The future becomes a primary source of interest, specifically how close the team that fell to Denver 16-15 will be to the NFL’s better teams upon arriving in Las Vegas.
Football
Whether the season ends for Oakland in Denver on Sunday depends on several factors beyond the Raiders’ control, but none of it matters if they don’t walk off the field a winner.
The Raiders controlled reeling Los Angeles for most of 60 minutes Sunday, posting a 24-17 win before a heavy dose of Oakland faithful at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Young. No head coaching experience. And now in charge of trying to do something at UNLV that nobody has done consistently in 30 years. Welcome to the Marcus Arroyo Era.
The Raiders fell this time to the Titans before an unhappy crowd of 52,760 at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, where boos rained down on the team that will move to Las Vegas in 2020.
They are dying off, former players and coaches and even children of them, the Raiders having lost several souls of late. One by one, time passes and more funerals are held.
Tony Sanchez did everything but win at UNLV, setting the program on a path for success more than anyone else who held his position. He defeated UNR on Saturday in his final game.
Landing a coach with supreme name recognition is exactly the path UNLV should travel in football, one that could ultimately affect all other sports in a positive manner.
Tony Sanchez, fired with one game remaining in his fifth season as Rebels football coach, leaves the program in much better shape than anyone who has held the job.
How an NFL team with so much on the line as a season progresses can offer such a dreadful performance is one of sport’s great mysteries, but the Raiders ineptly obliged in a 34-3 loss at New York on Sunday.
New York has won two straight and welcomes the Raiders to MetLife Stadium on Sunday, a Jets team that after eight weeks looked like one of the worst in the NFL.
The public address announcer is as synonymous with UNLV as anything scarlet and gray, a significant part of the historic fabric that defines Rebels athletics.
The growing pains that are Kenyon Oblad as UNLV’s starting quarterback continued Saturday, as two second-half interceptions played a major role in a 21-7 loss to Hawaii.
The maturation of Derek Carr is a major reason why the Raiders beat the Chargers 26-24 on Thursday night at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
On the day Josh Jacobs passed Marcus Allen for the franchise’s rookie rushing mark, Richard gained 66 of 75 yards on a late scoring drive in a 31-24 win over the Lions.