NFL Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders Continue Hurtling Towards 0-16 Season

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By @Kevin_Saito

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Toward the end of the first half of the game, the Oakland Raiders looked like a team building some steam. They’d just cut the Cleveland Browns‘ lead to 9-6, and headed to the locker room with an offense that, after a sluggish start to the game, finally seemed to be clicking – at least enough to get them into field-goal range twice in the last couple of minutes. But as has been the case in this Greek tragedy of a season, the Raiders found a way to lose yet another game, sending them to an embarrassing 0-7 mark.

As has been the case many times this season, the Raiders had opportunities to seize control of the game, but failed to capitalize on any of them. A lousy second-half effort filled with mistakes and turnovers cost Oakland dearly.

After a couple of three-and-outs to start the second half, Derek Carr finally managed to put together a drive deep into Cleveland territory. With just under seven minutes remaining in the third quarter, Carr began a drive that ate up more than six minutes and reached the Browns’ 29-yard line. The offense looked strong, confident and poised to take the lead away from the Browns.

And in typical Raiders fashion, that’s where the wheels fell off the wagon.

After slashing his way for a nine-yard pickup, Darren McFadden – not known to be a fumbler – coughed the ball up and into the waiting arms of Joe Haden, who took it back the other way for 34 yards. Four plays later, a short pass from Brian Hoyer to Andrew Hawkins capped off the drive, giving the Browns a 16-6 lead.

That touchdown seemed to suck all of the life and energy out of the Raiders, and the team didn’t do much of anything else the rest of the day. A last-second touchdown toss from Carr to Andre Holmes made the final score look a far more respectable 23-16 than it actually was.

Oakland did some terrific things against the Browns, which makes this latest loss even more maddening. Allowing opposing offenses to convert third-down opportunities has been a constant problem for the Raiders this season – they held the Browns to a 2-12 conversion rate for the day. Opposing running backs routinely feasted on the Raiders’ defense – Cleveland, with one of the better ground attacks in the league, was held to just 39 yards on 25 carries for the day. For one of the only times this season, the Raiders dominated in the time of possession category, collected more first downs and had more yards of total offense.

Despite the offensive success they did have, the Raiders also had two turnovers and several missed opportunities that cost them dearly. But it was a sloppy and seemingly uninspired second-half effort by the Raiders that allowed Cleveland to wrestle away the momentum and control of the game. Aside from one drive that resulted in McFadden’s fumble, the Raiders came out of the locker room looking flat and unfocused. They weren’t able to sustain momentum or drives. And until that meaningless score in the closing seconds, the Raiders couldn’t have found the end zone with a GPS device.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, there are no real moral victories they can hang their hats on as they slink out of Cleveland. They shot themselves in the foot time and time again and paid the price on the scoreboard. But that seems to have become the new Raider Way over this last decade of futility.

And even more unfortunate for Oakland is that they are now finished with the “soft” part of their schedule. The road ahead gets more difficult with dates against the Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers, among others.

Many wouldn’t have believed it when the season started, but 0-16 is looking like a distinct possibility for this Raiders squad.

Kevin Saito is a fiction writer, sports junkie, history nerd, and NFL contributor to www.RantSports.com  Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, or on Google

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