The only surprising thing about Mike Mayock being hired as the team’s GM is that anyone is surprised.
Football
Minnesota, which simply needed to beat Chicago at home to make the playoffs, closed as a 5½-point favorite but played dead in a 24-10 loss.
Raiders star played better than a 4-12 record, becoming just the third quarterback in franchise history to throw for 4,000 yards in a season.
A look back at the people, places and things that made for a memorable sports year in Las Vegas.
Raiders coach Jon Gruden told his team after Monday’s victory over Denver: “Fellas, we’ve got one game left. It’s against the team we hate the most — the Kansas City Chiefs. They hate us, too, so it should be a heckuva game.”
The Raiders and Broncos engaged in a Monday Night Football contest between AFC West sides with no playoff plans, but there was a far more significant narrative inside the rickety structure known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
The Eagles, Browns and Patriots covered their opening lines but didn’t cover the closing lines Sunday.
An MGM Resorts bettor in Las Vegas lost a $500,000 money-line wager on Seattle while an MGM bettor in New Jersey hit an $8,000 six-team parlay for $330,000.
The all-Gruden train isn’t stopping for anyone but slowed enough Monday to kick off the one passenger you knew was destined for a tumble, with GM Reggie McKenzie being fired from a position he held since 2012 and essentially lost in January.
More than $1 million swung from gamblers to Las Vegas sports books Sunday when the Dolphins scored a 69-yard touchdown to pull off a shocking 34-33 upset win over the Patriots.
Raiders owner Mark Davis says when and if time comes to make an announcement on his general manager’s future, he will.
A Caesars bettor lost a mid five-figure money-line wager on the Packers, who closed as 10-1 ML favorites over the Cardinals at Lambeau Field.
Kansas City departed Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum a 40-33 winner Sunday, but not before the AFC West leading Chiefs got far more than they likely expected from the Raiders, a 14-point underdog who now sit at 2-10 on the season.