ALAMEDA -- The Oakland Raiders have gone from a big-play offense to a turnover-prone one, the defense has been repeatedly gashed by runs and passes and the parade of penalties hasn't slowed down a bit.
The three-game winning streak that vaulted the Raiders to the top of the AFC West is a distant memory after back-to-back lopsided road losses. Now Oakland is looking up at Tim Tebow and the Broncos in the standings and is in need of some help to end an eight-year playoff drought.
The first task is fixing the litany of mistakes that doomed the Raiders (7-6) in losses at Miami and Green Bay, or it won't matter how much help they get from other teams in the final three weeks of the season.
"We understand that nobody's perfect," middle linebacker Rolando McClain said Monday. "You're not going to play perfect. But you don't want to make the mistakes that we've been making. They're simple mistakes here and there. So we just have to fix them."
With the Broncos rallying late to win the past two weeks, Oakland has gone from one game up to one game back in the AFC West. The Raiders could still win the division by winning out and having Denver either lose at home to Kansas City or to New England and Buffalo. Oakland also could win the division by beating Kansas City and San Diego in the final two weeks if the Broncos lose to Kansas City and either New England or Buffalo.
Oakland is also one game behind the New York Jets for the final wild-card spot and will need some help to get into the playoffs that way as well.
"Obviously we're still in the thick of this thing, we truly believe, in our division and also for the opportunity to play in the playoffs," coach Hue Jackson said. "It's still all out in front of us. It doesn't feel that way, obviously, after the last two weeks. The reality is, that's what it is. So on we go."
McClain called the 46-16 loss at Green Bay on Sunday "embarrassing." It followed a 34-14 loss at Miami the previous week as the Raiders have fallen behind 34-0 the past two games.
Oakland is the first team to fall that far behind in successive weeks since the 1984 Buffalo Bills, according to STATS LLC.
"For some reason or another we got off track a little bit in the actual game," safety Mike Mitchell said. "The only thing we can do is just work on the mistakes that we made this past week, keep our heads down, keep grinding and get things fixed going into Sunday. Now, we are desperate. We got to win these games to hopefully win the division, and that's what our goal is."
Oakland had appeared to have things on track during a three-game winning streak as new quarterback Carson Palmer settled into his role. But almost nothing has gone right lately.
Palmer has thrown five interceptions the past two games, giving him 13 in six-plus games with Oakland. He has a 5.9 percent interception rate that is the second worst in the NFL since 2000 as the Raiders passing offense struggles without injured receivers Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore.
The running game has been hampered by the early deficits and the lack of big plays in recent weeks with Darren McFadden sidelined. Oakland has gone more than 14 quarters and 99 carries without a run of at least 20 yards after having 19 in the first 9½ games.
"You got to go back to the drawing board," Jackson said about the injuries. "What you once were, you're not. You can probably get away with that for a couple of weeks and fool people before they realize what you really are. Then what you have to do is go back and do something to give yourself the best chance to win. What I do know is, regardless of what you do, whatever scheme you come up with, you cannot turn the football over. You just can't do it."
The defense has allowed 345 yards rushing the past two weeks, and has generated only one turnover.
The team has also committed 21 penalties in the losses, increasing Oakland's league-worst total to 130 — a record-setting pace.
"We have not consistently played on defense the way I envisioned our defensive football team playing. We have not fixed the penalty issue that has hurt this team tremendously," Jackson said. "We got some work to do here. I've always said that and I don't run from that."
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