncos fans root for tonight? Raiders or Chiefs?
The correct answer is: It might not matter!
The Denver Broncos sit in third place in the AFC West, and at 8-4 the Broncos need some help to make the NFL playoffs. If the Raiders keep winning, the AFC West is theirs, and the Broncos will have to enter the playoffs by way of Wild Card.
The last time the Broncos didn’t win the AFC West was in 2010, when Josh McDaniels (That Guy) was coach. The last time the Broncos went to the playoffs as a Wild Card team was in 2004, when Peyton Manning and the Colts knocked the Broncos out of the playoffs 49-24.
The ugly truth: The Broncos must make a historic run AND the Chiefs and Raiders need to collapse. If either of those things don’t happen, the Broncos are out of the playoffs, and here in Broncos Country, that is a tough pill to swallow.