Oakland Raiders defeat Buffalo Bills, squash Bills' postseason hopes

Derek Carr #4 of the Oakland Raiders drops back to pass the ball downfield against the Buffalo Bills during an NFL game in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014. Credit: Getty Images / Ezra Shaw
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Derek Carr threw two touchdown passes and Sebastian Janikowski kicked four field goals to help the Oakland Raiders knock the Buffalo Bills from playoff contention with a 26-24 victory Sunday.
The Bills (8-7) needed to win their final two games and get some help to end the NFL's longest active playoff drought at 14 seasons. But they failed at the easiest part, beating the lowly Raiders (3-12), and will miss the playoffs for a 15th straight season.
Oakland has the second-longest active postseason drought at 12 years but has done a good job of playing spoiler in recent weeks, beating Kansas City, San Francisco and Buffalo the past five weeks.

'Democrats say this is a misuse of taxpayer funds' Nassau Republicans awarded over $1 million in taxpayer-funded legal contracts to the one-man law firm of Sheharyar Ali, a longtime GOP ally. Ali's father is an adviser to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa and Newsday Nassau County politics reporter Bahar Ostadan have the story.

'Democrats say this is a misuse of taxpayer funds' Nassau Republicans awarded over $1 million in taxpayer-funded legal contracts to the one-man law firm of Sheharyar Ali, a longtime GOP ally. Ali's father is an adviser to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa and Newsday Nassau County politics reporter Bahar Ostadan have the story.