There is absolutely no practical way to explain what happened at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, much less with the Raiders this season, as they were essentially eliminated from the playoffs in losing to Dallas 20-17.
Ed Graney
Ed Graney is a sports columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, covering a variety of topics and the Las Vegas sports scene.
egraney@reviewjournal.com … @edgraney on Twitter. 702-383-4618
How the Raiders arrived at a 27-24 victory against similarly imperfect Miami before 65,139 at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday night would take at least several chapters of your average L. Ron Hubbard tome to digest.
Mojo was a popular word used by the Raiders as they prepared in Sarasota for Sunday night’s game against the Dolphins, remaining back east to perhaps discover that missing magic charm to rescue a drowning season.
The two-game road trip that began with a forgettable 34-14 loss to the Bills on Sunday before 69,599 at New Era Field was supposed to tell us if Raiders are good or bad, legitimate or fraudulent, pretender or contender.
This is the place folks like to say is a drinking town with a sports problem, where purposefully setting your friends on fire isn’t as much criminal act as communal endorsement of a longstanding love affair with all things Buffalo Bills.
It was an AFC West battle the Raiders had to absolutely win.
Thursday night isn’t as much an AFC showdown between the first-place Chiefs and a last-place Raiders team hoping to discover some sort of divisional relevance as it is unmitigated survival mode from the hosts.
The Raiders lost for a third straight time in falling to Baltimore 30-17 before 54,980 at the Coliseum, the beginning of three consecutive home games for a silver and black side that that is beyond pedestrian in almost every area right now.
The team that just a month ago was a popular Super Bowl pick at local sports books suddenly finds itself at 2-2 and welcoming three home games in the next 11 days.
Moving the ball right now is a Mile High problem for the Raiders, who fell at Denver 16-10 on Sunday.
Ed Graney hands out mostly A’s and B’s for the Raiders’ 26-16 victory at Tennessee.
Marshawn Lynch came out of retirement to play for his hometown team, and his debut in a 26-16 win against the Titans couldn’t have followed a more ideal script.
The league in March approved relocation of the team from Oakland to Southern Nevada, and a season opener against the Titans on Sunday will mark the first regular-season game for the Raiders since that 31-1 vote.
A strike or lockout in 2021 could seriously impact potential tourism dollars, never mind the wallets of those working at the new stadium.