Oakland is 0-8 and is the laughing stock between the two Bay Area NFL teams. But will they actually go the distance and go winless in 2014?
After spending more money than they have in the recent past, bringing in what seemed like one free agent after another, the Oakland Raiders are winless at 0-8. If it counts for anything though, the Raiders lead the league in moral victories. Heck, they’re virtually undefeated morally.
It’s actually too bad that moral victories don’t count toward the actual record, because if they did, the Raiders would be playing for first seed in the playoffs rather than the first overall pick in the 2015 draft.
So with seven of the next eight games against teams with records either at .500 or better, will the Raiders somehow go the distance and finish the season 0-16? Sunday’s matchup against the Broncos could start the countdown to 0-16.
Not that any of this should be surprising. The Raiders had the odds stacked against them since the schedules came out in the spring and Oakland was given the toughest schedule in the league as their opponents combined for a .578 winning percentage in 2013.
While 0-16 is beginning to loom over Oakland, it’s worth mentioning that the Raiders could possibly be the best-worst team in the league. They were within one score of beating Seattle last week and against New England in Week 3, fell just three points shy of defeating San Diego in Week 6. They’ve only been blown out twice this year, losing by 16 to Houston in Week 2 and by 24 against the Dolphins in London in Week 4.
The issue with Oakland is that while they’ve improved, and found themselves a franchise quarterback to move forward with, everyone else has digressed.
Rookie quarterback Derek Carr has been the best player on this Raider team and has given Raider Nation a glimmer of hope for 2015 and beyond. He’s thrown for 1,711 yards with 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions, completing 60.7 percent of his passes. This Raider team is not 0-8 because of him, not one bit.
While the players around Carr haven’t performed up to par, some can begin to point fingers at general manager Reggie McKenzie.
Before McKenzie’s hiring in 2012, the Raiders ended the 2011 season 8-8 for the second straight year, losing the last three games to miss the playoffs under then head coach Hue Jackson. Since McKenzie’s hiring, the Raiders are 8-32 to date, highlighted by a pair of 4-12 seasons and have looked worse and worse by the year.
With a Denver team, led by Peyton Manning, that lost by 22 to New England coming up, the Raiders may be in for the second big blowout of the season, a loss that would push them down to 0-9 and start the countdown to 0-16.
Although they’ve looked more competitive since Tony Sparano took over as the interim head coach, the Raiders have the second-worst scoring offense (16.1 ppg) and have, overall, the worst offense in the NFL. Darren McFadden leads the Raiders in rushing with 358 yards and two rushing touchdowns while new Raiders running back Maurice Jones-Drew has just 26 carries on the season so far.
Defensively, the Raiders will have to play the game of their life. While Oakland has allowed a sixth-best 12 passing touchdowns this season, they’re still taking on Peyton Manning, who will find a way to pick apart one of the (surprisingly) better secondaries in the league. Peyton threw just eight incompletions in two games against Oakland last year and three Oakland cornerbacks missed practice on Wednesday, including starters Carlos Rogers and TJ Carrie. Should neither be able to go, the Raiders are ready to start 2013 first-round pick DJ Hayden.
It’s been 12 long years since the Raiders made the playoffs, went to the Super Bowl or even had a winning season. While we’re all ready to add another year to that total, all eyes now are on Oakland to see if they can be the latest team to go winless since the 2008 Detroit Lions.
When the season is all said and done, there will be a debate about which team was worse: the ’08 Lions or the ’14 Raiders.
My money is actually still on the ’08 Lions, although it could be close.
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