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Raiders Use 17th Game (and Then Some) to Slide Into Postseason

LAS VEGAS — The running joke on social media last week was that if the circumstances called for it, the Raiders and the Chargers should make a pact.

If the Colts lost to the lowly Jaguars, which they did Sunday, both Los Angeles and Las Vegas could mathematically enter the postseason with a tie. That meant Sunday night’s prime time game could theoretically have featured three hours of Justin Herbert and Derek Carr kneeling on the ball to produce a stalemate.

Instead, the conclusion of the N.F.L.’s longest regular season was a competitive overtime affair, that saw both franchises determined to end the other’s season.