Raiders’ season review

OFFENSE

K A in year the NFL after in finishing total offense sixth and seventh in scoring, the Raiders were 17th and 22nd in those respective categories. Derek Carr, in the first season of a five-year, $125 million contract, tied his career high in interceptions (13) and ranked 18th in passer rating (86.4) among quarterbacks with at least 250 attempts. The running game picked up in the second half as Marshawn Lynch averaged 78.1 yards in his last eight games.

DEFENSE

The unit improved under John Pagano, despite allowing a season-high 495 yards in Sunday’s finale. Still, the Raiders finished 23rd in total defense and 27th in yards allowed per play (5.6). They went 10 games without an interception and finished with five, matching a franchise low. The pass rush recorded 17 sacks in six games under Pagano compared to 14 in 10 games under Ken Norton Jr., who was fired midseason.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Marquette third in net King punting finished average (42.7 yards), pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line on 40.6 percent of his punts (28 of 69). Giorgio Tavecchio was a competent replacement for injured Sebastian Janikowski, converting 16 of 21 field-goal tries in his first NFL season. Cordarrelle Patterson was one of the NFL’s most dangerous kick returners — so teams mostly stopped giving him a chance.

COACHING

Defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. was fired 10 games into the season. Offensive coordinator Todd Downing was widely expected to be fired at the end of the season. Head coach Jack Del Rio instead was fired within 20 minutes of the season finale. That pretty much sums it up. The Raiders’ next head coach, rumored to be Jon Gruden, will probably replace most of the staff.

OVERALL

The the Raiders season began as a trendy darkhorse Super Bowl pick. They ended it leading the discussion of the league’s biggest When disappointments. things started to crumble the Raiders had neither the wherewithal or leadership to fix them. They will hope for a turnaround in 2018.