The wild-card Oakland Raiders (12-5) ended the season with a 27-14 loss at the Houston Texans in the first round of the playoffs. Here is a look at their season and what’s next:
Grade: A-minus
Season summary: On one hand, improving from 3-13 to 7-9 to 12-4 in the regular season should be cause for celebration. On the other, what had the makings of a magical season took a depressing detour in the fourth quarter of Week 15. That’s when quarterback and league MVP candidate Derek Carr went down with a broken fibula in his right leg. Then backup Matt McGloin flopped, got hurt and the defense failed to show up in Denver, costing the Raiders an AFC West title, a first-round bye and a home playoff game. Instead, with rookie Connor Cook making history as the first QB in the Super Bowl era to make his first NFL start in the playoffs, the Raiders fell to a wild-card berth and lost on the road to the Texans. So much promise and then … poof. And yet, the Raiders were a league-wide feel-good story that became a cautionary tale with a league-high seven Pro Bowl selections. The tone was set in the season opener, when second-year coach Jack Del Rio laid it all on the line by going for it on a do-or-die two-point conversion for a road victory over the New Orleans Saints. The Raiders converted. And there was no looking back, with Carr passing for a franchise-record 513 yards with four TDs and no interceptions in a road overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, All-Pro Khalil Mack going on an eight-game sack streak, and the Raiders securing their first winning season since 2002. Then Carr was taken down by the Colts' Trent Cole and the thrill was gone, even as the future looks bright.
Biggest draft need: A thumping but athletic middle/inside linebacker. After Ben Heeney struggled early and then went on injured reserve and rookie Cory James was miscast, Perry Riley Jr. was signed off the street and settled things down. Still, the Raiders need someone who can solidify the middle of their defense for the long haul. Can they find one in the 20s in the first round of the draft?
Key offseason questions
How quickly will Carr’s fibula heal? With the Raiders rolling with rookie Connor Cook in the playoffs, veteran Matt McGloin has likely played his final game with Oakland. McGloin was the Raiders’ highest-paid QB this season, making more than $2.5 million in base salary, and the Raiders have shown that if they trust Cook in the postseason, they trust him to be Carr’s backup. Then again, if Carr’s leg is not fully healed by the start of the offseason program, Cook will again get first-team reps. There were reports Carr’s injury was not that severe, that he could have potentially been ready for the Super Bowl had Cook and McGloin somehow piloted the Raiders to the title game. Pie-in-the-sky dreams, critics charged. But this much is true: If Carr is fully healed and does not miss any time this offseason, he will be a front-runner for NFL MVP consideration next season and the Raiders should be a Super Bowl favorite. The Raiders also want to lock Carr up with a long-term contract this offseason that includes, as reports had it this season, “Andrew Luck money” for one of the game’s rising stars.
Will the Raiders bring back Latavius Murray? The Tay Train went off the tracks at times and steamrolled through the competition at others. He missed two games with turf toe and finished with 788 rushing yards in his contract year, a season after going to the Pro Bowl with a 1,066-yard rushing season. But he did average the same 4.0 yards per carry and had 12 rushing touchdowns. At 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, Murray is one of the bigger tailbacks in the league and the Raiders’ change-of-pace backs -- rookie mighty mites DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard -- could not carry the running game by themselves when Murray was out those two games. Still, Murray gained more than 100 yards in a game only twice this season and seven times gained less than 50 yards, including in the regular-season finale with a division title on the line, when he rushed for 11 yards on five carries. If anything, the Raiders might be able to re-sign him at a lower price than what was expected heading into the season.
What about Las Vegas? Raiders owner Mark Davis has designs on applying for relocation to Southern Nevada this offseason, either later this month or in March. So what happens if and when Davis gets 23 other owners to agree to his “offer they can’t refuse”? Well, Davis has said he is going to stay in Oakland for at least two years -- the Raiders have a pair of one-year options to play at the Coliseum -- while a new stadium is being built in Las Vegas. Plus, Davis also wants to win a Super Bowl for the Bay Area before departing. None of this is a done deal, mind you, but as noted above, these are the plans. The Raiders must also figure out where training camp will be -- Napa or Reno? -- while potentially scheduling a preseason game in Las Vegas. The players and team employees will also be grappling with a potential move. The organization has experience here, though, as the Raiders practiced in the Bay Area during the week but flew to Los Angeles for “home” games in the 1980s.