Las Vegas Raiders escape the Jets but doubt keeps creeping in
The Las Vegas Raiders avoided disaster against the Jets but doubt is creeping in.
In the waning seconds on Sunday in Week 13 against the Jets, it took a Derek Carr Hail Mary to rookie Henry Ruggs III for the Las Vegas Raiders to avoid becoming a part of history. The rookie from Alabama caught a late touchdown pass to help Vegas escape New York with a 31-28 victory and improve to 7-5 on the season.
The win is good as it covered up a number of problems that were exposed by a winless team. Head coach Jon Gruden will no doubt have to look his team in the eye wondering if this will be a repeat from the previous year.
Last season, the Raiders were 6-4 before collapsing late down the stretch to finish with a 7-9 record. This season, it looked to be similar as they were at the same record before losing to Atlanta.
Instead of falling down, they managed to survive the punch and, thus, they continue with progressing towards a potential postseason run.
The Las Vegas Raiders nearly became part of history for the wrong reasons
Let it be known that the New York Jets are in the running for the No. 1 overall pick and likely the third 0-16 season in league history. Additionally, given how the Jacksonville Jaguars nearly pulled off the upset over Minnesota, it was looking as if Trevor Lawrence could have been headed to the Sunshine State based on strength of schedule tiebreakers.
The Raiders avoided such a fate which would have been one of the bigger blemishes on Gruden’s record as a head coach besides the Tuck Rule in 2001. Given how the Raiders played admirably against the defending champion Chiefs, a loss like this would have wiped out those memories and instead cemented this game as the defining moment of the season.
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Thankfully for Vegas, the victory is theirs and they can fly back with a sigh of relief, but the film room will be tough to watch as this could have been one of the worst moments of the season. But the odds were in their favor and, sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.