The Las Vegas Raiders have been dealing with injuries all season long, and things won’t be much different in the season finale. If the Silver and Black want to avoid a losing season in back-to-back years, they’ll have to beat the Denver Broncos without key players on both sides of the ball.
The offensive line won’t be at full strength in Week 17
The Raiders announced Saturday guard Denzelle Good will be out in Week 17. The team listed him as questionable in their last injury report. Nevertheless, he will join right tackle Trent Brown on the inactive list Sunday. This is the first game that Good will miss this season. He started at right tackle in relief of Brown in Week 2 and later switched to left guard in Week 4. All in all, the former seventh-round pick has played on 95 percent of the team’s total snaps on offense.
Meanwhile, Brown has barely suited up in 2020 and has missed ten games this season, due to injuries, a botched pre-game IV injection, and COVID-19. While head coach Jon Gruden says he anticipates ’77’ to be fully healthy in 2021, the team should strongly consider parting ways with him. Even though he’s one of the best at what he does, injuries have been an issue throughout his career. This Las Vegas team is $7.6. million over the cap in 2021 and releasing Brown would free $14 million without a dead cap hit.
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This is Deja Vu for the Raiders all over again
Last season, the Raiders entered the season finale vying for a playoff spot. In the end, they lost to the Broncos 16-15. Just like this year, Brown was injured and the team lost on a failed two-point conversion attempt. After all the additions the Silver and Black made in the offseason and the move to Las Vegas, this was supposed to be the year they made it back to the playoffs. Alas, the Raiders find themselves once again trying to avoid finishing the season with a losing record.
On the bright side, this is going to be an interesting offseason. It will be interesting to see what changes the organization will make. Will they remove the interim tag from defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli’s job? Will they make a move at the quarterback position? How do they plan to fix their financial books and the defense?
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Top Image: Associated Press/Jack Dempsey