There was a time when the Raiders counted on quarterback Kerry
Collins to win games for them on a weekly basis. On Sunday, they
needed Collins to win just one game for them, even though he was
1,500 miles or so away and playing for another team.
OAKLAND
There was a time when the Raiders counted on quarterback Kerry Collins to win games for them on a weekly basis. On Sunday, they needed Collins to win just one game for them, even though he was 1,500 miles or so away and playing for another team.
As he did so many times during his two seasons with the Raiders, Collins failed to deliver Sunday in the Tennessee Titans’ 34-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs — a result that eliminated the Raiders from playoff contention.
The Chiefs’ win rendered the Raiders-Indianapolis Colts game at the Oakland Coliseum meaningless for Oakland. Even so, the Raiders put forth an inspired effort in losing, 31-26, to a team with everything to play for.
“It’s just tough because all through training camp, we knew that we had a team that could win the (AFC) West, make the playoffs and compete,” Raiders free safety Michael Huff said. “I guess we’re not going to get the chance.”
No, they’re not. The Raiders fell to 7-8 with the loss. The Chiefs moved to 10-5 and clinched the division, thanks to the San Diego Chargers’ loss at Cincinnati.
The Raiders’ playoff hopes died early in the first quarter, as the Chiefs closed out a home win over the Titans. The Raiders needed a Chiefs loss to the Titans and a win at Kansas City next Sunday to win the AFC West.
In the end, the Raiders needed too much to go their way at a time when they placed themselves in such a precarious situation.
“How did we not make it?” Raiders defensive tackle Tommy Kelly asked. “6-0 in our division. Shoot, I would think we’re going to win by 10 games. But it hasn’t worked out that way. It’s a learning experience. We can’t let it happen again. We can’t go undefeated in our division and let games like €¦ Arizona slip away. We got to have those.”
Actually, the Raiders are 5-0 in the AFC West. A victory over the Chiefs would make it 6-0 and give the Raiders the ignominious distinction of being the first team since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to go undefeated in divisional play and not win their division.
The Raiders likely will spend an offseason of playing what if?
What if Sebastian Janikowski had converted the 32-yard field-goal attempt on the final play of a 24-23 loss to the Arizona Cardinals? What if they hadn’t stumbled against the 0-5 49ers in a 17-9 loss? What if they hadn’t squandered a 10-point lead against the Jacksonville Jaguars?
In fact, the Raiders have played the what-if game the past three months, ever since they failed to beat the Cardinals on a short field-goal attempt. All along, players talked about how that game, and others, had the potential to derail their otherwise encouraging season.
That realization came crashing down Sunday, and the Raiders were powerless to do anything about the blow to the collective solar plexus.
“There are three or four games that we know we should have won, and we had them,” Huff said. “We look back now and say, ‘If we would have had those games, this would have been kind of easy.’ We would have been in control of our own destiny. So, for that to happen, especially the way the season’s finishing, it’s just tough.”
The time to change things came earlier this season. Call it growing pains, if you will. The Raiders are left to reflect on a slew of positives from a season that resulted in their missing the playoffs for the eighth straight time but at least yielded numerous encouraging developments.
Darren McFadden established himself as one of the league’s top running backs after two so-so seasons. Rookies Jacoby Ford, Jared Veldheer, Lamarr Houston and Rolando McClain developed into productive players right away.
The Raiders won more than five games in a season for the first time since 2002 and experienced meaningful football games past Thanksgiving. They have won all their divisional games so far.
Sunday’s game provided the Raiders yet another chance to gauge how far they have come from the not-so-distant time of two-, four- and five-win seasons.
The Colts (9-6) showed the Raiders that there remains a gap between playoff-caliber teams and the Raiders, even if it is considerably less than it has been at any point since 2002.
“Yeah, teams have built off of (several) years,” Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said. “You want everything in one year. Obviously, we wanted it in one year. We wanted it right now but, I guess, this is kind of a reality check that you can build to something better in the future.”
Coach Tom Cable said he’s encouraged by the progress of his team this season. The signs are omnipresent.
“I’ve seen it because it’s kind of happening all around you on a weekly basis,” he said. “There’s a ton of improvement, but we’re disappointed because we really wanted a chance to see if we could be a playoff team this year.”
— Story by Steve Corkran, Conta Costa Times
