What was likely the final afternoon of football for Oakland at RingCentral Coliseum ended in heartbreak for the sold-out crowd of 52,788, as the Raiders suffered a devastating defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who pulled off a last-minute 20-16 victory on Sunday afternoon.
The Raiders, who are moving to Las Vegas in 2020, were shut out in the second half and gave up two touchdowns in the final five-plus minutes to drop their fourth straight game and fall to 6-8.
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, who arrived in Oakland as a second-round draft pick in 2014, sprinted toward the tunnel to the locker room amid a thunderous chorus of boos.
“Oh gosh,” said Carr about his sendoff from the field. “What’s new with our crowd? Whenever we don’t win, that’s going to happen. Trust me, it’s not under my skin. It’s nothing.”
“Literally, the only thing you can do is watch the film, correct it, work out tomorrow and get ready for the next game,” he added. “It’s a sucky thing sometimes. … So, you can sulk and be sad and sit there and complain and point fingers and things like that. But you can point all the fingers at me. That’s OK.”
Head coach Jon Gruden used his post-game press conference as a time to say thank you and focused on the entirety of the team’s time in Oakland.
“It’s not really the result today, it’s the result of the Raiders over the years,” said Gruden. “It’s the Oakland Raiders. It’s the appreciation, the loyalty, that these fans, I think, have had for the Raiders, and we’re going to miss them.
“The relationship is hopefully never going to end, but it was sad walking in here today. It’s going to be sad walking out of here the last time. It’s a lot to wrap your arms around, but we love our fans, we love the city of Oakland, we thank them, and we’ll certainly miss them.
“I’d like to say I wish we could have sent the Raiders fans off with a lot better finish than that. … I love them, and I’m sorry about the outcome today, but I think that is something that needs to be said, and I really apologize that we weren’t able to deliver a victory.”
The Raiders had just one winning season over their final 17 years in Oakland, going 12-4 in 2016.
Oakland, which was officially eliminated from the AFC playoff race, still have two games to finish out the season — at the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 22 and at the Denver Broncos on Dec. 29.
