Graney: Not even 2-12 defines how bad the Raiders are
It has gotten to this point: This stuff is just hard to watch.
The Raiders are so bad that 10 straight losses don’t do things justice. The 2-12 record doesn’t completely define how inept things are.
The latest setback was a 15-9 loss to the Falcons on “Monday Night Football” at Allegiant Stadium, which for most of the evening had the energy of watching paint dry.
The last time this happened, a loss on Monday night, was to Detroit on Oct. 30 of last season. The next day, coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler were shown the door. Fired on Halloween.
Antonio Pierce will get to finish his first season as full-time coach, but this showing against the Falcons are games that actually get coaches fired.
It was that bad. Just some embarrassing miscues.
No better now
Things aren’t any better than when McDaniels was fired, and yet that’s not to suggest it was the wrong move at the time. It’s just fact. This team is as bad or worse than anything McDaniels trotted onto the field. It might have more injuries, but execution is lacking at countless spots.
“Bad day at the office,” Pierce said about the latest debacle. “All three phases — obviously we struggled. But it’s not about individuals. It’s about the team. It’s about everybody. They keep fighting.
“It’s a blue-collar group. Things haven’t gone our way. That’s become transparent. It’s not about them fighting for me. It’s about us fighting for one another. We understand where we’re at. We get what’s going on.”
You know, the Raiders once owned “Monday Night Football.” They’re 43-33-1 all time and were 29-6-1 from 1970 to 1990. They once won 14 straight Monday games. And now they have lost four of five. None worse than this showing.
Just for the incompetence of it all.
There was one costly penalty after another. There was a safety when the Raiders on two consecutive plays ran up the middle. There were mistakes that cost the team six points, the exact margin by which Atlanta won. Special teams was a total disaster.
A silver lining?
The loss keeps alive hopes (of fans and likely some within the organization) that the Raiders can secure the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.
That there will be an opportunity to identify and select a franchise quarterback, or at least someone who gives the impression the position will be in much better shape than it is now.
Desmond Ridder became the third quarterback to start a game for the Raiders this season, and things went as you might expect. Not well but for a few fourth-quarter drives.
“These guys find a way to keep going,” Pierce said. “We’re just not winning. We’re battling. Next man up. These guys aren’t budging. I’m not budging. We’ll keep chopping wood and maybe a break will go our way.”
Listen. You make your own breaks. Breaks don’t come when you can’t get a punt away or have an extra point blocked on a play in which you have 10 men on the field. They don’t come when false starts are followed by holding calls. They don’t come when you appear to have gotten the opposition off the field with 2:44 left and see a yellow flag thrown for roughing the passer.
Hard to watch
“I mean, it’s tough being in the position we’re in,” Ridder said. “We’re searching for a win, searching for positive energy. We fight every single week. We just keep saying, ‘We fight.’ We need to push it over the edge and get a win. At the end of the day, we just have to be better.”
They have lost 10 straight and are 2-12.
You would think being better would be an easy task.
Then you see a game such as Monday. And it becomes hard to watch.
And you wonder, really, how much better things can be. That’s where this team is now.
Not even the record does things justice.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.