LAS VEGAS CAN’T HIDE ITS IDENTITY
A win over Denver can’t cover up problems that are keeping the Raiders from making playoffs
The glass is half- full and halfempty, and no one wants to drink from it again.
That’s how the Raiders were feeling Sunday after a 32- 31 road win over the Denver Broncos to finish the season 8- 8, a thoroughly unsatisfying .500 record that was a one- game improvement over the 2019 season.
The Raiders went from a 6- 3 team moments from a sweep of the mighty Kansas City Chiefs to out of the playoffs for the 18th time in 19 years, winning twice in their last seven games.
A two- point conversion pass from quarterback Derek Carr to Darren Waller for the winning points with 24 seconds to play made for a pleasant charter flight back to Las Vegas, but in no way healed wounds which cut deep for a fan base which was expecting much more.
The Raiders won the last game, but many of the issues that cropped up late in the season were on full display. They somehow managed to win a game despite having a minus- 4 disadvantage in turnovers and 14 penalties for 111 yards. That the Raiders won the game had as much to with Denver being a 5- 11 team as anything they did. Duplicate the turnovers and penalties against a reputable outfit and it’s a double- digit loss.
So while there’s been improvement each season in terms of the won- loss record, the Raiders are 19- 29 in the Jon Gruden reboot and if social media is any indication, there isn’t a lot of celebrating going with it. The fans the Raiders left behind in the Bay Area couldn’t even see the game on network local television, so inconsequential was the finale.
Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock will start picking up the pieces and reassembling them in the coming weeks based on what they have and what they don’t have. You can eliminate Carr from conversation off the top. Gruden said “he’s one of the best I’ve ever been around in the two- minute drill” and for at least another season the next- door neighbors are inextricably linked.
Here’s where it starts:
FIXING THE DEFENSE » The Broncos not only took a late lead on a 92- yard touchdown pass from Drew Lock to
Jerry Jeudy, but the Raiders enabled Denver to get in to position for a late desperation field goal with 24 seconds to play. Sound familiar?
The worst part about it is they spent a lot of time last offseason in theory upgrading all three levels of their defense and instead they got worse. And firing defensive coordinator Paul Guenther in favor of Rod Marinelli over the last three games didn’t improve things.
The Raiders gave up 29.9 points per game, the worst in franchise history over a 16- game season and second only to the pre- Al Davis 1961 Raiders, who gave up 32.7 in a 14- game season.
FIGURING OUT THE FADE » As much as the defense is priority No. 1, both sides of the ball had its hands in the the fade of 2020. The offense lost its way running the ball until Josh Jacobs and Co. awoke in the second half against Denver with 77 yards on nine carries. Jacobs said he thought the Raiders had been getting too cute, not relying on fundamental runs.
That answer isn’t going to fly with the “Gruden is too conservative” crowd which is growing by the game. But the fact is Gruden isn’t going anywhere, he is conservative in so far as he believes in running the ball, and the Raiders’ running game has hit a wall in each of the last two seasons.
BE BETTER AT DEVELOPING TALENT » The best teams draft and develop and then cherry pick during free agency with the understanding that available veterans are usually available for a reason. Look no farther than Cory Littleton and Carl Nassib on defense, who were the Raiders’ big ticket signings and struggled in their first year.
More troubling is the production from so much of the last two draft classes which count as the foundation of the franchise.
Defensive end Clelin Ferrell was a No. 4 overall pick and has the look of a twodown base end with issues pushing the pocket. Jacobs, became the first Raider since Marcus Allen to have back- to- back 1,000 rushing seasons. He finished with 1,065 and it’s a good sign he said afterward he’s not satisfied. He should be in the 1,200- plus realm if the Raiders plan on running the way Gruden wants to run.
Johnathan Abram, who played his first full season, remains a mystery, energetic but mistake- prone. This year’s top picks, wide receiver Henry Ruggs III and cornerback Damon Arnette, didn’t come anywhere near having the kind of first- year impact everyone hoped. Injuries and a pandemic made that difficult, but it doesn’t change the bottom line. Trayvon Mullen may have been better than as a rookie, but marginally so.
Guard John Simpson, drafted in the fourth round, started on the left side against Denver and could challenge for a starting role. Cornerback Amik Robertson, another fourthround pick, was a healthy scratch and barely saw the field even with all the breakdowns in the secondary.
rosby seemed to wear down because of overwork. Same goes for left tackle Kolton Miller.
There’s no magic bullet. Getting winning play out of what’s already on the roster is more important than continually starting over.