The Oakland Raiders are on the verge of ending a 14-year playoff drought.A victory over San Diego will do the trick and the Raiders are focused on securing the long-craved postseason spot when they visit the Chargers on Sunday.Oakland (10-3) is tied for first place in the AFC West and has a two-game lead in the wild-card chase with three games to play.The possible realization of the goal prompted quarterback Derek Carr to reminisce on his rookie campaign of 2014 -- when saying things were bleak seems a bit kind.Starting 0-10 was not fun. It makes these moments so awesome, Carr told reporters. It makes these moments really cool to already have 10 wins and those things. I know for our team, our sole focus is beating the Chargers because if we dont, were still sitting there hoping and wishing. Our focus is just going down to San Diego and trying to come out with a win.The Chargers (5-8) wont be part of the playoffs and also face an unclear future. San Diego voters shot down a stadium proposal last month and the team moved closer to a relocation to Los Angeles on Wednesday when NFL owners unanimously approved a tenant-lease contract between the Chargers and Los Angeles Rams.The Chargers have until Jan. 15 to exercise an option to move to Los Angeles. Team president Dean Spanos has repeatedly stated he wont announce a decision until the season in over.Sundays contest could be the next-to-last home game in San Diego and it will be one in which standout running back Melvin Gordon misses due to hip and knee injuries.Undrafted rookie Kenneth Farrow and recent pickup Ronnie Hillman will share the ball-carrying duties.Gordon has rushed for 997 yards and is craving the 1,000-yard mark after experiencing a disappointing rookie season in 2015 so he is hopeful his season isnt over.It would mean a lot but Im just going to take it for what it is, Gordon told reporters. If I feel I can go back out there and be ready, Im going to go back out there. ... I know my body. If I can go out there and feel I can be productive, then Ill be out there. If I cant, weve got the guys who will make it up for me.The Chargers most promising young defensive player is also ailing. Rookie defensive end Joey Bosa sprained his neck in last Sundays 28-16 loss to the Carolina Panthers but he will play after not being listed on the injury report Friday.Meanwhile, Carr has enjoyed an MVP-caliber season with 3,492 yards and 24 touchdowns against just five interceptions.But he also is coming off an atrocious performance in a 21-13 loss to the Chiefs on Dec. 8. The combination of frigid conditions and an injured right pinkie finger didnt help as Carr was 17-of-41 passing for 117 yards.The showing was easily Carrs worst of the season but he made it clear his finger had nothing to do with the sub-par effort.It was just execution -- literally inches, Carr said. Theres a whole bunch of plays that I think about that we always hit and for whatever reason, we just missed by an inch. Sometimes that happens in practice and you never want it to happen in a game. This time it did.Carrs favorite target is second-year receiver Amari Cooper, who went over the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight campaign. Cooper, who has 73 receptions, ranks sixth in the NFL with 1,010 receiving yards.Oakland leads the NFL with a plus-15 turnover margin and is receiving remarkable play from standout defensive end Khalil Mack.Mack is tied for third in the NFL with 11 sacks and has recorded at least one in eight consecutive games, two off the record shared by DeMarcus Ware (Dallas, 2007-08) and Simon Fletcher (Denver, 1992-93). Mack is shooting to become the first player with a sack in nine consecutive games in a single season.Mack also has forced five fumbles and his presence cant rate as a comfortable feeling for Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.Though he has passed for 3,589 yards and 27 touchdowns, Rivers also has been intercepted a league-worst 17 times. He was personally responsible for five turnovers in the loss to the Panthers -- three on interceptions and two strip-sack fumbles -- as the Chargers turnover count grew to an NFL-worst 30.I know better than that but at the same time I dont want to stand back there and throw balls away and get beat 35-3, Rivers said. It just felt like that was the way it was going, and again, that is no excuse to make some bad mistakes and turnovers.Oakland has prevailed in the past three meetings, including a 34-31 home win on Oct. 9. Carr passed for 317 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, while Rivers passed for 359 yards and four touchdowns and was intercepted twice.Brandon Knight Jersey . