KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If this turns out to be Tom Cable’s last season as the Oakland Raiders’ head coach, at least he will know he made history.
After beating Kansas City 31-10 in their season finale Sunday, the Raiders became the only team since the 1970 merger to go unbeaten in their division and still not make the playoffs. Short-handed Oakland (8-8) wrapped up a division record of 6-0, while the Chiefs (10-6) went 2-4 in the division and will host the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday as the AFC West champions.
The Chiefs are the AFC’s No. 4 seed. The Raiders are done for the season.
“We are disappointed because we are not going to the playoffs, but at the same time we stuck to the goal and stuck to the plan as we have done every week, and we got our eighth win,” Cable said. “I’m very happy about that.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday night that Cable is unlikely to return to the Raiders, who have to decide whether to exercise the option on Cable’s contract by Jan. 18.
Michael Bush rushed for 137 yards and Jason Campbell threw a TD pass for the Raiders, who beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium for the fourth year in a row and ruined their perfect home record.
Running back Darren McFadden and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Richard Seymour were inactive because of injuries, but the Raiders dominated from start to finish, intercepting two of Matt Cassel’s passes and getting seven sacks.
The interceptions led directly to Oakland’s last two touchdowns. Jacoby Ford scored on a 10-yard reverse after Michael Huff’s interception, and Stanford Routt returned a pick 22 yards for the Raiders’ final touchdown when Cassel was hurried while throwing from his end zone.
The Chiefs were still digesting their lopsided loss several hours later when Indianapolis beat Tennessee 23-20 and determined their AFC seed and first-round opponent.
The Raiders posted their best record since 2002 amid talk that Cable may be out; the team went to 17-27 since he became head coach four games into the 2008 season. It was the first time since 2002, when Oakland went to the Super Bowl, that it didn’t lose at least 11 games.
The Raiders had 344 total yards compared with Kansas City’s 201 and held the NFL’s top-rated rushing offense to 115 yards on the ground.
Asked if he thinks he’s coming back, Cable did not answer directly.
“We’re not losers anymore. We’re 8-8,” he said. “That’s not what we wanted. We wanted to be a playoff team. We came here to get the sixth win, which means we went 6-0 in the division and most important, we are done with that losing. We are not losers anymore.”
