New Game Balls - Raiders vs Jaguars - Week 15

Game Balls: Raiders vs Jaguars

https://franchisesportsmedia.com

The Raiders fall in their final home game in Oakland…

 

History repeated itself yet again for the Raiders.

The Silver and Black lost their final game in San Francisco in 1961 before moving to Oakland. They then lost their final game in Oakland in 1981 before moving to LA. Prior to moving back to Oakland, they lost their final game in LA in 1994. On Sunday afternoon, the Raiders lost their final home game in Oakland before moving to Las Vegas in 2020.

With Raider greats in attendance and a rawkus crowd filling the Coliseum for the final time, they were treated to a highlight video of their history during the halftime ceremony. Hall of Famers like Marcus Allen and Fred Biletnikoff were honored on the field with Charles Woodson addressing the crowd at the Colisieum for the final time.

 

“You’ve been here through the ups. You’ve been here through the downs. But you’ve never wavered,” Woodson told the crowd.

The Jacksonville Jaguars and their quarterback Gardner Minshew had other ideas on how to send the Raiders off to Vegas. Minshew threw two touchdown passes to Chris Conley in the final 5:15 of the game,  and the Jaguars spoiled the final scheduled home game at the Coliseum by beating the Raiders 20-16 on Sunday afternoon.

The Raiders jumped out to a 16-3 lead and looked to have control of the game. The Raiders tried to run out the clock and got a pair of first-down runs from rookie running back Josh Jacobs and another from quarterback Derek Carr. But Carr was ruled out of bounds with 2:05 to play after trying to slide down inbound, sparing the Jaguars from using a timeout.
The officials got the call wrong,  and while arguing with them, the Raiders got a delay of game. Jon Gruden then tried to challenge the ruling only to be told that the call wasn’t reviewable and would cost the Raiders a timeout.

“Very, very shocked,” Carr said about the call. “One of the more shocking ones of my life to be honest. I understand the rule a little differently, I guess.”

Wide receiver Tyrell Williams dropped a critical third-down pass that woud have kept the drive going. Gruden then elected to try a field goal and sent out Daniel Carlson, who missed a 50-yard field goal only to get bailed out after the Jaguars Parry Nickerson was called for running into the kicker. Carlson subsequently missed again from 45 yards,  and the Jaguars took over at the 35 with 1:44 to go.

That’s when we saw the Minshew magic as he led the Jags down the field to the game winning touchdown. After the kickoff, the Raiders moved the ball to the Jacksonville 40, but Carr’s two desperation throws in the closing seconds fell incomplete, and the Jaguars held on for the win.

“It’s not really the result today, it’s the results of the Raiders over the years,” Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said afterwords. “It’s the Oakland Raiders. It’s the appreciation, the loyalty these fans have had for the Raiders. We’re going to miss them. The relationship, hopefully will never end. It was sad walking in here  today, and it will be sad walking out for the last time.”

 

 

Now it is time to honor the players I thought balled out and give out the ” Raiders vs Jaguars Game Balls.”

 

Josh Jacobs earns yet another game ball. All this young man did was run for 89 yards with a broken shoulder. He is a testiment to the toughness and leadership that the Raiders wanted. He has become the team’s best player and identity on offense. If Sunday was his final game this season, the rookie running back ran for 1,150 yards on 245 carries, averaging 4.8 yards per carry to go along with 7 touchdowns. He also caught 20 balls for 166 yards.

 

 

Darren Waller had another game to remember in a season where he has established himself as one of the leagues best Tight Ends. He had 8 receptions for 122 yards on 10 targets.  So far, Waller has caught 80 recpetions for 1,001 yards and 3 touchdowns. He has become Carr’s favorite target and also his most reliable. On Sunday he was ungaurdable and gave the Jaguars fits all game long.

 

 

 

The last game ball goes to the Oakland Raiders fans. The fans are the ones who have been hurt the most by the team relocating to Las Vegas. The “Stay in Oakland” group did everything they could to try and keep the team rooted in Oakland, but it just wasn’t enough.

The City of Oakland wasn’t willing to work with the Raiders and owner Mark Davis, who made the best decision he could make for the present and future of the franchise. But the fans who reside in “The Black Hole” are the most passionate and loyal fans in all of professional sports. They are the people I feel the most emotional and sorry for, and they deserve this game ball.

 

 

If you want a place to watch games, eat, drink and have a good time, head to Al’s Garage in Summerlin. There are multiple televisions to watch all the  games  and Al’s has “Happy Hour” starts at 9 am and extends to 9 pm. Al’s Garage is located at 11760 W. Charleston Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada 89135.

Raiders vs Jaguars

 

Joe Arrigo

Joe is the Co-Founder of Franchise Sports Media, former Los Angels sports talk host & producer, has covered Las Vegas sports for over five years and co-hosts The Q&A Raiders Podcast.

Raiders vs jets     Raiders vs jets 

Here is where you can follow Joe on social media:

https://twitter.com/@JoeArrigo
https://twitter.com/@TheFranchiseLV
https://Facebook.com/thefranchiselv
https://Instagram.com/@thefranchiselv

Raiders vs Jaguars     Raiders vs Jaguars     Raiders vs Jaguars     Raiders vs Jaguars     Raiders vs Jaguars

iders vs Bengals