‘Finish’: Raiders hope to end season by focusing on little things

On one hand, the Raiders are embracing their first two-game winning streak of the season, specifically, the key elements that led to it.

Running the ball successfully, and winning the turnover, third-down and red-zone battles.

On the other hand, they can’t help but wonder why it took so long. They would have saved themselves a bunch of grief and frustration by simply doing the most fundamental things more often.

By not checking off all the necessary boxes most weeks, the Raiders (4-12) stumbled through a lost season that included a crushing 10-game losing streak.

“It was not ideal,” quarterback Aidan O’Connell said.

That’s why they are so determined to make the most of the final week of the regular season. Doing so means sprinting through the finish line rather than jogging through it.

They end the season Sunday against the playoff-bound Los Angeles Chargers. They are treating it like their own postseason game.

“Finish,” is how Raiders coach Antonio Pierce put it. “We all signed up for 17 games, an 18-week schedule. We’ve had, really, a good month, in my opinion, regardless of record, just seeing the improvement, things that we talked about. And now just a great opportunity against a divisional foe that we know very well, that we saw in Week 1, to finish.”

Or, as O’Connell said: “Taking each day seriously, but also enjoying it. And no matter what happens, this will be the last time that this group plays together. And so, trying to enjoy it but also trying to make sure we go out with a win.”

The little things

O’Connell appreciates the late-season win streak and whatever lessons the Raiders might derive from it. But there remains some vexation that they could not put together a winning formula sooner.

“I think it’s frustrating,” O’Connell said. “But at the same time, you try to enjoy the wins while you have them. And you realize, as I continue to say, how hard it is to win.”

As one of the youngest teams in the NFL, they can at least learn and grow from the experience.

That includes the positives they produced over the past two weeks. No doubt, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints comes with an asterisk. Both were playing without their starting quarterbacks.

But maybe that is the biggest lesson of all. This has always been about the Raiders rather than the opponent.

The Raiders greatly enhanced their chances of winning against two wounded teams not by overwhelming them with talent, but by taking care of the little things. For most of the season, they did the opposite and sabotaged themselves by being careless with the football or committing costly penalties.

Lesson in turnovers

For the first time this year, they completed back-to-back games without turning the ball over, while also forcing four turnovers.

The Raiders have stressed the importance of taking care of the ball all year. They just never heeded it. If they needed any proof of the significance of ball security, the past two weeks provided a lesson they can carry with them through the offseason.

“It’s tangible evidence showing how important it is,” O’Connell said. “It’s not unique to our team. It’s really every team, and I think there probably isn’t a coach out there at any level that’s not preaching about the turnover margin and protecting the football.”

It does not wipe away the mistakes that plagued the Raiders for most of the year. But it might be something to build on moving forward.

“You want to see your team … the arrow pointing up and getting there, regardless of injuries and who’s playing,” Pierce said. “And I think, really for us, so many young guys playing, just to keep seeing the growth. Just watching the constant growth and just everything we talked about, a complete game from all three phases last week, and want to continue that on back-to-back weeks.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com . Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.