Raiders push back against playing for tie against Chargers to qualify for playoffs

Perhaps the most adored yet controversial NFL playoff scenario entering Week 18 addressed by Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk involves both the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders mathematically qualifying for the postseason tournament if they agree to tie in the upcoming "Sunday Night Football" contest but only if the Indianapolis Colts lose at the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier in the day. 

The Raiders will have already clinched a playoff berth if both the Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers suffer defeats on Sunday afternoon, but Las Vegas interim coach Rich Bisaccia wasn't interested in discussing such possibilities. 

"I don't think I ever passed math, so I don't even know what the hell you just talked about," Bisaccia jokingly explained, according to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN. "All I know is we're really excited about our opportunity in front of us on Sunday night, and we're going to look to put our best foot forward. We're going to look to put a product on the field that all of Raider Nation can be proud of. So that's kind of our focus right now."

The Raiders will have to win to qualify if Indianapolis and Pittsburgh notch victories. 

"Someone said we could just take knees and tie if that's the scenario [where the Colts lose]," Raiders quarterback Derek Carr added during comments. "I was like, 'Well, that sounds good to you, but I don't want to tie these guys either.' To me, it will be full focus on beating the Chargers, and I'm pretty confident that's how our whole team feels, no matter what. You know, they beat us last time. We kind of just want to play this game."

The Chargers defeated the Raiders 28-14 back on Oct. 4.