Tough day for the crowd that wants a tank job
Las Vegas Raiders fans have been squarely focused on next year’s draft for weeks.
The Las Vegas Raiders themselves, however, have not. They want to win with zero focus on where they will pick in April’s draft.
Sunday, in the final seconds of a 19-14 victory over the equally horrible Jacksonville Jaguars at home that ended a 10-game losing streak, Raiders coach Antonio Pierce and quarterback Aidan O’Connell joyfully embraced.
They were relieved to win for the first time in nearly three months. The win moved Las Vegas to 3-12. The Raiders, who entered the day tied with the New York Giants for the worst record in the NFL, are now currently slotted to pick No. 6 in the April draft. The Raiders are tied with five other teams at 3-12, so there is a lot to unfold in the final two weeks of the regular season. If the Raiders lose to New Orleans and the Chargers in the last two games they will pick no lower than five. Still, that may require an attempt to trade up for a quarterback and that would cost a lot of picks for a team with a lot of needs.
But the truth is, the Raiders’ chances to pick a top quarterback in April (their biggest need) took a big hit Sunday.
But the Raiders themselves don’t care.
The reality is, Pierce could be fired and O’Connell is likely to be replaced. They aren’t thinking about next year’s quarterback.
Even owner Mark Davis was seen celebrating this win.
That’s why they go to work every day, to try to win. They aren’t thinking about the No. 1 pick:
Here are some key aspects of the game:
Bad football:
That’s the big takeaway here. Both of these teams are 3-12 for a reason. The Raiders didn’t exactly play winning football Sunday. They just made less mistakes than the Jaguars did. Jacksonville punted seven times and the Raiders punted six times. The Jaguars were penalized eight times and the Raiders were flagged seven times.
Pierce safe?
It would likely be naive to think Pierce, who is now 8-16 as the Raiders coach (Josh McDaniels was fired at 9-16), saved his job by barely beating the Jaguars and their terrible backup quarterback Mac Jones. Davis said earlier his month eh wanted to see progress made and Pierce will be evaluated after the season. So, Pierce’s fate is still likely unclear.
Bowers balls out:
After combining for six catches in the past two games, Raiders rookie tight end had another huge game with 11 catches for 99 yards. He tied Pro Football Hall of Famer Tim Brown’s team record with his fourth game in a season with 10 or more catches. He has 101 receptions for 1,061 yards. He is seven catches from breaking Darren Waller’s team record o 107 catches and 10 yards from breaking Hall of Famer Mike Ditka’s rookie record for receiving yardage by a tight end that was set in 1961. He is already the rookie tight end catch record holder. Jayden Daniels will likely win the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, but what Bowers is doing is special.
O’Connell makes some plays;
After missing last week’s loss to Atlanta with a knee bruise, O’Connell had some nice moments Sunday. He made some poor throws, but he ended up completing 24 of 38 passes for 257 yards. The not-so mobile O’Connell also made some plays with his legs. The key for O’Connell is consistency. He has a hard time putting together back-to-back good games. So, we’ll see what he can do at New Orleans next week.
Abdullah runs hard:
Overall, the Raiders had just 69 rushing yards, but running back Ameer Abdullah made some nice plays as he had 38 yards on seven carries with a touchdown and he added 47 yards on five catches.
No turnovers:
A big reason why the Raiders won this game is the Jaguars had two turnovers and the Raiders didn’t have any. The Raiders has lost the turnover battle almost every game this season and it has killed the. Sunday, they saw the benefit of ball security.
Big plays by Pola-Mao:
Raiders’ safety Isaiah Pola-Mao forced two fumbles in the second quarter and the Raiders recovered both. That’s taking advantage of a bad offense like the Raiders’ opponents have done all season. Pola-Mao joined Pro Football Hall of Famer Charles Woodson as a defensive back to record multiple forced fumbles in a single game in team history. Woodson accomplished it three times.
An example of two bad teams:
The Raiders had the ball on third and six and they were called for false starts on back-to-back plays to make it third and 16. Then, Jacksonville was called for defensive offsides on back to back to make it third and six again. Finally, the play occurred and the Raiders couldn’t convert and ended up punting. Ugly football.
Nice tribute:
The Raiders’ honored Oakland A’s legend Rickey Henderson, who died at the age of 65 on Friday, prior to the game. He was a native of Oakland and had a good relationship with Davis