Gruden getting last laugh on Cooper trade

After a rough previous month in which the Raiders missed their best chance — it’s amazing they still have a faint hope — at making the playoffs with four straight losses, things brightened a bit for the Silver and Black on Sunday with a 24-17 win over the Chargers.

Raiders fans basically made Dignity Health Sports Park its own little Black Hole — Philip Rivers had to take a timeout at one point because he couldn’t hear the play call. Hunter Renfrow’s return from injury ignited the offense, helping Derek Carr to an impressive passing day (86.7 completion percentage, 291 yards, 118.2 rating), and the defense shut down the Chargers’ running game (1.2 average) and didn’t allow a passing touchdown for only the second time all season (ok, the other was against the Bengals).

But one other thing happened on Sunday that will make Jon Gruden and the Raiders faithful feel even warmer.

1. Why else should Gruden be smiling, besides the victory over the Chargers?

Gruden took a lot of heat when he traded receiver Amari Cooper to the Cowboys for a first-round pick in the middle of the 2018 season, especially when Cooper posted 53 catches for 725 yards and six touchdowns to help Dallas to a division title and a playoff win.

Evidently Gruden didn’t think Cooper would be worth the franchise tag ($14 million this season) in 2019 and a contract extension in the upcoming offseason.

With this season ready to conclude and the Cowboys likely out of the postseason with a loss against the Eagles, Gruden looks like a genius.

With the season on the line, Cooper had just four catches and 24 yards on 12 targets and had a key drop. Even worse, Cooper (and Randall Cobb) were not on the field for Dallas’ last fourth-down attempt. Coach Jason Garrett said Cooper was not hurt, and Cooper said the coaches subbed him before the fourth-down play.

Sorry, something stinks here and it’s likely Cooper.

First of all, the two-minute warning happened two plays before Cooper was subbed out on fourth down, so fatigue should not have been an issue. Second, if you’re a competitor at all, you simply don’t come off the field with the season in the balance.

If Cooper was really pulled, it was likely for lack of effort because he didn’t fight for the ball on third down. In the loss to the Patriots, Cooper’s effort on some routes was highly questionable.

Good luck to the team that pays Cooper as a franchise receiver, when the evidence suggests he’s a frontrunner who lacks mental toughness.

Score one for Gruden.

2. Why can you put those Mike Tomlin coach of the year ballots away?

Look, we all know the Steelers were beat up to the point Tomlin had to switch between Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges at quarterback to find a way to win this season. But the fact is, the Steelers lost two games, at home to the Bills and at the Jets on Sunday, when all that was needed was one win to qualify for the postseason.

It would be different if this was just a one-off. It wasn’t. It’s a pattern of underachievement under Tomlin.

Last year, the Steelers lost four of five games with the season on the line and failed to qualify for the playoffs. In 2017, the Steelers went 13-3 in the regular season and then were upset by the Jaguars in the divisional round 45-42 while making Blake Bortles look like a Hall of Famer.

I don’t care what the injury situation is or if Duck Dynasty is the quarterback, a good coach finds a way to push his team to victory against the Jets. Tomlin keeps falling short.

3. Which team should be most excited by the Steelers’ loss (other than the Titans)?

Even with a hard-fought loss to the Saints, the Titans are in the postseason as the AFC’s sixth seed with a win at Houston, which has nothing to play for. That means the Titans will likely travel to the Chiefs in the wild-card round.

Advantage, Patriots.

The Titans are the team no one wants to face right now. With Ryan Tannehill at quarterback, they won six of seven before losing to the Texans by three and the Saints by 10 (it was way closer than that and Tennessee got jobbed by Jerome Boger’s crew not calling a head shot on a late fumble). Plus, they didn’t have RB Derrick Henry, WR Adam Humphries and CB Adoree Jackson in most of the past two games (inactive on Sunday).

Plus, the Titans just beat the Chiefs 35-32 in Week 10, and that was with Patrick Mahomes throwing for almost 450 yards. This is the worst matchup for the Chiefs.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

The Chiefs would have handled the Steelers, and then traveled to face New England in the divisional round, where the Chiefs already won a Week 14 battle and didn’t even play particularly well.

But now the chances increase the Chiefs could get upset. If the Titans win, they would travel to Baltimore for the divisional round. The Patriots would get the Bills/Texans winner, which is much preferable.

Plus, the Titans stand a better chance of upsetting the Ravens than the Bills/Texans winner.

So now New England fans get to root like crazy for Tennessee coach and former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel: A Titans upset of the Chiefs gives New England a much easier playoff opener, and increases the chance of it hosting the AFC Championship.

4. Which team might have seen its season ruined by injuries on Sunday?

The Seahawks. They had brutal carnage.

Coach Pete Carroll said after the game that starting running back and 1,000-yard rusher Chris Carson (hip) is out for Week 17 and doctors believe he may be out for the season. Backup running back C.J. Prosise broke his arm and is out for the season. And left tackle Duane Brown will have surgery on Monday and has a chance to return in the playoffs, but will likely miss time.

The Seahawks, who previously lost Rashaad Penny (ACL) for the season, now turn their eyes to the only running back left on the roster: sixth-round pick Travis Homer (eight carries, 52 yards on the season).

The Seahawks host the 49ers on Sunday and need a win to lock up a bye or they’ll drop to the fifth seed.

5. What makes Saints receiver Michael Thomas so good?

The Saints receiver broke Marvin Harrison’s single-season record of 143 receptions on Sunday and now stands at 145 receptions, 1,688 yards and nine touchdowns on the season.

His record-breaking catch was a perfect illustration of why Thomas is so good. He’s not the biggest (6-foot-3, 212 pounds) or the fastest (4.57 seconds in the 40-yard dash). But he has a great competitive streak, and he’s perhaps the best route runner in the game.

On the play, Thomas set up Logan Ryan – a good, veteran corner — with a stutter, started to run a slant, then stopped and quickly went to an out to gain 4 yards of separation as Ryan tried to regain his footing. The play went for 13 yards down to the 1-yard line.

Nothing flashy, normally wouldn’t make the highlights, but unbelievably effective. Just like Thomas.

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Greg A. Bedard covers the NFL for the Review-Journal. He can be reached at gbedard@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GregABedard on Twitter.