Storyline: The Raiders faded from playoff contention with a whimper. A once-promising season ends on a bad note. In the words of the great Douglas Coughlin from “Cocktail”: “Everything ends badly. Otherwise it wouldn’t end.”
The 2015 Oakland Raiders have proven they can compete with anybody–except for the Week 1 debacle against the Bengals. The Raiders have been in every game, deep into the 4th Quarter. That simply wasn’t the case last season when lopsided scores were commonplace: 38-14, 41-17, 52-0, and 47-14, to name a few.
Head coach Jack Del Rio has gotten his team to be competitive, week in and week out, but his squad is still too inconsistent overall. That trait surfaced again in the Raider’s 30-20 home loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Raiders are good enough to compete against a top-notch team, but not always good enough to earn a ‘W.’ That translates into this: Oakland will be sitting out The Playoffs for the 13th consecutive season.
Inconsistency could be seen throughout the course of the Packer game. The Raiders’ defense started off strong, forcing two three-and-outs, but QB Derek Carr was in a festive mood and kept giving the ball away. Two Carr picks, including a Pick Six, led directly to a 14-0 Packer lead. The Raiders’ offense and defense never seemed to be balling in sync.
Courtesy; newsday.com
But in the 2nd and 3rd Quarters, Carr (with some assistance from Latavius Murray and the run game) finally started moving the team and putting points on the board. The Raiders even took a 20-17 lead in the middle of the 3rd Quarter with a Carr-to-Cooper TD pass. At that point the game appeared to be a dogfight and, I’m sure, the Packers thought so, too.
Not so, though….
Immediately following the Cooper TD the Raiders defense imploded with an assist from Special Teams. The kickoff unit blew coverage on a 47-yard return by Packer, Jeff Janis. That set up Green Bay with ideal filed position. Then the defense had a major breakdown: T.J. Carrie blew his assignment and left James Jones wide open. QB Aaron Rodgers may not have an easier 30-yard TD for the rest of his career.
But, to its credit, the Raiders’ defense clamped down after that play. The D gave up some yardage, including a way-too-long drive (eight minutes!) in the 4th, but the unit allowed only two field goals. It was up to the offense to move the ball like it did earlier.
Courtesy: (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
So there was a chance? Yes, but … the Raiders’ O produced nada.
Oakland put up a whopping 33 yards of total offense in the 4th and produced zero points. The O failed to convert two 4th Down–with the game and season on the line–and, with that, the Raiders never challenged the Packers from that point on.
The outcome: the Raiders faded from playoff contention with a whimper. A once-promising season ends on a bad note. In the words of the great Douglas Coughlin from Cocktail: “Everything ends badly, otherwise it wouldn’t end.”
The 2015 Oakland Raiders were just too inconsistent to overcome good teams. They’ve made significant strides under the Del Rio regime but, on a Sunday like this, you can see how far they have to go. The good news is that the Raiders are a young and talented team–with time to develop consistency–given a core of good players and solid coaching staff.
The Raider Nation is always confident heading into a new year but, in 2016, they might actually have a right to feel that way.
Game Day Observations
The Raiders were not a very good home team this year–with a 2-5 record and some of the ugliest losses of the season. A big reason was Derek Carr’s turnovers. Carr threw 8 of his 11 interceptions at the O.co Coliseum, including three retuned for TDs. Maybe the coaches have to work on Carr for not being so amped up at home … or something.
Mario Edwards (zimbio.com)
The defense continued to get better as the season progressed, playing solid football since the Detroit game. Young players, such as Mario Edwards Jr., Ben Heeney, Denico Autry and David Amerson, really stood out and should strengthen the defense moving forward. Having an all-world pass rusher and run-stuffer, like Khalil Mack, also helps. The D played well enough to beat the Packers, a pattern that started following the Vikings’ game when Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson roughed them up in Week 10.
I find it curious that since the Raiders signed fullback Jamize Olawale to a contract extension two weeks ago he has yet to touch the football. He was touching the ball a few times before then but, in the last two weeks, he has vanished. I’m not sure what it means–if it means anything–but it just seems peculiar to me.
I thought the steady rain and soggy field conditions gave the Packers a bit of an advantage: for one thing it slowed the Raiders’ pass rush. That was an area where the home team could have exploited, giving Oakland an edge. And, at the beginning of the game, the Raiders’ D-line had a nice push and forced Rodgers to scramble. But that push lessened as the game went on. The Raiders have more speed on the outside then does the Packers; and a slow field certainly didn’t disappoint the Packers’ D.
Player of the Game
Courtesy: hngn.com
It’s an easy choice this week: rookie Amari Cooper had 6 catches for 120 yards and 2 TDs on the day. Cooper also became the first Raiders’ wide receiver since Randy Moss in ’05 to surpass 1000 yards. But that achievement didn’t faze Cooper, who responded in his typical low key style: “I guess it’s a good thing to do, but people go for 1,000 yards every year, so it’s not really a big thing.” He’s right, too: since ’05 201 players across the league have had 1000 yard seasons.
Way to finally get into the game, Oakland.
