For Raiders, tanking rest of season may not help
Closing season with wins has more value, even by not making playoffs
The exact origin of the quote remains in doubt, and even Vince Lombardi claimed he never said “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”
The man whose name adorns the Super Bowl trophy later told author James Michener what he really said was “Winning isn’t everything. The will to win is the only thing,” although as the original quote gained steam, Lombardi was fine with the condensed version and even repeated it on occasion.
Which brings us to the Raiders, another late-season fade, and being on the outside looking in at the playoffs as they’ve done for every year except one since 2002.
The Raiders were 6- 3, fell to 7-7 and need a prayer that won’t be answered to sneak in to a wild card playoff spot that wasn’t available a year ago. It’s another in a long line of failures and a letdown to the fan base, much of which would be fine if the Jon Gruden comeback had never happened. Scrap the whole thing and start all over again, and never mind that the constant turnover in coaching is what helped the Raiders go from proud franchise to perennial loser in the first place.
Play the reserves. Build for the future. Get a better draft position. You can find this kind of reasoning in social and mainstream media and it’s a staple of sports talk radio.
And it’s so wrong. Because while the first version of the Lombardi quote doesn’t cut it, the revision is on point.
The will to win is the only thing.
People who couldn’t fathom giving a half-effort in their own profession are not only willing to tolerate but promote the team of their affections going in to the tank in the belief it could make for a better future.
Organizations can and will set themselves up to lose when things look hopeless, angling for draft picks
and a more sensible financial situation. It’s different on game day. The coaches and players, the ones worth keeping around, are fighting until the clock hits zero.
It’s why the New York Jets “ruined” their supposed run at Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence by beating the Los Angeles Rams. It’s why the Cincinnati Bengals, with all of two wins and a tie, thought it was worthwhile to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, their longtime rival.
And it’s why the Raiders, with the playoffs having slipped away, still have something at stake when they host Miami Saturday night and close the season at Denver on Jan. 3.
Winning in the NFL is hard, a week-long collective effort that can’t be forgotten like a baseball weekend series with another game to come the next day, or an NBA or NHL schedule where
there’s three games a week. Same goes for the fans, who live with the ecstasy and agony for six days until it starts over.
If the Raiders were to beat Miami and Denver, they’d finish 9-7 and out of the playoffs. Their record in three years would have gone from 4-12 to 7-9 to 9-7. That’s progress. Progress at a turtle’s pace in a win-now culture, but progress nonetheless. You’d rather have that than another 7-9 and a better draft slot.
At a salary of $18,900,000 this season, Derek Carr is making more than a million dollars per week over 17 weeks — $1,111,764 to be exact. He makes that salary over the next two games whether he plays or not. Carr has a significant groin injury, but wants to play even if it’s not in his own best interest. He couldn’t even imagine putting a stamp on the last two
games and mailing them in, regardless of how many fans sit on their couch and wonder how that could be possible.
You want players who think like Carr on your team. You want the organization to think that way too.
It’s been suggested to me there is no difference if a team rests its players going into the postseason and loses, as opposed to sitting players in order to increase the chances of defeat to get a better draft slot.
Players understand. They’re putting their livelihood on film every week, and when it appears the effort isn’t there, more often than not it has to do with confusion in terms of execution and message.
Ownership and management sometimes don’t get it.
Losing doesn’t make someone a loser. That only happens when you stop trying to win.