Raiders Fumble Away AFC West Crown

Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' final matchup of the 2017 vs. the Broncos in Denver where the Raiders had a chance to capture the AFC West, but they couldn't as they lose big time 6-24 and dropping from the #2 seed to the #5 seed en route to a Wild Card matchup with the Houston Texans.

Title of this post is pretty self explanatory. It is disappointing because this game was what the team's been playing all season and even last year when Jack Del Rio took over the helm. They wanted to win the AFC West. That's the main goal. But, they fell short. This is a bipolar reaction. They lost the division, but at least they ended the playoff drought. That, alone, is what we should be happy about. But, yeah the end result hurts. 

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Connor Cook, 14 of 21 passes, 150 passing yards, 1 TD. The INT and the fumble are a pair of blemishes on Cook's first regular season game, but that will change once he becomes more assimilated with the team. Like I said, if you guys recall my post about the 2016 draft, the Raiders drafting Cook confused me. I knew that McGloin's contract was up after this season and Carr was the unquestioned starter, but I thought we didn't need another quarterback. I'm happy to feast on some crow after this. Inactive all season and he looked fantastic. Most of his throws were on the money. It was up to the receivers to make the plays. I know Coop made a play to secure Cook's first TD, possibly the only highlight of the game. A lot of improvement needed, but Cook was the silver lining here and from this day forth, I'm done with Matt McGloin. He's no longer Matty McG in my book. It's time to "Cook" on Saturday.

Marquette King. King downed the Broncos inside the 20 yard line six times this game. He had a lot of air time here. He did his job, pinning the Broncos deep. But, the defense couldn't stop them.

Brynden Trawick, 9 tackles, 1 INT. Nate Allen went out with a concussion. Keith McGill was taken out after a few series. Trawick is a special teams player at best, but he filled in admirably at the safety position playing next to Reggie Nelson. Trawick's INT on Siemian almost changed the momentum, but not much. Still a good play.

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Defense. I keep seeing flashbacks of 2011 when the Raiders previously had a chance to win the AFC West, but the defense under Chuck Bresnahan failed big time. Welcome to the sequel here. Giving Siemian and the Broncos offense the first score of the game said something. This was a lackluster effort. It seemed that they didn't care and played with no sense of urgency on what is on the line here. 

Penalties. 13 penalties for 125 yards. But, I'll give a little leeway here. These refs were absolutely atrocious today. A push by Mack late in the 2nd quarter is a personal foul. Really? Blatant holds on Mack, no flags. Really? Some holding and illegal blocking on the Broncos' special teams, they call a 15 yard penalty on the Raiders' special teams after the punt. Really? They got McGloin's roughing the passer call correct. But everything else, questionable. 

Running game and O-line. Didn't impose the same physicality like on the Sunday Night game in November. Credit to the Broncos. They know Carr is out and McGloin and Cook are unproven, so they just kept stacking the box. DeAndre Washington broke out a couple of good runs, but Jalen Richard and Tay Train were held in check. The O-line needed to take over this game, but they were pushed around. The formula that worked last game didn't work. It's that simple.

Coaching staff. Jack Del Rio didn't prepare this team well. Awful game planning from Bill Musgrave and Ken Norton, Jr. Soft, conservative, you name it. I give them credit when the coordinators do a good job, but I really don't think they're the long-term answer here. Awful defensive playcalling by Norton as it has been all season. Musgrave, understandable he wanted to ease Cook and McGloin in the situation, but still garbage. O-line's main strength is the left side, Musgrave proceeds to run it to the right. He also wasted two downs by calling up pass plays. He better open up the playbook next season.

MVP

Connor Cook 14 of 21 passes, 150 passing yards, 1 passing TD

Nobody deserved MVP after this game, but the way Connor Cook looked here, he deserves it. The offense moved well at times and it's up to him to get up to speed as the Raiders prepare for the playoffs. 

Conclusion

If history tells us, it is possible for the Raiders to go all the way to the Super Bowl as a Wild Card team. Think the 1980 Raiders with Jim Plunkett and Tom Flores. The Packers recently did it in 2010. Yes, this is kind of pushing the envelope since they're going into playoffs with a rookie QB, but stranger things have happened in football. You just never know. The Raiders may have lost their division aspirations, but the Super Bowl aspirations are very much alive. There's no denying it's a tough road since the Raiders have a possibility at playing in 4 road games (counting the Super Bowl) and they just have to grind it out and overcome all odds like they have been all season long. What we saw out of Connor Cook today, hopefully nobody waved the white flag yet. They just have to put in the reps and get ready to go onto Houston on Saturday.

Well, I haven't thought about what I would do differently during the postseason. But, I think I would start off previewing the matchup before the actual game. So you guys might see a Raiders-Texans Preview post before the game and most of it is going to analyze the opponent and I'll give out keys to a win. I have a bonus considering the Raiders played the Texans this season in Mexico City, so expect a post probably Wednesday or Thursday. I won't do an annual Season in Review post until it is completely over. So hang tight. I'll see you guys on Saturday.