Who excelled, who disappointed and the best and worst moments
Raiders coach Jon Gruden had no interest in participating in a postmortem before the body was cold. Not with another game on the schedule and the Raiders having a chance to get to 8-8 with the Pyrrhic victory of improving from a 7-9 finish a year ago.
Yet the reality is the Raiders again tantalized their fans with the possibility of the postseason and instead they’re on the outside looking in for 17th time in the last 18 years.
“Statistics are what they are,” Gruden said. “You can read about it and everybody’s going to have their own opinion, but we made some real strides in some areas and we’ve not made strides in others. It’s real obvious and we’ll address that at the end of the season.”
The end of the season is Sunday in Denver against the Broncos (5-10), with the bright spot being road games are where the Raiders have done their best work with a 5-2 record as opposed to 2- 6 at Allegiant Stadium.
No sense in waiting to hand out some awards in 2020:
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER » Quarterback Derek Carr. Even before the season began, speculation remained that Carr was playing for his job in 2020 and could even be beaten out by Marcus Mariota. He responded with his best year. Not many quarterbacks outplay and beat Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes in the same season. Carr guided the Raiders to 12- 4 in 2016, but he was a better all-round quarterback and more in command of the offense in 2020. He’s the least of their problems. OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR » Tight end Darren Waller. He’s been good all season, but has closed with a flourish down the stretch at the same time where his team fell on hard times. With 98 receptions for 1,079 yards, he’s seven catches from breaking Tim Brown’s record for the most receptions in a single season. Josh Jacobs, the Raiders’ second Pro Bowler, is the runner- up with 976 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns, although the yards have come with more difficulty at 3.8 yards per carry. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR » Vacant. It’s been such a monumental letdown on the defense it would ring hollow to single out anyone as being a standout.
BIGGEST WIN » A 40-32 win over the Kansas City Chiefs and Mahomes at Arrowhead Stadium on Nov. 22. It prompted a Raiders victory lap — and deservedly so, considering the venue has been their house of pain ever since Andy Reid took over as head coach. It’s still the only game the Chiefs have lost in more than a calendar year. EASIEST WIN » The Raiders’ defense had a field day with five takeaways against the
Denver Broncos in a 37-12 win at Allegiant Stadium, one of only two home victories all season. TOUGHEST LOSS » The Raiders were already essentially out of the playoff picture so there’s some recency bias, but how do you painstakingly set things up for the game-winning field goal, make the Miami Dolphins use all their time outs and allow them to get the points with 19 seconds remaining? Being outclassed 44-27 by the Indianapolis Colts at home in a “show me” moment as far as being a contender is a close second. It led to the dismissal of defensive coordinator Paul Guenther.
BEST OFFENSIVE PLAY » Yes, it was the winless (at the time) New York Jets, but Carr calling the correct protection to beat a zero blitz and finding an alley to throw a 46-yard game-winning touchdown strike to rookie Henry Ruggs III with six seconds remaining was a miraculous bit of theater that would be hard to top. BEST DEFENSIVE PLAY » With Clelin Ferrell pressuring Mahomes, safety Jeff Heath stepped in front of a pass and returned it 47 yards to the 2-yard line to set up a 2-yard run by Jacobs. It put the Raiders up 40-24 with 5:26 to play and all but wrapped up the Raiders’ signature win of the season.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR/ BIGGEST ROOKIE DISAPPOINTMENT » Ruggs had 23 receptions for 414 yards and
two touchdowns. One of the touchdowns was a 72-yarder against the Chiefs, the other the game-winner against the Jets. But as the No. 12 pick overall in the draft, more was expected. A knee injury as well as a stint on the COVID-19 list didn’t help matters. All in all, a dreadful year for the Raiders’ rookie class when factoring in Damon Arnette’s thumb surgery, two concussions and role in the Miami demise. Then there was the third-round washout with the trade of running back Lynn Bowden Jr. to Miami, wide receiver Bryan Edwards getting hurt and doing little to contribute and a year-long stint on the disabled list for linebacker Tanner Muse.
BEST FREE AGENT ACQUISITION » Wide receiver Nelson Agholor was drummed out of Philadelphia for a spate of dropped passes but has
47 passes for 839 yards and eight touchdowns. At a veteran’s minimum wage, no less. Honorable mentions to running back Devontae Booker 407 yards rushing and also a minimum wage player, and linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, who in between an early pectoral strain and a late COVID-19 experience was fairly solid on a poor defense.
MOST DISAPPOINTING FREE AGENT ACQUISITION »
Linebacker Cory Littleton signed a three-year contract worth a maximum of nearly $36 million and was supposed to give the Raiders the kind of sideline-to-sideline linebacker who could cover receivers out of the backfield. Littleton has never looked completely comfortable and it will be up to the 2021 defensive coordinator to get him straightened out. Same goes for defensive end Carl Nassib ($17 million guaranteed) who was such a nonfactor he was a healthy scratch twice.
STEADY AS SHE GOES AWARD » Center Rodney Hudson remains the anchor of a Raiders offensive line that has pass protected well all season and through 10 games was one of the NFL’S best run-blocking units. What happened to that running game afterward is something that Gruden and line coach Tom Cable will have to sort out in the offseason. Hudson remains above reproach in all areas, in terms of performance, preparation and leadership.
LINE OF DEMARCATION AWARD » Less than two minutes from a season-sweep of the Chiefs and a 7-3 record, the Raiders somehow neglected to cover Travis Kelce — Mahomes’ favorite receiver — and he caught a 22-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds to play. The Chiefs won 35-31. The following week, the Raiders lost 43- 6 to the Atlanta Falcons in a game strikingly similar to the 2019 season’s 34-3 loss to the New York Jets and the big fade was on. CAN’T HELP THE CLUB IN THE TUB AWARD » Right tackle Trent Brown had zero luck, reporting with a pectoral injury that pretty much kept him out of training camp and then getting hurt three plays into the season. Brown was a force in the win over the Chiefs, then vanished again, a victim of the coronavirus, and a medical issue related to the virus left him hospitalized in Cleveland.