Silver Minings: Raiders’ winning despite poor point differential in 2021

This has been an unusual season for the Las Vegas Raiders to say the least.

They started put 3-0 and then had a late-season collapse, dropping five of six games. Now, though, they have saved their season by reeling off three straight wins and will make the AFC playoffs with a home win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night.

However, the 9-7 Raiders have not been point differential heroes in 2021. Of the 15 teams with winning records, the Raiders are the only team that has a negative point differential and it’s not close. They are -68 in point differential for the season.

The reason? Well, the simple answer is when the Raiders win, it’s usually in close games ... and when they lose, the games aren’t usually close. The Raiders have won the last three games by a total of nine points. They are 6-2 in one-score games and 3-5 in other games.

But, of course, if they continue to win, who cares what the score is?

In other Raiders’ links:

• AFC playoff picture: Pro Football Talk takes a closer look at the crazy AFC playoff picture, which, of course, the Raiders are right in the middle of.
• Power Rankings: Check out were ESPN.com has the Raiders placed in their Week 18 NFL Power Rankings.
• Getting to know Kolton: The Raiders’ website has a feature on standout left tackle Kolton Miller.