NFL Spin Zone
Fansided

Each NFL team’s out of nowhere season

By Randy Gurzi

15 Nov 1998: Running back Jamal Anderson #32 and wide receiver Terance Mathis #81 of the Atlanta Falcons celebrate during the game against the San Francisco 49ers at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. The Falcons defeated the 49ers 31-19.
15 Nov 1998: Running back Jamal Anderson #32 and wide receiver Terance Mathis #81 of the Atlanta Falcons celebrate during the game against the San Francisco 49ers at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. The Falcons defeated the 49ers 31-19. /
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Khalil Mack, Oakland Raiders
Khalil Mack, Oakland Raiders. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Oakland Raiders: 2016 season

In 2002, the Oakland Raiders won 11 games with Rich Gannon under center and Jerry Rice and Tim Brown playing wide receiver. It was their first season without Jon Gruden, who was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As fate would have it, new head coach Bill Callahan faced off with Gruden in the Super Bowl and the Buccaneers came away with a lopsided victory in San Diego.

After that, the Raiders were a shell of themselves. Callahan lasted one more season, as the Raiders fell to 4-12. They went through a myriad of coaching changes and continued their losing ways for the next decade and a half.

They tried everything from convincing Art Shell to come out of retirement, to hiring the young and brash Lane Kiffin. They even had a season with Hue Jackson, which was somehow a decent year, as they went 8-8 in 2011.

Then in 2016, under head coach Jack Del Rio, the Raiders turned a corner. Young quarterback Derek Carr seemed to finally put it all together, as he had 3,937 yards passing with 28 touchdowns and only six picks. Defensive end Khalil Mack also had a fantastic season and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Led by those two stars, Oakland was 12-4 and had their first winning season since that 2002 campaign. Unfortunately, Carr suffered a broken leg and missed the playoffs which led to their AFC Wild Card loss to the Houston Texans.

Since then, the Raiders have fallen back into the cellar in the AFC West and have brought Gruden back as head coach to try to revive them. Their continued losing the past couple of seasons only further cements 2016 as an anomaly of a campaign.

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