Las Vegas Raiders dangerously close to history repeating itself
The Las Vegas Raiders are out of the playoffs for now and in danger of repeating history.
The Las Vegas Raiders were riding high after narrowly losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the second meeting of the 2020 NFL season, especially considering they’re the only team to beat the defending champs? How did the Raiders respond?
They responded with an embarrassingly frustrating 43-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 12. It’s especially frustrating when you consider the Raiders should have known how to act in this situation considering they were in the exact same one a year ago and responded the same.
In the 2019 campaign, the Raiders were 6-4 going into a “should-win” game against the New York Jets. They were soundly defeated, 34-3. Sound familiar? That loss sent the Raiders on a tailspin as they dropped four of the next five games to finish the season 7-9 and missing the playoffs.
Fast forward to 2020, and the Raiders were 6-4 going into the Falcons game in which they were favored — and once again for pulverized. Once again, the Raiders find themselves at 6-5 coming down the stretch.
The Las Vegas Raiders must avoid a similar fate to last season.
On Sunday in Week 13, the Raiders once again find themselves playing the Jets, who are even worse than last year with a doughnut in the win column.
They absolutely can not take them lightly as they did in 2019 and as they did the Falcons last week. If they do, then Raider Nation can kiss their playoff dreams goodbye. Ideally, a veteran coach like Jon Gruden won’t let that happen.
The Raiders have been starved for playoff football. They had a taste in 2016 but Derek Carr was injured, so things looked bleak. Speaking of Carr, he will have to play better as Josh Jacobs is now banged up and they won’t be able to rely on the running game as much.
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The AFC is loaded this year. That being said, the Raiders still have a very good shot of getting into the playoffs with the Jets coming up along with other playoff hopefuls. All they have to do is put 2019 behind them and keep their eyes on the 2020 prize.