Jaguars Spoil Raiders' Oakland Farewell
by Tom LaMarre
For Oakland, it was insult added to injury.
The lowly Jacksonville Jaguars scored the last 17 points, with Gardner Minshew throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to Chris Coney with 31 seconds left to hand the Oakland Raiders a 20-16 loss on Sunday in their final game at the Oakland Coliseum before moving to Las Vegas next season.
The Raiders (6-8) lost their fourth straight game and saw the slim playoff hopes disappear, while the Jaguars (5-9) snapped a five-game losing streak.
“The energy just felt like we were going to come away with that win and then all of a sudden the tables were turned,” said Raiders safety Erik Harris, who circled the field after the game, shaking hands with and thanking the Oakland faithful.
“At what point did it happen? I still couldn’t tell you. I’m still sitting here like, ‘How did we lose that game?’”
The Raiders scored on the first possession of the game on Derek Carr’s 40-yard touchdown pass play to wide receiver Tyrell Williams, who caught a short pass and broke a tackle before running down the right sideline to the end zone.
Oakland had its chances to build a big lead but had to settle for three field goals by Daniel Carlson to take a 17-3 halftime lead, but as they have several times this season, the Raiders’ offensive ran out of gas in the second half.
“I’m still emotional and angry about it,” said Carr, who completed 22 of 36 passes for 267 yards, but again had several passes dropped and was sacked four times. “There are a few plays out there we left. There’s nothing I can say right now that will make anyone feel better. It won’t make me feel better.
“ … Some of these people will never be at a Raiders game again. It’s their last time, the last time they’ll go. You feel for them. It’s weird that you won’t call them the Oakland Raiders. That’s crazy. I think everybody in football thinks that’s weird whether you like us or not.”
The Raiders were trying to run out the clock and appeared to be well on their way to doing it when Carr faked a handoff and ran 12 yards for a first down at the Jacksonville 31 with 2:05 left in the game.
However, Carr was called for delay of game after celebrating and the Raiders couldn’t get another first down and Carlson missed wide left on field goal tries of 50 and 45 yards, the second after the Jaguars were called for running into the kicker.
That gave Jacksonville good field position with 1:44 left and Minshew took them 65 yards in seven plays for the winning touchdown.
“Very, very shocked,” Carr on said about the penalty. “One of the more shocking ones of my life to be honest. I understand the rule a little differently, I guess.”
The end came when Carr’s desperation throws from midfield fell incomplete on the last two plays of the game.
Carr, as he did last December after the Raiders beat the Denver Broncos, 27-14, in what then was thought the be the last game Oakland, ran to “The Black Hole” in the South end zone to thank the fans.
Only this time, he was booed and pelted with projectiles by some fans, but other fans cheered him as he ran up the Coliseum tunnel to the locker room moments later.
The loyal Oakland fans, who have lost their team for the second time, came early on Sunday to tailgate at the Coliseum for the last time, with calls of, “Raid-ers, Raid-ers,” ringing out before and even after the game—as many stayed into the parking lot for several hours after the game.
“It’s not really the result today, it’s the results of the Raiders over the years,” Raiders Coach Jon Gruden said. “It’s the Oakland Raiders. It’s the appreciation, the loyalty these fans have had for the Raiders.
“We’re going to miss them. The relationship hopefully will never end. It was sad walking in here today and it will be sad walking out for the last time.”
In the parking lot, Oakland native and longtime Raiders fan Steve Lydon said: “It’s still hard to believe that they’re not going to be here next year. A lot of people are hurt, but they are Raiders fans, and I’ll bet a lot of them will go to Las Vegas.
“I’ve been coming since I was a kid in the 1970s and later bought season tickets when I could afford them. It’s too bad the politicians couldn’t work things out, but the Raiders are going to have a great stadium in Las Vegas. … Raider Nation!”
Added his friend, Michael Gregory, another native of Oakland whose family has had season tickets since the 1960s except when the Raiders were in Los Angeles from 1982-94: “I’ll always be a Raiders fan, but it hasn’t been the way it was back in the day. But Raiders fans go for the memories and hope they can regain that magic and it won’t be the same in Las Vegas.
“Just walking through the parking lot, you get that feeling like it always was, and once the game starts, it’s the Raiders and you want them to win. It’s not just something to do, it’s the Raiders, the Oakland Raiders.”
Said Gregory’s brother, John: “It’s a sad day for Oakland. It’s depressing. I had a hard time getting up this morning and getting ready to go to the game because it was the last one, but I wouldn’t have missed it.”
And Alfonso Macedo, one of the younger generation of Oakland Raiders fans, said: “I was born and raised a Raiders fan. I lived for the stories my Dad would tell me about John Madden’s teams in the glory days.
“When the Raiders traded Khalil Mack to Chicago last year, I tried to be a Bears fan, but I couldn’t do it. So I guess if I’m going to be a fan of a team that’s not in Oakland, guess it will be the Las Vegas Raiders.”
The Raiders have an outstanding group of 10 rookies who have made key contributions this season, and so as Al Davis used to say, “The greatness of the Raiders is in the future.”
Unfortunately for the loyal fans in Oakland, that’s going to be in Las Vegas.
