Cowboys, Raiders have slim playoff hopes

A season that began with such high expectations in Dallas and Oakland is headed to the finish with the Cowboys and Raiders struggling to stay alive in the playoff race.

Whether it’s Ezekiel Elliott’s suspension that helped derail Dallas (7-6) or the poor defense and offensive regression that doomed Oakland (6-7), these expected contenders have looked nothing like it heading into tonight’s meeting.

“I think the two of us probably expected to have a few more wins at this point in the year,” Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said.

After the Cowboys won 13 games and the NFC East last year and the Raiders had 12 wins for their first playoff berth since 2002, many experts believed both would be among the top contenders this season.

But Dallas got off to a sluggish start by losing three of four games early and then dropped the first three games during Elliott’s suspension that ends after this week. But that might be too late for the Cowboys, who are in a three-way tie for eighth place in the NFC and need help to reach the playoffs.

“I know how important it is for us to win and that’s the only thing we can control,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “The rest is kind of crossing fingers and I guess hoping, so for us it’s just about winning out, and that’s all we’re focused on.”

The Raiders dropped four straight to fall into an early hole but managed to get back into a tie for first place in the mediocre AFC West heading into last week. But Oakland lost 26-15 to the Chiefs and is one game behind Kansas City and the Chargers in the division and a game back in the wild-card race and also needs lots of help.

Going deep: Oakland’s Derek Carr ranks 32nd out of 35 qualifying quarterbacks this season when it comes to throwing deep. Carr has completed just 13 of 50 passes that traveled more than 20 yards downfield with three TDs, six INTs and a 48.5 rating. That’s a big drop-off from a year ago when Carr had a 117.8 rating, completing 25 of 52 deep throws with seven TDs and two INTs.

Dez drought: Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant has never played all 16 games without recording 100 yards receiving in a game at least once. He’s three games away from doing that. The 2014 All-Pro does have six touchdowns, including a 50-yard catch-and-run against the Giants. In his second year in 2011, Bryant didn’t have a 100-yard outing but missed a game early with an injury. He had nine TDs that season.