We don’t deserve this.
We, Raider Nation, don’t deserve this abysmal 2017 NFL season. We didn’t deserve the coaching carousel. We didn’t deserve the pain of being the laughing stock of the league. We certainly didn’t deserve Derek Carr’s injury last year. The people of Oakland, especially, deserve better.
The fact remains that Raider Nation is getting used to the pain of heartbreak. The Raiders haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1984. That’s 33 years. The Raiders haven’t won a playoff game since the 2002 AFC Championship Game. That’s 15 years. In the years since the 2002 AFC Championship Game, there hasn’t been much to cheer about.
A Brief Look Back
The 2011 season was a particularly miserable year. First, the Raiders lost NFL legend and owner Al Davis a day before their Week 5 game against the Houston Texans. The Raiders famously won the game with only ten players on the field.
In Week 6, Jason Campbell went down with a broken collarbone which effectively ended his season. The Raiders were firmly in the playoff hunt after Week 6 with a 4-2 record. Head coach Hue Jackson, desperate to propel the team into the playoffs, mortgaged the team’s future for Carson Palmer. Then, the team entered Week 17 with a chance to make the playoffs. The Raiders needed to beat the Chargers and for the Chiefs to defeat the Tim Tebow-led Broncos. The Chiefs covered and beat the Broncos. The Raiders, however, fell to the Bolts, effectively ending their season.
Fast forward to the 2016 Season, the Raiders were 11-3 and pounding the Colts in Week 16. The Raiders were destined to win the division and challenge the Patriots for AFC supremacy. Then, Donald Penn slipped and Carr was taken down by the Colts’ Trent Cole. Carr didn’t get up and didn’t play another snap the rest of the year. The McGloin-Cook Raiders were erased in Week 17 and in the Wild Card Round of the Playoffs.
Finally, the cherry on top. The Raiders were leaving Oakland for Las Vegas. The team would spend 2017, 2018, and possibly the 2019 seasons in Oakland and then would be jumping ship for a new stadium in Sin City. Raider Nation was still as loyal as ever, proving the unquestionable loyalty of the fans. After years of heartbreak and with the team leaving Oakland, Raider fans still went out and bought tickets for the surely triumphant 2017 season.
Raiders: A Few Finals Words
We have been thoroughly let down. At the start of the season, more people picked the Raiders to win the Superbowl than any other team. Now, the Raiders are dead in the water at 6-7. Just last Sunday, the Raiders had a chance to keep the hope alive. A win against the Chiefs would’ve catapulted the Raiders into prime playoff position. No one showed up for the Silver and Black. It was a most embarrassing loss.
That brings us to present day. Mathematically, this team can still make the playoffs. Realistically, it seems more likely that I’ll meet Santa Claus tomorrow. Raider Nation, however, will not pack it in. The “Black Hole” will be swarming Sunday when the Raiders face “America’s Team“, the Cowboys. We will faithfully cheer on and believe. Because that is just what we do, no matter what.