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day. Kyrie Irving Jersey . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. https://www.thecavalierslockerroom.com/Tristan-Thompson-City-Edition-Jersey/ . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Rodney Hood Cavaliers Jersey . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation. Brad Daugherty Cavaliers Jersey . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Columbus Blue Jackets won another game with a strong finish.Jack Johnson, Cam Atkinson and Seth Jones each had a goal and an assist as the Blue Jackets beat the New York Islanders 6-2 for their sixth straight win.Josh Anderson, Brandon Saad and Lukas Sedlak also scored for Columbus and Sergei Bobrovsky had 25 saves.Ive never been on a team thats been in this position at this point of the year, Johnson said of his teams surge. And Ive been in the league 10 years. You really appreciate it when youre having a season like this.Josh Bailey and John Tavares scored for New York, which had earned a point in a season-high five straight games (4-0-1). Jaroslav Halak made 32 saves until he was pulled after the Blue Jackets scored four consecutive goals in the third period.Anderson put Columbus ahead 3-2 at 2:19 when he picked off a defensive pass and banged it in from the slot seconds after coming onto the ice for his shift.Saad, Sedlak and Jones scored in a 5-minute span to make it 6-2 with 5:37 to go.Youre not going to play good when you make dumb decisions with the puck, Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. It has nothing to do structurally. It has nothing to do goaltending-wise. We just made some bad decisions.New Yorks third-string goalie Jean-Francois Berube then replaced Halak and stopped the one shot he faced in his season debut.The Islanders came out quick and it took Columbus a while to get going. New York took a 1-0 lead 5:59 in when a defensive pass by the Blue Jackets Sam Gagner at the boards was deflected by Bailey, and the popup was bobbled by Bobrovsky into the net. Bailey was given credit for an unassisted goal.We just had to keep on playing, get our feet, simply our game, and I thought we did a good job with that, Columbus coach John Tortorella said of the Blue Jackets slow start. Weve done a good job of that all year long, as far as just trying to play and not worry about what happened.Thee Blue Jackets tied it up on a power play with 6:01 left in the first when Johnson wound up from just inside the neutral zone and fired a bullet past Halak.dddddddddddd It was Johnsons first goal of the season.Columbus Brandon Dubinsky and New Yorks Travis Harmonic went to the penalty box for 5 minutes each when both threw down the gloves and threw punches near the end of the first quarter.Columbus took a 2-1 lead when a speeding Atkinson took a pass from Johnson in the neutral zone and beat Halak on the breakaway 10:16 into the second. New York tied with 7:28 left in the period when Tavares lifted the puck over Bobrovskys pad from in front of the net.The Blue Jackets took off in the third period.After Anderson gave Columbus the lead for good, Saad made it 4-2 on a wrister from the high slot at 9:23.Sedlak, who scored his first NHL goal on Friday night, scored another when he tapped in a loose puck with 7:21 to go. Jones capped it with just over 5 1/2 minutes remaining.Our mindset is, whether were down by a goal or up by a goal, were still trying to press and get the next goal. Atkinson said.Game notesColumbus is 9-1-1 in its last 11 home games. ... Blue Jackets F Nick Foligno was a scratch because of illness for the second straight day. Oliver Bjorkstrand was called up from Cleveland (AHL) on Friday to replace him. ... The Blue Jackets loaned D Dalton Prout to Cleveland on a conditioning assignment. ... C Ryan Strome was back in the lineup for the Islanders after missing one game due to illness. ... Islanders scratched G Thomas Greiss, D Scott Mayfield and LW Anthony Beauvillier. ... Bobrovsky has allowed two goals or fewer in 18 of 23 games.UP NEXTIslanders: Host Washington on Tuesday night.Blue Jackets: At Edmonton on Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game trip to western Canada. ' ' '
