So ends yet another Oakland Raiders season, earlier than we might have thought before the Khalil Mack trade and right on time since.
It doesn’t kill all hope for 2019, mind you, but that very definitely is not the way to bet. I mean, in case you were thinking there was a way to avert the seemingly inevitable bleak performance before the team relocates to Nevada, you're probably as delusional as you were when Jon Gruden came here back in February. The turnaround is not yet scheduled, but it's almost certainly not happening in California.
After proving to be both inept and inert in England by losing a bland and passionless game to Seattle, 27-3, the Raiders will be allowed back into this country so that Gruden can start making more earnest plans for 2019, and realistic plans for 2020.
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Of the game itself, there was nothing to summarize because nothing was accomplished. They managed only 185 yards in total offense, the busiest ball carriers were Jalen Richard and Seth Roberts, the offensive line was shredded and the defense allowed 6.2 yards per play (which in fairness was down from 6.8). In other words, nothing was revealed that hadn’t already been established as common knowledge.
The report by Fox’s Jay Glazer that the Raiders were now actively shopping both ethereal (as in largely rumored, rarely used and now freshly concussed) wide receiver Amari Cooper and safety Karl Joseph as part of what was elegantly described as “a fire sale” is equally unsurprising. Gruden was brought in by starry-eyed owner Mark Davis with enough money to feed his family for a thousand years and maintain a constant supply of dynamite for the table of organization. There’s no rally from this, and 1-5 teams don’t get to ask for any more time to gel. There’s no more gelling to be done.
The Raiders are the 100th team since 1990 to start a season 1-5, and only one, the 2015 Kansas City Chiefs, ever rallied to make the playoffs. More to the point, the average final record of those 98 other teams (the current New York Giants went to 1-5 Thursday night) is 4.6-11.4. And you know how hard those six-tenths of wins are to get.
Moreover, in the second year after a season with a 1-5 start, 65 of 96 teams (we don’t know where the Giants will end up after their 2018 season, but it’s not going to be good) missed the playoffs, though the average record moves to 7.5.-8.5. It’s still not good, but it does leave at least 33 percent’s worth of hope for Oakland Raiders fans that the last year in town won’t be this.
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Because this right here is demonstrably bleak and awful, and that was the fair and objective assessment even before quarterback Derek Carr went down after being sacked by tackle Jarren Reed in the fourth quarter, one of six sacks against the beleaguered Oakland offensive line.
Again, none of this should be regarded as a revelation. Gruden did not come in to defend or build on the status quo, and that he showed his hand when he dealt Mack for draft picks. Nobody gets to claim wounded surprise.
It’s just that the Raiders returned to Oakland and performed the equivalent of 23 consecutive 6-10 seasons, and now they are all but promising two more 6-10s before they beat feet out of town. Rarely has a team done less in more time for a more eager fan base.
So at this point, Gruden may as well start shoveling out the garage. He may find Cooper difficult to move, and Joseph won’t be a game-changer on the open market. At this point, the only real grabber is Carr, and don’t be fooled by Gruden’s praise for him. He praises everyone while working hard to move each and every one of them. He saw enough sooner than the rest of us, but he didn’t beat us by a lot. Sunday was just one more example of why his biggest job as the face of the franchise is to see that I-15 is properly resurfaced for that last road trip.