The Oakland Raiders suffered a significant setback this past Sunday, falling to the New York Jets by a score of 34-3 in a game that most people anticipated they would win.

It was one of the easiest games on the Raiders' remaining schedule (or at least it was supposed to be), but instead of capitalizing and maintaining sole possession of the second Wild Card spot in the AFC, Oakland had its doors blown off.

Now, the Raiders find themselves at 6-5 and locked in a four-way tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans for the final playoff slot in the conference, and they have a heck of a task looming on Sunday.

That task will consist of going to Arrowhead Stadium and trying to come away with what would be a pivotal road win over the Kansas City Chiefs, a team that many had pegged as the AFC favorite coming into this season.

We all know how difficult it is to beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead, especially in a game of this magnitude.

Let's remember that Kansas City is 7-4, so it's not like it has the AFC West locked up just yet. A loss to Oakland would drop the Chiefs into a tie with the Raiders for first place, and that is something Patrick Mahomes and Co. want to avoid like the plague.

So it's not like this is a relatively meaningless game for Kansas City. Quite the opposite, actually. As good as the Chiefs are, they are not guaranteed a playoff spot at the current point in time, so they need a win every bit as much as the Raiders do.

But for Jon Gruden's club? This means everything.

Gruden took over as head coach of the Raiders last year and made some moves that baffled the Bay, trading away both Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper and insisting it was for the betterment of the franchise moving forward.

Oakland then swung a trade for Antonio Brown during the offseason, but of course, Brown never actually played a game for the Raiders and was released before the season started.

With Brown gone, no one expected the Raiders to be anything other than a doormat in what appeared to be an incredibly deep AFC going into the year, but Oakland has actually been pretty tough and has a legitimate chance of making the playoffs.

The Raiders have put themselves in a rather precarious position, though, as they blew an opportunity to give themselves a cushion going into their Week 13 showdown with the Chiefs, and now, the game is almost a must-win.

But a victory could mean the playoffs for Gruden and Co.

That surely isn't guaranteed, as the Raiders still have a tough road ahead that includes a matchup with the Titans the following week, but it would go a long way in helping Oakland move that much closer toward its goal.

These next two games will likely tell us all we need to know about what the Raiders are made of.